I took my phone out and thought about how I’d tell Tristan he was going to be a father. This wasn’t something to be done over the phone, so I stuffed it back into my bag. “I’m going to tell him at dinner tonight. That seems like a better way to break it to him.”
Jordan took my hand as we walked out of the store. “Break it to him? I’m thinking he’s going to be thrilled. I’m thrilled, and I’m only going to be an honorary aunt.”
“Honorary nothing, Jordan. You’ve been more like a sister to me than my own sister ever has, so there’ll be nothing honorary about it. From now on, you better get used to Aunt Jordan.”
Beaming her trademark gorgeous smile, she nearly bubbled over with excitement as we walked among the crowds of people sharing the sidewalk with us that Saturday afternoon. “Oooooh, Aunt Jordan. That’s got a great ring to it. You know what this means. I have to get my apartment baby-proofed. All those sharp edges have to go. And I’ll need to get those outlet cover things—you know, the clear plastic things you put right into the outlets.”
“You have time. I haven’t given birth to the little one yet.”
She turned toward me and shook her head. “Miss I Might Be Four Months Pregnant, I don’t have that long. Oh, I just thought of something. You may have missed the entire first trimester. That means you might not have to deal with morning sickness.”
“I like that,” I said with a smile. “Anytime I can avoid getting sick is good for me.” Suddenly a thought tore through my brain. I’d never stopped drinking those chocolate cake martinis! I skidded to a stop and shook my head. “Jordan, I didn’t know. I never thought for a second I might be pregnant. I just had a drink last night!”
“Honey, it’s okay. You’re not an alcoholic. Christ, you barely drink socially. I think you’ll be fine even though you had a few drinks in the past few months. Now you know, so you’ll avoid them until after when we all celebrate the arrival of the newest member of the Stone family.”
“I just didn’t know. I hope they didn’t hurt the little guy,” I said sadly.
“Don’t worry about it, Nina. I’m sure your doctor would say the same thing. It’s going to be okay. And what’s this about a little guy? Am I going to be an aunt to a boy?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t even think before I said that. Do you think that means something?”
Jordan tugged on my arm to get us walking again. “I think it means you’re hungry for a good meal, my treat. Today, we celebrate and we can talk baby names over lunch. Now let’s go before all these people beat us to a table!”
Chapter Three
Tristan
Pulling the Jag through the security gates at the bottom of the driveway, I ran my fingers over the black velvet box resting on the passenger seat beside me. Hidden inside it was a necklace I hoped Nina would love. Never very good at that kind of thing, I thankfully could count on Angelo, who seemed innately attuned to what looked good.
I turned the car off inside the garage and grabbed the box, stuffing it into my suit coat jacket. I hadn’t figured out how I wanted to surprise Nina, but since she’d called me to let me know she was making a special dinner for us, tonight would be the perfect time to give her my gift.
Throwing my keys on the hall table, I yelled, “Anyone home?” as I made my way to the kitchen. The room was empty and there was no sign any cooking had happened there all day. Confused, I walked down the hallway toward our room, wondering if something happened to cancel our date. The fear that Nina had had another accident instantly made me worried, but before I could reach the bedroom, I heard her yell for me from the dining room.
“I’m in here, Tristan! Just give me a second to get everything ready.”
Relieved that my worrying had been for nothing, I stopped a few feet away from the doorway, curious about what awaited me. After a long day at the office, I didn’t care what food she cooked or what the special occasion was. All I wanted to do was spend time with my beautiful wife and relax.
Nina peeked her head out of the dining room, and I saw that sweet grin she put on when she was up to something. “I have a big surprise for you.”
“Good. I have one for you too.”
The mischievous expression slid from her face. “A surprise for me? What are you up to, Tristan Stone?”
“Does a man have to be up to something to surprise his wife?” I asked not-so-innocently. In fact, I had a reason to surprise her. I’d received the proceeds from the sale of my share of Club X three days earlier, so today was a perfect time to give her a present to show her how much I loved her.
