“Kai,” she said in a chiding tone, not knowing how many times she had told her son to stay out of grown folks’ business.
“But I don’t mind if you date, mom. I like Nikos,” Kai said, and if her son didn’t look so earnest right now, she would be upset, but she couldn’t be. Her face softened instead. She couldn’t be surprised that he was saying something like this.These past months Nikos had been around a lot, so of course, seeing a man around her like this, he would assume they were in a romantic relationship, especially after seeing him come out of her bedroom.
To be honest, she was surprised about one thing, though— him being fine with it. Kai had never liked any of her previous boyfriends before, so this was a first for him. She just hated that she had confused him and would also have to disappoint him when she told him that wasn’t the case. She and Nikos were employee and employer, and friends, though, at this point, she was starting to question if the second title could be any more after what happened last night.
“So, you give me permission to date your mom, kid?” Nikos asked, and though there was a cheekiness to his tone, there was also something serious there.
“Yep!” Kai said, smiling. “But you have to promise always to protect her.”
“Because I’m Cap?” Nikos said, winking, and Kai giggled, nodding.
“I always promise to protect your mother whether we’re dating or not,” Nikos said as he placed Kai down and held out his hand to shake. “I give you my word as a man.”
Kai puffed up his chest before eagerly shaking Nikos’s hand as if he were passing his mother off in marriage, and Honey could only stand there gaping because she hadn’t planned for her morning to go like this at all.
Honey cleared her throat and folded her arms together.
“I can protect myself,” Honey said, “and Kai, don’t you have homework you must turn in tomorrow for school?”
“Mom,” Kai whined as his chest deflated. Nikos laughed as he stood before ruffling Kai’s hair when his phone rang.
“Excuse me,” Nikos said before he answered the phone and stepped off to the side, speaking in Greek. He always did that whenever he had one of his important phone calls that involved that kind of business. Honey took that opportunity to clean up the mess they had made, starting with specifically grabbing Nikos’s clothes. By the time he finished his call, the wine glasses were in the sink, and his clothes were neatly folded.
“I’m sorry, but I have to go,” Nikos said, sighing, but though he seemed disappointed, she was relieved. She hadn’t wanted to be rude and kick him out of the door herself, so this saved her the trouble of doing it. Plus, she had a feeling it wouldn’t be easy to get Nikos out of the door on her own.
“Do you really have to go? We didn’t even get to play the game yet,” Kai whined, and Nikos ruffled his hair affectionately.
“We’ll hang out together next time, and we’ll spend the whole day together,” Nikos said, and Kai cheered.
She hated being the bearer of bad news, but she had no plans to let that happen. But instead of saying that and disappointing Kai, who was satisfied with knowing that there would be another day for him to hang out with Nikos, she grabbed a bag from the closet and placed Nikos’s things inside while Nikos said his goodbyes to Kai and Olivia.
“Here,” Honey said as she passed him the bag when he reached the front door.
“I’m sorry,” Nikos said. “If it weren’t important, I wouldn’t go.”
He sounded sincere, and Honey ignored how his words made her feel as if nothing else could get in the way of him being with her. But she quickly shook away those thoughts.
“It’s fine,” Honey said because it truly was. She wouldn’t be able to think with Nikos here, and that was exactly what sheneeded to do— to think about how she would proceed with her relationship with Nikos.
“Goodbye, Nikos,” Honey said as she tried to close the door, but he stopped her, wedging his foot in the doorway. Honey lifted a brow.
“We will talk about this,” Nikos told her, his eyes incredibly blue and his tone very serious which made her blanch before she folded her arms together.
“We already talked about it,” Honey said, seeing no reason to discuss it further. “There will be no other time.”
Nikos smirked. “Wanna bet?”
Honey rolled her eyes. “I hope you savored last night because it won’t happen again.”
“I don’t think that’s true at all,” Nikos said, grinning. “And I think even you know that too.”
Honey didn’t respond and looked away, which caused Nikos to chuckle.
“See you tomorrow, Honey,” Nikos said before he leaned forward and pressed a kiss against her cheek. Honey immediately threw a punch, but Nikos was already out the door and down the hall.
Honey slammed the door behind herself and turned to see her sister, who gave her a pointed look. Kai had already headed into his room to get changed.
“What?” Honey exclaimed as she went into the kitchen to clean the glasses.
