Wariness.
Resolve.
And finally, a flash of pure, unfiltered delight as her eyes dropped to the table and she spotted the chocolate muffin.
He rose slowly to his feet, letting his eyes drink her in. She wasn’t wearing makeup—at least, none he could see—and the hoodie hung loose over a pair of jeans that had definitely seen better days. She looked like she’d just tumbled out of a dorm room after an all-nighter—and yet something about her presence commandedthe room.
He reached for the hot chocolate and offered it without a word.
She lifted a single brow in mock suspicion before taking it. Her fingers didn’t brush his. She was careful about that. Deliberate.
He noted it.
He also noted the way she sniffed the cocoa with exaggerated reverence, then let out a low, almost indecent moan that made him think of tussled sheets, sweaty bodies, and orgasms.
God.
He could come undone at that sound if he wasn’t careful.
She slid into the seat across from him like a cat slipping into sunlit warmth, her eyes opening slowly as she cradled the drink in both hands like it was the Holy Grail.
He didn’t speak. Not yet.
He just watched her.
The hoodie. The attitude. The invisible shield she wore like armor. Everything she did was designed to make people look away.
But he couldn’t look anywhere else.
There was something about her, beneath the defenses, that was utterly magnetic.
If anything, it made him want to see her even more.
One layer at a time.
One moment at a time.
For reasons he didn’t fully understand yet, the thought of losing her before he knew her filled him with something that felt disturbingly like dread.
He didn’t just want a second date, he wanted to know who she was when she wasn’t braced for impact.
His sixth sense was blaring at him. It was warning him that unraveling Kiki Reese might just be the most dangerous—and most exhilarating—thing he’d ever done.
Nikos opened his mouth to greet her, but she beat him to it.
“Just how much did Harvey and Jim tell you about me?” Kiki asked, her eyes narrowing over the rim of her hot chocolate. “Because there’s no way in hell you got this intel from any background report.”
He lifted a brow, feigning innocence. “What makes you think I had a background report done?”
She didn’t answer. Just rolled her eyes and took a bite of her muffin like he’d asked the dumbest question of the day.
Unease prickled in his chest. He leaned back slightly, studying her. “Did you look me up?”
Kiki gave a snort of laughter, nodding as she chewed. After swallowing, she picked up her cup, took a sip, and grinned. “Oh yeah. It was quite the education.”
The wry lilt in her voice made heat crawl up the back of his neck. For the second time since meeting her, Nikos felt his cheeks flush—and he didn’t like it one damn bit.
“Don’t believe everything you read on the internet,” he muttered, lifting his coffee to his lips to buy time.