“Yes, he does. That’s okay, though, since I’m up to something too,” she said with a wink. “Come in.”
As I walked into the dining room, I saw our ordinary table and chairs and the same dinnerware we always used. Nothing looked different, as far as I could tell. Nina wore a yellow sundress, which was more formal than we usually were for dinner, but even that wasn’t really different since she was barefoot, like she always was around the house. I took a seat and crossed my arms to pretend I was angry at her keeping secrets, even though I knew she was planning something sweet in her typical Nina way. “So what’s this thing you’re up to?”
Nina sat down in her chair to my left, just as she had that first night we’d had dinner together all those months ago. She looked just as she had that night, and for the first time since then, I wanted to replay that moment. Taking the serving fork in my hand, I served her a slice of ham. After scooping out some sweet potatoes and cauliflower onto her plate, I smiled at the recognition on her face. She remembered that night too.
As I filled my plate, she said quietly, “You better give me some more ham. I’m feeling like I need to eat some more now.”
Never a big eater, Nina sounded like she was trying to tell me something with that, but if I was supposed to figure it out, I was missing the point. I placed another slice of ham on her plate and took a long look at her. Nope. She didn’t look any different, but there was definitely something she was hiding.
“Suddenly a fan of ham tonight?” I asked. “I figured the ham was for me since it’s my favorite.”
“It is. I just think I should eat more.”
I cut up a piece of ham and served it to her as I tried to figure out her cryptic hints, but it was no use. I had no idea what she was up to. “I hope I’m not ruining your surprise, but I don’t know what I’m supposed to be getting here. Maybe we should begin with my surprise?”
She seemed to consider the idea for a moment and nodded. “Okay. I’m pretty curious what surprise you could have for me, so I can wait to give you yours.”
Taking the jewelry box from my jacket, I slid it across the table toward her. “Surprise.”
Her eyes grew wide at the sight of the black box in front of her. “What is this? What’s this for?”
“Being you. I sold one of my businesses, and since I sold it for you, I thought it would only be right to get you something.”
She opened the box and saw the diamond necklace Angelo had sworn up and down she’d love. Not that I doubted his choice, but it was a little extravagant for her taste. A diamond studded choker, the necklace dropped down to showcase three one caret diamonds that Angelo said would land just above her cleavage. Five carets total, it was fancier than what Nina usually wore, but I wanted her to see herself as I did.
As a goddess. My goddess.
“Oh, my…it’s gorgeous, Tristan,” she said in a voice full of awe as she lifted the necklace out of its velvet box.
I stood and walked behind her to help fasten it around her neck. “Here, let me help. Angelo says it’s called something like a Venus necklace.”
Nina held her hair up, and after I closed the clasp, I walked around to look at her wearing my gift. Just like a goddess. “I hope you like it.”
She looked down and lightly ran her fingers over the diamonds resting on her tan skin. “Oh, it’s beautiful.” Looking up at me, she asked, “Why did you get me this? Not that I don’t love it, but what’s the occasion?”
“I sold my part in that club in Florida—the one I went in on with Chase. After I told him about wanting to get out of Top, I decided I didn’t want to be in Club X with him either. So I contacted the other owners and they were happy to buy me out.”
“So you just went out and bought me a necklace because of that?” she said with a shy smile, not seeing the connection.
“I wanted out of those businesses because of you. I’m a happily married man now, so I didn’t want to be bothered with clubs and Chase.”
“Was this Club X like Top?”
I knew where she was going with that question. “Not exactly. I just didn’t have any interest in being involved anymore.”
“You said the owners were happy to buy you out. What about Chase?”
Nodding, I explained, “Chase got himself into some tight spot with money, so he was happy to hear they’d buy him out too. Everyone won and everyone was happy.”
Nina ran her fingers over the necklace again. “How come you never took me to this Club X like you took me to Top?”