gotten me was a giant eyeroll and a sweet thanks-but-no-thanks kiss.
I got that Nicole needed to pursue her own goals, find her own way, separate and apart from me, but I didn’t want her to go too far. No doubt she’d snag a lucrative job in London. She had too much experience and education not to get her choice of positions.
The only downside about Nicole deciding to stay in England was her love of the water, and the lack of balmy beaches here in the UK.
Luckily, her husband-to-be had access to the entire world at his fingertips, and a private jet to fly us wherever she wanted to go.
As promised, Leo was working on getting me certified for scuba during his brief visits to England, so I’d be able to take Nicole to dive anywhere in the world she wanted to go.
“Is everything okay, Damian? You look deep in thought,” Nicole said as she walked into the sitting room and curled up on the sofa right next to me.
I shot her a guilty grin. “I guess I was supposed to be working.” I set my laptop aside. “But my mind keeps leading me to more stimulating places.”
She scooted closer, and I pulled her into my lap.
I still had a hard time believing this woman was really mine, so any close physical reassurance I could get was definitely helpful.
She made a face. “Do I really want to know where your dirty mind has been for the last couple of hours?”
“You love my dirty mind. Admit it, woman.”
She smiled. “Okay. Sometimes I do.”
I lifted a brow. “Sometimes?”
“Okay, maybe it’s a little more often. Is that really where your mind has been?”
“No. I was thinking about us, and how lucky I am to have you.” I didn’t see a single reason not to be totally honest with Nicole about everything.
Her face softened. “You know I feel the same way.”
I knew she did, and that fact still fucking amazed me every single day.
“Did you decide where you want to go for our honeymoon?” I wanted Nicole to choose our destination since I’d pretty much been everywhere.
“I want to go to so many places, so it’s hard to make a final decision.”
“We’ll get to all of them, eventually.” I hoped she’d be free enough to travel with me when I had to go. Leaving her behind would be pure hell for me.
She sighed. “I’ll think about it more and let you know. Have you heard from Dylan? Is he coming to the wedding?”
“He was invited.” My twin was still a sore spot for me. “I can’t force him to come. I guess if he shows up, he shows up. It’s not going to make or break our wedding. This is about us, not him.”
“I know,” Nicole said, sounding contemplative. “But I know you two were always close.”
“I’m content in the knowledge that I’ve done everything I can, love. Ultimately, he has to decide what he wants.”
It killed me to be hands-off with Dylan, but I had no choice if I wanted him to stand on his own two feet. I’d released a substantial amount of money into his bank account, a sum that would probably last him several years.
“I think he’ll be okay,” Nicole said softly. “Maybe he just needs more time.”
I was on board with giving him all the time he needed. I’d restructured the upper echelons of Lancaster to put my executives to work, and decrease my workload.
I could stay hopeful, but be prepared in the event that Dylan decided he never wanted to come back as a partner in Lancaster International.
I tightened my arms around Nicole as I said, “Don’t worry about Dylan. That situation is out of our control.”
“I’m not worried about Dylan,” she corrected me. “I’m worried about you.”
Bloody hell! The woman could see right through me. I found that both comforting and frightening at the same time.
“I’m the happiest guy in the world, love. In one more month, I’ll be married to you.” I took her left hand, and kissed the ring I’d put on her finger a few days after I’d asked her to marry me.
Nicole had wanted a simple design, so all I’d insisted on was having a total of thirteen stones.
It was our lucky number, after all.
“I love my ring,” she said when I released her hand.
“More than you love me?” I teased.
Okay, I was joking, but maybe I was fishing, too. A guy couldn’t really hear those words often enough.
“Not even close,” she assured me.