Page 77 of Worth Every Penny

His brow creases. “Amy? No. She’s a friend. Seb wants her to sing at his birthday next year.” His gaze intensifies. “Are you keeping tabs on me?” He sounds amused. Delighted, even, which is annoying, to say the least.

“I am not ‘keeping tabs on you.’ One of the graduates showed me an article. What about Erica Lefroy? The model?”

I need to stop talking. I’m giving myself away.

“We went on a few dates a couple of years ago, but there was no chemistry. She’s a friend too.” He arches a brow. “I’m single. Unattached. Is that what you want to know?”

I cross my arms, determined to say nothing else, but a moment later I find myself asking, “Why didn’t you get in touch? You had my number.”

“And you had mine, but you didn’t use it. I thought you might regret what happened, and I didn’t want to pressure you.”

I narrow my eyes. “You’re putting a gentlemanly spin on shitty behaviour.”

He chuckles, and annoyance flares inside me. The last thing I want him to do right now is laugh at me.

I opt for a direct question. “The shoes. Why did you buy them for me?”

All signs of amusement vanish from his face. He inhales, blows out the exhale, and waits so long to respond that I wonder if he heard me. Then his eyes take on that same look from last week when he asked me to touch myself, and I couldn’t look away if I wanted to.

“Why did you draw me so many times?”

The air between us crackles and static buzzes on every exposed inch of my skin. We turn to face one another like we share a centre of gravity, the inches between us shrinking until I can feel the heat of him through my shirt.

Nico lifts his hand, and I hold my breath as he reaches towards me. He rests his fingers on my neck, his thumb strumming over the dip between my collarbones. “God, Kate. You have no idea how much I’ve wanted you.”

His words increase my aching need, and I tip my head back on a sigh, giving him more access. He leans towards me, his lips almost touching mine. The possibility of kissing him is excruciating.

“If we do this, there’s no going back.” His voice is hoarse with desire so palpable I feel it in between my legs.

“Do what?” I ask breathlessly.

“If I kiss you, taste you…fuckyou, we can’t undo it. Is that what you want?” He runs his lips along my jaw, lightly kissing the skin. “I need to know it’s what you want.”

My breathing is all over the place; my body throbbing. Every sense is heightened to excruciating precision, and when he brushes his lips to my throat, a small whimper escapes me.

He makes a low murmur of appreciation that thrums all the way to my toes. He nips my neck with his teeth, sending a jolt of energy right to my clit.

“Is it what you want?” he repeats. He grips my hip and pulls me closer until there’s barely an inch between us. The thick length of his cock presses against me.He’s as turned on as I am.

“Answer me.”

Yes. Yes, yes, yes. A thousand times, yes.

But not a word of willing escapes me as my blood runs thin and fast in my veins, panic roaring through the cloud of lust that fogs my brain. Thoughts cascade, an avalanche that chills me; he didn’t call for a week, Amy Moritz, my dad, the deal, Erica Lefroy…

“No.”

Nico jerks backwards like my words have scalded him. He touches the tips of his fingers to his lips, his eyes roving back and forth across my face, like he’s trying to find some explanation hidden in my expression.

“No?” Disbelief spreads like ice through his tone. He tugs on the tie knot at his neck, and his expression hardens. He jams his finger on the button for the sixth floor. “Then you should leave.”

“What?”

“I can’t have you in here right now. I can't bear another moment in your presence if I can't touch you. I’m not playing games. I won’t do it. If you don’t want anything to happen between us, then you need to go. Now.” Neat, hard musclesstand out along his beautiful jaw. There’s a darkness in his eyes that flares, barely controlled.

What happens if I don’t leave? What happens if I tip Nico Hawkston over the edge?

The lift dings to alert us to our arrival on the twentieth floor. The doors open and, with one final dark-eyed questioning look at me, Nico steps out and marches down the corridor towards his office without a backward glance.

---