two home safely.”
“Girls’ night only happens once in a blue moon. Guess what, husbutt.” She laughs at her own rhyming word choice and continues. “It’s going to be a weekly thing now that our girl is back in town and out of hiding.”
He leans down and swings her legs that don’t seem to be working of their own accord, around out of the vehicle.
“Hell no.” He laughs and looks back at Nikki. “Did Jenny tell you my buddy Rex is taking you out next week?”
“Over my dead body!” Nikki practically yells.
“Look, babe,” he pulls Jenny out, “we have two kids inside this house, one looking straight out of a scene from The Exorcist and one, like the chicks from the movie Bridesmaids where everyone is shitting—”
“Gross.” Nikki laughs as she struggles to push the rear passenger side door open and somehow manages to get out of the car.
“Accurate,” he says, swooping Jenny up in his arms. “I know you were supposed to stay here all night and cockblock, but as usual, the kids got it covered.”
“Oh my God, Bobby!” Jenny snorts and starts laughing.
“Just warning her if she stays over, she may wake up like our two monsters,” he says as he walks toward the house.
“I have work and a job interview in Vail next week,” Nikki calls after them.
“Better ask Raff to drop you off at home then,” he calls back to her.
“No. No way. I’m not—”
I lean over the console and ask her, “You live in town or—”
“It’s not your responsibility.” She pulls her iPhone out of her Gucci handbag and holds it high above her head, clearly trying to get service.
“You won’t get service out here without Wi-Fi, and actually, it is my responsibility. You got pissed at my bar.”
She walks in a circle, looking up at her phone, and then stumbles a bit, grabbing the open door to steady herself.
“Nikki, just get back in the car.”
“No, I’m—”
“Get in before I get out and help you in.” I damn near demand but catch myself before actually doing so and quickly correct my word choice. “It’s not a problem. It would be my pleasure.”
Her spine straightens as her eyes widen.
Frustrated but doing my best to hide it, I tell her, “Just get in the car. You’ll be home in no time. I don’t mind at all.”
Finally, she does just that. Sitting on the leather seat beside me, she shuts the door.
“Seatbelt,” I say through tight lips. “Please.”
She does so, and I notice a slight shake of her hands.
“Are you cold?” She nods as I look up from her near snow-white petite hand, and I see her teeth are chattering a bit.
I reach up and tap the dash display screen, raising the interior temperature to ninety degrees, and then turn on the seat warmer.
“Tequila tremors,” she says through chattering teeth. “God, I didn’t miss this.”
“This?” I ask, backing out of the driveway and onto the road.
“I ne, ne, never got so cold in Manhattan. But here, it’s a totally different story.”
Before I have time to ask for clarification on whether she lived in Manhattan and when, she quickly says, “I’m so sorry about Hope. Jenny told me all about you in the bathroom...” She bites her lip, looking up at me apologetically.
I’ve heard that sentiment a million times since moving Nathaniel and me here. The truth though, is that the “I’m sorry” was not always given in earnestness. And more times than I can count on both fingers and toes, it eventually led to a come-on. Shifting into drive, I look out of the corner of my eye to gauge whether or not she’s being sincere. It appears she is.
“I appreciate it.” I hit the accelerator.
“God, I feel like a total bitch now. Hope was my queen, and I treated her little prince like a common thief. I’m a horrible person. You should pull over and make me walk.”
I have no intention of making her walk. “Your queen?”
“When she was crowned Holiday Springs Christmastime Queen her senior year, we were all so excited, mostly because she wasn’t the typical queen. She wasn’t a mean girl and was not about pretending to be a natural blonde like all those who came before her. The next day, I was crowned Holiday Springs Christmastime Princess. A yearly tradition.”
I nod. "I’m aware of the tradition.”
“Well, she was kind to me. Wiped my tears when all the girls who didn’t get the crown told me I only won because I looked like her. I’m