“Well, yeah, but … you’ve told me before. But I didn’t know if I should believe you or not.” Lucky said. Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink and she looked away and then looked back at him.
Nick looked at Lucky, dumbfounded, with his mouth open, ready to speak. However, words could not come to him. Lucky looked at him, innocently biting her lip and waited for some kind of reaction. Before she knew it, Nick was standing up, pacing by the window with his hands folded behind his head.
“Nick, can you please say something? You’re making me nervous.” Lucky said, pulling the sheet tighter to her body.
Nick looked from Lucky to the window and back again before stopping in his tracks. “Are you sure I’ve told you before?”
Lucky nodded and was about to say something, when she decided it was better if she kept her information to herself, until he asked. She could tell that Nick was asking questions in his eyes, but she wanted him to remember on his own.
“Oh my God.” He said, as if the memory was surfacing. “Please. Lucky. Please tell me I wasn’t … I wasn’t drunk when I said it, was I?”
“I’m afraid so. That’s why I questioned it. I didn’t know if you were serious or not.” Lucky said and got up from the bed. She made her way to Nick and then sat down on the window seat framing the bedroom. He sat next to her and put his elbows on his knees and then rubbed his face with his hands, finally resting with his fingertips on his mouth.
“I am so sorry.” Nick said through his fingers and glanced over at Lucky. His eyes held the truth of his apology and a slight question of forgiveness. “I am so sorry that you had to be with Hunter because I was a stubborn asshole. And I’m sorry that you had to hear it from me when I wasn’t in the right frame of mind. You don’t deserve that.”
“It’s ok Nick.” Lucky tried to start talking, but Nick cut her off again.
“I knew I said something to you that night. You were acting weird that day and I should have known that something was going on. I’m sorry. Lucky, I’m so sorry.”
Lucky took his hands into hers and smiled at him. “Nick, will you stop apologizing? I’m glad you said something when you did. It made me start thinking about how I really felt about you.”
“Yeah, but if I wasn’t drunk, you’d have heard it in a better way. I wouldn’t have just blurted it out.” Nick said and put his arm around Lucky, as she rested her head on his shoulder.
“Actually, it was pretty romantic. Well, until you fell asleep.” Lucky said and giggled against Nick’s bare chest.
“Oh my God. I fell asleep? I must have been pretty gone. What else did I say?” Nick asked, wincing in fear of her answer.
“You told me that you would do anything for me and that you would die for me.” Lucky said, growing quiet. She looked up and her green eyes bore into Nick soul.
His blue eyes returned her gaze and he said, “I want you to know that that’s true. I would die for you Lucky.” He kissed her softly on the lips and then released her and got up from the seat. “I’m going to take a shower. Want to join me?” Lucky met Nick’s playful gaze and stood up.
She dropped the sheet she was loosely holding around her body and said, “Not if I get there first.”
One they had both showered and changed into regular clothes, Nick checked them out of the hotel and they went back home to find Nick’s siblings long gone. There was a note on the kitchen counter from the younger Carters thanking their big brother for letting them stay at his place. Nick dropped his and Lucky’s bags in the living room and sat on the couch.
Lucky traced the familiar path to her bedroom when she heard Nick’s voice calling out. “Where are you going?”
Lucky poked her head around the corner of the hallway and said, “My room. Why?”
“Well, because that’s not your room anymore. I want you to stay with me now. Ok, done deal, no questions asked.” Nick said and lazily closed his eyes.
Lucky stood at attention in the hallway and said “Yes sir!” and then saluted. She heard Nick laugh and continued to her old room. She found her laptop and brought it into the living room. She sat down in the comfy chair across from the couch Nick was now laying down on.
She noticed that his breathing was deep and even and realized that he was sleeping. “Good, now I can get some work done.” She thought to herself. She walked over to her duffle bag and pulled out the digital camera she had been snapping photos with the night before.
Plugging it into her computer, she looked over at Nick and realized that they had only taken one picture the entire night. Hopefully someone else had gotten some pictures of them dancing.
She smiled at his peaceful state and returned her attention to the computer. Uploading the pictures, she was happy to see that she had gotten plenty of pictorial evidence of Kevin’s look-a-like, Jesse.
There were pictures upon pictures of her with Jesse, of Jesse with Kevin, Jesse with the other Boys. As she looked closer at the pictures, she noticed the small differences in appearance between Jesse and Kevin. Jesse was a little bit shorter, had slightly longer hair, and had a small freckle on the right corner of his mouth.
However, those minor differences still caused them to look like twins. She e-mailed the pictures to Peterson and exited her e-mail server. She sat back in the chair and turned on the TV. Flicking channels until she settled on “Parental Control” on MTV, Lucky found herself falling asleep too. She put down the remote and cuddled into the cushions. She fell asleep with visions of being wrapped in Nick’s arms in her head.
When Lucky woke up a few hours later, she saw Nick staring at her. He did not look happy. She figured it was something important, so she sat up and asked him what the problem was.
“What’s the problem? This is the problem Lucky.” Nick said and turned her computer to her with a picture of her and Jesse enlarged on the screen. In the picture, Lucky had her hand on Jesse’s forearm and his fingers were on her knee in an intimate gesture. They were laughing and having a good time. Jesse was looking at her with desire in his eyes and Lucky’s head was tipped back as she laughed.
