Page 63 of Not Part of the Plan
“When are you going to let me see the wedding pictures?” she whispered.
He pinched the flesh of her arm and made her squeal. “One-track mind.”
She trailed her fingers lower over his abs and then lower still to wrap around his shaft. “Maybe a two-track mind.”
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Blue Moon nights were quieter than the city, and Nikolai couldn’t remember ever enjoying a night more than this one. Emma slept soundly in his arms, her leg thrown over his, one hand resting over his heart.
In his considerable experience, there’d never been a woman who had captivated him, body and soul, like Emmaline. What happened here tonight had changed everything for him, and he needed time to process, adapt, refocus. He’d lost himself in her and in that loss had found something bigger and more essential than what he’d known before.
It was love between them, of that he was certain. He didn’t understand what it meant, yet. But he did know he wasn’t letting this woman out of his arms.
Emma cuddled closer to him in her sleep, and his lips curved. She wasn’t so concerned with vulnerability in her sleep. His serious, reserved girl needed him to tease out the adventuress in her. And he would show her what lay outside the lines, just beyond the rules.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Emma was in her kitchen, dreamily putting away dishes and recalling every detail of the night before when an insistent knock on her front door broke through her reverie.
She found her sisters on her doorstep, Gia looking annoyed and Eva looking guilty. Mr. Snuffles, her father and Phoebe’s pug, cocked his head to the side at Eva’s feet.
“I have to find out from myhusbandwho spotted Niko’s motorcycle out front this morning that my incredibly picky sister is dating?” Gia snapped. She was dressed for yoga and had her hands on her hips.
Behind Gia, Eva was gesturing wildly and shaking her head at Emma.
“And I have to find out from my other sister that my oldest sister is dating without having any prior knowledge myself? That’s just unacceptable, Emma,” Eva said when Gia turned to look at her.
Emma had to hide her smile. Eva was playing the victim so Gia wouldn’t be mad at her, too. She’dlet Eva play it out and hang it over her head later, Emma decided. Same with Beckett who hadn’t come by the knowledge due to a bike on the street but an eyeful of naked people on the couch.
“Jesus, guys. It’s not like that exactly, and it literally just happened in the last twelve hours!”
“That is practically a century in Blue Moon gossip time. Now you owe me details, and I’m not leaving until you give me some. And a snack. I’m hungry and grumpy.” Gia shoved past her into the kitchen and flopped down on a barstool.
“Come on in. Make yourself at home,” Emma said sarcastically, stepping aside and let Eva in too. “Whoa, donotlet that snot machine anywhere near my nice furniture,” she warned Eva.
Eva scooped up Mr. Snuffles and cuddled him to her chest. “Don’t you listen to your sister, Mr. Snuffles. She loves you. She just shows it by being bossy.”
Emma knew better than to argue with Gia and pulled the orzo salad out of the refrigerator. She produced three forks and leaned on the opposite side of the island.
“So what do you want to know?”
“How did this happen? Are you out of your mind? Niko is the opposite of your type. How serious is it? Have you had sex? And was it amazing?”
“Yeah, all those things she said,” Eva agreed innocently.
“Okay, first of all, let’s clarify something. We’renotdating. We were friends, and then we had sex,” Emma explained.
“That is so not you. Did you sustain a head injury? Have you been getting weird headaches?”
“Just the two sitting in my kitchen,” Emma said blandly.
“Sex makes you grumpy,” Eva teased.
“I do not have a head injury, and I’m not grumpy. In fact, I’m deeply and incredibly satisfied if you must know.”
“Hang on. So if it’s just sex, I don’t know if I lost. I have to check with Summer,” Gia muttered, digging into the salad with gusto.
“Why do you have to check with Summer about my love life?”
