Saturday, December 31
After dressing in a fresh suit and an open-collared shirt, Nicholas headed to his bedroom wall safe.
Spinning the dial this way and that to the familiar clicks, he unlocked it, removed the ring box, and closed his vault back up.
He had waited so long to place this ring on Angelica’s finger.
His endless wait was finally coming to an end.
The love of his life would finally be back in his arms.
Hopefully, he can persuade Angelica that a long engagement isn’t necessary. The sooner, the better. He didn’t want a big wedding with tons of guests gawking at them, either. They would fly to a tropical paradise to get married on the beach. Angelica deserves that.
Nicholas crossed the foyer, a glint in his dark eyes and a bounce in his step. “How was the baby shower, sweetheart?”
Angelica flung her jacket onto a chrome-and-leather side chair. “Awful,” she said, coughing up a distressed sigh. “One hundred people rejoicing over Tessa’s upcoming blessing. It’s a good thing they served spiked punch. But you wouldn’t understand, Nicky.”
“Of course, I understand. Come here, darling.” Nicholas opened his arms for a hug. Reluctantly, Angelica stepped into his embrace in the middle of the floor. “I’m sorry. Don’t go to them again. You shouldn’t have gone in the first place.”
Angelica’s voice cracked as she spoke. “If that wasn’t bad enough, everyone was staring at me and muttering under their breath. It couldn’t be more obvious. I felt like a freak. It had to be my hideous scar. I have no one to blame but myself. How could I be so stupid, walking in front of a truck?”
“Nothing about you is stupid. It was an accident, darling. They happen all the time. Thank God you survived.” He gazed into her sad eyes.
“The heck with those women. They were being catty. It has nothing to do with the scar. No one can even see it. They’re jealous of how beautiful you are and of the gorgeous necklace you’re wearing.
” He fingered the diamond on full display around her neck.
She wasn’t wearing the necklace at the party!
It was in her pocketbook. She only put it on in the limo before she came up to the condo.
They were gossiping about her. Women covered their mouths, and when they spotted her, they dropped their hands and smiled.
The kind of fake, patronizing smile you flash when you’ve been caught doing something you didn’t want to be caught doing.
Her heart sank. Most of the ladies were her extended family.
They’d never accept her for who she is now—the woman who frequently limps, the woman with the gruesome scar.
Nicholas dropped a peck on her head. “Forget the whole thing. Get changed, and then we’ll go out to dinner. We can snuggle up and ring in the New Year together after our night on the town.”
The very last thing Angelica wanted to do was celebrate.
Anything! Engagements, the New Year, and ever-after life plans.
During the four-hour limo ride from her home, she kept vacillating about Nicky.
At one point in her mindful trip, she considered “consulting” Jack, much as one might consult a bartender for relationship advice.
Then she thought better of it. The chauffeur would lean heavily toward his paycheck.
“Can we bring in? I’m exhausted.”
“Are you getting any sleep?”
Sleep? As a matter of fact, no.
“It’s been a long and upsetting day,” she insisted, shaking her head.
“I’m not pushing you if you’re tired, darling. Is Chinese okay?”
“Chinese sounds great,” Angelica said, more relieved to avoid a big night out than enthused about the dinner option. “Greenhill County doesn’t have any decent Chinese restaurants.”
“I don’t think there’s anything decent up there except you, Angel.” Nicholas lifted Angelica’s chin, and his lips met hers with urgency and unspoken promises.
Angelica decided it was quite a kiss—an eye-opener.
But her eyes didn’t stay open for long. A kiss reminiscent of Christmas Eve, one that found her remembering what she had forgotten.
She was starting to melt, not because of what she had drunk at the party.
The unrestrained kiss left them clinging to each other and close to panting.
She fell against Nicky’s chest when they parted and had a quick internal debate. No, she doesn’t want this. Is she nuts? Yes, she does! Subject closed.
Under the dim light of the dining room chandelier, they shared a variety of dishes and engaged in casual conversation, washing it all down with fine, imported wine.
After munching on her fortune cookie—For a long life, don’t eat a day-old eggroll—Angelica pushed her empty plate aside.
It was time to discuss what should have been addressed while she was his freeloading boarder—her lack of sleep.
No more secrets. Why was it a secret, anyway?
This isn’t something to be ashamed of. He should know the turmoil she endured most nights if they were going to be a couple.
