Page 47 of Holiday Hoax

“Your Uber is downstairs waiting,” he says as we break apart. “Let me know when you get back.”

“Thanks for getting me one.”

“Of course, it’s the least I could do when you wouldn’t let me drive you home. Talk later?” he asks. I think he’s feeling my hesitancy because I can hear the vulnerability in the question.

“Yes.” I press another quick kiss to his lips and step on the elevator.

He waves as the doors close. As soon as the car starts moving down, I slump back against the steel wall. This is normally something I’d go to Nico with. Even when he was deep in single man life, he always gave the best advice. If I bring it up with him, he’ll want to know names, though. I don’t know if that’s something Ian wants.

But I won’t be able to focus on anything else if I don’t talk about this with someone. I need to weigh everything out to work through my feelings and reservations. Maybe I can just convince him not to ask questions.

“What’s going on with you?” Nico asks, cornering me in our parents’ kitchen while they sit in the dining room with Stella. “You’ve been distracted thinking about something.”

I sigh and consider brushing him off. I could easily deflect and ask about Stella, who looks really pale again today. But this is the opening I need.

“I’ll talk to you if you just listen and don’t ask questions. No trying to solve my problems.” I point my finger at him to let him know I’m serious.

He bats my finger away and rolls his eyes. “No promises, but now you really have to tell me. Is it about a guy?”

“Yes.”

His eyes narrow fractionally. He might be my best friend, but he’s first and foremost my protective older brother. “Go on.”

“He’s kind and smart with a well-established career. We have so much fun together. It’s completely different, he is completelydifferent from any of the guys I’ve dated before. We didn’t even start romantically, we started as friends.”

“I’m not seeing a problem.”

“There’s a significant age gap.”

“What are we talking here? Five years or fifty?”

“Ten-ish.” I don’t want to give him the exact number of years in case he figures it out.

“Not too bad.”

“He’s been sending me flowers. He bought me shoes because the ones I was wearing gave me blisters. He gave me a Christian Dior handbag when I made an offhand comment about needing a purse.”

Nico covers his heart with a mock gasp. “What a monster.”

I give him a half-hearted shove. “I just feel like I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“You think he’s trying to buy your affection, use it in some quid pro quo situation?” He goes from teasing me to serious in the beat of a heart.

“No, actually. That would make it easier.” I’ve mulled over if I’m worrying this way because it feels like he is attempting to buy my affection or love bomb me, but that’s definitely not it. “I think he is exceptionally generous and has more money than he could spend in his lifetime.”

“I see.” He gazes off into space while he thinks. “What are you afraid of?”

“That I’m falling in love with him.”

“Don’t be afraid of love.” His eyes meet mine. “You deserve to be loved. To be taken care of.”

Would Nico say that if he knew the man I was talking about is his brother-in-law? I’m not sure he would. Not because he has a low opinion of Ian but because it could be messy. I can’t bring that up with him. He’d immediately figure it out.

“Speaking of love and being taken care of, how is Stella?” I ask quietly, changing the subject. “She still looks pretty pale.”

“Yeah, I’m worried, too. She thinks she’s just trying to get used to the newest medication she’s trying.”

I don’t know enough specifics about her health and treatment to say one way or another, so I listen as he opens up about everything they’re trying. Eventually Mom comes in and breaks up our conversation by insisting we sit down and have some dessert. We sit around the table for another hour before it’s time for us to head back into the city.

---