Page 81 of Unscripted with Mila

“Oh, you too?” he asked. “Spreading her joy everywhere.” He took a sip of his drink. “Tell me what she said. Let’s get this discussion over with so we can enjoy our night.”

I repeated the conversation, and his face darkened. “You aren’t a medicine, Mila. You stir something inside me. Feelings and emotions. You make me feel better because you make me feel better about myself. MJ is constantly telling me what is wrong with me. What I do that is incorrect. I think her favorite thing is to belittle me. You do the opposite. You point out what I do right. You bolster me.” He picked up my hand and kissed it. “Your touch soothes me, I admit. Being close to you makes me calmer. Knowing you’re around, I’m happier. But it was that way for my parents. I remember my dad telling my mom she was his center. She focused him.”

“What happened to your dad?” I asked.

“He died of a heart attack when I was in my teens.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.” He frowned. “You help focus me, Mila. You make me stronger, but I don’t think you’re curing me. You’re making me happier than I can recall ever feeling, but isn’t that what love is supposed to do?”

I felt my eyes widen. “Love?” I whispered.

He shook his head. “Too much?”

I had to look away from the intensity in his eyes. “No,” I whispered. “I feel it too.”

“You threaten her.”

“That’s what Andi says.”

“MJ likes—needs—to be the center of attention, no matter what. She wants the focus on her. She lives for the spotlight.” He laughed dryly. “Way more than I do. I love the work. She loves the hype. She craves it.”

“She should have been the actor.”

He lifted one shoulder. “In many ways, I think she is.”

“It would be hard to live that way,” I mused. “She must be exhausted all the time.”

He shook his head. “You are so incredible. She’s been nothing but awful to you, yet you show her grace.”

“That’s how I was raised by my parents.”

“They did an outstanding job.” He blew out a breath. “I’m glad you’re heading home soon and away from her. I’ll be anxious to join you.”

“What did she say to you?”

He told me, and it was my turn to be affronted.

“We have lots of maple syrup, but snow is only in the winter. You’ll be there during the heat of the summer. We don’t live in a frozen tundra twelve months of the year.”

“I’ll let her think that. She hates the cold, so she’ll never show up.” He chuckled. “Now, can we stop talking about her and talk about us? About what you’re going to show me in Canada?” He leaned close. “About how I’m supposed to survive once you leave?”

“It’s only for a couple of weeks. Maybe less if filming wraps up.”

He leaned forward and kissed me. “Then I am going to do my best to speed things along. My performances will be perfect.” He winked. “The best incentive I know will be having you in my arms again.”

“Okay, then.”

He laughed. “Ready to order?”

“Yes.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

NICHOLAS

Mila sat back, wiping her lips. “That was incredible.”