Page 41 of Unwrapped

The pair of panties my mom is holding slips out of her hands and lands on the floor. She looks up as she grabs them and finally notices Nick. Presumably shocked by his presence, she loses her balance, and he quickly moves to grab her and keep her from falling.

“Mr. Bain,” she says, confused and a little bit embarrassed, “what are you doing here?” She narrows her eyes and looks from him to me. “You do remember Miranda, don’t you? She came with me to the Christmas party a few weeks ago and had lunch with me at the office recently. This is my son, Andrew, my sister-in-law, Vanessa, and my niece, Tandy. Andrew is the one who got me the mug you destroyed.” She nervously looks around the store and when she looks down to see the racy, lace panties in Nick’s hand, she quickly looks away and clears her throat. She looks back at me, her eyes that are so similar to mine, trying to read me.

“Yes, I remember Miranda, and I’m here for my girlfriend,” he says, clearing his throat loudly as he waves the lacy panties in the air. Like the gentleman that he is, he shakes hands with Andrew and Vanessa. He looks at me, and I know from the look in his eyes, he’s waiting on me to say something. I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.

“Can we go?” Andrew asks. “I’m starving. And Dad’s waiting for us.”

“Wait. You got Dad to come to the mall? My dad is in the mall a few days before Christmas?” I ask.

“Come on, baby,” Mom says. “We have a reservation at Legal’s in twenty minutes. You know that’s Andrew’s favorite place, and I’m sure he’s ready to gnaw at his own arm by now. Your dad can be social when he wants to be.” She looks away from me and back to Nick, who is still holding the panties. “I’m sure Mr. Bain wants to shop in peace.” My mom takes me by the shoulder and pushes me toward the back of the store, toward the cash registers.

“Mona, wait,” Nick begins. “Listen”

“Mom,” I blurt before Nick can say anything else.

“Can wepleaseget the hell out of here?” Andrew says when a group of shoppers come walking by.

“Why don’t you find yourself a girlfriend, Andrew? If you did, you wouldn’t be in such a hurry to leave this place,” my mom says. Andrew throws his hands in the air and tells us he’ll wait for us outside of the store before stomping out. “Go, Miranda. Meet us outside before your brother has a tantrum.” She pushes me toward the back of the store where she follows me and tells me she’ll wait for me by the fragrances.

Like someone being controlled by a remote control, I walk to the cash register, sign out of work for the day, return to the break room, and grab my coat. Still dazed at how close we came to getting caught, I walk out of the room like a zombie.

Nick is still in the store when I return, but Mom grabs my arm and we walk to the door. She waves goodbye to Nick, and when I look back at him, he’s still standing in the same spot, looking at me with the same pair of panties in his hand.

To my shock, my father is waiting patiently for us at the restaurant while sipping on a piña colada. Dinner is lively and fun as we talk about Christmas plans, but all I can think about is Nick and how empty his blue eyes looked when I was walking away from the store.

As discreetly as possible, I check my phone and find no texts or missed calls from him.

Me: I love you. I’m sorry. I didn’t know they were coming.

I check my phone throughout dinner and nothing. After dinner, we do some last-minute shopping at the mall, but Nick doesn’t text back, and he doesn’t call. It’s not until after midnight when I crawl back into my bed and call him. His phone rings several times until it goes to voicemail.

I ignore the voice in the back of my head. The little voice telling me that Nick is upset about what happened at the mall. I convince myself that he understands why I left, but I don’t think I do a very good job and end up tossing and turning all night, missing the comfort of Nick’s strong arms wrapped around me.

CHAPTER 28

NICK

I’m not the least bit surprised when my front door opens and Miranda walks in the next morning. I lean against the kitchen counter, drinking my coffee out of a Christmas mug she left here the other day. The mug is decorated with a drawing of a muscular man wearing a Santa hat with the words Feliz Navidaddy.

She takes off her coat, dressed like an elf, complete with the hat and pointed ears. The closer we get to Christmas, the more ridiculous her outfits get, it seems. I force myself not to laugh when I notice her green pointed shoes. Where the hell does she find this stuff?

She walks up to me, takes the cup from my hand, sips my coffee, and scrunches her nose at the bitterness.

“You do realize that’s my mug, right? I texted and called you last night. Why didn’t you answer? You should see the shorts I ordered for The Bahamas this morning. That place won’t know what hit it when I get there. I hope I get it before we leave. When are we leaving, by the way?” She leans up and kisses my lips. Despite the feelings raging inside of me, I kiss her back, long and deep, before abruptly ending the kiss.

I can see the confusion in her eyes, but she blinks and looks away. She reaches into the cabinet and pulls out another mug.

“This one is yours.” I look at it and hold back my snort. Where My Ho’s At is written on it. “Just wait until I come back tonight. There’s going to be lots of ho ho hoin’ around here. So much that I don’t know how your old man heart and back will handle it.” She then puts both hands on her hips and does a series of thrusts.

She reaches for me, her delicate hands caress my chest, paying special attention to my pecs. My lower half reacts automatically.

“I won’t be here tonight.” Those words get her attention, and she looks at me again. She drops her hands, and she studies me for the first time since she walked in. She’s an open book. Always has been. That’s how I knew she wanted me as much as I wanted her since the night we met.

I can feel the nervousness and tension oozing out of her. She takes her thumb and nibbles on the nail.

“Where are you going?” she asks. “I thought I’d come over right after work and make you dinner. I’ve been thinking all last night, and I think maybe it was a good thing our plans to tell my mom got railroaded.”

I lean across the counter and raise my eyebrows, my ears perking up at this sudden change. “Oh, really? Why is that?”

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