Chapter Seven
Allison
“Your projections are on point, as always,” Derek said.
Derek was the CEO of the M.K. Ledger. He and the chief of marketing had been sitting in my office for the past two hours, and we’d gone through all the numbers I’d worked on every night this past week. My hard work had paid off.
Focusing on the meeting had been difficult, though, because my mind was still on what Nick had suggested. I was half convinced that I’d dreamed the entire conversation.
The chief of marketing excused himself after we finished, saying he had another meeting, but Derek lingered.
“Now, to move on to other things,” Derek said. “I have a proposition for you.”
“I’m listening.”
Whenever he had a proposition, it was something new and exciting. I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into it.
“I’m in talks of acquiring a small company. Would you like to be in charge of the M I immediately downed another one, but my nerves weren’t settling. I took a few sips of wine, too, hoping that would do the trick, but now that Nick had said the word husband , things felt even more real than before.
I put the glass down, unsure where to look. It was too weird not to look at him, but somehow I was even more susceptible to those gorgeous dark eyes than usual.
“Have you thought any more about what I said this morning?” Nick asked.
“Honestly, I had a full day. And every time I thought about it, it seemed even crazier than when you first suggested it.” I was speaking in a low voice, although no one could overhear us.
“I know. I actually thought a whole week about it before I even brought it up.” His eyes were trained on me—almost as if he was waiting for a reaction.
“Part of me can’t even seriously consider it,” I admitted. “It could go wrong in so many ways. But on the other hand, Bob and Sophie keep reminding me that they want custody. I don’t have time to hope some magic solution comes along. Hugo said he didn’t have another silver bullet solution. I mean, this wouldn’t be a silver bullet, either, to be fair, but it would increase my chances a lot.” My heart was thundering in my chest. “I can’t believe there’s an actual chance I could lose the twins, that they could be taken away from me.” My voice cracked. I hadn’t even brought myself to voice this fear until now.
“And they shouldn’t be, Allison. They love you. They always have, and you’re their cornerstone now. Any further disruption in their lives will only make things more difficult for them, and Jim’s parents should realize that. I’m actually kind of surprised that they’re taking this action if they’re really concerned for the twins.”
Nick stepped closer, cupping my face in one hand. His touch was soothing.
“I don’t want you to lose them. Hell, I’ve grown closer to them, too, and really don’t want to see them moved to God knows where. They have stability here, and together we could make it even more stable for them. But it has to be fair for you too.”
Everything he was saying was so selfless, so kind. I’d always been aware that Nick was drop-dead gorgeous.
“You want me to take out the chocolate now?” he asked in a lighthearted tone. Which of course immediately distracted me.
“No. First the pizza, then the chocolate at the end so I can properly savor it.”
“Duly noted.” He frowned as he added, “You won’t lose them, Allison. No matter what you decide, I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that doesn’t happen.” He didn’t seem lighthearted at all right now. In fact, he sounded very determined. I hadn’t heard this tone of voice from him before.
“Apparently you’re even willing to marry me,” I teased.
“I fucking am.” He dropped his hand, taking a step back.
“I’m sorry, I still... This doesn’t feel real.”
I took another sip of wine and then found my voice. “How would it even work? And for how long?”
“We’d have to ask Hugo that,” Nick replied in a measured tone. He took a sip from his glass as well without breaking eye contact. “As for the logistics, I think we’d have enough time to discuss those. I could move here, or we could all go to my place. It’s certainly big enough. The twins could each have their own room if they wanted to. If not, they could sleep together and have a separate playroom.”
Warmth traveled through me, and it wasn’t from the wine. He’d actually thought about making a playroom for the twins. How cute was that?
“Maybe it would be best if we stayed here,” I replied. “Less change for them. But I don’t have a spare bedroom for you.”
Was that a blush creeping up my cheeks? They were definitely hotter than a few seconds ago.
Nick curved his lips up into a smile. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” He sounded a little bit smug, almost like he had insider information.
How would it feel to have him here in my house every evening?
“I could sleep in the twins’ room. But what would we tell everyone? Our friends and families? God, this is...” I set my glass down. “Yeah, it’s time for chocolate now.”
“But you didn’t finish your pizza yet.”
“I know. Still, I need sugary reinforcements.”
He laughed, taking out the chocolate. Dark cocoa and raisins—perfect combo. I immediately ate four pieces, carefully chewing. Delicious.
“Right. Now I’m better equipped to think.”
Nick laughed. “You’re a strange creature.”
I grinned at him. “I’m a very logical person. That’s why I’m a CFO. But there’s not a lot of logic to this. I mean, there is, but you know what I mean.” My heart was thundering in my chest. “I don’t think we could get around this without actually living in the same place.”
“We could ask Hugo. Don’t think about it too much, okay? Maybe he’ll say it’s okay for us to keep separate residences. Though I can’t imagine that.”
“I doubt that, too, but we’ll see.” I bit the inside of my cheek. “Let’s talk with Hugo first. I mean, this would be legal, right? What if they realize it’s just a marriage of convenience? Would that count against me?”
“Allison,” Nick whispered. “Relax. I didn’t want to cause you even more stress.”
“I don’t know why I’m suddenly so worked up,” I confided, then started to roll back my shoulders. It wasn’t helping.
I put a hand at the back of my neck, massaging it.
“It hurts there?” he asked.
“A bit. Whenever I get tense, that spot immediately becomes sore.”
He brought his right hand to the back of my neck too. His touch electrified me as he pressed his fingers along the nape. I immediately dropped my own hand, and then he pressed one finger on that same spot.
“Oh,” I murmured, closing my eyes. “You’re so good at this.”
“That’s a trigger point.”
I took in a deep breath. I couldn’t believe how good his touch felt. I wanted more of it. I wanted it everywhere, sore spot or no. This felt...
Oh my God. My eyes flew open. Did I moan, or do I just think I did?
Nick took in a sharp breath.
Holy shit. I did.
I started to cough, hoping it would somehow mask the whole thing. Nick moved his chair back, dropping his hand.
Come up with something smart, Allison. Take his mind off it. Distract, distract, distract!
“How did you learn to do trigger-point massage?” I asked, trying to keep my voice blasé, as if I was genuinely interested in this and not just trying to hide that he’d turned me on by massaging the back of my neck. “I thought you just managed the clubs.”
“Sometimes, when I bring in people to instruct courses for our trainers, I sit in on them too. I like to check the quality of the teachers and learn new techniques.”
“Smart. Well, that really helped. Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” Yet again, his voice sounded different—rougher. “I have an idea. I’ll call Hugo and tell him to see us first thing in the morning.”
“Think he’ll have time?”
“If we go really early, yes.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “That’s a great idea. Otherwise, I’ll drive myself crazy. Let me just check with Doreen to see if she can take the twins to daycare. She’s had to do it once or twice when I had a meeting out of the office first thing in the morning.”
“Perfect. Now, how about we enjoy the rest of the pizza and the chocolate—in whichever order you want,” he added with a cheeky smile, “and not talk about this any longer.”
“We could try, but I’m not sure.”
“Then let’s make a deal: whenever one of us brings up the topic—”
“Let me guess, the other one does something outrageous?” I asked.
He grinned. “You’ve read my mind. See? This will work out perfectly.”