Page 76 of Not Part of the Plan
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Emma raced through closing and made it into town at a very respectable eleven-thirty. The streets were empty at this time of night, the lampposts shining their beams on empty sidewalks. The only businesses open now were Shorty’s and Fitness Freak.
She parked in front of Gia’s yoga studio and texted Niko.
I’m here. Where are you?
He responded with a picture of strings of lights woven around whitewashed wood beams.Come find me.
One Love Park was decked out for the Sunday farmers market and Knit Off. Empty stands that would be full of produce and products and teeming with neighbors, sat in shadow. She spotted the gazebo on the far end of the park. It was lit up with dozens of strings of lights.
Niko stood at the top of the steps, holding a pizza box, waiting for her. Emma’s pulse raced. Just looking at him had her body reacting in the most basic, instinctive ways. Something like this wasn’t sustainable. Not when just a smoldering look from his dark eyes sent her adrenaline spiking, her core tightening in anticipation. Drawn to him, she followed the sidewalk to the steps of the gazebo.
“Hi, beautiful.” His voice was low, a little rough.
“I see you’ve upped the ante on the midnight picnic,” Emma said, eyeing the ice bucket and thick quilt spread over the gazebo bench.
“I got the very last pie from Peace of Pizza and thought you’d like to share it with me,” he said, reaching for her hand.
She took his and let him draw her up the wooden steps. “How did you arrange this?”
Niko shrugged. “I just happened to have a conversation with Wilson Abramovich at Overly Caffeinated today—the cold brew is fantastic, by the way—and he mentioned that the gazebo is available for rental for private parties.”
“So you rented it?” Emma laughed, letting him pull her into him.
“I missed you.” He said it simply as if it explained everything.
“You saw me two nights ago.Allof me, if memory serves,” she teased.
“And short of dragging you to a hotel in another city, I thought this would be an enjoyable way to spend some alone time together.” He put the pizza box down on the bench and shoved both hands into her hair, drawing her in for a slow, sweet kiss.
When they broke apart, a little breathless and a lot aroused, Emma patted a hand over her racing heart. “The things you do for me,” she said on a sigh.
“Almost as good as the things I plan to dotoyou.” His devil’s grin had her laughing.
She shook her head. “I can’t believe I could have missed out on this.”
“Good thing I’m irresistible,” Niko agreed. “Now, catch me up on what I missed while we dine on cold pizza.”
She filled him in on the Beautification Committee’s sudden interest in Eva and Donovan.
“Would you like having Eva live here?” Niko asked, topping off her plastic cup with a very nice chardonnay.
“Well, of course I would, but it seems a little underhanded to guilt her into moving here only so some ridiculous committee can try to marry her off.”
“How far do these people go to arrange marriages?”
“Well, let’s see, they convinced Joey that they were going to push Jax into the arms of Moon Beam Parker. They made Beckett think that they loved Gia’s ex-husband. With Phil and Fred, they set up a fake night of speed dating at Karma Kustard and only invited the two of them.” She ticked the infractions off on her fingers.
Fascinated, Niko laughed. “Wait, how often does this work?”
“How often do the poor suckers fall in love and get married?”
Niko nodded.
“Perfect track record.”
He shook his head in disbelief. “There’s no way.”
