He grins, all teeth and mischief. “Maybe not. But Axel should probably wipe your lip gloss off his mouth.”
I whip my head around, and sure enough, his mouth is tinted red and gleaming. My eyes go wide.
“Go wipe your mouth!” I hiss in a whisper-shout.
“Why? Then I wouldn’t taste like you.” Axel runs his tongue across his lips slowly, and for a second, I forget what I asked him to do.
“Axel! Please.”
“Alright, alright.” He rises, ever smug. “Be right back. Try not to make out with your stepcousin’s best friend while I’m gone.”
He winks.
The audacity.
I turn back to Nik with a sigh. “Do I look okay? Seriously? I don’t want your parents to hate me.”
He leans in brushing his thumb along the edge of my lower lip, cleaning up any rogue lip gloss, with unexpected tenderness. “They could never hate you, Carolina. No one else will know what you’ve been up to in your free time. The only reason I know is because I’ve spent many hours studying these pouty lips.”
He holds my cheek in his hand, staring at me adoringly.
“Yeah?” I murmur.
“Yeah.”
“See! Itoldyou they were dating!” Maryanne squeals from the kitchen.
I jump like I’ve been caught with my hand in the cookie jar and whip my head toward the kitchen. The four parental figures are all watching us now. Staring.
“What?” I ask, somewhat stupidly.
Johnny snorts from across the room, and I glare daggers at him.
“Sorry, sweetie! We didn’t mean to embarrass you!” Maryanne calls brightly.
“Uh…” I have no idea what to say.
Nik, thank God, takes charge. He stands and gently pulls me up with him, guiding me toward the kitchen.
“Carolina, this is my mom, Sasha, and my dad, Nik Senior. Mom, Dad, this is Carolina. My girlfriend.”
Oh.Oh.If looks could kill…
I blink rapidly as I shake hands with Nik’s parents, doing my best not to look like a liar and/or loose cannon.
Nik’s parents are not what I expected. His dad looks like someone who could play a billionaire villain in a Bond film. He has stylish salt-and-pepper hair, broad shoulders, dangerous charisma. His mom is equally stunning with matching manicured nails, chic outfit, and stiletto heels. They have the kind of polished confidence that screams power couple.
“It’s so nice to meet you! Please, call me Lina.”
Right on cue, Axel reappears. I try to send him an SOS signal with my eyes. He ignores it completely. Instead, he walks right up and wraps an arm around my waist. Sasha looks confused, and I can’t say I blame her. Ben and Maryanne look puzzled, too. Nik Sr.’s eyes dart between the three of us, before hiding a knowing grin behind a sip of his drink. He shoots Nik a wink, but keeps his mouth shut. I’m sure he’s waiting to see how this is going to play out.
Fantastic.
“Axel!” I say, way too loudly. “Nikolai was just telling our parents the good news!”
Axel raises a brow. “Oh?”
I elbow him subtlety, trying to get him to back up. “You know... that we’re dating?Nikolaiand I are dating.”
