Page 42 of Never and Always
That by itself wasexciting.
She squealed and hugged him again, giggling when he put his arms aroundher.
“I won’t even ask what’s with you two. I don’t care,” she said, pressing her face against the hard wall of his chest. “Thank you so much,Nick.”
She lifted her head to gaze up at those amazing eyes of his and was happy to see that the rigid vibe he gave Glenn was gone. Warmth filled his eyes, and there was a glow deep within them that warmed herheart.
“You’re welcome, Mia. You know you really should take Glenn up on his offer and take half of the money. You could rebuild your business in Florida withthat.”
She shook her head. “I’m not going back to Florida. The memories are too painful, and there’s nothing for methere.”
The more she’d thought of it over the last few days, the more confident she felt that Florida was no longer an option for her. When she left to go there it was during a time when her goal was to prove herself to her family. She worked hard to do that and no one could say that she didn’t do well. Her idea to have the spa retreat was still on, but not forFlorida.
She’d used her trust fund money to set the day spa up. This time she’d save from scratch from what she earned at her newjob.
“It’s Florida. You sounded excited to be there,” he pointed out with asmile.
“It was exciting, but I’m done there. I got a jobtoday.”
His smile widened. “Did you? That’s great. Wait, what kind of job is this?” A look of worry filled his face and she instantly remembered the whole mad strippingidea.
“It’s not stripping.” She assured him and laughed when she saw the relived look on his face. “It’s beauty therapy. I’ll be working at the beauty clinic in town. They’re a little similar to what I had set up in Florida. It’ll do for now. I know having a half a million would be wonderful to rebuild myself, but I want Glenn to have it. I don’t owe him anything now. And I don’t have to feel like the damn princess who needs to be rescued by my family. I’ll work hard and save to do what I want. I’ll set up my business somewhere else and do it with hard work to get thefunds.”
He looked really proud of her as shespoke.
She pulled in a slow thoughtful breath when she considered all that had happened over the last fewweeks.
“I came here because I thought I’d get the comfort and support I needed at the time.” She stated as a wave of sadness swept through her. It was a hard thing to accept that the one person who she thought would always be there for her wasn’t. “But Glenn kicked me out. Nick, I called a strip joint to try and get a job.Me.”
Glenn had made the situation a hundred times worse. It luck that Nick was here. Luck that he happened to be a private investigator and a damn good one who’d helped her in a massiveway.
When she thought about it all, it was all quiteterrible.
He pulled her closer and she rested her cheek on his chest again, now enjoying the steady rhythm of hisheart.
“I’m sorry you had to go throughthat.”
“Thank you for being there for me; I was soscared.”
He pulled back slowly and cupped her face. “You don’t ever have to be scared when I’m around. I’ll always take care of you,Mia.”
That was a promise she would always cherish and felt truly lucky to have. “Thank you, that means everything tome.”
He ran his fingers across the edge of her jaw and gazed into her eyes. He looked down at her lips and immediately her stomach tightened as she wondered if he was going to kissher.
God, what would it feel like for him to kiss her? To feel his lips on hers, and feel the magic she felt just from his presence, but so muchmore.
Any thought of a kiss, however, left her mind as he released her and took a stepback.
She couldn’t lie and say that she didn’t feel a little disappointed and started that whole process of wondering again. But she decided to stick with her newplan.
“We should go out and celebrate.” She smiled brightly athim.
“Out?” He inclined his head to theside.
“Yes, like dancing. Let’s go out and havefun.”
He laughed. “Mia, I’m getting to be an old man, now. By the end of the year I’ll probably be in bed by seven after I’ve had a TV dinner and watched the six o’clocknews.”
