Page 7 of Worth Every Penny
Little K. I haven’t heard my childhood nickname for years. Rolling off Nico’s tongue, in his deep, resonant voice, it sounds a lot less innocent than it used to. My heart is racing.
He’s so close to me I can smell his cologne. An expensive mix of bergamot and leather. It’s the same scent he’s always worn, and a hit of nostalgia twists my insides. All my teenage longing rushes through me like a summer heatwave, and a wave of dizziness assaults me.
I reach out to steady myself against the wall, and Nico’s dark eyes flash with awareness, landing on the spot my hand meets the metal. He lifts a brow.
This is unbearable.I can’t stand this man, and yet he has my mind and body spinning like a carousel.
“Kate. My name is Kate.” My voice sounds unnatural and forced.
“I know what your name is.”
Then why does he insist on my nickname? Does he still see me as a child? Irritated, I suck air through my nose before I speak. “It’s been eight years. Why are you back now?”
A beat of awkward silence passes, and Nico examines me, eyes narrowing as if he suspects there’s another meaning behind my question. His voice is quiet when he finally responds. “I’ve been back many times. I just haven’t seen you.”
His words carry a weight I can’t make sense of, and there’s a glimmer of something that looks like regret in his expression. But then it’s gone, and I wonder if I imagined it. His gaze darts downward, and for a brief second I think he’s checking me out, but when his brow creases, I realise he’s staring at the magazineI’m holding. The one Mum gave me that displays a full-size image of his face.
I’d forgotten I was holding it. My body heats uncomfortably as embarrassment floods me. When his eyes flick back up, I blurt, “It’s not mine.”
Nico stifles his smile and clears his throat. “Of course not.” He pauses, deliberately scanning the empty lift, a knowing look in his eye. “Whose is it?”
The space seems to shrink, and his body feels even closer to mine than before. Admitting that my mother gave me the magazine doesn’t strike me as any better than it belonging to me. With Nico’s gaze fixed on me, the back of my neck turns hot and sticky. I want to use the magazine to fan my face, but I check the impulse. Thankfully, I’m saved from replying by the opening of the doors, and Nico puts his arm out to allow me to exit first.
He follows me to the cloakroom, where we check our coats. Once the attendant, a young woman in her twenties, has hung them up, I put the magazine face upward on the desk. The attendant stares at it, then up at Nico and back again, her eyes widening.
I tap the magazine between the image of Nico’s eyes. “Could you put this in the bin for me, please?”
Beside me, Nico’s jaw tightens, firming angles already so sharp they could draw blood, but he makes no comment.
The girl doesn’t move, as though she’s waiting for me to change my mind, or perhaps wondering why I’m doing something so rude. She looks at Nico, glances back at the picture of his face then up again, and states, “This is you.”
“It is,” he agrees, his voice low and unmistakably sensual, although it doesn’t strike me as deliberate. It’s just the way he is.Unintentionally sexy.
“Are you famous?” She sounds breathless, and a red rash is spreading upwards from beneath the collar of her shirt.
Nico huffs a laugh, a deep and mellow sound that I feel in places I shouldn’t, and from the look of the rising blush on the girl’s skin, I’m not the only one. “In some circles.”
She licks her bottom lip. “Would I know you? Have I seen you in anything?”
Please. She thinks he’s an actual movie star? This is ridiculous. “No,” Nico confirms. “I’m not in the entertainment industry.”
The girl looks up at him adoringly. “You should be.”
Oh, come on. Could she be any more obvious? I’m getting more and more irate, not only because my attempt at throwing the magazine away has fallen flat, but because I’m witnessing another woman wilt in Nico’s presence. I’m about to grab the magazine off the desk and chuck it towards the bin I can see over the girl’s shoulder, when she pushes it towards Nico and asks him to sign it.
I can’t believe it. I’ve been completely thwarted. This is a nightmare. I let out a disapproving sigh.
Nico gives me a cocky sideways glance as he takes his pen from his jacket pocket and signs the magazine with a flourish. Even his signature is sexy. The girl looks delighted, whereas I’m about to burst into flames of rage.
“She doesn’t even know who you are,” I hiss.
“No.” Nico tilts his head in subtle agreement with my point, then undermines it entirely as he adds, “but she wants to.”
I can’t disagree, which only makes the flickering flames of rage in my belly burn brighter.So arrogant.I do not have time for this nonsense. “Can I get a token?” I ask the attendant.
She blinks at me, completely disoriented. “What?”
“For my coat,” I explain.