But more importantly, there hasn’t been any sex.
Panicked, I look around. This is New York; there has to be a hotel around here somewhere. If we can find a hotel, if we can just have sex, I can at least feel like this date was normal, that it was worth it for him. I just need to?—
Nico’s whistle and wave for a taxi startles me from my thoughts. “What are you doing?” I ask in shock.
“Calling you a taxi,” he answers, as if I’m not having an existential crisis.
“But—” I look around again, my head whipping in every direction. “Shouldn’t we find a hotel? I’m sure there’s one nearby.”
“Not a chance, Red.”
Frowning, I face him again. “What? Why not? You said you were paying for this date.”
“Iampaying for this date,” he says simply.
“But—” I shake my head, at a loss for words. “But you didn’t get anything out of tonight!”
The look he gives me is soft, even tender. “I got exactly what I wanted out of tonight.”
I think I’m gaping at him. “How is that possible? We didn’t even do anything.”
He smiles now, his hand lifting to brush my hair away from my face. “You are so, so wrong, Red.”
Just then, a taxi pulls up at the curb. I stare at it, not computing what’s happening. Especially when Nico pulls a wad of hundreds out of his pocket and slips it casually into my purse, hiding the movement with his body.
“I don’t know how much that is, but it should be at least two thousand.”
Now I’m definitely gaping, eyes wide. “You just walk around with thousands of dollars in your pocket?”
He grins and winks at me. “I can fight, remember?”
“You’re insane,” I breathe.For more than one reason.
“Go straight home with it, okay?” he says, serious this time.
I nod, stuck in a stupor. He guides me into the taxi, then claps his hand against the driver’s door. “Wherever she’s going, get her there safe, yeah?”
And then he comes back to my window, that damn dimple making an appearance. “Just so you know,” he drawls, “this is the kind of date you can expect with me from now on.”
My brow furrows as I search his eyes. “What do you mean?”
He straightens and slides his hands into his pockets. “No more hotels. No more sex. Just fun and conversation.”
I’m not going to survive this man.
SIXTEEN
SCARLETT
Nico’s question about exploring New York City rings in my head for days.
I had all these visions about what my glamorous life would be like in the Big Apple. But after I started working for Amara…those visions died quickly. Because when Iwasdoing city things, they were always with clients. And that soured my desire to do anything.
The more clients I saw, the more disconnected I became.
But ever since Nico brought it up, I’ve felt this itchto do more, experience more. Ever since I met him, this feeling has grown. It’s like he’s awakened something in me, something that’s making me want for a life outside of clients and classes.
I want to experience somethingnew.
