Page 25 of Nutcracker with Benefits
I offer her an arm. “Ready?”
“Our stuff?” she gestures back into her room, where everything is neatly packed up.
“Kara will come get it.”
We ride the elevator back down, and when we emerge from the building, there’s a black sedan waiting for us in the dark evening.
“Oh, now we’re really fancy. Snubbing-our-nose-at-the-subway fancy.”
“Oh, hush you,” I say, opening the car door for her. “It’s cold, and you’ve got heels on. Allow me the indulgence.”
Once Clara’s scooted to the other side, I climb in, shut the door, and give the driver a nod.
“I noticed something about today,” Clara starts as we pull away from the curb.
“Yeah?” I adjust my coat and set my hand on the seat between us, wiggling my fingers. “What did you notice?”
Street lights pass outside the window, shadows rolling over Clara’s face. My heart beats faster while I wait for her to twine our fingers together…or for her to catch on to my plan.
“I’ve never been to Sri Lanka.” She lets her palm glide against mine and then taps the tips of our fingers together.
“You haven’t.”
“I haven’t been to Colombia either. Or Russia, or Morocco, or Argentina.”
She smiles at me, and I say nothing, my heart beating faster, her hand soft and delicate in mine. The whole day has been built around Clara seeing that she can taste all these places she’s never been to right here in the city. I’ve brought her to them, all without leaving the five boroughs.
“I think it’s pretty clever. Making me excited to visit all these places, giving me a taste of something I’ll experience for real someday.”
My smile slips until I paste it back on. “Oh?”
“Yeah. And I wonder what we’re going to preview next.”
9
Clara
I tap my chin, pretending to think. “I’m picturing a Venn diagram. It’s got to be an overlap of places I’ve never been, places I want to go, and places you can experience the culture in New York.”
In my coat pocket, my phone buzzes. I shift to the side, towards Nash, to pull it out of my pocket.
“Antarctica?” I say, teasing him. I glance down at my phone, and my heart skips a beat at the notification. It’s an email from the cruise company I’ve been talking to about the trip to Sydney. The email I’ve been waiting for all week.
My eyes widen as I tap on the notification.
“What is it?” Nash asks, leaning towards me.
“Hang on, hang on.” I scan the email. My contact, Jess, apologizes for taking so long to get back to me, but if I’m still coming to Sydney, the pass is mine. “Oh my god, I got the trip! I’m going to be on the harbor for New Year’s Eve. On a freaking boat!”
I squirm with excitement in my seat. Nash is on the other side of the car, a little too far for an enthusiastic hug, but he’s watching me. I don’t think he gets how truly awesome this chance is for my business because he’s smiling, but it’s mildly amused and a little…sad, maybe?
“I know this seems ridiculous to be excited about being on a yacht for New Year’s. I’m sure you have friends that have yachts, right? Or do you have a yacht? Maybe you’ve been hiding a hundred-foot super yacht from me,” I muse.
He laughs. “No, I don’t have a yacht. Tell me why this is so big for you?”
I hug my phone to my chest, my fingers pressing against the silver woven lace at the top.
“First of all, it’s a big company, and this is a small event, but I hope it’ll open the door for me to work with them. They have small ship cruises all over the world, and I am dying to go on one. I want to kick ass with them, show them how much I can do in a partnership. I’m trying to get more involved with all-inclusive packages. It’s less work for me to organize my trips this way. And, this company, despite being a cruise liner, is completely food-focused.”
