Waking Up to You Overexposed - By Leslie Kelly Page 0,144
eyebrows. “If only I had a partner to take up the slack.”
Nick managed to suppress a sigh. Then he turned his attention to Izzie. “I was just on my way to the bakery. I’m jonesing for something sweet.”
She chuckled. “I was last night, too. I almost dashed out and got a Ho Ho to tide me over until you...” She quickly snapped her mouth shut, remembering Tony was there.
His oldest brother had never been the king of tact. In fact, his wife affectionately called him Lunkhead. Well, usually affectionately. Right now, however, Tony managed to pull it off. “Well, it was great seeing you, Iz, but I have to get back to work. Nick, you’re gonna swing by the bank after you go up to the bakery and grab us some of Izzie’s fabulous cannolis?”
They had plenty of cannolis left in the restaurant, but, he assumed, it was the best Tony could do on such short notice. “Sure, Tony. You bet.”
They both watched Tony go back into the restaurant, with breezy hellos and good wishes to every customer he passed on the way back to the kitchen. When they were alone on the sidewalk, Izzie continued to stare at the glass restaurant door. Finally, she murmured, “He knows, doesn’t he?”
Nick nodded. “Yeah.”
“How?”
With a helpless shrug, he told her the truth. “He saw the look on my face when I saw you walking toward me just now.”
She finally tore her gaze off the door and directed it toward him. Staring into his eyes, she searched for the meaning of what he’d said.
He didn’t try to hide it. He was in love with Izzie and his eyes affirmed that, even if his mouth didn’t.
He just didn’t know if she’d want to see the truth there.
He understood why she wouldn’t. Putting the reality of their feelings out there meant they had to deal with them. It meant she could accuse him of breaking their “secret lovers” deal and freeze him out of her life again.
It could also mean she’d acknowledge that she was falling for him, too. And that maybe they could make something work between them. Something good. Right.
“And she’ll blab to the known universe and the neighborhood will have me married and fat before winter and my parents will be eyeing a perfect little row house for us right up from theirs, getting our future kids on the waiting lists to go to Sacred Heart and St. Raphael’s.”
She sounded pained, as if the very idea of living that life devastated her. He understood why. Because he didn’t want it, either. Any of it. Oh, he wanted Izzie, no doubt about it. But as for how they lived? Well, it wouldn’t be like anything anybody on Taylor Street would understand.
But before he could reassure her, Izzie shook her head and started walking. “I can’t talk about this now. Not here.”
He fell into step beside her. “Tonight.”
“I’m going to my parents’ tonight. My sister Mia’s coming into town for the weekend and I had to promise to come for dinner—which I can’t do tomorrow or Sunday.”
In a normal relationship, she’d ask him to come with her. In a normal relationship, he’d do it.
They weren’t normal, of course.
“Call me when you’re done and I’ll meet you at your place.”
She hesitated, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. “I need a little time, Nick. Just a little time. Can we...maybe take a break until tomorrow?”
One night. She wasn’t asking for much. But the thought of going without her tonight nearly killed him.
“All right, Izzie.” He caught her arm, holding her elbow before she could stalk away. She looked frantically from side to side, as if to see if anyone was watching, but Nick didn’t release her. “Don’t panic,” he ordered her. “Don’t see trouble where there is none.”
She flashed him a grateful smile, murmured, “I’m mentally kissing you goodbye,” then tugged her arm free and walked away.
He mentally kissed her goodbye, too, until she disappeared into the bakery.
* * *
SPENDING FRIDAY NIGHT with her family actually turned out to be a very good experience. Izzie had been half dreading it, since she’d felt like an alien among all of them since the day she’d gotten home. But something about this gathering was different. Maybe because Mia was home and therefore got a lot of the attention. Or because Gloria’s boys were there—the grandsons always caused everything else to cease to exist