The Unseen Enemy Series

Chapter 56

Seven weeks later

Nigel glanced at the clock above Liv’s stove and gasped in horror. How had time gotten away from him so badly? How? How? It was all Abe’s fault – why did he have to drop by Liv’s house out-of-the-blue and bring some flowers for Emma? It was a lovely gesture, of course, but the man’s kisses were just too good to resist, and Nigel had easily lost a good ten minutes before sending Abe on his way.

Now he spun around the gorgeous living room, fluffing cushions and double-checking that the wine glasses were streak-free. He frowned at the banner hanging over the roaring fireplace and moved it a bit to the left, then the right, then left again. He fussed with the fresh-cut flowers, changed the music three times, and rearranged the platters of food that Jenny had prepared and brought over.

Nigel heard the garage door open two floors down, and knew that Liv was home. He gasped again and launched himself into the entrance lobby of the house, waiting for the elevator doors to slide open. He caught his flustered reflection in the mirror and smoothed down his hair.

Wild with impatience, he listened to the elevator approaching, and when it dinged, he straightened his shoulders. The doors opened, and there stood Liv and Emma.

Nigel stared at Emma in delight: she had color in her face and that short haircut actually suited her. She was all eyes and lips, her face calm and shining. She saw him and squealed. He held out his arms to her and she jumped into them.

“Nigel!”

“Emma, doll! How you feeling?”

“Great. I feel great.”

“Well, you look great. I kid you not… who knew you had such incredible cheekbones?"

Emma smiled at him. “Thanks for getting everything ready, Nigel. I can’t believe you managed to get my parents here at no cost at all… no way they could have afforded those plane tickets. You’re a marvel.”

He waved his hand airily. “No problem.”

Behind Emma, Liv rolled her eyes. Nigel had been steadily and consistently freaking out about Emma’s party for approximately six days. She’d never seen him lose his cool like this – not even when her flight to the Bahamas had been cancelled and he’d had to organize how to get her to a photo shoot there at peak tourist season in less than twenty-four hours. The man had lost his mind about Emma, though, determined to make her celebration party perfect.

Emma looked around Liv’s house, thrilled. “It looks fantastic!”

Liv smiled. “Nigel worked his ass off, Em. Done no work for me whatsoever for the past week – it was all about you. Not that I mind… you deserve this.”

Nigel led them into the living room and pointed at the champagne. “In the fridge, I have a bottle of the alcohol-free stuff for you,” he said to Emma. “But when I spoke to Doctor Fife, he said that one glass of the real thing is fine.”

“Thanks,” Emma said. “I’ll make sure to enjoy it.”

The door phone rang then, and Nigel dashed over to answer. He glanced at the monitor and saw Jenny standing there with a gorgeous blond man, balancing platters of food. Nigel buzzed them in and turned to Liv.

“Can I stay and meet the hot ex-soldiers? Please? Please? I promise not to paw them.”

Emma and Liv laughed.

“Of course you can,” Liv said. “Just watch out for Dallas – he’s kind of terrifying.”

“The bodyguard?”

“That’s the one.”

Nigel shivered. He had a thing for bodyguards.

The door phone rang again and again, and soon enough, the house was full of people chattering. All of Emma’s work colleagues had shown up except Helen Carrow from the HR department, and according to Liv, that wasn’t a big shock. Doctor Hal Fife had come, and so had several cancer patients that Emma had gotten friendly with over the course of her treatment. They looked thrilled to be at a celebration for one of their own.