Page 44 of Once Upon a Beast

“There’s nothing kind about me being selfish and wanting to spend more time with you,” he countered.

“Okay,” I said and stood by my door. I hadn’t been nervous but now I suddenly was. He had been hot and cold with me all night. In one breath he would say that he was my friend. The next he would look at me like he couldn’t wait to kiss me and make comments about rearranging his schedule just so he could spend time with me. It didn’t make sense.

“I should let you go and get some sleep,” Nic said.

“Yeah. Sure. Thanks for seeing me to my apartment.”

“I was glad to do it,” Nic said.

We stood not looking at each other for a few moments. I waited to see if Nic was going to do anything but he made no move to kiss me or leave. Finally, I turned and said, “Good night.”

“Layla, wait,” Nic said and I turned around.

“Yes?” I asked expectantly.

He didn’t answer me with words but reached up and took my hand in his. I watched as he lifted it closer to him. I thought for a beautiful second that he was going to pull me to him and kiss me. But he didn’t. Instead, he brought his hand to his lips and gave it the softest of kisses. He looked up at me and smiled as he said, “Good night, my lady.”

I was so dumbfounded I could only stand there as he turned and walked away from me. It was only when he got to the elevator that I realized I was standing there looking like a fool. I quickly went inside, closed the door, and leaned up against it, more confused than ever before.

Chapter 23

Nicodemus

“Layla, wait,” I said.

Layla turned and looked at me with a sweet smile on her face. It had been the best night of my life. I didn’t want it to end. I never wanted to leave her side and I had never wanted to kiss a woman more than I did her at that moment.

“Yes?” she asked expectantly.

I reached down and took her hand in mine. Her eyes looked at me and I knew what she wanted and I couldn’t have been happier because it was exactly what I wanted too. I moved her towards me and as she did, I wrapped my other arm around her, pressing her up against me. She let out a shock cry as her hands went to my chest. She opened them and pressed her fingers against me.

“Nic,” she sighed.

“Let me kiss you. Let me come into your apartment. Let me make love to you all night,” I demanded.

“We’re here, sir,” My driver said and broke me from my fantasy.

“Thank you, Carlos. Enjoy your evening,” I said and got out of the car.

“You too, sir,” he said.

I walked towards the elevator and replayed the evening in my mind. We had a good time but like Layla said, we always had. I had wanted to show her I could be a gentleman, I wanted to be a gentleman with her but I also didn’t want to be. I wanted to hold her, tear off her clothes, and make love to her for hours.

The night could have ended in so many ways. I should have kissed her, I should have told her how I felt, I should have found a way to make the night end the way I wanted it to. But I hadn’t and I had no one to blame for it than myself.

My mind went back to how Layla had looked at me right before I said good night. Her eyes had been so brown and full I could have lost myself in them and almost did. I could see she had wanted me to kiss her, she had wanted it to end differently too. But I held back. At the time it had felt like the right thing to do, but sitting alone in my penthouse that seemed quieter and emptier than ever before, I couldn’t remember why.

We might have known each other for years but it was still our first official time out as a couple. I didn’t count the night of the gala as anything more than a test run. It might have given us our first kiss but I wouldn’t even consider that our first kiss. When I kissed Layla, and I would kiss her, I didn’t want anything between us. She might have kissed me then because she wanted to but the whole pretending to be in a relationship hung between us.

I didn’t want that. It wasn’t how I wanted our relationship to start. I rationalized that there was plenty of time for us to be together. I had waited to be with her for years, I could wait a little longer to make sure she was as ready for what we were going to be as I was.

The ultimate goal was for her to be with me, forever. If I had to take things slower than I wanted. If I had to play things a little safer than I had ever done anything else in my life, then so be it. She mattered more to me than anything else.

I walked towards my bedroom and felt my phone vibrating and then ringing in my pocket. I was surprised by who was calling me and quickly answered it.

“Layla? Are you okay? Is everything all right?” I asked.

“What are we? What are we doing? Why did you ask me out again if you just want to be friends?” she asked back.