Page 29 of Sweet as Sin (Bad Habit 1)
“Of course. Sorry. Come in.”
I stood aside to let him pass. He set the helmet on the table by the door, turned back to me, and before I could even get the door shut, took me in his arms.
He kissed me. Hard.
It was a take-no-prisoners kind of kiss. Or maybe it was a staking-a-claim kind of kiss. Either way, it knocked me off my feet.
When it was over, I opened my eyes to find him staring intently down into my face. “That was the longest two weeks of my fuckin’ life. Don’t pull that shit on me again.”
The man had no filter. I couldn’t help it: I cracked a huge grin. “It’s nice to see you, too, Nico.”
“Yeah?” He grinned back at me, and suddenly all the butterflies that had been having seizures in my stomach settled. It was good to see him. I liked having him in my house. “I mean, you don’t compare to Bob, but I suppose you’ll do.”
He kicked the door shut with his foot, not looking away from me. “Can’t compete with a man who sells you tequila, but I did bring you something.”
Surprised, I perked up. “You did? What?”
From the inside pocket of his leather jacket, he produced a little black box. I may have blanched, because Nico laughed.
“Don’t get all deer-in-the-headlights on me, now, Kat. If there was a ring in this box, it’d be a hell of a lot bigger. And we haven’t even been on that third date yet.”
I blushed, feeling like a total idiot. Then I started thinking about ring sizes. Then I blushed harder, screaming at myself mentally to pull my shit together.
Nico put the box into my hands. I opened it, and gasped. It was a necklace, gold and delicate, with a pendant in the shape of a Japanese symbol.
The symbol for trust.
My throat got tight. I looked away, blinking.
Nico mistook my reaction for disappointment. “You don’t like it?”
“No, I . . . it’s beautiful, Nico. I love it.”
He put his fingers on my chin and gently turned my head back, so I was forced to look into his eyes.
“Then why d’you look like you’re gonna cry?”
The waterworks have been a lifelong problem for me. I get choked up over all sorts of random things, from hearing the national anthem to those cat videos on Facebook. The word “sentimental” was invented for saps like me.
One of the many reasons I have to try so hard to pretend I’m tough. I don’t have a thick skin, like Grace. I get hurt easily.
“How did you . . . this symbol . . . you know what it means, right?”
Nodding, Nico swept his thumb over my cheek. “Kenji told me you’re half Japanese, half Irish. It was either this or a Trinity knot, which I thought might be a little too much. For a second date, and all.”
A Trinity knot was a Celtic love knot, symbolizing eternal love. He was blowing me away with all this. “Nico . . . I don’t know what to say.”
He leaned down and gently kissed me. “Say you’ll wear it.”
Of course I would wear it. I was never going to take it off. I’d be wearing it when they lowered my coffin into the ground. I’d never received a gift as thoughtful, beautiful, or outrageously romantic in my entire life.
“Can I ask you a serious question?”
He nodded.
I had to gather my courage for a second before I could ask him what was on my mind.
“Why me?”
