Perhaps it was Matias, double checking on him. Or his sister-in-law Quinn, stopping by with more food. Hurriedly he headed upstairs. He’d give whoever it was the bum’s rush, find his boots and head straight over to— “Gigi.”
Saint Medard, she looked good. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen her in red before, but the gauzy dress thing she had on did fantastic things for her, or perhaps that was just Gigi. Her hair shining almost white in the sunlight, the short strands lifting about her head like a halo. Violet eyes so damn inviting he wanted to drown in them. Her feet bare, saving his decks. And she was holding a small purple and white striped box.
Bloody Hell, how long had he been staring at her like an idiot? “Hi.”
“Hi.” She smiled, almost cautiously. “Is it okay I come on board?”
“Yes. Yes.” Mierda, get it together man. “Please, come on back to the stern.” He turned, leading the way. Gesturing to the cushioned seating area. “Have a seat. Do you want a drink? I have water, whiskey or wine?”
“I’m good. Here.” Gigi’s hand shot out. Heavens, could she be more of a graceless jerk? It was just seeing Nico, standing there, amber eyes fathomless, chaotic curls teasing his eyelashes, her fingers itching to sink into that glossy mess. “It’s just a little something.”
“Thanks.” He glanced down at the box of treats, something was different about it. His gaze zeroing in on the words below the name of Gigi’s shop. “Haven Bay. Paris. London. Florence. Madrid. You’re finally going global? Congratulations. You must be knee deep in planning mode.”
“Actually. It’s all kind of a done deal. Florence and Paris are opening next week. Madrid a day later. I’m not sure about London, there are some permit issues, but I have faith Aunt Daisy will take care of it all.”
“Aunt Daisy? She helps behind the counter, right?”
“She used to. Now she’s my Global Expansion Manager, or something like that, we’re still trying to lock down a title. It appears all this time I had an untapped treasure under my very nose. And even better, Daisy found us four very reliable store managers. Quite frankly, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind. This morning, the idea of expanding was just that, an idea. Now, a few hours later, Daisy has pretty much made it a reality.”
“Are you okay with that? I know it’s been a long-time dream of yours to expand globally.”
“It took me a few minutes to adjust, but then I realised Daisy has been with me since the early days. She’s worked just as hard as I have to make the Emporium a success. She knows the business; front of house to the recipes. She’s been one of my biggest cheerleaders and hardest workers. The dream of going global, it wasn’t just mine, it was shared by my entire team. I thought I had to do it all myself, and I couldn’t have been more wrong. Daisy was just itching to take on a bigger role. And I have a sneaky suspicion that Heraldo wouldn’t be averse to running a kitchen as long as it was located somewhere in Italy. He and Uncle Klaus have always talked about buying a cottage there.”
“You didn’t bring the bunny?” He noted the slightest dimming of those violet eyes. “No. I didn’t mean it like that.” He ripped open a corner of the box, shoving something small and roundinto his mouth. Hmmm, dark chocolate, fennel, liquorice and coconut, it shouldn’t work but— “It’s good.” He swallowed. “See, no need for a taste tester. What I meant was, I know Canary took a hard hit that day at the library and was wondering if he’s okay?”
“Being flash frozen doesn’t appear to have hurt him, but it sure as hell scared the daylights out of me. I’m officially retiring him. He can hop around the apartment and Emporium, hang out on his castle or hide in the linen closet cuddling with the bridesmaid dress. It’s up to him now.”
“Cuddling?” Nico enquired, bemused.
“Cuddling!” She smiled, then laughed. “Okay, salacious cuddling.”
“Sounds like fun.”
Heavens, those amber eyes of his flared with heat, places low in Gigi firing to inferno level, down lady bits. Besides, the poor man had been grievously hurt. “Oh, shouldn’t you be sitting down? I heard about the surgery complications.”
The chipped bone? He shrugged, wincing as all the muscles in his back pulled tight, he’d been working way too hard non-stop on the boat the last eight days.
Gigi’s heart went out to him as Nico winced and a little gingerly lowered himself down onto a cushioned seat across from her. “What do the doctors say?”
“About?”
“Your condition.”
“My shoulder? It’s pretty good, almost completely healed. And my back is fine, or will be. Sanding and staining the entire deck yesterday was probably a little ambitious, but I’ll be fine.”
So he wasn’t grievously injured? Then why had Darcy said…? No, her cousin hadn’t said anything at all, Gigi had jumped to those conclusions all on her own. Although, it did beg the question of why Nico had been holed up here. Glancing around,noting everything shone and gleamed. “Are you selling the boat?” Was he leaving?
“No. I just needed to keep busy. The last five weeks have been kind of a kick to the head. Deity Cabal plots. Lurve Goddesses. Faeces flinging cherubs. Mount Olympus. Poseidon. Sand monsters. Suped up babies.” He pushed a few curls out of his eyes. “And us.”
“Us?” Gulp, the word came out in the barest of whispers.
“We went from casual acquaintances to secret agent partners, to faux dating, to sleeping together and burning up the sheets nightly all rather quickly. Perhaps too quickly?”
Oh, Goddess Above, was he breaking up with her? This was too embarrassing by half. Crap, did he think she was stalking him by coming here? She should leave. No, be a grown up, suck it up, smile, agree and then run like hell and lock yourself away in the kitchen for a year or two. “I couldn’t agree more.”
“Exactly.” Nico smiled in relief. “So were on the same page?”
“Absolutely.” Dial back on the smile, don’t come across as manic.
