Who Wants to Marry A Billionaire?(29)
Nina suddenly felt shy. Daniel was being so open; it felt a little raw. “I’m glad you feel that way. I really do think your natural inclinations are to do the right thing.”
They clinked glasses. “Nina, promise me one thing, whatever else happens while we’re working this deal, promise me you’ll be honest with me—promise me that we will always be friends. I need a friend like you in my life.”
Nina felt conflicted, part of her wanted to applaud Daniel’s request, to see it as the sign of someone who was maturing and growing. But part of her couldn’t shake that quiet longing of wishing that there could be something more between them. “I’ll do my best, Daniel—I’ll do my best to be a good friend.”
The rest of the party passed uneventfully. Wilson made a lovely climactic toast to the couple, and then the guests started to drift out. To Nina’s surprise, Daniel climbed into the limousine with her clan. He patted her knee. “I just want to see you safely home.”
As they crossed over the Charles River, Nina got the scoop on everyone else’s evening. It seemed that all of them had managed to hook up in some way. Rita had a date with a young hockey hot shot and Kennedy was going out with a twenty-something famous cellist. Reuben was ‘collaborating’ with a rather attractive performance artist, Boris was cooking dinner for a Russian ballerina, and the Formula One loving millionaire was whisking Vicki off for a weekend in Montreal. In one evening, everyone had found romance, Nina thought, everyone except the bride-to-be.
Chapter Twenty One
“First class is now welcome to board.” The gate agent at Boston’s Logan Airport looked incredibly bored, and Daniel looked incredibly uncomfortable. Wilson was using the DeVere Lear jet, and Daniel and Nina had to fly to Panama on a commercial flight. The ten minutes they waited at the gate after leaving the VIP lounge had literally made Daniel sweat. Unaccustomed to crying babies, sticky fingered toddlers, and Game Boy playing teenagers, Daniel bolted for the jetway, dragging Nina along in his wake.
“Hurry up Nina! It’s time to board.” He tugged her by the hand toward the phlegmatic gate agent. “You have the tickets and our passports, right?”
Daniel was also unused to traveling without someone to take care of all the logistics for him. For Panama, they decided, it was better to leave Boris and Kennedy at home, as Daniel wanted to impress upon Arturo, the owner of the eco-resort, that he was a normal, stable, and self-sufficient guy.
“Hold your horses.” Nina dug their passports out of her purse. “Remember? Your boarding pass is electronic. It’s on your phone.”
“Oh, right,” Daniel reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone. He looked at it helplessly. Nina reached over and punched up the text message with the boarding pass.
“Really Daniel—helplessness is not going to impress Arturo. What happened to the guy who rescued me from the paparazzi on Tremont Street…or the guy who gave away our cotton mat and mangoes in Varanasi?”
“Paparazzi I understand, situations I can control, I understand, this…” he indicated the crowd of normal, average people waiting to board, “I don’t understand.”
“What you mean is that you can’t control it. Welcome to the world most people live in.”
“Can we continue discussing this from the first class cabin?” Daniel tugged at Nina again. “With a cocktail?”
Once on board, Daniel relaxed a little as they settled into their cushy seats. A rather attractive flight attendant leaned over him provocatively, giving Daniel more than a glimpse of her ample cleavage as she set their drinks down. “Welcome aboard Mr. DeVere. If there’s anything I can do to make your flight more…comfortable, please don’t hesitate to ask.” The flight attendant gave him a seductive smile while pointedly ignoring Nina.
“What nerve,” Nina muttered.
“What did you say?” Daniel took a sip of his drink. “This is the worst gin and tonic I’ve ever had. How can you mess up a gin and tonic?”
“That flight attendant—shoving her boobs in your face while I’m over here begging for some water.” Nina crossed her arms.
“Why Nina Alves. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were jealous.” Daniel looked at her archly.
“Remember, I’m your fiancé? If we’re going to convince Arturo, we’ve really got to start acting like a couple—and I don’t mean shoving lobster in each other’s faces. You can’t be ogling boobs when I’m sitting right next to you. In fact, you can’t be ogling anyone’s boobs but mine.”
Daniel started laughing and Nina replayed what she’s just said in her head. “Wait, that didn’t come out right.” Daniel leaned over, grabbed the top of Nina’s blouse, and pretended to try to peek down her shirt. “Stop that.” She smacked Daniel’s hand.
“What, a man can’t check out his fiancé’s boobs? What kind of hard-hearted dictator are you?”
“The prudish kind.”
“Not any more.” Daniel put his drink down, leaned over, and laid a passionate kiss on Nina.
Once the initial shock of Daniel’s ambush wore off, Nina couldn’t help but respond. It was an entirely delicious kiss and one that she realized she’d been dreaming about. When Daniel broke it off, she felt dizzy and breathless, but then, she pinched herself. Acting, he was acting. She recovered and said blandly, “In Hollywood, it’s considered bad form to slip your scene partner the tongue.”