Page 8 of Surprise Pregnancy for Villain

“Listen, Joe and Simon will be here any minute. Stay here and finish your drink while I run to the ladies,” the redhead—Katie—says. Without waiting for an answer, she flounces off, leaving the brunette beauty all alone. I wished she’d said her name during the conversation. But I know a lot already. She’s a student. Has an overbearing father. Meeting up with a couple of guys here named Joe and Simon. And most importantly, she’s not going home tonight.

Her head turns in my direction, then does a double take. A soft smirk clashes with the blush on her cheeks as she stabs the drink with her straw again. “Didn’t your parents tell you it was rude to stare?”

“I’d ask you the same thing.”

“As if. You’re the one who stared first. I’m only returning the favor.”

“If you say so.” I go back to nursing my drink, the tumbler quivering in my hand. I’m aware of my quickening heartbeat.

Especially when she draws closer.

“That’s what I said, pops. You’re old enough. You should know better.”

Pops? I just entered my thirties. I’m hardly a ‘pops’, but I suppose that tells me how young she really is. “Just how old do you think I am?” I say, draining the last of my scotch.

She looks me up and down. “Old enough to afford that suit,” she replies. “Brioni, isn’t it?”

Didn’t expect that. I can’t help but grin. “I’m impressed. You seem to have an eye for fashion,” I say. And just to get back at her for calling me old, I tease, “Pity your outfit doesn’t show it.”

Her pink lips part in astonishment, and her big, dewy brown eyes open wide, reminding me of a porcelain doll in a toy store window. Not brown. More like…hazel.

“Hey,” she barks, her hands slipping down to stroke her jeans with an air of haughty pride. “Don’t you know these are…” As my gaze follows her hands, taking in the tightly outlined cleft between her legs, she breaks off mid-sentence. “Never mind,” she says, turning back to her drink. “It’s impolite to stare, that’s all I’m saying. A guy with a suit like that should have better manners.”

“Oh, really?” I set my empty tumbler on the bar and re-adjust my stance to face her more directly. “You mean, manners like, ‘That’s what I said, pops?’” I mimic. “No wonder you’re still under daddy’s thumb.”

Oh, wrong move, Ezio.

She turns on me faster than I give myself a mental head slap for saying those words. Her raven locks create a breeze as they swing like a pendulum in my direction. Her mouth is fully open this time, gaping like a caught fish. “Now you’re an eavesdropper, too? Look who’s talking about manners,” she exclaims as she finds her voice.

“You weren’t exactly whispering,” I reply, making direct eye contact. She blinks once, her dark, feathery lashes sweeping up and down, then she seems to freeze like prey in the sights of a deadly enemy. The comparison isn’t inaccurate. “Relax, I’m not going to bite,” I say.

“Oh, but if I stay here any longer,I will,” she snaps. “Dick.”

With her eyes still transfixed on mine, she backs away from the bar, slowly shaking her head from side to side. Without another word, she turns her back on me and melts into the swarming crowd.

Yes, she’s mad as hell, but she won’t get away from me that easily. She’d already left a mark on me. I’m keen on returning the favor.

Chapter Five

Nicoletta

I should wait for Katie to return, but I can’t stay another second at this bar, carrying on this strange, erratic conversation with an equally strange man. Twisting on my heels, I storm off, aware of his eyes on me. His insolent, presumptuous words make me mad, but as I ease my way into the crowd, I feel something else, too. Whatever it is, it makes me glance behind me. He’s still watching. There’s something about those eyes. Intense doesn’t even begin to describe them. Standing by the bar, I almost fell into their green depths, as murky and mysterious as a forest pond.

Whipping back around, I ignore the butterfly action going on in my stomach. I tell myself that what I’m feeling has nothing to do with him. I don’t care that he’s good looking, his face finely chiseled and clean-shaven. I don’t care that he has gorgeous hair. Dark like mine, but sleek like Katie’s, pulled into a short ponytail. He’s too sophisticated, even for this club. There isn’t a strict dress code, but this dude certainly took things up a notch with that suit. My father and his cohorts wear Brioni, which is how I recognized the style and cut.

Which reminds me of what he’d said. How dare he assume that I’m smothered by my dad?

Well, it is true, isn’t it?

“That’s totally beside the point,” I mutter, my eyes scanning the crowd for Katie. “He had no right to an opinion of my life.”

Ugh, I hope I don’t run into him again tonight. There’s something unsettling about him. Not like with Lucca. I can’t put my finger on it, but the stranger makes me feel… weird.

Goosebumps cover my arms, despite the warm atmosphere of the club. Resisting another urge to glance back at the bar, I disappear into the heat of the dance crowd.

Through the tangled, sweaty mass of bodies, I see Katie waving to me from across the room. As I get closer, I see Joe and Simon are with her. She must have bumped into them on her way back from the ladies’ room. That must be why she didn’t return right away. At last, I clear the crowd and join them.

“Hey, Nicki,” Simon greets me, his friendly gaze sweeping over me before landing on the floor.

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