CHAPTER FOUR

Designing Houses

By the time they got back to the hotel, Isabella was walking more slowly. "You feelin' okay, honey?"

"Yes."

Her short answer bothered him. Nick held her hand and led her through the hotel doors, across the lobby, and up the stairs. Once in their suite, he helped her off with her dress and shoes. He handed her the bag of chocolates.

Isabella set the bag on the nightstand. "I'll have it later."

"What can I get for you?"

"Nothing. I'm good."

Nick felt helpless. He wanted to do something to make her feel better. "Do you hurt anywhere?"

"No. I'm fine. I'll just rest for a few minutes."

Nick tucked his pillow under her feet, then covered her with a quilt. "Are you sure you don't want anything?"

"Yes. I'm sure."

"We passed the architect's office just down the street. Will you be okay if I run over there and see if they've made progress on our house?"

"Yes. That's fine."

Nick poured her a glass of water, kissed her forehead, and left, locking the door behind him.

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Nick practically ran to the architect's office and back. He didn't like leaving Isabella alone. But the architect mostly had the drawings finished and allowed Nick to take them with him.

As soon as he got back in their suite, he checked on Isabella. She was sleeping. But then he remembered when she wouldn't wake up, and he shook her.

Isabella jumped up. "What?"

"I'm sorry, honey. I was just making sure you were okay."

"One of these days, Nick . . . ." She lay back down and was soon back to sleep.

Nick went into the living area, opened the drawings, and laid them out on the coffee table. The architect had taken Nick's sketch of a plain two-story box house and had turned it into an expansive Victorian home with a wrap-around porch, round turrets on both front corners, gabled roofs, stained glass windows, and a terrace on the side off the master bedroom. It also showed an optional third floor with a large game/playroom and a couple more bedrooms.

Nick's heart dropped. He was already worried that Isabella wasn't entirely coherent when she agreed to a house with a total of seven bedrooms and three bathrooms—and that was with nothing fancy. This house was elegant and included four bathrooms—a second one on the first floor for the help. He sighed. It looked like the architect would be back to the drawing board.

But he would wait until Isabella was awake. If she felt like it, they'd walk to the architect's office, and she could directly tell the architect what she wanted. He honestly didn't care. As long as Isabella was happy, he could live anywhere.

Nick went to the bed and lifted the quilt off Isabella's feet. He gave a loud sigh of relief. The swelling of her feet and ankles had gone down. He re-covered her. Tomorrow, they wouldn't walk so far. And they would stop more often so she could rest. He should've known better than to go so far today. Damn it!

"Nick?" Isabella said quietly.

Nick ran back to the bed. "Yes, Issy?"

"I need to go to the outhouse."

"They don't have outhouses here," he said.

Isabella sat straight up. "What?!"

"They have bathrooms here."

"Nick!"

Nick took her arm and helped her to the bathroom.

"I'm fine. I can do it," she said.

"But you asked me—"

"I was just waking up. I didn't know where I was."

"Okay. I'll wait right here for you."

"Nick . . . ."

"Okay, okay. I'll wait in the bedroom for you." He left the bathroom door slightly ajar so he could hear her if she called for him. He paced the floor until she came back out.

"How're you feelin'?"

"Good. Much better." She smiled. "Sorry I was such a brat at the restaurant."

Nick grinned. "Yep. You were definitely a brat."

"Now, where are those chocolates?"

Nick handed her the bag of chocolates.

She carefully selected one and took tiny bites off it, savoring each bite. "I've always wanted to taste chocolate. And it's even better than I've been told."

"We'll take some back with us," Nick said. Then he paused. "You've had chocolates before, haven't you?"

"No. I had a chocolate drink once, but this is the first time I've had a real piece of chocolate."

"Oh, Izzy." He drew her up into his arms and hugged her.

She pounded on his arm. "Let me go. I want to finish my chocolate."

Nick laughed and released her.

She continued nibbling at the chocolate.

"You know you can have as many as you want. You don't have to just have a tiny bite."

"I'm enjoying it," she said.

"Okay." He paced the floor, waiting for her to finish.

"What did you do while I slept?"

"I went to the architect's and got a preliminary drawing of our house."

"Great! Where is it?"

Nick sat next to her and took her hand. "Honey, the architect took a lot of liberties. What he designed is nothing at all like the sketch I gave him. So, we will walk over there and you can tell him yourself exactly what you want."

"May I see the drawing please?"

"It's laid out on the coffee table in the living area."

Isabella took the last bite of her chocolate, wiped her fingers on a napkin, and walked to the living area. She stared at the drawings, her mouth agape. She turned the pages to see the interior views. "Oh, Nick."

"I know, sweetie. But we will make sure it's exactly what you want."

"Can we afford this?"

"Of course. I told you money isn't an issue. We can build anything you want."

"I've never seen such a beautiful house in my entire life."

Nick stared at her.

"Look at these round rooms! Aren't they gorgeous?" She turned to Nick. "Can't you imagine having a library in one of the downstairs ones? Books lining the walls all the way around? And what little girl wouldn't love a round bedroom? I could never have imagined such a beautiful home." She smiled. "Do you love it as much as I do?"

"Uh, yes. Of course. And we can make the inside exactly as you want it. We don't have to have marble floors or ornate furnishings."

"Good. I'd like to have wood floors with braided rugs, not marble floors with oriental rugs. And upholstered furniture, not leather or brocade settees, and lace or cotton curtains, not velvet drapes. And no fancy statues or carpeted stairs. I want it to feel like a home, not a museum."

"You can have anything you want." Nick relaxed. "And, after the baby comes, we'll come back here and we'll shop for a week and you can pick out all the furniture for the house."

Isabella wrapped her arms around his waist. "Nick, I honestly don't believe you. You are the sweetest, kindest, most amazing person I've ever met. How did I ever get so lucky?"

"I ask myself that every day." Nick paused. "I mean, I ask myself how I got so lucky."

She turned her face up and Nick kissed her.

After several minutes, Isabella pulled away. "We don't have to go back tomorrow, do we?"

Nick laughed. "Nope! We surely don't."

"Good. Let's stay in tonight and maybe, maybe, we'll go look at furniture tomorrow."

"Nuttin' sounds better to me." Nick carried her to the bed.

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