“No.” Her face returned to neutral.
“You are a closeted romantic, aren’t you?” he teased her.
She ignored him. “Let me know what travel parameters you feel comfortable with, or if you’d like to be based solely out of Hope Falls, then we’ll need to look into investing in a remote space we can set up as a studio you could record in.”
They went over a few more logistical things, and then he walked her to the door. She paused as she stepped onto the porch and turned back, the tears in her eyes were back. “I’ve been… worried about you the past four years. I know turning the age your dad was when he died hit you hard.”
Whoa. Niko felt his chest ache, and it also felt like a weight was lifted off of it. Hearing someone say that out loud, just having someone notice that was…fuck. Now he had tears in his eyes.
“I know you liked baseball, but you never loved it, it loved you. But last night, seeing you with Tiana, and just now, seeing the look in your eyes when you talk about her…” She took in a deep breath and smiled. “I know you’re gonna be okay.”
“She didn’t say it back,” Niko blurted out. He wasn’t sure why. He and Jessie never talked about personal things like that. But apparently, they did now because he kept going, “I told her I loved her last night, and she didn’t say it back.”
Jessie’s smile widened, and she shook her head. “I saw her with you. She loves you. She’sin lovewith you. She’s scared to death, but she loves you. And believe me, from personal experience, if there’s one thing greater than fear, it’s love.”
Right, Niko almost forgot that Jessie had hemophobia, a fear of blood, and yet she was married to a world champion boxer.
Niko nodded, Jessie had never steered him wrong, and he had to trust that she wasn’t now. She headed down the steps and was halfway to her Mercedes when she glanced back. “Yes, I am a hopeless romantic, and if you tell anyone, I will not only deny it, I will sue you for defamation of character.”
“No worries, Sunshine. Your secret is safe with me.”
His phone vibrated in his pocket as he watched Jessie get in her car. He pulled it out and saw that G’s sisters were on board, and it was time to don his Cupid’s bow and arrow.
Niko answered, “Wesley, hi, thanks for getting back to me. I know you don’t know me. I’m a friend of Gianna Lewis, we actually used to date, and I was wondering if we could talk.”
32
Tears stung Tiana’s eyes,but she refused to let them fall as she stood in the living room and heard Jessie speaking to Niko in the sunroom. They hadn’t heard her come in, and she’d nearly announced her arrival, but now she was glad she hadn’t. As quietly as she possibly could, she turned on her heels and walked out the front door.
Each step she took down the driveway felt definitive, final. She couldn’t quite put her finger on why it felt so wrong to her that Niko hadn’t disclosed to her that their fake relationship had been a PR stunt to improve his reputation, considering it was fake after all, but it bothered her. It bothered her…a lot.
And the paparazzi. He’d hired the paparazzi. Why? Why hadn’t he just told her that?
There was no reason to hide that piece of the puzzle, so why? Why had he?
Jessie’s words kept playing on repeat over and over as she walked down the street in the snow.
“The general public’s insatiable thirst for a redemption arc.”
“The bad boy meeting the one woman who changes his ways.”
“They love that you have given up your womanizing.”
“Ate up that it’s Tiana, your enemy’s ex.”
“They really believe you are a couple.”
A car pulled up beside her, but she didn’t pay it any attention. The last thing she wanted was to face anyone in her state.
“Hey, should you be out walking? You just got over being sick?”
She turned and saw it was Poppy and Tabitha, whom she nannied for.
“I’m fine,” she assured her.
Poppy tilted her head to the side. “I might not know Niko that well, but he shares near-identical DNA with my baby daddy and, oh, I guess, hubby—that’s weird to say… anyway, I know for a fact Niko would not want you walking out in this cold, just let us give you a ride. It’s not like it would be out of our way, nothing in Hope Falls is out of the way.”
Poppy had a point, and, if she were being honest, sledging through the cold didn’t exactly sound like fun.
