“Jameela Marie Rice, I’m Nicholas Toriano King, and I would love to date you for the rest of my life.”
“The rest of your life?”
“Till death do us part and all that, but let’s just take it one day at a time. Can we do that?”
I nodded my head, then turned my attention back to the TV. Things were starting to feel too intense. There was too much inthe balance. I hated the idea of hurting Nicholas when he found out the truth, but if he was the criminal they thought he was, then there was nothing I could do.
“Daddy, play the movie!” Amira demanded from her seat.
“OK. I wanted to make sure the food was ready first,” he said, picking up the remote and pressing play.
Nicholas started the movie, but I could barely pay attention for admiring his interaction with the girls. He was so good with them—even Bella, who didn’t take kindly to strangers since we spent so much time at home.
The food was delicious. I loved how much thought he put into making the night special for us. I liked that he wanted to bring me into that part of his life. It was just corny enough to be cute.
This felt like the perfect night. It was crazy that such perfection came in the form of a man who I would have to take down at some point. I was devastated at the very thought of how things would end.
It wasn’t hard to tell that he and Amira loved the movie from the start. I was so busy pigging out on the pastry dish that I didn’t even notice that Nicholas went to get dessert until I looked up and saw him coming in with them.
“Hey, Daddy!” Amira shouted in her best British accent.
I howled with laughter after hearing her little accent.
“Hey, baby.” His smile made my stomach flutter.
“Daddy, show Miss Jameela that you can talk like Harry.”
“Baby, that’s a special thing just for you.”
I held my hand up to stop his protest. “No, this is good. Show me your accent.”
“Jameela, don’t encourage the child. Are y’all ready for dessert?”
“Yes!” Amira cheered, throwing both of her arms in the air.
“I would say that I’m stuffed, but I’m afraid to miss this.”
“And I won’t let you. I worked hard on these snack carts.”
“Like from the train?” I asked, smiling harder than I expected to at the possibility.
He chuckled then settled into a smile before answering. “Yes, you’re absolutely right. I’m glad to see that you’ve been paying attention.”
Nicholas put the tray down before removing the kids’ snacks. “I made an age friendly one for baby Bella.”
I was in awe as I watched Nicholas help the girls with their treats. He was so good with them that I didn’t feel like I needed to step in and take over, and that was saying a lot. I’d expected Bella to crawl out of her chair and come over to me within a few minutes, but so far, she had been happily snacking and babbling with Amira. By the time we got to the snacks, Bella’s greedy self was in heaven with her cheese puffs.
“I’ll help her, Daddy. She likes for me to help her.” Amira insisted.
“I just want to make sure everything is all set because we’re getting to the best part of the movie.”
Watching Nicholas with his daughter brought a whole new light to the man I was already growing more and more enamored with by the day. The care and attention he paid to his daughter made me less apprehensive about bringing him into Bella’s life.
Now there was an entirely new obstacle. There was no way my luck was this bad. There had to be some outside force throwing the wrong man in my path and making me think he was Mr. Right until it was too late.
It felt useless to fight my attraction to Nicholas and even more foolish to continue to fall. The only thing I could do was enjoy the ride until it was over. By the time he carried a sleeping Bella to my car and kissed me good night, I was anticipating the next playdate.
10
