Page 34 of Once Upon a Beast

“I’m good. You?” I had no idea why he was there or how he had found me. I had so many questions I didn’t know where to start.

“Good. Good. Can we, um, talk? Is this a good time? I didn’t mean to interrupt your call with your friends,” Nic said.

“No.”

“No? We can’t talk or it isn’t a good time?”

“No, you weren’t interrupting anything. Now is a good time to talk, come in.” I stepped aside so he could walk into the break room. I followed him as he sat down. The room wasn’t very big, it held a round table that sat five people. There was a small counter that had a sink with cabinets above it and a mini refrigerator underneath. There were random posters on the wall from past promotions and events. The room had always felt cozy but it seemed smaller with him in it. I took a seat across from him as my mind continued to race as to why he was there.

“Is everything okay? Did something happen? Did the story come out? Have things changed?” I asked when he didn’t say anything.

“Yes and no. Nothing has changed since last night. I haven’t heard from you father and can only assume the story isn’t going to happen. That wasn’t why I came by.”

“Okay, so why did you? How did you even find me? The public isn’t allowed back here.”

Nic smiled and said, “I have my ways, especially when it’s important.”

I sat up taller and tried to keep a neutral look on my face. He still hadn’t told me why he was there and his comments were not making me feel any better or understand why he was.

“It has come to my attention that I might have been a bit of an asshole to you last night.”

I didn’t say anything but raised my eyebrows at him. This kept getting stranger by the moment.

“After we kissed, I didn’t handle it right. I said things that while I meant them, they didn’t come out right.”

“I’m not following you,” I said.

Nic ran a frustrated hand over his face and then put his hands on the table. “I have thought about kissing you a thousand times. When I did, I wanted it to be perfect, I wanted it to be memorable. I wanted it to be the first of a million kisses. In all the times I imagined it, I never thought it would be in front of a bunch of people.”

I leaned back, trying to absorb his words and I couldn’t. I looked over his shoulder, unable to meet his gaze and softly said, “Okay.”

“Kissing you was incredible. It was more than I had ever thought it would be. I’m not one to think such things but kissing you was magical. I wanted to do it again. I wanted to do it all night. I wanted so many other things. But it obviously wasn’t what you wanted. I took it too far. You were only kissing me to give a show to the crowd. I misinterpreted it and got carried away. I didn’t mean to kiss you like that, well, I did, I just, I’m not saying this right.”

“You liked kissing me?” I asked shyly.

Nic reached over and put his hand on top of mine. “Very much. It has to be my favorite thing to do with my mouth, for now.” His eyes held mine as he said the last part and I could feel myself blushing. Was Nic flirting with me?

“So why did you say it would never happen again? Why did you get so angry at me after we got in the car?” I asked.

“I was angry at the situation, not at you. I thought you had only kissed me for show, not because you wanted to. I apologized because I had practically mauled you and it wasn’t appropriate.”

“Nic, I kind of liked that you practically mauled me.”

I couldn’t believe I was being so honest but I needed to. He had come to me to apologize, to clear the air, and if I was reading the situation right, to maybe move things forward between us. We couldn’t do that if I didn’t tell him what I was feeling or thinking.

“You did?” The smile on Nic’s face was instantaneous and so sexy I wanted to reach over and kiss it off him.

“Yes. Yes, I did. I had no idea that you felt that way about me. After what you said when we were dancing, I had no idea what to think. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to be with you. I kissed you because I wanted to and I thought you wanted me to. I didn’t know how to tell you and I used the paparazzi as an excuse. I’m sorry if you saw it as something else. It wasn’t. I wouldn’t do that to you, I wouldn’t use you that way.”

Nic laughed. “I see that now and I should have then. I just couldn’t believe you had kissed me. I thought for sure there was another reason.”

“Then the most obvious one?” I asked.

“Yes,” Nic said and laughed.

“I did the same thing. I thought for sure I had heard you wrong.”

“You did?”