After savoring a long sip, Angelica said, “Nicky, I want to tell you something.”
Nicholas beamed across the table. “What is it, darling?”
Angelica placed her goblet down and, spilling her soul, became as transparent as the beveled edge of the glass tabletop.
“I’ve been having nightmares. Some man is chasing me down a dark street. It’s all I can do to get away,” she confessed anxiously. “They’ve been going on for years, and I can’t sleep anymore.”
“I’m sorry, dear.” He picked up his goblet and examined the clear liquid. “Though I don’t think you’ll have that problem tonight.”
Only a few feet separated them, yet the space felt like miles. Angelica glared at him. “I’m trying to be serious here.”
“Okay, I get it. Do you know where this is happening? Who this guy is?”
“That’s the problem. I don’t.”
“Then it must be nothing since you have no clue what it’s about. So don’t worry about it.” Nicholas shrugged, finishing the Sauvignon Blanc. The glass clinked as he set it down.
Angelica shook her head. Leave it to Nicky to feel that way. Why did she expect anything else from a car salesman? But the dream wasn’t “nothing” to her. It felt like an army, charging through her head, their weapons blaring.
“On the ride down, I was thinking about seeing a psychiatrist. But then I thought maybe a hypnotist would—”
“NO! Absolutely not!” Nicholas shouted, slamming his hand on the table, shaking everything on it like an earthquake. “You’re not going to be hypnotized!”
Angelica flinched and unconsciously pushed her chair back a few inches from the table.
“Why are you so upset? I didn’t say I wanted a lobotomy, Nicky. Don’t you want me to resolve this? Give me peace of mind,” she rambled, her head tilting ever so slightly.
“Peace of mind? Maybe there are things you shouldn’t uncover.”
“Like what?”
“What if hypnosis takes you back to the moment of the accident? Do you want to relive it? Because there’s a strong possibility it will lead you there,” he stressed, picking up the wine bottle and pouring himself a refill.
“I wasn’t at the accident scene, but I heard enough from the surgeons to know that what you endured on impact was horrific, sweetheart. Agonizing. Is that what you want?”
“I hadn’t thought of that …”
“Well, I’m putting it out there. Do you really want to risk that possibility?
If that happens, will you get better or even worse?
I fear it will be the latter. That’s why I’m so opposed.
I’m thinking of your welfare, Angel. You weren’t in a good place afterward.
I don’t want to see you go down that dark hole again.
” He raised his goblet, spun it between his palms, then drained it.
Nicky was sugarcoating things. She had been in a terrible state when she came to, not knowing what year it was and believing she was eighteen, though she was actually twenty-five. He’s right; she can’t risk it. Nothing good will come from it.
Angelica was so lost in thought, recalling her hysterical, freaked-out moment, that she didn’t hear Nicky approaching from behind. She jumped when his arms slipped around her.
Leaning in, he gently nibbled on the back of her neck. “Come on, leave everything here, Angel. I’ll clean up in the morning. Let’s sit by the fire, and see what I can do to bury your nightmares for good.”
Nicholas took Angelica’s hand and led her into the living room. Besides the blinking, sparkling lights of the Christmas tree, a mix of freezing rain and hail pelting the windows greeted them.
As they sat on the couch, Nicholas held her as the electric blaze pranced behind the glass to a hushed, fiery song.
“When I walked into the ICU, my heart stopped. I never thought I’d hold you again. I knew I’d blown it years ago and prayed for another chance for us. I love you, darling, and always have,” he crooned, brushing her hair aside and blowing seductively into her ear.
Angelica’s uncertainties faded as Nicky’s words touched her soul and his tongue traced a path down her neck.
She had longed for unconditional love and devotion.
It had been right here all along, while she dwelled in the past, refusing to let go or move forward.
She’d wasted so much precious time. The present is all that matters, and it feels as if it’s standing still.
It’s hers for the taking. She’d never get enough of this, nor would she ever think it was too much. How could there be too much?
Eager to remove clothes—hers and his—she reached for the buttons of Nicholas’s shirt.
Buttons that opened with ease, as if waiting to be undone.
Her fingers sailed across his bare chest as his kisses anointed and reconnected her with the visions of the moon beams cutting through the shadows and bathing their bodies last weekend.
They shared the same vision. This was the woman Nicholas had kissed a week ago—his little erotic angel. Angelica’s sizzling kisses begged for more, mirroring what he felt and echoing what his body was singing.