Page 95 of The Texan's Secrets

“No.”

“Because, hey, it’s not like you haven’t lied to me before.” There was a teasing light in her eyes now.

“I’m not lying.” He dared move closer, lowering his voice to a more intimate level. “I swear to you, Emilia, my only lie was of omission, about who I am, and I regretted that right after our first date.”

“I can’t believe you wouldn’t trust me with the truth.” A challenge came into her tone. “I confessed. I told you I hacked Surprise Me!”

A hitch of guilt hit his gut. “Can I tell you something else? It was another omission, but just a little one.” He made a tiny space between his thumb and index finger.

She arched a brow. “Seriously? There’s more?”

“I wrote the code for Surprise Me!”

To his relief, she grinned at that. “I hacked your app?”

“You hacked my app.”

“Well, that’s embarrassing. For you, I mean.”

“Yes, it is,” he agreed. He obviously hadn’t paid enough attention to security. “But I blocked the vulnerability. You won’t get away with it again.”

Her expression softened and her lips parted.

He subconsciously closed the space between them, hoping against hope for a kiss.

“I don’t want to hack it again,” she whispered.

“No?”

“No.”

“Dare I ask why?”

“Fishing for a compliment?”

He chuckled low. “Absolutely.”

“I already matched with the best guy on all of k!smet.”

“Oh, man. I was hoping you’d say that.” He leaned in and kissed her.

To his absolute joy, she kissed him back. Then she stepped closer, and he wrapped his arms around her, unbelievably relieved to hold her once again.

“I love you,” he whispered as they parted. “I love you so much, Emilia.”

Her hug tightened. “I love you too, Nick, Nico.” She laughed. “I’m going to have to get used to that.”

“Call me anything you want.”

She drew back and rested her hands on his shoulders, a grin lighting her face. “Misha is your sister?”

“She is. What I told you about my parents dying in an accident is true. My grandmother raised us, me and Misha.”

“I can’t believe she doesn’t talk about you. I mean, before the matchmaking thing. We’ve known each other for a while.”

“My low profile,” he said. “Very few people knew I was back in Royal. Almost nobody knows I’m CEO of AlgoXcell.”

“You’re CEO of AlgoXcell?”

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