Page 42 of Mateo & Nicole
She could understand Paxton’s concern when that happened. He’d experienced being overlooked when she’d been dating Dennis. She’d expected their relationship to improve over time, but Dennis simply didn’t connect with her son. The tipping point had been when Dennis told her firmly that he had zero interest in adopting Paxton—right in front of her boy.
They’d gotten divorced shortly after that.
Nikki pulled open the car door for her son and gestured for him to climb inside. She gave him a reassuring smile before shutting the door. Mateo had never said one way or the other if he’d want to adopt Paxton. She liked to think that if she asked him to, he’d be on board with her request.
A thrill coursed through her, and she couldn’t wait for that point in their relationship to come to pass. She slid into the driver’s seat and glanced through the rearview mirror at her son. He was looking out the window, a happy expression on his face.
They picked up their desserts and made their way back to the ranch. The second they arrived, Paxton took off in search of Mateo.
“Careful, bud!” she called after him. “I don’t want you getting hurt again.” But he was too far away from her to hear her. That kid was fast when he wanted to be. She shook her head with a chuckle as she dipped back into her car and retrieved her phone. It lit up at that moment with a notification from her social media app.
She frowned.
Caroline Harris has sentyou a message.
Her heart leapedinto her throat, and she glanced up as if reading Caroline’s name was all it took for the woman to materialize. Nikki had blocked her friend after their falling out about five years ago. From the looks of it, Caroline had made a new profile.
Nikki swallowed hard as she stared at that message while her stomach clenched. They hadn’t left things on good terms. Whatever this message was, it would surely be related to how things had ended, and Nikki didn’t want to deal with such a confrontation. She grimaced as she considered the two choices before her.
She could respond, or she could ignore her. It wouldn’t hurt to see what Caroline had messaged her, though, right? Nikki would be able to get a good feel for what Caroline wanted. And what if she’d finally seen the light? What if Caroline wanted to reconcile?
Nikki had been raised to be kind to others even if they’d wronged her. She could give Caroline forgiveness. And if Caroline was just going to be her regular old self? Well, then Nikki would ignore her and not bother messaging her back.
She nodded as if the movement alone was all she needed to give herself strength to follow through. Then she opened the message from her ex-best friend.
Hi Nicole!It’s been forever. Can you believe how long it’s been since we hung out? I heard from Heather that you moved out of Colorado Springs and to some tiny town. I always thought you were more of a small-town girl. I bet it suits you so much better. Guess what! This is hilarious. I’m going to be visiting Copper Creek next week and we should meet up! I can’t believe that fate has put us in each other’s lives again! And if everything goes well, then maybe we can keep hanging out. Missed you, girl!
Nikki gapedas she read the message a second time. No apologies. No mention that they’d gotten in a fight. It was like Caroline didn’t remember anything about what happened between them. She actually wanted to meet up. It was ridiculous.
Or was it?
She started second-guessing her own memories of the two of them. Nikki had been upset with Caroline, but maybe she hadn’t made it clear enough. And if she never told Caroline that she’d been hurt, Caroline wouldn’t know.
But she had to know. Not even Caroline was that dense.
Nikki huffed a sharp breath and shoved her phone into her purse. She wasn’t going to dignify Caroline’s message with a response. She refused to admit even to herself that she was irritated with not only Caroline but herself for allowing the woman to worm her way back into her mind after everything was going so well.
It didn’t matter that Caroline had once been engaged to Mateo.
Nor did it matter that Mateo avoided any conversation about the woman.
Right here, right now, he belonged to Nikki. And she belonged to him.
At that moment, the source of her affection came sauntering toward her with Paxton at his side. He’d already taken a bite out of his cookie, and Paxton couldn’t be more thrilled about it.
Nikki’s heart surged like it did every single time she saw them together—her adorable little family. She couldn’t tell Mateo that, though. Not yet. She needed to make sure Mateo was all in. He needed to be fully healed from his shattered past, and she wasn’t sure he was just yet.
Mateo didn’t waste any time closing the distance between them. He claimed her lips with a searing kiss that left her breathless.
“What was that for?” she breathed.
“That’s a thank you.”
“It is?”
He lifted the cookie. “For this.”
Nikki chuckled and glanced down to see a flicker of a frown on Paxton’s face before he grinned.
