Page 66 of My Sweetest Temptation

“Don’t you have anything better to do than flirt with the help?” Nico let out a dark growl. His jaw was clenched tight, muscles taut with barely suppressed fury, radiating heat like a raging inferno.

Help? Wow, what a way to win a girl’s heart, I thought bitterly.

Preston straightened, the smirk on his face practically oozing arrogance. “Just chatting, Nico. No harm in that, right?” His bravado faltered as Nico wrapped a protective arm around my waist and pulled me back until I was nestled firmly behind him. I tried to hold onto my slimy friends before they slithered away onto the floor.

Preston shot Nico a tight smile. “I’ll see you around, sweetheart,” he purred, the words dripping with a promise

“No, you won’t,” Nico interjected sharply, his voice a cold, hard blade that sliced through the moment.

Just then, a server glided by with a tray of drinks, and Preston seized one. “Have a good night,” he called out, tipping his drink to us with feigned cheer. But the glint in his eyes was anything but friendly as he walked away.

Nico stood, rigid, his gaze following Preston until the man disappeared into the crowd. I could feel the storm brewing within him, a violent cyclone of protectiveness and simmering anger, and I knew this wasn’t over. Nico spun around, his eyes flashing with an assertiveness that made my heart race. He leaned in closer, his warm breath ghosting over my neck. “I don’t ever want to see you talking to him again,” he hissed, his voice charged with a mix of anger and something I couldn’t identify.

“He came to me, not the other way around.” The words escaped my lips before I could think through them. I suddenly felt breathless, like I needed a defibrillator just to stay upright.

“Don’t fucking care. Just stay the fuck away from him,” he growled, his words reverberating against my skin, igniting a spark of fear and excitement. I could barely keep the tray in my hands, my fingers trembling as I fought the urge to flee. I waited for him to pull away. When he finally did, it was like a rush of oxygen flooded my lungs.

He cast a quick glance over my shoulder, as if he was being summoned. A curt nod acknowledged whoever called him before his eyes fixed back on me. “Don’t defy me, Winter.”

With that, he strode away, leaving me standing there, reeling.

What the hell just happened?

My feet were killing me.

My back needed to be cracked to ease the tension knotting in my spine.

I could have really used the candy bar I stashed away in my purse.

The appetizers all served, I now glared across the bar, my heart pounding as I watched that old hag lean in too close to Nico, her laughter a little too bright, her hand lingering a little too long on his arm. The sight made my blood boil. How dare she? She was married, and to a judge I thought I’d seen at the club.

I tried to avoid Nico as much as I could after our earlier run in. He was a freaking unwelcome distraction, but it annoyed me to see other women flaunting themselves at him. But what really pissed me off was that Nico didn’t shoo them away. If I knew better, he allowed it on purpose and enjoyed seeing me squirm.

So, in a fit of defiance, I turned my attention to the bartender, letting a sultry smile slip onto my lips as I bent over the bar, giving him a playful wink. This wasn’t me. I didn’t flirt, and I sure as hell didn’t know what I was doing. But I must have been doing something right since the cute blond bartender grinned.

I took that as a cue to kick it up a notch, knowing it would piss Nico off. I touched the bartender’s arm, and his smile widened, showing his pearly whites.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and noticed a message from Nico.

Nico

Take your hand off his arm.

I rolled my eyes, my frustration boiling over.

Me

No.

Nico

Winter.

Me

Nico.

Nico

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