11. Willa #2
“You should come visit me in Nashville,” Aiden suggests. “I have plenty of space, and I won’t hover and harass you like Mum does.”
“I’d love to, but I’m not sure what my current travel plans are yet.”
“Not making plans until you check with Nick, huh?” Hayes jests.
“Hayes, you are such a jackass.” I laugh, taking another swig of my mimosa as my phone rings loudly from inside my purse. When I see who’s calling, I smile.
“Speak of the devil, it’s Nick, isn’t it?”
I nod. “Let me send him a quick text.”
Me: At lunch with my brother. Can I call you when I finish?
Nick: Of course. I grabbed tickets for an afternoon matinee and dinner reservations at that Italian restaurant for tonight. That okay?
I haven’t been to the movies in years. Not including my own movie premieres, anyway. The day that Nick planned for us sounds fun.
Other times we've spent time together, the outings felt more like things that friends do. But this…this sounds a lot like a proper date, which makes me feel downright giddy.
Me: More than okay.
After we make plans to meet a little later, I place my phone onto the table and return my attention to Aiden, Hayes, and Jane.
But when I look up from my phone screen, I realize that they haven’t continued the conversation without me.
Oh no, they’ve all been watching me text with Nick. The nosy jerks.
“Uh oh, Aiden. Your little sister has it bad. Look at those pink cheeks!”
In unison, Aiden and I reply, “Shut up, Hayes.”
The rest of our brunch continues with much of the same. Me, steering the conversation away from Nick, and them, steering it right back to my fledging flirtation.
Since I walked to lunch from the hotel, Aiden offers to drop me off, and I accept.
It isn’t until he parks his truck that I realize that Aiden intends to walk me inside. “It’s okay. You can just let me out,” I suggest, hoping to sound helpful rather than desperate.
I’m meeting Nick in the hotel lobby, and I really don’t want to have an uncomfortable standoff between my bodyguard of a brother and my vacation crush.
The way Aiden smiles gives the impression that he knows exactly what I want to avoid. It hits me then that I made the critical error of leaving my phone unattended on the table when I slipped to the restroom before we left the restaurant.
“You read my texts, didn’t you?” I gasp. It feels like I’m reliving my high school years all over again. “I cannot believe you snooped through my phone!”
“What are you gonna do, Willa? Tell Mum?” Aiden scoffs with a grin. “Besides, it's your own fault for leaving your phone on the table and still using the same passcode. ”
Crossing my arms, I narrow my eyes. “You’re such a conniving little shit, you know that, right?”
Reaching across the center console, Aiden pats my head condescendingly as I slap his hand away. “Relax, Willa. I just want to thank Nick for being there for you last night. As much as I hate to admit it, I was impressed with how thoughtfully he handled your anxiety."
My jaw drops. Aiden has never warmed to any of the men that I’ve dated throughout my life.
He disliked my first and only high school boyfriend, Jason.
He barely tolerated Ben the one time he met him before we started fake-dating.
He actively loathes Baron. So, while I'm hopeful that Aiden is being honest, a large part of me expects that he has more planned for this impending conversation with Nick than a simple thank you.
Aiden jumps out and stalks toward the hotel. Hustling out of the cab of the truck, my petite legs work twice as fast to catch up with my older brother's long strides. I manage to draw near as we enter the lobby.
As I expected, Nick is waiting for me. I see him before he sees me, which gives me a moment to appraise him.
Good lord, the man is handsome. Dark blonde hair streaked with gold that's artfully tousled. A bit of scruff along that chiseled jawline. Wide shoulders that taper gradually to his trim waistline. And those crystalline blue eyes that sparkle with infectious mirth.
But the best part of seeing him first is that I’m able to witness the transformation that crosses Nick’s face when he sees me.
His eyes flare slightly and his smile doubles in size. His happiness is evident, and it increases my own joy.
As soon as I reach him, he embraces me, bestowing a kiss along my hairline, only releasing me to greet my brother.
“Aiden, nice to see you again, mate.”
Aiden glowers at Nick before curtly muttering, “You hurt her—"
“Not without her permission." And then Nick drops his eyes to me and winks. “We use the stoplight safe word system. Green means go, yellow slow, and red no. Easy to remember even in the heat of the moment. Simple and effective.”
My brother stops in his tracks as my jaw drops to the floor.
Nick did not just make a sex joke to my overprotective brother?!
For a second, I contemplate playing along and exacting a little revenge on Aiden. But then I see Aiden puffing up, looking like he’s this close to turning into The Incredible Hulk.
Probably better that I don’t poke the bear.
"He's kidding, Aiden." Staring at Nick, I incline my head toward my brother. "Tell him you're kidding, Nicholas."
Innocently, Nick holds up his hands. "Kidding, only kidding."
Although, he looks anything but innocent.
“You hurt her, you die,” Aiden grunts. Then he turns around, stomping off in the direction of his truck.
“Quite the conversationalist, your brother,” Nick remarks affably as if Aiden hadn’t threatened his life and Nick hadn’t referenced our kinky, yet (currently) non-existent sex life.
"You're trouble, Nicholas. Trouble."
"Never claimed otherwise, my darling."
A peal of laughter falls from my lips.
My entire adult life I’ve played it safe, coloring within the lines, but being around Nick makes me want to be a little reckless and impulsive.
Perhaps it’s finally time to stop overthinking and give into temptation.
Yep, I'm pressing the pedal to the metal.