preferring to spend time at work with your intern, maybe that’s when you need to start asking yourself the hard questions.”
Shit. Maybe he knew about the kiss. A chill skittered across my skin, but when I sneaked a peek at Saint, his smile was still wide and teasing. I shoved the rest of my things into my bag before that changed and straightened as I slung my bag onto my shoulder.
I turned to Nico, suddenly unwilling to leave without checking in on him. “Uh.” I scratched the side of my neck as my cheeks began to prickle with heat. “Do you need anything before I go? I can even run down the street and grab you a coffee if you plan to stay here any longer?”
Great. Just great. I sounded a little like his puppy dog, never mind overeager intern. But I couldn’t take the words back, and I couldn’t look at Saint either, in case he saw too much in my expression.
A gentle smile formed on Nico’s lips and he gave his head a slight shake. “No thank you, Jamie,” he said, and my heart almost broke into song at the sound of my name as he spoke.
It was almost impossible not to swoon as I continued to watch him for a beat too long after he’d finished talking, taking in his dark features, shadowed in the dying light.
Then he spoke again. “I think I have everything I—” He hesitated and swallowed. “Need.”
I flicked my tongue over my lips. There were things I needed that I didn’t even dare think about. But too late I remembered Saint, my brother, watching me practically get a hard-on at just the sight of his friend, and I looked his way as my cheeks burned fiercely. Hopefully, the darkening room hid any blush well enough.
Saint wasn’t looking at me, though. Well, not just me. His gaze bounced between Nico and me, and I could almost see his mind making connections as one of his front teeth caught his lip in a familiar move from when we were younger. It meant he was concentrating, and I didn’t want to be the focus of that level of Saint concentration, so I ducked my head and scooted past him, jostling him a little on my way through the door.
“I’ll see you both next week, yeah?” I didn’t wait for an answer but did manage to offer an awkward wave through the window as I almost ran past the front of Nico’s office.
Christ. One day maybe I’d develop some level of cool. Although that day was clearly not today. My cringe consumed my whole body as I hurried to leave the building.
12
Nico
The outer door closed like a bomb had exploded through the building, signaling Jamie’s departure, and Saint and I both seemed to release a breath at the sound. I stayed quiet, still unsure what Saint thought he’d seen between his brother and me. I didn’t want Jamie in any trouble with his brother when he’d been nothing but professional all week. Although, maybe he’d been a little different today. My heart tugged at the thought.
“Well, shit.” Saint threw himself into one of the little gray armchairs and propped his feet on the low coffee table.
“Watch it. I put that together myself. I don’t know how much weight it will hold.” I indicated the table, but he continued speaking as if he hadn’t heard me.
“You’ve got a boner for my little brother!” He barked out a sudden laugh.
I stood from my desk and walked over to join him. He held his annoyance in the set of shoulders, but his irritation didn’t look as bad as I expected. He hadn’t yelled loud enough to alert half the block, anyway. I lowered myself onto the couch opposite him, glad of the dark that hid my guilt.
“You can calm down. Nothing’s happened, and it isn’t going to.” The phrases fell from my lips and I couldn’t tell whether they were protestations or platitudes.
“Hmph.”
I’d never heard him make such an old man noise.
He waved a hand. “Of course, I wouldn’t worry about One-Night Nico if Jamie didn’t have a boner for you, too.”
“Oh, God.” I laughed, midway between actual amusement and a horrified cringe. “Stop saying the word ‘boner.’ We’re all grown-ass men, not horny teenagers.”
“Well, grown-ass man, erection then, but it doesn’t make my point any less valid.” He sighed. “To be honest, I was starting to wonder if I should reassign him to someone else, considering your reputation for