Page 1 of Nick

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Nick

Am I a stupid person? I’ve never considered myself to be one, but I am a fool when it comes to them.

I hung up the phone and shook my head.

Why are they doing this to me? What right do they think they have to keep my daughter? Grandparents or not, this is not right. I should just go over there, open the door, and tell Julia to get into the car.

The only thing that stopped me was that I didn’t want to scare my daughter. Plus, I loved my ex-in-laws. They were caring people who didn’t want their granddaughter to move so far away.

I don’t have time for this. I was supposed to be in America already.

I knew I shouldn’t have let Julia spend that last night with them to say goodbye. Now it’s been over a week, and they did it to me again after promising me they wouldn’t. But they always seem so sincere when I talk to them that I keep forgetting the problems that come up between us each time.

She is all the family they have left. I can’t be too hard on them,I told myself.

There was a knock on my door, interrupting my thought process. I opened it, and Matt Grey stood there. Without a word, he pushed me out of the way and walked inside. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. She was a vision that I thought wasn’t real. I blinked to see if she was still there.Yep, she’s still there.

She smiled. “Are you going to let me inside, or are we going to have our conversation with me standing on this side of the door?”

I heard Matt chuckle, and I stepped out of her way.

“Nick, this is Opal Martin. I can’t believe you two haven’t met before.”

She seemed familiar somehow but I was almost sure I hadn’t met her before. “I haven’t been to Maine in a long time. I’ve been doing everything from Italy,” I said, staring like a rude teenager. I couldn’t help myself. She was breathtaking. Her dark red hair was pulled back, away from her face. I kept staring straight at her, and her eyes held mine as if she had the power to control me. Her figure was curvy in all the right places. I heard her shoe tapping.

“I’m going to turn around and leave for home if he doesn’t stop looking at me like he wants to throw me on the bed.”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry, it’s just that you are beautiful—all of you. Please forgive me.” I shook my head again; this time, palming my face to bring myself back to Earth. “Why are you two here?” I asked when my hands fell to my side.

“What do you mean? We are here because you wanted me to help you get your daughter from her grandparents. And Opal is here because you asked me to bring a woman lawyer.”

“I didn’t talk to you?”

“No, but you talked to Owen, and he said you wanted Opal to come with me.”

“I haven’t talked to anyone. But since you are here, maybe Opal can speak with my ex-in-laws.” I turned to look at the woman who, at this moment, was sitting down. She was eating a snicker bar she had obviously taken from the bag she carried over her shoulder.

“What do you want me to tell them?” she asked, licking melted chocolate from her fingers.

I had to turn my head so I wouldn’t see her juicy lips and pink tongue. I was so damn hard for her that, if she glanced down, she would see what was causing me to turn away from her and busy myself refolding the already folded tee shirts I took from the dryer. “If you could just talk to them and help them see that what they are doing is wrong. I don’t want to get the police involved, but if I have to, I will.”

“So I came to Italy to talk to an old couple who loves their granddaughter and doesn’t want her to move out of the country and go to the other side of the world where they don’t know if they will ever see her again?”

“Yes.” I still hadn’t touched her. I knew if I touched Opal, something crazy would happen, and I didn’t have time for crazy right now. I wanted my daughter, and then I needed to leave this country and get Julia back in school.

“It’s not that I don’t like Julia’s grandparents. I do. They love my daughter, and for that, I’m grateful. I’ve been doing this back and forth with them for months since I told them I was moving back to America. I’ve put up with their tantrums. Now it’s time to stop. Do you know what I mean?”

“Yes, I understand. I’m sure it’s heartbreaking for the grandparents. Take me to where they live, and I’ll talk to them and get Julia for you.”

“It’s not going to be that easy. The two of them will look at you and think you’re my woman, which won’t go down well.” I enjoyed saying that. I would love for Opal to be mine. If I had time for a woman right now that is. “There is no way they’ll let you inside. They won’t even answer my phone calls.”

Opal looked at me, frowning. “Why is that? Have you flashed your girlfriends in their faces before?” She sounded angry.

“I don’t have time for girlfriends. I’m too busy rescuing everybody from dangerous places to go on a date with anyone. That’s another thing. They’ve always watched Julia when I went away for work. She’s going to miss them. I will too.” I looked back at her, “Did you just chuckle?”

“Of course not.”

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