Read Online Damaged, The Romance of Nick and Layla (Part 4) by Crystal Cierlak - Free Book Online

of anything more beautiful.
    “I asked,” he answers with his patented Nick-Hudson-I’m-A-Sexy-Singer smile. I haven’t seen it in years and for a moment I forget what he’s said or why he’s said it. That smile .
    Get a grip, Garrett.
    The host pulls out my chair for me and I sit, setting my purse down awkwardly at my feet.
    “Maybe a better question is, why did you do all this?”
    His eyebrows furrow just above his nose. “What do you mean?”
    “I mean we could gone just gone to a restaurant or ordered room service. Why rent out the rooftop of a hotel?”
    “Why not?” he shrugs it off, as though it were something anyone at any time could do.
    “Would you like some champagne?” a waiter I didn’t see before asks from nowhere. I look at him, the bottle of Cristal, and then at Nick. Is this really happening?
    “Please,” I consent, and watch as he pours into a crystal flute. He pours a glass for Nick as well before setting the bottle down and retreating back to wherever he came from.
    Across the table Nick lifts his glass up to me and smiles. “Happy 30 th birthday, Layla.” I lift my glass and gently tap it against his, hearing the twee clink of the crystal, and take a sip. Mmmm . My eyes close at the sumptuous taste and I take a moment to let it settle into every taste bud. I can’t recall the last time I’ve had champagne, let alone Cristal.
    When I open my eyes again I find Nick staring at me, his glass suspended in the air, chest rising and falling as he breathes in. The fire is in his eyes again, and for a moment I entertain the notion that his look is that of desire and wanting.
    ‘I have been alone for four years.’ Suddenly his words are more complex than I originally believed, and they take on a new meaning. Is that what this is about? Not just my birthday, but us ? Surely he didn’t fly all the way across the country for me like that .
    I break my eyes away from his to sever whatever connection is forming. I look out among the twinkling lights and the green leaves that climb up and across lattices and force my mind back into the impassive state I have become some accustomed to. Yesterday I was attacking him, screaming and feral and utterly inhuman. And then last night I fell apart completely and let him hold me in his arms until I cried myself to sleep. I can’t be so mercurial with him, I reprimand myself.
    After a second waiter takes our order I give a small, polite smile and wait. Surely the reason Nick wanted to meet me will have to come up at some point.
    “Yes, your question,” he begins, as though he’s read my mind. “What do I want from you? Well, for starters, Layla, I wanted to acknowledge such an important birthday.”
    Oh, God . Suddenly it occurs to me that I’ve missed his birthday, his 30 th birthday, entirely. I can barely recall the date but I know it’s somewhere around Thanksgiving. The holidays are hard for me and despite my guilt I know now how I could have forgotten. Not that it would have made much of a difference anyway. We weren’t speaking then.
    As if he can read my thoughts again he’s shaking his head, dismissing my guilt with a tight smile. “Don’t worry about it. I haven’t felt like celebrating any birthday since… Well, since Tyler,” he says cautiously, his eyes straining at me beneath his furrowed brows. “The holidays haven’t been easy for me. But I’m sure they haven’t been for you either.”
    “No. They haven’t.” I take another sip of champagne, hoping it loosens the tight knot in my heart that has suddenly formed.
    Nick places his elbows on the table and wrings his hands in front of his face. He looks pensive, and worried.
    “After Las Vegas I knew things were not the same,” he begins, his eyes on mine. A look I don’t recognize passes over his face. I can’t tell if it’s anger or anguish. “Our marriage was as strained as ever and despite our best efforts I could tell that things were off . Especially with you. I