Page 101 of Worth Every Penny

“Is that a giant penis on the side of a van?” he questions, eyes wide.

My stomach drops.Oh, God. I snatch my phone up before Charlie can inspect it further. “No. Of course not.” I quickly change the background photo to a picture of me and Jack at the drinks party.

I put it back on the desk, and Charlie peers over to look closer. Just then my phone buzzes, the nameNico Hawkstonappearing on the screen.

My composure dissolves at the sight of his name and I grab it so fast that Charlie looks at me like I’ve gone mad. Thank God I changed Nico’s contact details fromMassively Hot Nico.

I wave him away and he frowns before returning to his own desk and sinking into his chair, hidden from view behind his computer screen. Thank goodness. I don’t want the judgmental eyes of a fifteen-year-old on me as I open the message.

My hands are shaking, my mind flip-flopping between scenarios of Nico breaking it off to those of him bending me over his desk upstairs.

Nico: Twentieth Floor. My office. Sunset.

A smile breaks across my face, and then immediately falls. There’s no kiss. No hint of what he wants to say or do when I get there. Five words and three full stops. No emotion.

Also, sunset? It’s midsummer and it won’t be sunset until after nine pm. What does he expect me to do until then?

I begin to type something, then delete. Type again, then delete. The little dots appear and disappear.

Another message pings through.

Nico:You’re killing me over here.What’s on your mind?

I reply before I’ve even thought it through.

Me: You.

His response comes almost instantly.

Nico: Good. I’ve thought of nothing but you since you left.

I read it three times. It’s not a dirty message. It’s not even suggestive. It’s… sweet. It’s reassuring, but I find myself wishing he’d sent something a little more… intense. After all, this weekend was anything butsweet.

Images of our time together flicker in my mind like a slideshow. Nico naked, the sheen of sweat on his abs, his chest, his perfect dick pounding into me… Heat seeps through the phone, intensifying until it’s flowing through every cell in my body.

“What are you grinning at?”

Jack’s voice has me spinning in my chair, dropping my phone into my lap.

“Huh?”

“You look like a kid who’s just discovered the Easter Bunny is real. Who’s the message from?” He nods at where my phone lies discarded on my thighs.

“Oh.” I glance down as if surprised to see my phone there. “Just Elly. Something stupid. You know how she is.”

A flicker of…somethingcrosses his brow, and when he speaks, each word is enunciated. “I do know.”

Why is he being weird?

Before I can dwell on that thought, Jack changes the subject. “Spa meeting at ten. We’re all coming. The team. Looking forward to seeing what you’ve got.”

“Can’t wait.”

Jack grins, slides one hand in his pocket and saunters back to his office. Even though I can only see the back of my brother’s head, I know he’s flashing his charming smile at every female hepasses because they turn to him like sunflowers straining for the light.

I’m struck then by the difference between Nico and my brother. Jack invites the attention, whereas Nico doesn’t. And for Jack, the smile of a random woman in the street or the office or a restaurant energizes him.

But Nico…

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