Nick looked unsure, but Tim chuckled and nudged my shoulder. “I might go see what’s keeping your mum.”
Subtle. I took a moment inspecting my fingernails before meeting his eyes again. “That was Tim, my stepdad.”
Confusion and then relief washed over his face. “Stepdad? He didn’t look much older than you.”
Not the first time I had heard as much. “Why don’t you climb up, and we can talk? I don’t want to lose this spot by going for a walk now.”
After climbing up and accepting a drink, Nick was chewing on his bottom lip before we both spat out apologies at the same time.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry, you go first.”
“No, you.”
Another awkward silence followed.
This time, Nick broke the silence first.
“I really am sorry. I didn’t handle things very well. At all. Let me spit all this out. I can handle club hook-ups fine. That’s my normal. I haven’t felt the connection I feel with you before, and it threw me. I felt unsteady. and I hate that feeling. I spent the last couple of weeks trying to get you out of my system.”
I cringed, trying not to think exactly what he had been doing to get me out of his system, but my stupid brain chose to provide illustrations in technicolour. I tried to block out those images and concentrate on what he was saying.
“I didn’t want to get more invested in something I couldn’t see working. I tend to overthink things and then look at all the potential problems. That’s just how I work. It’s useful in my job. Not so useful in my private life. I know I should have talked to you first, but I was already second-guessing if I could risk this going wrong, and when that guy at the airport referred to me as your boyfriend and you called it a date, I panicked. I had finally decided that moving on and getting you out of my system wasn’t working, but then I no idea what to do. Not my finest behaviour.”
I took a deep breath. “Look, I’m sorry about the text last night. I was lashing out like a two-year-old. I know you don’t know me well enough to believe this, but that really wasn’t like me. There is something about you, or me when I’m with you—I don’t know, something different. I just thought we could explore that. I know what Sean and guys like him think of me. I guess I behave with them the way they expect me to, so I guess I can’t expect you to think any different. But I would prefer not to get into an in-depth discussion about my sexual preferences in a tree in front of this many people, okay?”
Nick smiled and nodded in the direction Tim had headed. “Is he really your stepfather?”
My phone beeped, and I glanced at it. Tim.
The tree is all yours, text us later.
I laughed. “Yeah, he really is. My mum was pretty young when she had me. My biological father was an exchange student from Italy that pissed off home before she even knew she was pregnant, so I’ve never met him. She met Tim when I was sixteen. He’s a bit younger than her, so he’s only eleven years older than me. It doesn’t help he still looks young for his age.”
“Ahh. The dark hair, dark eyes. I didn’t really pick Italian, but it makes sense.”
After a bit more conversation about Mum and Tim, I figured I would jump in the deep end. “So what are we doing? I mean, umm, I’m not asking about plans for the future, but are we giving this a go? Because I like you and I would really like a chance to get to know more about you, but I don’t even know your last name, or, well, anything, really.”
He smiled and nodded again. My smile, this time. “I’d really like to try. I’m not sure I won’t screw it up, but I would like to try.”
The rest of the afternoon flew by, chatting about anything and everything. Nicholas—well Nicholas Hennington to be precise—was the CFO for Allegra hotels, which I had never heard of. But, as he explained, it’s the parent company that owns hotels in Sydney and Melbourne, and they were looking at the possibility of purchasing a resort in Queensland and another hotel in Canberra. The guy from the phone call really was his best friend and the CEO.
The only time there was any tension was when the questions drifted to family.
“So what part of England did you grow up in?”
“Originally from London, but all over, sort of.”
He didn’t sound like he was going to continue, so I tried another question. “How about your family? Are they still in England?”
“Yes.”
Okay. So family was not the way to get him to open up. I really hoped I hadn’t hit a nerve.
I steered the conversation back to work and friends, which, based on his reactions, was a far safer topic.
Before I knew it, the air was cooling down as the sun lowered towards the hill behind us. I honestly couldn’t name a single song played all afternoon, but I hadn’t enjoyed a day so much in a while. I wiggled on the tree branch. “The tree was a great idea, but seriously, my arse hurts right now.”
Nicholas raises an eyebrow at me, and I thank God I don’t really blush with my complexion.
“You know what I meant,” I grumbled.
Nicholas jumped out of the tree, landing gracefully, and I passed him the rubbish. I jumped down, landing easily but slightly less gracefully, and rubbed my arse as I stood up.
“Why don’t we grab dinner on the way home?” Nick offered quietly.
I swallowed and couldn’t agree fast enough. “Sure, yeah, sounds good. I’m happy with anything.”
I texted Mum to let her know I was heading off and I would see them for lunch tomorrow.
We walked slowly back through the Corso to the ferry wharf and grabbed a table at one of the restaurants. The air had cooled, and we sat inside out of the wind in comfortable silence, watching the lights out on the harbour. Nicholas told me about a boat trip he took a few years ago, where a guy tried to pick up his best friends’ sister despite feeling a little seasick and ended up vomiting at her feet instead. One story lead to the next, and by the time we finished dinner, I was laughing, completely full and still more than a little buzzed from the afternoon of drinking.
We caught the ferry back across to Circular Quay together. When it was time for me to jump on the next ferry, we both hesitated saying goodbye, not wanting the day to end.
“Thank you.”
“For what?” Nick asked.
“For coming today, for a great afternoon, for taking a risk, for buying me dinner.”
He smiled. “Thank you for making me want to. And thank you for accepting my apology. And… and thank you for one of the best afternoons I have had in a really long time.”
He leaned forward and kissed my cheek, lingering with his lips pressed against me. He pulled back so slowly, and the look in his eyes nearly made me melt at his feet. It was heat and something more. Before I could work it out, he leaned in again, his lips barely touching mine.
“I’ll see you soon.”
Lunch the following day at Mum’s was exactly the Spanish inquisition I expected. I hadn’t even finished closing the door when Mum was hugging me.
“He is so cute. Oh my God. So what happened? You didn’t say he was so hot. What did he say? Did you apologize? God, talk about sexy.”
I wrestled my way through to the kitchen as Tim grabbed Mum’s hand to slow her down. “Baby, one, let him get all the way in the house, and two, I’m right here, damn it!”