Scott nodded. “In all the years I’ve known Nick, I’ve never seen him this happy.”

“We’ve only known each other for three weeks,” I said.

“And the last three weeks he’s been a changed man,” Scott said.

Sharon nodded. “He’s definitely in love.”

The word paralyzed me. The L word. I suddenly wished that Nicholas had told them the truth about us.

“I think I’ll check on Nicholas,” I said. I pushed back from the table and went into the living room. The light was off, and the room was lit by the orange-yellow fire.

Nicholas was asleep on the sofa in front of the fireplace. I sat down next to the couch and just looked at him, the flickering flames reflecting off his face. He was beautiful. More beautiful since I’d gotten to know him. Do I really make him happy? Why does our relationship feel so real? I took a deep breath. An inner voice said to me, You’re losing it, Elise. You know it’s not real. You’re going to get your heart broken. Then another voice said back, I don’t care. I lay my head against him and closed my eyes and pretended that we were the couple everyone thought we were.

Chapter Fourteen

CHAPTER

Fourteen

Cars are remarkable machines. A man may devote his life to charity, but put him in a car and take his parking stall and he’ll cut your throat.

Elise Dutton’s Diary

I woke the next morning to my phone ringing. It was still dark outside.

“Hello?” I said groggily.

“What are you doing?” Nicholas asked.

“I’m sleeping. What time is it?”

“Six. Almost.”

“Why are you calling me so early?”

“It’s Black Friday,” he said. “I need to do some Christmas shopping. Want to come?”

“Is this on our schedule?”

“No, I’m completely ad-libbing here.”

“Can I get ready first?”

“Of course. I’ll be over in twenty minutes.”

“Okay,” I said. “Wait, I can’t be ready in twenty minutes.”

“How long do you need?”

“Give me an hour.”

“That’s a lot of daylight,” he said.

“I need an hour,” I said firmly.

“All right. See you in an hour. Bye.”

“Bye.” I hung up, then climbed out of bed and took a shower to wake myself up. As usual, Nicholas was right on time.

“Where are we going?” I asked with my eyes closed, reclining the seat in his car.

“City Creek Center.”

“It’s going to be a zoo.”

“I know,” he said.

A few minutes later I asked, “Why aren’t you tired?”

“It’s a day off. Do you really want to sleep through it?”

“Yes,” I said.

The shopping center was crazy crowded, and parking was at a premium. We passed two people trying to pull into the same slot in the parking garage, both unwilling to yield. They just kept honking at each other.