fight or flight.
“Did Nico not take his pet puppy dog to court with him? Aww!” Malcolm fake-pouted at me.
Inside, I grinned. Nico wasn’t avoiding me—he was at court. On a case.
“I have some details to take care of here.” I nodded like I knew what I was doing. And when I thought about it, I did know what I was doing.
After I turned and left Malcolm mid-sentence, I walked straight to Nico’s office and prepared his cases for the next day. When he hadn’t returned by lunchtime, I researched potential outcomes for the case he was working on so I could be ready if things didn’t go to plan, and when he still hadn’t arrived by going home time, I tidied our workspaces.
That last part was a little obsessive compulsive, but I wanted him to arrive to an office I’d taken care of for him.
I nudged the last pen into place on his desk before I walked back to my small desk and put my laptop away in my bag. I exhaled in relief. I’d made it through the whole day and didn’t have to worry about Nico until tomorrow. Satisfaction and anxiety clashed in my head, and I squashed them both down. I had enough to think about without worrying about something at least twelve hours away.
The door snicked open, and I glanced up, expecting to it to be Malcolm preparing to feed me some God-awful opinion on Nico again.
But Nico himself stood in the doorway, his gaze hot as he stared at me. He pushed the door closed behind him and leaned against it, watching me the whole time, and sexy as fuck.
I struggled to draw a smooth, easy breath, and my heartbeat pulsed in my ears. Nothing else existed besides Nico—his hazel stare, the fullness of his sensuous lips, the loose fists he held at his sides, the air we were both breathing. The same air.
I coughed a little. “Hi.” It came out as a squeak. But it didn’t matter.
He didn’t respond. He took a slow step toward me. Just one, then he paused. I waited a beat, and he took another step. Almost a long slow slide, like I was the prey. I took a tiny step away from my hunter. I couldn’t help it.
Sexy Nico was also kind of scary Nico.
“Do you have plans over the weekend?” Even his voice was dark, low, sexy, and my body responded as if he’d passed an electric current through me.
I shook my head. A slow headshake because I couldn’t let my mouth answer. It wanted to bellow that no, I didn’t have plans. It wanted to ask if he wanted to make plans. It especially wanted to ask if Nico wanted to make plans with me. With me… With Jamie. And, by the way, did he want to be my boyfriend? Because my mouth wanted all those things.
And my body wanted those things, too. It wanted to shimmy a little bit and rub itself all over Nico. It wanted to dance around the room, and it actually kind of wanted to faint in a heap on the floor.
So, yeah. I stuck to the headshake.
“I’d like to take you out to dinner.”
Just like that. No question for me to answer, and his bold statement hung in the air.
He grinned. “Would you like that?”
I nodded, still withholding my mouth’s privileges.
“Are you sure?” Nico leaned a little closer and a small frown line appeared between his brows as he appeared to have a moment of doubt.
“Please. Yes, please. Yes. Yes... I—” I stopped. Damn mouth. “Just yes. That would be nice, thank you.”
He smiled, the movement slow and tender, and his eyes smoldered then he laid his palm on my cheek, cupping my face. I trembled.
My entire body shivered at a mere touch.
He leaned closer still and I closed my eyes and held my breath. He was going to kiss me. My body still wanted to faint, so I tensed my knees. Nothing would ruin this moment for me.
His soft lips pressed against my forehead, and I exhaled in disappointment and a little relief. If Nico wanted to kiss me, I wanted to be ready. Mouth fresh and breath smelling good. Being able to coordinate my breathing at the very least.
And the kiss felt kind of like a promise.
I didn’t open my eyes right away, not until he nuzzled his nose against mine. Then I looked right into his eyes. His beautiful hazel eyes, flecked with glints of gold, so close.
“I’ll