Especially the amount of money that Nick was spending.
Yes, the Internet start-up he was working for was absolutely booming, and like Nick said, he deserved to not only work hard, but play hard too. And Holly agreed, to a point. However, she couldn’t get over her discomfort at some of the lavishness of it all.
Then again, maybe she should just go with the flow, and have some fun.
She smiled and looked across the table at the man she’d now been seeing for just over a year. Ever since their first date, they had really clicked. There was no denying he treated her well, and he had told her openly that he was head over heels in love with her.
‘It is spectacular Nick, all of it. I’m very happy for you.’
He reached across the table and took Holly’s hand in his. ‘Happy forus, babe, happy for us. This is about you and me. And it’s going to impact our future. Forever. Don’t forget that.’
Holly had never known a man who talked about ‘the future’ as much as Nick did. Or rather, talked about a future with Holly, specifically. She had to admit that she still got goose bumps every time he alluded to the idea that they were in it together, for the long haul.
‘I know, Nick, it’s all a lot to get used to. I have to be honest, I’ve never drunk wine from a bottle that costs over two hundred dollars before,’ she said, and then bit her lip, raising a hand to tug at the top of the strapless Versace that Nick had insisted on buying earlier. Holly had planned on wearing the pretty twenties flapper dress she had packed, but he’d insisted she was deserving of something new, rather than something that had already been worn by ‘someone else’.
Actually, Holly thought the vintage dress to be quite lovely, but she went along with the Versace even though the price tag made her feel slightly nauseous; now she was just terrified of spilling something on it.
‘Babe, don’t fidget, you look beautiful,’ Nick reassured her, before taking another drink and refilling his glass.
Holly put her hands in her lap and sat up a little straighter.
‘I’m sorry, Nick, I didn’t mean to fidget. This all is really wonderful. I suppose maybe I’m just a little nervous.’
‘Well, let me be the first to tell you that you look ravishing when you’re nervous. So, what do you think of the hotel?’
They were staying at The Mandalay Bay, one of the hottest hotels on the strip, and Holly was still marvelling over the size of their suite. ‘It’s beautiful of course. And our suite … well, I’ve never been in a hotel room so big,’ Holly joked. ‘I think I could probably fit my apartment in it several times. So what’s planned for tonight after dinner? There are several shows that look really great,’ she continued, as their appetisers arrived. She looked at Nick’s choice of escargot and cringed. She didn’t consider herself a picky eater, but at the end of the day, these were snails.
Nick shrugged and used the tiny seafood fork to pop a snail into his mouth. ‘I just figured that we would see how the night goes. Pete and Mack were talking about hitting up the craps table, and maybe checking out this club that just opened up –I think it was at MGM.’
Holly nodded and fought back a grimace. She loved to dance as much as the next girl, but that’s exactly what they had done last night. Plus, as much as she liked the others, she honestly thought that maybe she and Nick could have a night alone, without Pete and Mack and their respective girlfriends.
‘Not sure I’m up for that tonight. Maybe you and I could do something alone?’
Nick’s face fell. ‘So you just want to go back to the room after dinner?’Holly shook her head. ‘No, no, nothing like that. I’m not a stick-in-the-mud. I just thought that maybe tonight could be about us, you and me. Maybe we can find a nice cocktail lounge, listen to some music, drink some champagne, and then take advantage of that Jacuzzi in our suite.’
Nick’s face lit up and he rose ever so briefly from his chair and leaned across the table to kiss her. ‘You know what? That sounds ideal. I’ll tell the guys that we pass.’ He quickly pulled out his mobile phone and began dialling. Holly sat back in her chair and looked around nervously. Personally, she hated it when people talked on their phones, especially in fancy restaurants.
‘Nick,’ she called out under her breath. ‘Not in the restaurant.’ He held up a finger to her; he was already talking to Pete.
She felt her cheeks flush red as a woman at the next table looked in their direction and shook her head, whispering something pointed to her dinner companion.
Holly sighed. She knew Nick’s heart was in the right place, but really she didn’t understand why he couldn’t have got up and left the restaurant to make the call. Certainly it wasn’t the first time it had happened, and he knew it got on her nerves, but insisted that technology didn’t wait and instant information was the way of the future. But Holly didn’t see why ‘instant information’ couldn’t get some manners.
‘So where were we?’ Nick said, and Holly turned to meet his eyes. Except they weren’t on her. They were focused on a long red velvet box that had suddenly appeared on the table.
‘What’s this?’ she asked, surprised.
‘Why don’t you open it and find out?’
Holly reached for the box with shaking hands. She knew it wasn’t a ring box, so this wasn’t a proposal, but it was definitely jewellery. And she knew enough about that shade of red to know this particular box had come from Cartier.
Holding her breath, she opened the lid. Inside was one of the most spectacular diamond bracelets that she had ever seen. Her breath caught in her throat.
‘Oh my goodness … Nick, oh you shouldn’t have.’
Nick smiled happily as he reached for the box and removed the bracelet from within. He then left his seat and came around the table to place it on her wrist.
‘Here, put it on. A beautiful dress like that deserves beautiful jewellery. Take off that other bracelet.’
