Emily paused in her discussion of Zander when she realized that Nikolas had ceased his gentle caressing of her hair. She followed his gaze to the far side of the restaurant where her brother AJ strode toward a table with a smiling Gia Campbell upon his arm.

“What is AJ doing with her?” Emily asked.

A veil of neutrality dropped over Nikolas’ handsome features. With difficulty he turned away from the sight of his former fiancée’. “I don’t know,” he responded shortly. “But what Gia does isn’t any of my business anymore.”

When Emily opened her mouth to protest, Nikolas distracted her in the one way he knew was guaranteed to work. “What were you saying about Zander?” he prompted.

Emily immediately launched once more into a dramatic recount of her latest run-in with her estranged boyfriend. Nikolas shifted his chair closer to Emily and gave her his most interested stare. But in truth his attention was focused far across the room.

His new vantage point gave Nikolas an unobstructed view of Gia and AJ. Neither one had noticed the other couple’s presence in the restaurant.

Nikolas’ jaw tightened as he watched Gia flash a brilliant smile in response to something AJ whispered in her ear before sitting. Gia’s expression was open and unguarded, two things she had not been since the very early days of her relationship with Nikolas.

“You can always back out of our agreement,” Emily said into the silence. Nikolas’ head jerked around. He had not even realized that Emily’s conversation had ceased.

“No, Emily,” Nikolas protested. He pasted on a smile. “I made you a promise and I’m going to stick to it.”

“Are you sure?”

Nikolas covered Emily’s hand with one of his own. “I am sure." He was pleased at just how convincing he sounded. "As a matter of fact,” he pulled several crisp dollar bills from his pocket and placed them upon the table, “we can stop by their table on the way out to say ‘hello’.”