Page 9 of Miles & Mistletoe

“I was wondering when we’d run into one another.”

“I chose to give you time to settle in. How’s your stay in New York so far?”

“It’ll be better once I’m on the plane back home.”

“Still not a fan of New York?”

“Neither of us are,” a female voice interjected.

Without even looking, Nikola’s right arm raised up, encircling the shoulders of the woman I knew to be Devyn Collins, his wife. I’d had pictures of Nikola, his wife, his brother, Andre, and Andre’s wife, Stacey, in the folder I’d been given. It didn’t go unnoticed how Nikola’s face softened in the presence of his wife. The heated gaze they shared even caused my heart rate to speed up a little bit.

“Devyn, a pleasure as always.” Ian nodded.

“Same here, Ian. Hello.” Devyn looked to me, smiling.

“Nikola and Devyn, I’d like you to meet my date, Stacia Langton,” Ian introduced.

Nikola extended his hand. “Pleasure.”

“Mr. Collins, Mrs. Collins,” I greeted, shaking both their hands.

“Please, call me Devyn.”

I smiled.

“All right, Zerlinger, I’ll give you ten minutes, then we’re calling it quits for the night,” Nikola stated.

“That’s our cue to leave so the men can talk business,” Devyn said to me, a wide smile on her face.

I looked to Ian who nodded. I followed Devyn’s lead as she sauntered a few feet away before stopping and turning to me.

“Enjoying yourself?”

“As much as possible.”

She let out a small giggle. “I know, right? The decor is beautiful, but these events always tend to be a little bit stuffy for my taste.”

“I know what you mean, though you seem to fit right in.” I’d seen Devyn schmoozing a little bit earlier with the wife of the mayor of New York City.

She shrugged. “You get used to it after a while. So how’d you and Ian meet?” she questioned, then took a sip of champagne.

“Oh. Well, uh, through a friend.”

She tilted her head, staring at me inquisitively. “Like a set up?”

“Yes, sort of. How about you and Nikola?” I quickly asked.

“At work.”

“You worked together?”

“Not quite. I was his brother’s assistant at their company.”

I nodded. “Talk about mixing business with pleasure.” I almost slapped my hand over my mouth, silently cursing myself for my somewhat bold statement. However, I was relieved when Devyn simply giggled.

“You don’t know the half of it.”

I relaxed a little more as Devyn and I talked. She seemed personable and was easy to get along with. My heart squeezed when she pulled out her phone to show me pictures of her and Nikola’s adorable children. They’d had a set of twins, and a little girl a year after the twins. The oldest were barely three years old.

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