Page 10 of Wine & Whiskey: Everything for You
He forces a smile to greet her as she leans back from him. “We’re good?”
“Always.” She gives him a small grin and looks around. “Where’s Nick?”
“He went to take the paternity test.”
She nods and tucks a wayward hair behind her ear. A little bit of color returns to her cheeks. “I’m starving.”
Another good sign. How she stays so tiny with that enormous appetite, he’ll never figure out. “I’m making a shake. Do you want one?”
A growing smile lights up her face. “Chocolate malt?”
“No, protein.”
Wrinkling her nose, she shakes her head. “Not if it’s the one that tastes like feet.”
A huge laugh erupts from his chest. Please let this be a pregnancy thing. She cannot be a pervert. “Now how do you know what feet taste like? Do you have some kind of weird fetish I don’t know about?”
“No!” She shrugs her shoulders and smooths down the blanket covering her lap, her voice squeaky with embarrassment. “It just smells like how I think feet would taste. I can’t explain it.”
He stands up and offers her his arm. She wraps her fingers around his bicep and giggles as he escorts her to the kitchen.
“Okay, how about I make you a smoothie instead? I guess Marta went to the store because the fridge is loaded with fruit.”
“I’d rather have chocolate.” Her tone is lyrical like a song, as if her cute ploy will make him say yes.
“Not on my watch. No more sweets for you.”
She washes her hands before sitting on the bar stool across the island from him, cutting the stems off the strawberries. The huge diamond on her finger sparkles as it catches the light. At the time, he thought Nick was crazy for having a ring made after only knowing her for a week. Who drops millions on a woman he’s just met? It’s not very often he’s this glad to be so wrong. “Could you please turn to the left a little bit? That ice cube on your hand keeps blinding me.”
Her cheeks tint pink as she drops her gaze and rubs her finger across the stone. “He got a little carried away, didn’t he?”
“Love will do that to you.”
Another huge smile lights up her face. “Yeah, I guess it will.”
“Congratulations, by the way. On the wedding and the baby. I’m happy for you guys.” Which is the truth, yet fused with worry he keeps from her right now. Her trepidation in telling Nick was more valid than she realizes. Children are the ultimate weakness, easy targets for retaliation. He’ll have to hire a team to keep this baby safe.
“Thanks. Now, you’ll be like a cool uncle.” She wiggles her eyebrows at him, trying to ensure he gets her hint. “You know, the good kind who takes you out for ice cream and donuts.”
“You might as well stop. I’m not giving in.” He puts his hands up before turning around and digging through the refrigerator. “Okay, drop in the berries, and then I’ll add Greek yogurt, mint, vanilla extract, and honey.”
Once it blends, he pours a tall glass and hands it to her. Her eyes close after taking a sip. “It’s fabulous. How did you come up with this?”
“I found the recipe in a magazine.”
Her laughter fills the room. “Okay, I take back what I said about you being cool. You’re a nerd.”
This is what he missed the most when she was gone—her simple sweetness and cheerfulness easing some of the hellish tension permeating their world. “Takes one to know one.”
“What are you, ten?”
He crosses his arms, pretending to negotiate a truce. “We’ll be nerds together. You can have your movies and popcorn, and I’ll have my smoothie recipes.”
“Deal.”
She clinks her glass against his as Nick walks into the kitchen and drapes his arms around her shoulders, making her face glow with love. For Nick. The way it should be.
Nick kisses her cheek before nodding at Max. “You’re not making those shakes that smell like feet, are you?”
