That's Amore! - Janelle Denison [58]
Unfortunately, knowing that now didn't help with what had gone between. The hours of soul-searching, of moving through frustration and anger to a sense of numbness and ultimately an eerie kind of clarity that made her forget she was wearing her wedding dress on the day before her wedding and Nick had seen her in it.
"You're having second thoughts," he said simply.
She looked at him.
"Refer to my earlier reference as to how I know that."
"Because you know me," she said quietly.
She felt his gaze on her while he slowly navigated the empty, winding residential streets of Grosse Point.
"Or do I?" he asked.
Her heart gave a hiccup. If even Nick was questioning his belief in her, then they were in more trouble than she feared.
He ran his right hand through his hair in a way she'd never seen him do before. It was an anxious move, one that spoke of uncertainty and doubt. And made her feel all the more confused.
"Where are we going?" she asked, noticing the way he sped up, leaving the neighborhood and heading for I-94.
"Somewhere we can talk."
THAT SOMEWHERE ENDED UP being a downtown hotel.
Efi's throat tightened and she felt terribly near tears when Nick got out, registered them, then came back out to help her from the car.
"I don't think I'm in the mood for sex right now, Nick."
He eyed her. "Funny, neither am I."
She searched his sober features, wondering just how everything had gone so wrong in such a short period of time. Had it really been earlier that day outside the police station that she couldn't get enough of kissing him, of touching him, of wanting him, restless for him to be her husband?
"Come on. I think it's a good idea if we have a talk."
She didn't move.
He sighed. "Look, I'm not about to go home just yet, and I don't think you are, either. So this is as good an idea as any others I've had." He hiked a brow. "Unless you have one?"
She didn't.
She put her hand in his, feeling the instant jolt she always felt whenever they touched. The realization was both comforting and bewildering. If she doubted everything with her mind, shouldn't her body and its messages follow suit?
Within minutes they were in the nicely appointed hotel room. It boggled the mind to think that she was in the same room with Nick with a bed in it and she wasn't trying to tackle him to it.
She looked down to realize she was still wearing her wedding dress.
"Where are you going?" Nick asked.
"To change out of this thing."
He, too, seemed to realize what she was wearing and it looked as if he'd just swallowed a goose egg whole.
Efi carefully climbed out of the dress in the bathroom and pulled on one of the white Turkish terry-cloth robes from the back of the door. She thought about draping the dress over the bed, but thought the term "big white elephant in the room" all too appropriate and instead managed to hang it on two hangers in the closet.
All too soon she stood facing Nick again. He stared at her as if he didn't know her. And, she suspected, for all intents and purposes that was probably the same way she was staring back at him.
"Well…"
"So…"
They both spoke at the same time, then awkwardly looked away.
Neither said anything for a long stretch. How long, Efi couldn't be sure, but as they stood across the room from each other she felt the gap between them grow larger and larger.
She forced herself to sit on the end of the bed and cleared her throat. "Are you thinking about not going through with this tomorrow?" she asked.
Nick looked shocked by her question. "No, no." His brows drew together. "Are you?"
"No, no," she said equally quickly.
Although given the swiftness of their answers, she doubted the honesty of them.
Both of them were clearly having second thoughts about tomorrow. They just hadn't reached the point where they were willing to admit it.
The mattress dipped low when Nick sat down next to her. Close enough to