in him. And, judging by his demeanor toward his family members, he had a huge capacity for love.
Thank God my phone chimed with a text and yanked me off that train of thought. Because I was starting to picture a mini version of Nico running circles around my feet.
Of course, his name popped up on the screen when I unlocked it. Like an idiot, I was smiling before I even knew what the message said. I just liked seeing his name.
Nico: Heads up, Jasmine’s bachelorette party got moved up. She’ll probably be calling soon to invite you.
Me: I look forward to it. When is it?
Nico: Tonight. Same with Cris’s bachelor party.
Tonight? Geez, what was the rush? I thought their wedding wasn’t for another two months or so.
Me: Guess I’ll have to go shopping for a new dress.
Nico: Need some help? I know a guy with great taste who’s a big fan of your body.
The urge to hand fan myself was almost uncontrollable. Had we officially entered into the casual flirting stage? The one with tons of sexual innuendo and partially veiled propositions?
And they say all that ends after marriage. Heh.
Me: I’m sure I’ll manage. Besides, I think if you came along, you’d only be a distraction.
Nico: Good to know I distract you, legs.
Buoyed by his final text, I stopped at a few stores after leaving the foundation. My favorite options were at the last store, where I closed myself inside a fitting room to try them all on. Getting a delicious idea, I snapped photos of myself in each dress in front of the full-length mirror and sent them off to Nico.
Feeling bold, the last one was of me in nothing but my dark purple demi bra and panty set.
Me: Okay, you said you had great taste. Which one?
His reply came almost instantly.
Nico: The last one. And speaking of great tastes, I want to eat that for dinner.
The impulse to slip my fingers inside my panties nearly knocked me over.
So, I acted on it.
And snapped another photo.
Me: Eat what? This?
Nico: Christ, woman. If I wasn’t in a meeting right now, I’d track you down wherever the fuck you are and make you sorry for teasing me.
Me: Then you shouldn’t be on your phone. Get back to work, Mr. Rossetti.
Nico: You’ll pay for this later.
Me: Sounds like my punishment will have to wait. I’ve got a bachelorette party to go to. ;)
Nico: Say your prayers, little Lexi. Because I’ll be making you scream for your God tonight.
I almost fainted.
A tiny sliver of fear snaked through me. Not fear of the man. But fear of the man’s expectations.
What if I didn’t live up to them? What if I was nothing at all like the sexpot-type women he was used to bedding? The ones who were so confident in their skills that they made a man stand up and beg for what they had to offer. But he’d liked what he’d seen so far, right?
I guess there was no going back now.
Nico Rossetti just all but told me he was going to be inside me by the end of the night.
Naked tits and asses were being shoved in my face and I didn’t care.
Something was seriously fucking wrong with me.
For the first time in my life, I wanted a pair of creamy, teacup-sized breasts over the pair of DDs swinging around up onstage. Pasties couldn’t hide the gloriousness of them, but nothing stirred in my pants at the sight. Not like when Lexi sent me that picture of her wearing nothing but her bra and panties with her hand shoved inside the barely-there scrap of satin.
That image had gotten me granite-hard in half a second.
During a fucking business meeting.
I grinned into my glass of whiskey, burnishing the sight of Lexi’s proud smile in the picture onto the backs of my eyelids.
“Would you stop frowning, dude?” Luka yelled at Cris over the pounding bass of the music. “Jesus, it’s your bachelor party, not your execution.”
Cris turned the glare he’d been wearing ever since we first walked into the strip club on our brother. “Don’t try to pretend like you brought me here out of brotherly obligation or some ceremonial rite of passage. You knew Ace and I weren’t going to partake in this.”
Luka laughed loudly. “Hey, I said we’d go back to Nico’s for poker and pool, like you suggested. Just wanted to make a quick stop first.” He turned his inquiring eye on me. “But it looks like you two aren’t the only