Lucky just rolled her eyes at Nick and said, “Are you serious? After last night you have the nerve to question if something is going on with me and Jesse?” Lucky got up from her chair and glanced at her watch. She saw that it was close to 6:30 and then looked at the kitchen. “When you grow up, I’ll be cooking dinner.”
Nick looked at her and got up from his spot on the couch and followed her into the kitchen. He sat down on one of the barstools and watched as she moved around. “Well, what are all of those pictures for then? I mean, why did you take some many of him, with him? They must mean something Lucky.”
“Yeah, they mean that I was collecting pictures for the FBI, Nick. Geez. I love you. Why does this have to be hard? Can’t it just be as simple as “I LOVE YOU”?” Lucky slammed the cutting board on the counter and pulled open the refrigerator.
When she felt arms around her, she spun around to see Nick staring at her. “I’m sorry. Really. I kind of, well, forgot that you’re in the FBI. I mean, you’ve been Lucky the Personal Assistant for so long, this whole FBI thing is going to take a while getting used to. I love you. It’s as simple as that. I promise.” He kissed the top of her head and released her, allowing her to finish making their dinner.
Later that night, Lucky moved her bathroom necessities over to Nick’s side of the apartment. Nick watched her as she did this and felt a sense of completeness crawl through his veins. Watching Lucky move into his bathroom was just the next step to moving into his life forever.
When it was time for them to go to bed, Nick took off his clothes until he was only wearing boxers, and threw them next to the hamper and slipped into his side of the bed. Lucky came into the room wearing a wife-beater and purple and white plaid cotton pajama shorts, and she too crawled into the bed.
“You know, you can move your clothes in here too.” Nick offered before he rolled over and turned off his light. He grabbed the remote and turned the channel to Sports Center.
Lucky smiled and looked at him over the rim of her glasses. “I know, but I kind of like having that room still. It was my first place here with you, and I just like it. Do you mind if I keep my light on to read for a few minutes?”
“No, not at all. Take your time. By the way, I love your glasses, no matter how annoyed you get with them.” Nick said and winked at her. He fell into his pillows and watched the recap of the baseball games that had been played earlier in the day.
The soft sound of Lucky turning the pages of her book, the soft light of the lamp playing on her silhouette, and her slow breathing had Nick captured. He turned on his side, suddenly very aware of her presence in his bed. She seemed not to notice him admiring her until she folded the corner of her page, took off her glasses and rubbed her tired eyes.
“You’re beautiful.” Nick said while we watched her.
Lucky jumped slightly and then put her hand over her heart. “You scared me! And you think I’m beautiful? This is my worst time of day Nick.” She laughed and then yawned. She set her book and glasses down on the bedside table and turned her light off.
“I think you’re beautiful every time of day. But right now, you look absolutely perfect. You look so real and so raw. I am so happy to be with you.” Nick gushed and smiled through tired eyes at Lucky.
“Stop it. You’re making me blush.” Lucky said and bent down and kissed Nick softly on the lips. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and tilted his chin with her fingers. She broke their kiss and smiled against his mouth before he pulled her down to him again, and she suddenly forgot how tired she was.
Before taking the kiss any further, Nick pulled away and tucked Lucky under his arm. He put his forehead on hers and said, “I can get used to this.” He smiled and kissed her cheek before pulling her closer to him.
“Good night, Nick. I love you.” Lucky said in a soft voice. Before falling asleep she heard Nick’s soft reply, “I love you too.”
Lucky woke up the next morning and reached for Nick, but when she found his side was empty, she sat up straight and pushed her hair out of her face. She pulled at her wife-beater and put on her glasses. Walking out of the room, she was met with the glorious smell of bacon. Smiling, she saw Nick standing behind the kitchen counter with a spatula in his hand and a grin on his face.
“Good morning baby! I figured we’d switch it up for a change. I’ll cook for you! Sound good?” Nick asked cheerily and smiled as if he was up to something.
“This is wonderful, and it smells even better!” Lucky said as she closed her eyes to enhance the smell of the kitchen. Smiling, she opened her eyes again and said, “So, what’s for breakfast? I’m starving!”
“Egg white omelets, because I know how you are about healthy options, bacon, and orange juice. It’s the best I can do with what’s in the fridge.” Nick said and flipped over an omelet and slid it onto a plate. He put two slices of bacon next to the omelet and put the plate in front of Lucky. “That will be one kiss ma’am.”
Lucky leaned over the counter and paid her bill. As she bit into her omelet, Nick said, “Oh, I almost forgot something.” He handed her an envelope and put his plate next to hers and started to eat his breakfast. “Hey, I didn’t do half bad!”
Lucky just smiled at him before opening the envelope. There was a tri-folded piece of paper and Lucky looked at it questioningly. She opened it up and saw Nick’s handwriting. As she read the letter, her eyes welled up with tears. “Nick, this is beautiful. I love you and thank you so much.”
She leaned over to kiss him and he captured her mouth on his. He pulled back and said, “So what do you think? Let’s go on the first date we never had.”
