the hotel room waiting any longer. I had already second-guessed my outfit five times.
I picked out my flirtiest dress, a little lower cut than usual, with a flared-out fifties-style skirt that flatters my shape. It’s the only good dress I have with me, really. I’ve spent so much time in front of the mirror already, lamenting the fact that I didn’t bring this outfit or that outfit. This is my only option, so it’s going to have to do.
Still, I’m on the verge of marching back upstairs and changing again – when I see him.
Nico is unmistakable, coming across the lobby towards me with a flash of white teeth and tanned skin. He’s setting his expensive sunglasses on top of his dark hair, and I can’t help but notice the three receptionists all snapping to attention when they see him. But he ignores them all, walks straight by them, and comes up to me.
I won’t pretend it’s not gratifying to think that this person – who everyone wants to look at them – is only looking at me.
“Hey,” he says, stopping in front of me with an easy smile that sets my stomach flip-flopping inside me. I’m on fire from the moment our eyes meet. I want him badly, and that hasn’t changed in the night since I saw him last.
He was literally my hero last night. He’s smart and cool, and suave, and drop-dead-gorgeous levels of handsome. How is a mere girl like me supposed to resist?
“Hi,” I say, smiling back at him. I try to batter down the shyness that threatens to rear its head, even as I feel myself flushing slightly. He’s so far out of my league. What am I even hoping for? “Thanks so much for saying you’ll look after me. Dad wasn’t going to let me stay on my own unless someone was keeping me safe.”
“It’s my pleasure,” Nico says. “By the way, you look lovely.”
“Thank you.”
I feel the blush spreading over my cheeks and even further. I think I should give him a chance to get out of this, even if I want him to stay. It would be the right thing. I don’t want him to hang around with me all week just out of guilt.
“You don’t have to stay here with me if it’s too much. I know you must be busy with work. We can just tell my Dad that you were with me every day if you want. I won’t be mad.”
“You don’t want me to spend time with you?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.
I swallow down my nerves and look him in the eye. That should make me feel even more nervous, meeting him head-on like that. Somehow, it doesn’t. When my eyes connect with his cool grey gaze, it makes me feel anchored, at ease, like there’s no chance of me drifting away while he’s here. “I’d love to spend some more time with you,” I tell him, opting for honesty. “I enjoyed yesterday a lot. I just don’t want you to feel obligated.”
“Well, I don’t,” he says, shifting slightly closer as he smiles down at me. He captivates me with that look of his, that slow and sexy smile that starts at the corners of his mouth first, curling steadily more and more. “I liked yesterday, too. So, what do you want to do today?”
I keep his gaze for a moment and then look away, shy about what I’m about to say. Still, I know that I’m going to say it anyway. “Actually, I’m kind of tired of walking around,” I say. “I was thinking we could go up to my room, look at some maps, plan out where we’ll go for the next few days.”
“You want me to come up to your room with you?” Nico asks.
I look up to realize he’s watching me with a smirk, but not a cruel one. A smirk that kind of hints he wants the same thing, too.
“Yes,” I tell him simply.
“Alright,” he says. We’re near the elevators already, and he leans over past me to press the call button, his body heat passing over me for just a brief moment.
A brief moment that sets me on fire.
I bite my lip as we wait for the elevator, and when it arrives, I find my legs shaking when I step inside. I lean up against the sidewall for support, hoping he won’t notice. Nico stands beside me and then turns, moving up close towards me, looking at something over my