Page 65 of Taming Nikki

“Good. Leo said if I saw you naked, he’d murder me.”

That made me laugh. I stood, resisting the urge to stretch again. Pretty sure if I did, I’d give Frankie an eyeful. The shirt landed mid thigh, and he was already blushing.

“What are you doing up here?”

“Who sleeps this late?”

Rolling my eyes, I shoved past him. What was with everyone judging my sleeping habits? I was a night owl. Was that so hard to fathom? I didn’t let Frankie follow me to my room. When he tried, I threatened him until he fled back downstairs. I was only a nice person after coffee.

I was too tired to get dressed. All I managed was a pair of panties and a bra before I felt like going back to bed. I threw back on Leo’s shirt and called it a day. He shouldn’t let people over so early if he didn’t want me walking around half dressed. His future wife would thank me for the lesson I was teaching him.

Frankie was waiting at the bottom of the stairs with a cup of coffee. He fled the minute it was in my hands, keeping the island between me and him, when I moved to join them.

“Why is it so fucking crowded?”

I counted no less than six giant men in Leo’s kitchen, not counting Frankie. A few I recognized, a few not so much, but I really didn’t give a shit. I took my favorite spot sitting on the end of the island and drank my coffee in silence, my eyes closed.

“Happy birthday, beautiful.”

I blinked and frowned. Leo stood in front of me, back in the sweats and no shirt combo that made me want to drool. He chuckled at my blank look and kissed my cheek lightly.

“I’m going to wait until you’re more awake to talk about the game today.”

Smart man.

It took two cups of coffee for me to feel like I could function. They left me alone for the most part, other than a few sideways glances. At one point, Leo handed me a bowl of cereal, which made me snort. He must’ve remembered what I ate at home and bought some for me. I sure as shit wasn’t going to turn my nose up at his thoughtfulness, though I was a tad uncomfortable with how familiar he was getting. I wanted to keep him at a distance until this week was over. If he wanted to spend time together after without the threat of marriage, then I might be open to it. But I didn’t want him thinking I was down for what they wanted to happen right now.

“Pretty sure everyone thought you had been kidnapped last night,” Gio drawled with a smirk. Leo looked unamused.

“You idiots can survive one night without me.”

“Never thought I’d ever hear something like that come out of your mouth. I feel like you’ve been brainwashed or something,” Mikey jeered. He winked at me, ducking when Leo reached for him.

“He’s going to kill you and I’m going to enjoy the show,” I smirked. Mikey just laughed and leaned back on his stool to stay out of reach of Leo. Leo was standing in front of some paperwork. Obviously, he had been busy before I came down. I pursed my lips, but I wasn’t going to argue about him not coming along again. It would only lead to a fight and I wanted today to be a good one. It was rare that I got to watch Diego play on my birthday.

When Leo noticed I was actually awake enough to participate in the conversation, he moved his stuff closer and leaned back against the counter next to me. I propped my chin on his shoulder and read the invoice. This one was a legit business, though probably a cover for him to launder money.

“You guys are so cute, it’s gross,” Frankie called. He was still on the other side of the kitchen, keeping as far away from me as he could.

Unlike Frankie, I wasn’t easily embarrassed. I slid my arms around Leo’s shoulders and pulled him closer. He turned, wrapping one arm around my waist, the other cupping the back of my neck as he dragged my mouth to his. The older guys clapped and whistled. Frankie was bright red when I pulled away. I winked at Leo, who grinned.

“Now I feel like you two are purposely fucking with us, so we can’t win the bets. I thought you hated him?” The speaker was someone I didn’t know. Leo seemed uninterested in pulling away completely, his arm loose around my waist as he went back to his paperwork. I shrugged.

“Orgasms help a lot.”

I said it right when Frankie was taking a drink of juice. I felt a little bad when it came out of his nose, though. He took off to the bathroom and slammed the door behind him. Leo chuckled, shaking his head, his eyes still on his papers.

“You’re mean.”

“Again, you signed up for this.”

He pinched my side, not even phased when I slapped his hands away.

“So, what do we need to discuss about the game? I assume it’s not as simple as: go, enjoy baseball, drink beer, then dinner with my brother and his girlfriend?”

He put his papers down and rubbed my legs. “We just need to discuss security and make sure we are on the same page with what’s going to happen.”

I scoffed. “That sounds boring. Who’s going with us?”

---