Page 81 of The Texan's Secrets

After all, he desperately reasoned, he could sit at the back of the church. He could hover at the edges of the crowd during the reception and simply wait for it to be over. Emilia would sit at the head table during the dinner. He wouldn’t be with her for the formal parts of the event. Nobody would notice one innocuous guest at a corner table with strangers.

All he had to do was make it through the wedding and reception. Then he could wait days or even weeks before coming clean. She’d know him better by then, maybe like him better and trust him more.

He reached for the gear shift.

“Nick?”

A shadow came up beside the driver’s window.

“Is that you?” It was Emilia’s voice, Emilia’s smile flashing his way. “What are you doing here?” She gestured for him to roll down his window.

He did.

“Hi,” she said. Then she gestured behind herself. “I saw you drive up. We’re all over there on the patio.”

“I don’t want to disturb you,” he said, avoiding eye contact.

“What are you doing here?”

He hesitated. Not a single one of his rehearsed speeches worked in this instance. “I was looking for you,” he said.

“Well, you found me.”

“You probably have to get back.” He glanced hopefully in the rearview mirror. Maybe Maggie would be out there waving Emilia back to the party. But he only saw the fringe of a landscaped garden and a lighted pathway.

“It’s fine,” she said. “What’s up?”

He looked into her eyes for the first time. “I missed you,” he said honestly.

She leaned a little closer. “You’re very sweet.”

He wasn’t sweet. He was a liar. And he had to man up about this. “Can you get away for a little while?”

She gave a sultry smile. “How long did you have in mind?”

He wanted to tell her it wasn’t for a tryst. But then she’d asked questions, and he didn’t want that.

“Not long,” he said instead.

“You’re not much of a sweet talker,” she joked. But she walked around to the passenger side, texting as she went.

She opened the door and hopped inside.

“Your place?” she asked as she fastened her seat belt.

He started to say no. Taking her to his place was an unacceptable risk. There were way too many things there that could give away his identity before he had a chance to explain.

But giving up his secret was the whole point here. If he took her home, he couldn’t back out. Once she was inside his apartment, he’d have no choice but to come clean.

“Yes,” he said and moved the SUV forward.

“Great,” she said with a big grin. “I’ve been dying to see where you live.”

Emilia had held herself back on the drive to Nick’s building, then while crossing the lobby, and all the way to the eighth floor, even though they were alone in the elevator.

But as soon as they crossed the threshold into his suite, she practically threw herself into his arms. She’d missed him desperately. She craved his touch, his scent and the taste of his kisses. It felt like weeks rather than days since they’d made love.

“Whoa,” he said between kisses while she went for the buttons of his shirt. “Hang—”

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