really were engaged, although his future sister-in-law may be well aware that the two of them were staying in separate rooms. He wasn’t sure. But it couldn’t hurt to make them sound coupled up.
“Let’s go.” Charlie pushed her chair back and stood, grabbing her phone and coffee cup. “I’m going to get a refill. I’ll catch up with you in a second.”
Elizabeth waited until Charlie was out of earshot to step closer and whisper, “We like her.”
By then, the other bridesmaids had joined them, and two nodded in agreement. The other looked bored. Caroline just stared at him, seemingly studying his reaction. He wondered if she suspected that he and Charlie weren’t really a couple for some reason.
Nah. There was no way. He was just being paranoid.
“Thanks,” Nicholas said as he stepped away from them to follow Charlie out the door. “I’ll see you guys at the altar.”
Caroline still stood there, watching them, as Elizabeth called out her goodbyes and the group turned to head back to the elevator. Weird.
“Did you notice something about that Caroline person?” Nicholas asked while they waited for the valet to pull his car around.
“The one your mom wants to fix you up with, you mean?” Charlie added a teasing smile to that question, which lessened the impact a little. He smiled in response. “She stares at us. I noticed.”
“Weird, huh? It’s almost as if she’s onto us.”
Charlie stared at him, her lips parted slightly, as though she was preparing to say something. But before she could speak, his car appeared in front of them, interrupting the conversation.
That was fine with Nicholas. The last thing he wanted was to talk about Caroline, his mom, the wedding, or anything else. He was here to enjoy spending time with Charlie while he could.
15
Charlie was getting a workout. And that was the understatement of the year.
“I think you’re trying to kill me,” she said to Nicholas as she stepped halfway up the second set of stairs.
The Lyon Street Steps was supposedly the “best show in town.” That was how Nicholas had sold it, anyway. They’d parked at the bottom and begun the long walk up to the top. She wasn’t sure how many steps there were, but the staircase was so steep, she bet no less than ninety thousand.
The problem was, Nicholas seemed to have no problem tackling these stairs. It even seemed like he slowed his pace to let Charlie keep up. This was kicking her butt.
“Sorry,” Nicholas said. “We’re almost there. Just a dozen or so steps farther.”
“A dozen or so steps” was way underplaying it. Charlie didn’t count them, but she’d guess there were at least thirty before they reached the top. The closer they got to the top, the more they had to make way for the runners who were heading down.
She supposed she’d asked for that. The first day she met Nicholas, when asked what was the most dangerous thing she’d agreed to do, she’d answered “hiking.” As he’d parked and told her what they were about to do, he told her this was the closest they could get to hiking right now. They were “hiking” up stairs in the middle of one of the most populous cities in the country.
“This is the best part. Come over here.”
Charlie’s foot had just left the top step when Nicholas gestured for her to join him. He was standing there, looking toward the staircase they’d just exited.
As she turned and took in the scene in front of them, her breath caught for a completely different reason. Wow. She immediately saw why he’d called this the best view in town.
“This is why I do the run up first,” he admitted. “The walk down is something else entirely. Let’s go.”
Already? Charlie needed to catch her breath.
“Water.” Charlie uncapped the bottled water—they’d stopped to buy one for each of them on the drive here—and took a long swig. It wouldn’t be enough to help get her energy back, though.
“We can rest up a minute,” Nicholas offered, seeming to get what was happening here. “I plan to take it easy on the way down. Just a little bit at a time. It’s all about the view.”
Charlie nodded, but she was still worried she couldn’t keep going. What if she passed out or something? Sure, it would be great to be rescued by Nicholas, especially if it meant mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but it would also be embarrassing.
“We can walk,” Charlie said after taking a deep breath, her heart rate slowing just a