Page 48 of If We Never Met

"Are you Keira?" the woman asked.

"Yes."

"I'm Nikki Voltari."

"I—I know who you are," she stuttered, swallowing hard as she tried to get her wits about her.

What the hell was Nikki doing in Whisper Lake? And why was she here?This could not be good.

"Then you must know I'm Dante's girlfriend."

She cleared the lump in her throat. "Yes, and I also know that you're a supermodel. In fact, we met several years ago. I'm sure you wouldn't remember."

It was Nikki's turn to be surprised. "We've met? How is that possible? I've never been to this town before."

"I was working in New York for Jacques Bateau. It was years ago. You were a teenager. You came in for a fitting before our Fashion Week runway show. I went out to find you the perfect matcha tea."

Nikki stared back at her. "I don't remember."

"I didn't think you would. I was pretty much an errand girl and not the designer I wanted to be."

"How did you end up here?"

"I'm from here. My mom had an accident. I came back to care for her." She paused. "I want you to know that you don't have anything to worry about. Dante and I barely know each other. Those photos were misconstrued."

"That's what he said."

"I hope you believe him."

Nikki tilted her head, giving her a thoughtful look. "I do, but a lot of women would take advantage of a mistake like that to wedge themselves into his life."

"That's not me."

"Maybe. Maybe not. Here's what we're going to do. You're going to meet me for drinks on the patio at the Lakeshore Bistro at five thirty."

"Why?"

"Because I want us to talk, and I want us to be seen together. Wear one of those cute dresses in the window."

"Wait—" she began, but Nikki was already gone, the door clanging behind her.

She blew out a breath. She really wished Dante would have given her a heads-up that Nikki was coming her way—unless he didn't know. But Nikki said she'd spoken to Dante, so he had to know. Maybe he was happy to go along with whatever Nikki wanted. She certainly was beautiful. She'd forgotten how striking Nikki was.

Why had Dante been flirting around with her when he had Nikki?

Probably because he'd been bored, she thought, as she worked herself up, anger running through her.

She'd let herself believe that there was something real between them. Dante had said that he wanted to take a break from Nikki. But if he wanted to take a break, then Nikki wouldn't be here. And Nikki certainly hadn't acted like a woman whose boyfriend had just broken up with her.

The last thing she wanted to do was meet Nikki for drinks, but she did feel like she owed her something, because she felt a little guilty that she'd kissed Dante. So, she'd meet Nikki at the Bistro, and hopefully that would be the end of it—the end of everything. She could stop being distracted by Dante, stop thinkingwhat if…when she knew there wasnowhat-if.

Tonight, maybe she could finally make herself believe that.

"You did much better this afternoon," his therapist, Rita Donohue, told him after they finished their session late Thursday afternoon.

"It didn't feel that way." His shoulder was aching, and his breath was still coming hard.

"Because you want everything in a second, but each day you're getting stronger and your range of motion is improving. You're right where you're supposed to be."

---