“I could,” he once again agreed amicably.
“But you're not going to.”
“Right.” He grinned.
Accepting that Nick intended to carry her all the way to her apartment, Aggie gave up and rested her head on his shoulder. She was so weary, the prospect of bed was both comforting and confronting.
Just like Nick.
Surely he was only being so nice to her out of a sense of responsibility. It wasn't like she was at her most charming right now. Nothing about her screamed potential girlfriend. And yet, she’d seen something in his eyes at the hospital. Desire, maybe, the best she could hope for right now was probably mutual attraction.
Obsessed.
That was the word her friends used to describe her when it came to falling in love. That and a few other things including naïve, impulsive, and blind. If Aggie was honest, probably all of those adjectives were true. Except maybe obsessed. She wouldn’t describe herself as such, she was just passionate. She wanted to fall in love, get married, have her own family, it was important to her, so it was often at the forefront of her mind. Agape meant love in Greek, and she certainly lived up to her name.
Unfortunately, she didn’t always go about her search the right way. As her friend Summer regularly reminded her. Naïve, impulsive, blind, she heard those words often.
Naïve, well okay, she did assume that everyone was as serious about finding a partner as she was. History had proven to her time and time again that this wasn't the case, and yet she still went into each new relationship expecting that her partner was motivated by the same things she was.
Impulsive, she was this too. She was always calling love way too early in the relationship. Most of the time the guy was only interested in one thing. Sex. Once they got that then things usually slowed down and then petered out completely.
Blind, unfortunately this was the one that had hurt her the most. She had been engaged twice, and both times it had ended in disaster. Looking back, all the signs had been there but she had been too caught up in believing her dreams were about to come true to see it.
Aggie had had her heart broken more times than she could count, and yet her desire to find true love was never squashed. She was Agape after all.
But surely this was different. Nickolas Sleigh wasn't like the other guys she had dated. No one else had ever risked their life for her, or anything even close. And yet Nick had come running to her rescue ignoring the fact that he could have been killed. Not only that, but he’d comforted her, held her, stayed with her, even brought her home, none of which he had to do. That had to mean something. This time it felt real, the connection was there, she was sure it was.
She had fallen in love so many times before, only to learn that it wasn't real love. She hadn’t really loved any of the guys she’d dated, but Nick, she could see herself really and truly falling for him. Nick could be everything she was searching for, everything she’d ever wanted.
“Home sweet home,” his voice rumbled in his chest. It was a nice chest, she thought hazily. And he had such a nice face. He was totally her type. “Aggie, did you hear me?”
Rousing herself, she admitted, “Yeah, sorry. I feel a little dazed.”
“Totally normal after everything you’ve been through in the last few hours.” He balanced her and rapped on her front door.
“Where are my keys?” she asked.
“You don’t remember?”
Shaking her head, the whole night had been one big, gigantic blur.
“Detective Dion said that the crime scene techs are still going through your bag and all your stuff, you’ll get it back soon.”
Before she could respond, her front door was thrown open. “Aggie. Oh, my goodness, let me look at you. He’s carrying you. Are you okay?” Summer asked, her pretty face full of concern.
“I’m okay,” she assured her friend. “Put me down, Nick.”
“No. Where’s the couch?” He directed the question to Summer, who led him into the apartment. “She could do with a hot drink too, she hasn’t stopped shaking yet. No coffee though, the caffeine will keep her up and she needs sleep.”
“Of course.” Summer clucked like a mother hen. “There’s an afghan there too,” she told Nick as he set her down on the nearest couch.
As Summer bustled off, Nick draped a blanket over her, tucking it in around her. His hand lingered on her shoulder, his eyes were full of something she couldn’t get a clear read on, whether because he was deliberately hiding it from her or she was simply too tired to decipher it she wasn't sure.
Aggie was about to ask him about it when Summer returned. “Here you go.” She handed over a mug of steaming tea. “I'm so sorry, Aggie. I should have insisted on walking with you to your car. I'm so sorry, I feelsobad.”
She’d never seen her friend look so distressed. “Summer, you know it wasn't your fault. I always walk back to my car alone. Nothing has ever happened before, there was no way to have predicted what happened tonight. It was just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Aggie didn’t want to worry her friend more by mentioning the fact that she’d been feeling like she was being followed all day. “At least everything turned out okay thanks to Nick.”
“You're a hero.” Summer threw her arms around Nick’s neck and kissed his cheek.