Page 35 of The Wrong Side Of Us

“They’re beautiful,” I breathed. “I didn’t know you could paint like this.”

He smirked, the action brightening up his eyes.

“It’s a shame I won’t be here when you open up your gallery or sell your first piece, though.” I bit my lip sadly. I would have loved to see his dreams come true. I never knew he liked to paint, though I did know he was very artistic. To see how talented he was truly was a surprise.

“That’s exactly why I brought you here,” he said with a small smile. “Do you seriously think I’ll be able to pursue anything with the type of family I married into? You should be as far from all of this as possible, Evie. You deserve much better than this.”

“You do, too,” I murmured. I knew my dad tried to get him into the family business and that they deeply disagreed with the art degree he’d chosen, but since my sister and he were already married, they couldn’t risk the “scandal” of a divorce.

“I’m not sure I deserve better than this,” he said, glancing around. “We get what we wish for.” His fingers brushed away a strand of hair. “Enjoy Florida. You deserve to be in a place like that or California or—”

“New York,” I interrupted. “I’ve always wanted to be in New York.”

“Or New York. Make your dreams come true away from them because you don’t belong here, Evelyn. Not with us. You’re better than us.”

I wanted to try anything to contradict what he said, but the conviction in his face made me falter. Instead, I settled for hugging my friend once again, and this time, he hugged me back without hesitation.

“What are you thinking?” Nathan’s voice brought me back from memory lane. Little actions like that showed me he’d always been different.

I glanced up at him, smiling. It was so ironic…so crazy that things had turned out this way.

It was perfection.

“Before I left for Florida…remember?”

Nathan grinned. “Of course I remember. You tried to paint that day, and all you managed to do was blur colors together.”

I rolled my eyes. I should have known even back then that painting was not my forte.

“Did you ever think we would end up here? In New York?”

He shook his head. “Never, but I’m glad we did. I don’t regret anything, Evie.”

Gently, Nathan shifted lying me on my back. I smiled up at him right before he kissed me. I loved him, all of him, and I would forever. My arms wrapped around his neck. He was so loving. Caring. All I ever wanted.

“I don’t ever want to lose you.” He buried his face in my neck, inhaling deeply, as if trying to wrap my scent around his soul. As if I was the only thing he needed to stay alive. “I love you so much, Evelyn.”

Every time the words left his lips, my heart swelled. My eyes filled with tears when I thought of how lucky I had gotten. I went from having a family that didn’t care for me to finding a large family who loved me more than words could express, just as much as I loved them.

Nana wasn’t here, but I knew wherever she was, she would be smiling down at me because I was with the man I loved. I could almost hear her saying to trust my heart, to be who I wanted to be, to not let anyone change who I was.

I hoped I was making her proud.

Nathan kissed me again, his lips tilting up to a smile against my skin. Hand traveling down my waist, he raised himself up just as he raised the shirt I wore. He grinned, lowering his lips down to my belly as he pressed the most tender kiss in the world.

“And I love you too, little one.”

Chapter 14

Evelyn

“Ugh,” I groaned as I brushed my teeth again. “This nausea is terrible.”

Nathan gave me a warm smile, hugging me from behind. He placed a kiss behind my ear and simply watched me.

He was always loving towards me, but since we’d found out the news, it was as if he couldn’t keep his hands off of me, not that I minded. This was nice.

It was three a.m., and he had to go to the gallery in a couple of hours. Despite insisting that I could handle the nausea myself, Nathan was by my side every time it would reappear.

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