it to cool the heat in my cheeks.
“See anything you like?” Nico didn’t look at me as he spoke, but his lips quirked like his thoughts weren’t entirely on the food.
“I…” My voice pitched to high and I lowered it before continuing. “I like it all… It all looks like it belongs in my mouth.”
He slid his gaze to me, and his lips parted. Then he slapped his menu closed and reached for my hands across the table, clearing his throat as he did. “I wanted to show you some of the food of my childhood—my Mom makes versions of all of this. And Saint did let slip it’s your favorite.” His eyes burned with desire, traitor against his casual, conversational tone.
After the waiter had cleared the plates at the end of our main course, Nico refilled his water from the jug on the table. “I was surprised when I saw your name on those interview files.”
I laughed. “Why? Did you think Saint was trying to sneak his family members in through the back door?”
“Fuck, no.” He took a long swallow, and I watched his Adam’s apple as it bobbed in his strong neck. “Saint wouldn’t gift anyone an employment opportunity. I think even your mom would need to earn that.”
I chuckled. “True.”
“No, it wasn’t that you were Saint’s brother. It was that you were there at all. I mean, where did the time go?” He shrugged and laid his napkin across his plate as he signaled the waiter. “Dessert? Coffee?”
I nodded and answered his question. “Please.” Then I got curious. There was so much about Nico I wanted to know. Where were those missing years, the ones where I’d just been left with memories of him and an overwhelming crush that fueled the majority of my fantasies in my late teens. “I guess we both got older. But where did you go?”
He glanced at his hands.
“Sorry. No, don’t answer that,” Shit. I’d gone too far. “It’s none of my business. I mean, we’re here now, and that’s the important thing.” I grinned in an attempt to erase my faux pas. I’d waited so long for this moment—half my life, it felt like. I couldn’t let a sentence of five words take it all away.
He touched my hand. “Actually, I’d like to tell you.”
“Okay.” I sat back, ready to listen. I wouldn’t ask any more questions.
But the waiter approached and flipped open his notepad as I ordered some sort of Italian chocolate overload. When he’d walked away, I looked back at Nico, hoping for him to continue.
After a beat, I shifted my hand under his, attracting his attention. “Go on. You said you’d like to tell me something.”
He met my gaze like I’d just woken him from a nap, then shook his head and his eyes refocused. “After my, uh…after my dad died…”
I tightened my fingers around his. “I’m so sorry.” I willed him to feel my sympathy, to absorb it. I couldn’t imagine what it must have felt like. “You were so young.”
He nodded. “And I felt like I was the only person Mom had left. I did everything I could to look after her. Still do.”
My chest tightened as a wave of affection filled it. Nico was such a good guy. Kind and caring, and that only made him more attractive.
He chuckled a little, but the sound was almost sad. “I still do what I can but she recently remarried, so she doesn’t need me as much anymore.”
I almost raised my hand. I wanted to be next in line for his brand of care and attention. “That must have been tough on you when you were still so young.”
“Yes and no.” He lifted his shoulders in a half shrug. “I had to grow up quickly, but it made me try harder. I had to do as much as I could to be able to look after my mom and to make her proud. I actually… I enjoy taking care of other people.”
I nodded. So much made sense. Not just the way he stopped coming around—I understood that, but also his dedication to his clients, and his insistence I saw each one as a person. Nico took care of everyone.
He smiled at me, a smile full of heat and promise, and sudden desire raced through me as thoughts of him taking care of me, and meeting all of my needs…even in the bedroom…became a slideshow in my mind, and my cock twitched as arousal obliterated further thought.
Nico grinned like