Enjoy. The title is taken from Eric Clapton. -


Wonderful Tonight

Nick was standing off to the side drinking a beer with his brother in law, Daniel. He laughed and took a swig from the bottle. As he was lowering the bottle, he spotted me. His eyes widened slightly. He pulled the bottle away from his lips, then licked them nervously.

He looked great. He was wearing Khakis and a dark blue long sleeved shirt. He shook his head at whatever Daniel was saying and made his way toward me. Sam reached down and squeezed my hand before stepping off to the side. I just stood there, on the deck, as Nick made his way across the lawn toward me. He stopped at the bottom of the steps and studied me for a minute.

"You're beautiful, Sara."

"You're not so bad yourself," I commented, giving him a smile. He didn't smile back. Instead he held out his hand. When I placed mine in his, he lightly brushed his lips across my knuckles. This was more serious than things had ever been between Nick and me. I felt butterflies in my stomach as he flipped my hand in his and pressed a kiss to my palm. He didn't let go of my hand, instead pulling me off the steps on to the lawn next to him. Using his other hand, he brushed one of my curls aside. He leaned down and lightly laid a kiss on the corner of my mouth. I shifted slightly, causing my lips to meet his. It was a soft, quick kiss, barely a brush of our lips. But when we pulled apart half the party was watching us. I blushed lightly as I saw Sam wink at me before walking toward her fiancé.

Nick led me off to introduce me to his family. He kept my hand in his. This felt different; I wasn't used to feeling like this with Nick. He was being too sweet, too nice, too serious. He was making me feel nervous. Friendly banter I could handle. Flirting that edged on crossing the line, I was okay with that. But Nick being so…so romantic. This was something foreign to me. He kept his hand on the small of my back as we passed a table lined with champagne glasses. He snagged one, handing it to me before grabbing one for himself. He stopped walking when we reached Daniel and, ironically Sam and Mark. His arm slid around my waist as he introduced me to Andrea's son, John. I shook hands with John. As Nick fell into conversation with his brothers, his grip on me loosened. But I felt myself leaning into him. He shifted his weight so that I fit more comfortably against his side. I gradually relaxed as I listened to the conversation around me.

"Hey, Nicky," Sam broke in after a while. "I'm going to go see if mom needs anything. Mind if I steal Sara?"

"No, I don't mind," Nick answered. But he ran his hand over my hip before I stepped away from him. He was playing dirty. "I'll catch you later, Sar."

Sam and I made our way towards the house, greeting people as we went. Finally we reached the kitchen. Sam just leaned back against the counter. She reached over and snuck a cookie from the trays Jillian had made up earlier.

"I'm sorry, I just needed to get away from all that boring talk about Daniel's stocks." Sam rolled her eyes at me. "He's a sweetheart, but honestly. How are you enjoying the party Sara?" She asked after a short pause.

"It's great. I was nervous about it, because I don't know anyone very well. Just you and Nick really. But I'm having a good time." Sam just nodded. I smiled at her. "Come on, Sam. Go ahead; I know you're just dying to say something."

"You guys are just so cute together!" She squealed. "When he saw you, oh, he was speechless. And it was almost like slow motion the way he crossed the lawn to you. It was like something straight out of a chick flick the way you turned your head just a little, so your lips met." She sighed. "I've never, ever seen my brother this way. Every time he looks at you it's like he'll never see you again. Oh my god, Sara. I don't think I can take much more of this. You need to do something. Make a move, because he's definitely waiting for you to."

"Sam," I sighed. "Let's just go back out there. Come on, it's almost time for dinner."

I walked outside ahead of Sam, I saw Nick notice me, but this time I made my way across the lawn to him. I think I surprised him a little when I slid my hand into his. During all this the caterers were setting up the tables. I looked at Nick and raised an eyebrow in question. He nodded and we walked toward the tables hand in hand. I looked at what the caterers were setting out. My heart sank a little when I noticed just about everything had meat in it. Nick realized it too. He stepped behind me and put his arms around my waist.

"Oh, Sara, I'm sorry," he whispered in my ear. "I didn't know…"

I leaned back into Nick and tilted my head up to look at him, my lips curved as his breath played across my skin. "It's okay, Nick. They couldn't have known. Besides, this means I can save more room for dessert."

We sat next to each other and enjoyed dinner. Nick fed me like four dinner rolls, insisting I had to eat something. Apparently the pasta salad, macaroni salad, and penne pasta didn't qualify as something. We talked and laughed, far less serious than we had been before dinner. While we were waiting on dessert, Sam's fiancé made a toast to her. It was so sweet. I felt Nick slip his hand into mine as we listened. I leaned into him, smiling when I saw how Sam melted when Mark talked to her. I let go of Nick's hand to applaud when he was finished.

After dessert, the tables were cleared and music began playing. Michael Buble's newest song, Everything, came on. Nick looked at me, knowing I loved that song. He stood up and offered me his hand. I took it willingly and he and I began to dance. His hand rested at the small of my back, mine on his shoulder. We gradually moved closer as we danced. At one point I stepped in a small hole in the grass and stumbled.

"Two left feet?" Nick asked with a low chuckle.

"Nah, I think you're just having a hard time keeping up."

"I'm having a hard time keeping up?" he teased, spinning me abruptly. I laughed as I fell back into him.

"I think you need to work on your technique, Nicky. I don't want to get hurt."

"Oh, you want technique?" He asked, his voice low, his accent a little thicker. "How's this?" And he spun me once, then twice, then effortlessly returned to a more traditional dance. I didn't think Nick could dance, I mean, I just wouldn't have figured him for it.

"Is that the best you can do?" I teased, my own voice a little husky. Then he abruptly turned me, swung me back into his arms, then dipped me to end the song. He leaned in, his mouth just a breath away from mine. I felt my heart pounding in my chest. "Touché," I murmured, just before his lips closed the distance.

Okay, all I'm going to say is this wasn't just a light brush of the lips. There was no mistaking the meaning behind this kiss. When Nick pulled away, he pulled us back up so we were standing upright again. He pressed a kiss to my forehead before we went to sit down. We sat next to Sam, who was already giving me a look. She was just dying to say something, I could tell. As I sat trying to listen to Sam talk about her wedding plans, Nick was playing with the hem of my skirt. I brushed his hand away, but then he just pushed the skirt higher and higher with his fingertip. I slapped his hand away. In response to that, he slipped his arm around my shoulder. I thought that was much safer, until his finger started wandering beneath the strap of my dress. Oh Nicky was being a bad boy.

It was all Nick and I could do to keep our hands off of each other for the rest of the night. We danced a lot, I think mainly as an excuse to touch each other. I don't know where that came from. Three days ago, Nick and I were just best friends and now… Well, I'd be surprised if the night ended with a simple kiss goodnight.