Page 35 of One Unexpected Gift

“It’s been a while. I don’t get out as much as I used to when I was younger.”

Nick laughed. “Younger? You’re what, twenty-eight? Nine?”

“Flattery will get you everywhere.”

“Oh yeah?” She could see his devilish grin even in the darkened interior of his Jeep.

“My sisters threw me a thirtieth and two month birthday three years ago when I was visiting.”

“I like that you guys call each other sisters. Owen and Bryce were talking about it one day at the gym. You four met when enlisting?”

“Yeah. Four Mainers at bootcamp together. Who would’ve thunk it? Everyone knows about the Band of Brothers, so we called ourselves the Band of Sisters. None of us have any siblings. We’ll always be sisters.”

Family had each others’ back, like Charlie had promised about taking care of Gabby.

“You’re still a baby. I’ve got you beat by two years.”

“You may be thirty-five, but you act more like a twenty-two year old.”

“And now you sound like my mom.” He squeezed her hand before pulling away to downshift. When he was in gear, he took her hand in his again.

“Your mom sounds like a smart lady.”

“She is. And she’d love you. Maybe sometime before you leave you can come out to Acadia Falls with me.”

Meet his family? That wasn’t what this next month was supposed to be about. Feelings and emotions couldn’t get added to the mix.

“What was the last movie you saw?” she asked, changing the subject.

“I know this may come as a surprise to you, but I stick with the action adventure and superhero movies.”

“That is shocking. And here I stereotyped you for the subtitles and foreign film kind of guy.”

“Maybe if I’m bored but definitely not when I’m with a beautiful woman.”

“What does she have to do with it?”

“I don’t want to be straining to understand a complex thought or focused on the screen to read the titles. I’d rather be concentrating on you than the movie.” He lifted their joined hands and kissed her knuckles.

“That was smooth. A for effort, Nicolas Pierce.”

“The truth, darlin’. Say all you want about my reputation, but I’m as honest as they come.”

Honesty. Something Skylar respected and demanded, yet she’d been telling the biggest lie to herself and to those the closest to her. She was as hypocritical as a politician.

“How about music?”

“Hm?” She’d zoned for a moment and missed Nick’s last few sentences.

“What kind of music do you listen to?”

“The same as movies. I like variety. Too much of one genre gets old. I like to mix it up.”

“You’re no stranger to working out, that’s evident in your body.” He gave her a cool caress with his eyes before returning his attention to the road. “Tell me what’s on your workout playlist.”

Preferring this path of their discussion, she humored him. “Nineties pop for cardio days, country for hiking, eighties metal bands for lifting days, and modern pop for boxing.”

Nick let out a low whistle. “I’ve got all sorts of images running through my head right now, and I can’t say a single one of them includes you fully dressed.”

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