Page 12 of Claimed
“Of course,” Nicki said quickly, giving him a wide smile. “I’m hungry, I guess. You were more right about that than I realized.” She picked up her sparkling water and drank it down, then lifted her sandwich. Her hands were trembling.Food, I need food, that’s all. Her nerves were simply jangled because she was suddenly alone with a man whom she’d kissed—twice—a man who currently was, in effect, her boss. A man who was also staring at her with inscrutable eyes, as if he could see into her mind.
Nicki swallowed a bite and stared back at him. “Icanfollow directions, you know,” she blurted. “I’m not going to be a problem.”
As soon as she said the words, she winced. He’d never said that to her in person—she’d overheard it.
Stefan knew it, too. His eyes lit with amusement.
“I thought that was you. And now you can tell me how annoyed you are with me.”
Eight
Stefan was enjoying the sight of Nicki so flustered. He shouldn’t be, but he was. Her awkwardness had started, he was certain, with the clothing. He got the feeling that Nicki didn’t wear pants very often unless they were technical tights meant for scaling a mountain. But she looked exactly right, felt exactly right sitting across from him. He watched her over the rim of her glass, content to let her gather her thoughts.
It appeared to take her a moment to process his words. She frowned. “Why would I be angry?”
The question was genuine, and he answered it as forthrightly. “You heard me accuse you of being unable to follow orders, clearly. I’m sure there’s more you overheard as well. My concerns about your fitness for this role, certainly.”
“Well, you’d have no way of knowing what I was really like, based on the experience you’ve had so far,” she said, shrugging. “I’ve done everything I can to annoy you. But this—” she waved her hand around the dining room. “This is different. This is a job. I’m on your team, and when you’re my team leader, I follow your lead. To the letter.”
He lifted his brows and noted the stain of another blush crawling up her cheeks at the unintentionally forceful words.
“You know what I mean,” she mumbled, then she brought up her head, as if to be sure he understood. “You tell me to stay on this boat, I stay. I’ve got my laptop and Kristos showed me how to connect to the yacht’s satellite Wi-Fi system. I’ll post a couple of times today, and more tomorrow, with a few of my old stories from last year’s tournament updated for filler so it appears I’m exactly what I’m supposed to be. I have a great underwater camera Kristos gave me for underwater photography if that works with your schedule, but if it doesn’t, I’ll stay put.”
Stefan watched her soberly. “In other words, you’ll follow my directives.”
“Absolutely,” she said. Then she sighed. “Look, I know you think I’m a liability on this trip. And I…” she appeared to rethink her statement, then pushed forward. “And I am, to some extent, because I’m new to all of this. I get that. But I’m your cover. Like this sweater.” She tweaked the sleeve. “Here to put a good face on things. I’m not going to get in your way, and I’m not going to do anything to embarrass you. I’m not an idiot. I’ll learn the ropes and keep quiet.”
He snorted. “I should have assigned you on a mission when you first arrived at the palace.”
Another woman would have winced with embarrassment, but Nicki simply shrugged. “You should have. I’m a lot more useful than you give me credit for.”
He leaned forward. “I’m intrigued by the possibilities,” he said, his words barely a murmur. A wild urge overtook him, so quickly that all rational thought flew out of his head. In front of him was no longer a team member, an American, a guest of the royal family. It was the woman he’d held on the beach. A woman who tasted of joy and sunshine, sea and life.
He spoke before he could restrain himself. “So if my instructions were for you to make love to me, would you do it?”
Once again, Nicki surprised him. She leaned forward with equal ease, giving him a broad wink. “If that would move the mission forward, absolutely.”
His brows lifted. “And whose call would it be on what was required for the mission?”
“Ultimately yours.” She grinned, ruining the seriousness of her tone. “But I get to be in the room when the king reads your debriefing report.”
A broad smile creased his face as well—and Stefan considered that. He couldn’t seem to stop smiling at this woman. Nicki sat back, far more relaxed than when she’d first sat down. She continued grinning as well, and she picked up her sandwich again and bit into it with more gusto.
She’d barely swallowed before she lobbed her next conversational bomb. “So, since you now know how much I’m willing to contribute to the mission, how about a little more information—about yourself, I mean.” She waved her sandwich at him as he stiffened. “Relax. I get that you can’t tell me all the super-secret details about what we’re going to do, but surely I can know a little bit more about, you know…you.”
He settled back in his chair. He’d been informed that Emmaline had advised all the Americans about the unusual natures of Dimitri Korba, chief of the ONSF, and himself. But he also knew from Dimitri that there was no depth to the information. Emmaline had shared that they were demigods, but Lauren hadn’t known what that meant. Clearly, Nicki still didn’t.
“I could tell you that the Crown has expressly forbidden me to share the details of myself,” he pointed out.
She dropped what was left of her sandwich on the plate and leaned forward. “You could,” she agreed. “But where’s the fun in that? It’s not like I’m going to tell anyone. If I did, you’d bounceme from the mission, and there’s no way I’m letting that happen. Besides, it’s your secret. I can keep secrets.”
Her words struck him with unexpected force. She could keep secrets, he thought. He didn’t know why she needed to, but that didn’t matter. She could.
“Fair enough. What is it you want to know?”
“Well, gee.” She propped her elbows on the table. “For starters, how about everything? Like, what does it even mean to be a demigod? Are you immortal? Are you like super strong, or can you fly or leap tall buildings in a single bound?” Her eyes rounded. “Is Superman a demigod?”
“Technically I think Superman's an alien.”