Page 56 of Some Sort of Crazy (Happy Crazy Love 2)
“You should definitely partner up.” Miles picked up his beer. “Natalie is wickedly talented and totally dedicated to what she does. Although I do think she works too hard.”
I slapped his leg. “Stop it. I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Honestly, I’d love to talk about working together on something in that area,” Nick said, bracing his hands on the bar. “My wife’s best friend and her husband have a winery up there, so we’ve visited a lot.”
“Which winery?” I asked.
“Abelard Vineyards,” he said.
I slapped a hand on my chest. “My sister works there! Is your wife’s friend Mia Fournier?”
He nodded and smiled. “Yeah. Small world.”
“It’s a fantastic spot. So beautiful—in fact, my sister is getting married there this fall.”
“I’ll have to check it out,” Miles said. “In fact, I told Skylar yesterday I’d come to her wedding.” Then he shuddered. “Although those things give me hives.”
Nick rolled his eyes and looked at me. “Good luck with him, Natalie.” He pulled a card from his back pocket and slid it across the bar from me. “When you’re ready, give me a call and we can talk. That way I can tell my wife I’m actually doing something about it. She’ll be delighted with me.”
“Maybe she’ll even do something nice for you,” Miles said. “You should have her read my blog post today. It’s about blowjobs.”
“Miles!” I hit him on the shoulder, mortified he’d said that out loud.
Nick laughed. “She doesn’t need any help there. Besides, what I want takes the real deal.”
Miles’s jaw dropped. “You want another kid? Don’t you have, like, two of those things already?”
“Three.” Nick’s dark eyes lit up, which I thought was really sweet, especially compared to the way Miles reacted to the subject of kids. “All boys. I want to try for a girl, but Coco gives me the evil eye every time I mention it.”
“That’s because children interfere with all the best things in life—sex, sleep, and drinking.”
His words stung, which was so dumb. It’s not like I hadn’t known his views on marriage and family before. I’d just teased him about it last week!
But you didn’t have these feelings for him last week.
I forced the realization from my head. It wouldn’t do me any good to dwell on my growing feelings for him. They couldn’t go anywhere.
Nick shrugged. “Can’t argue there. But they’re worth it.” Our food arrived, and he stepped back to give the server room to set down the plates. “Enjoy, you guys. Nice meeting you, Natalie. Looking forward to hearing from you. See you, Miles.”
“Nice meeting you too.” I smiled at him and dropped my eyes to my plate.
“Think you’ll call him?” Miles asked, dumping a pool of ketchup onto his plate.
“Maybe.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Why?”
“Because I know you, Nixon. What is it?”
I glanced at him, and he was so cute, and so concerned, and we were such old friends that I almost figured, fuck it—I’ll tell him the truth.
Almost.
I faked a smile. “Nothing, really. I’m just thinking about my shop. Thinking about what I’d do with it if I decided to do something different.”
That seemed to satisfy Miles, and we spent the rest of dinner chatting about the possibilities. When we were done, Miles wanted to take me to a place called The Sugar House for drinks, which was just across the street and down a few blocks. We said goodbye to Nick and left the restaurant, and Miles grabbed my hand as we hurried across busy Michigan Avenue. He didn’t let go when we got to the other side, my heart beat quicker as we strolled hand in hand in the dark. God, I wish things were different. This feels so good with him, so easy.
