He nodded. “Does that happen a lot?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I haven’t met any other women, Brock?—”
“No, I mean people trying to set you up. I heard someone at the wedding do the same thing.”
“Oh, yeah.” It was the second time that morning someone had attempted to set Tiana up. “People just…they have good intentions.”
He shifted his body towards her. “I have an idea. How about for the next five weeks, while Brock and Gianna are in town, through the holidays, we keep that narrative going that we are a ‘couple?’” Niko did air quotes. “I don’t know what Bartlett’s plan is, but he’s obviously come here to start drama. Us being ina relationship will throw him off his game. A united front. And as a bonus, it will give you a reprieve from the well-intentioned matchmakers.”
No. Tell him no. That’s what her head was telling her. So why wasn’t her mouth cooperating?
“What about you?” she blurted out instead. “I doubt you want to spend an entire holiday season celibate.”
Celibate?As soon as she said the word “celibate,” she felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment.
“I um…” He glanced down at the floor, took a deep breath, and exhaled before looking back up. “I have a lot of other things going on in my life right now. I just want to spend time with my family and just figure shit out. The last thing I’m worried about is getting laid.”
Her cheeks flushed an even deeper shade of red at his use of “getting laid,” mainly because of the images that popped into her mind of him in that act. And her engaging in that act with him. Tiana’s phone rang, and she shot up from her seat. Saved by the bell.
Niko rose, but at a much slower, leisurely pace.
“I have to…” She licked her lips, and his eyes followed the pink tip as it slid along the seam of her mouth, or maybe she was just projecting. “I have to get that, but, um… I‘ll think about it.”
“You’ll think about it?” he repeated, his light eyes sparking with mischief as that damn lopsided grin pulled at his perfect lips again.
“I will,” she confirmed.
With a confident nod, he turned and headed out of the studio.
The moment he was gone, and the spell was broken, Tiana was kicking herself. She should have told him no. A fake relationship with Niko was ahorribleidea. The worst idea possible.
So why was she even considering it? Why was she more than considering it? Why was her brain trying to tell her it was actually a good idea?
She did her best to push the proposal and Niko out of her mind as she grabbed her phone and saw it was Golden Years.
“Hi.”
“Hey Darlin’, this is Patsy.”
“Oh, hi, Patsy,” Tiana greeted Pops’ favorite nurse. “I was just about to head over.”
“Actually, that’s why I’m calling. Mr. Matthews woke up this mornin’ with a fever, he’s resting now, but we are limiting visitors for the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours.”
Tiana’s heart slammed into her chest as she remembered how gray his coloring had been at the wedding. She knew she should have insisted on him staying home yesterday. “Can I talk to him?”
“He’s napping right now, but I can have him give you a ring when he wakes up.”
“Only if he feels up to it.” The last thing Tiana wanted to do was overtax him. “Please let me know if there areanychanges.”
“We will, darlin’ and don’t you worry, he’s in good hands.”
“I know.”
Tiana disconnected the call and attempted to distract herself while she cleaned the studio and caught up on some admin. Her mind was a tornado of Brock, Gianna, and Niko thoughts, all swirling to try and put the puzzle together and figure out what her ex’s play was. But she knew that it was a futile task. Brock Bartlett had the worst intentions of any person she’d ever known, and she’d learned a long time ago never to try and predict his next move, because it was absolutely futile.
After gathering her jacket and tote, she locked up, set the alarm, and checked both ways before crossing Main Street. When she reached the other side, she turned around, lookingover her shoulder, sure that she felt someone was watching her. There was a couple with a toddler, each holding one arm, swinging them between them. An older man scrolling on his phone. Three teens filming a TikTok video. Other than that, the sidewalk was clear. Across the way, several firemen were spraying down a firetruck.
No one else was out on the street in the mid-afternoon. It was quiet. She was just being paranoid.
