Page 27 of Not Part of the Plan
“The weirdest,” Gia agreed. “But we love it.”
Summer nodded in agreement. “Best place in the world.”
“Just checking,” Niko told them.
Gia’s phone dinged from the depths of her humongous bag. “Shit. Now what am I late for?” she muttered, pawing through baby accessories and adult woman trappings. “Oh, no! Emma’s sick.”
Niko leaned forward as if he could glean more information just by getting closer to Gia.
“Is it the stomach bug?” Summer asked sympathetically.
“She said she’s praying for a swift death.”
“Yeah. That’s the stomach bug. Jonathan had it over the weekend.”
Niko hadn’t really noticed since it seemed like both kids threw up a lot, sick or not.
“Does she need anything?” he asked, coming to his feet. “I could take her some soup or some ginger ale…” He trailed off when he saw the looks of interest that passed between Summer and Gia.
“You’d better cool that puppy love before the Beautification Committee sniffs you out,” Summer snickered.
“Oh, I’ve already met Rainbow.”
“What! When?” Summer wheeled her chair to the side of her desk so she could see around her monitors.
“When Emma and I were at Shorty’s—”
“Hold it!” Gia wheeled her chair around, too. “You and my sister were out together?”
“Yeah, we’ve been hanging out.”
That shut them both up. They were gaping at him like hungry fish in a koi pond.
“Yes!” Summer pumped her fist into the air. “I’m so winning this bet.”
“It’s nothing serious,” Niko reiterated. “She’s not interested in dating me.”
“You asked her out?” If Gia’s voice got any higher, windows would start cracking.
“On multiple occasions.” He shrugged. “She’s a little stubborn.”
“‘A little’ is an understatement. I can’t believe we missed all this.” Gia griped. “Babies really do ruin everything.”
Summer wheeled back to her monitors and began to type furiously. “Son of a bitch. You’re already in Blue Moon’s Facebook group. How did we miss this? We’re terrible friends. Technically Gia, you’re a terrible sister, and I’m a double terrible friend,” she said ruefully.
“Either one of you want to explain what’s wrong with you? Limiting ourselves to this particular moment, of course.”
Gia winged the ball of yarn back in Niko’s direction. “You’ve been seen around town with Emma by the Beautification Committee. You’re practically engaged,” she explained.
“Look at his face!” Summer gasped. “He’s not freaking out at that statement. Why aren’t you freaking out?”
“I am too freaking out,” Niko argued.
“Uh-uh,” Gia shook her head. “You got this contemplative look on your face.”
“You guys are freaking me out. I’m not dating Emma. I’m not looking to get engaged and move to Tie-Dye La-La Land. There isn’t a place on earth that’s a worse fit for me. I’ll leave you to your crazy.” He backed out of the office.
He wasnotcontemplating any of that, Niko told himself. Well, maybe the dating part and definitely the sex part. He liked spending time with Emma, liked the sparks, liked the challenge. She was gorgeous, stunning even, but not in the way he’d grown accustomed to. Those willowy models with perfect pouts and sexy slinks didn’t capture his interest the way Emmaline Merill had. He knew with an uncanny certainty that if they ended up in bed together, it would be better and bigger than anything he was used to.
