“No problem at all, sir. I think we’d make a great team,” I answered confidently. And yeah, if I got a date with the elusive Turkish stunner, all the better. I kept that little tidbit to myself as I grabbed my laptop and backpack and headed out.
Bumping my way through the throng of people rushing to their morning classes, I smiled and couldn’t wait to tell my best friend Luke about this new development. He knew about my little crush, and the man loved gossip as much as the girls in my dorm.
Luke had graduated earlier than I did, a stroke of pure luck with his class availability and timing. He and his family had been making organic beauty products since his sophomore year in high school, and he was poised to start his own cosmetics business.
Everyone thought I was insane for double-majoring in business, but I knew it would pay off once Luke got his business up and running.
We had been friends since elementary school, and once we both knew our career paths would be the same, we dreamedof working together when he started his new company, Earth Organix.
“Hey, saw you in Logan’s office. Got your partner?” my classmate, Lucy, asked when she saw me hurrying in the narrow hall.
“Yup. Got paired up with Nick Demir.” I couldn’t hide my smug smile as her eyes went wide. She had been throwing herself at the poor man for months. Unsuccessfully, I might add, even though she wore tight T-shirts and her shorts barely covered her, ahem, hindquarters.
“You. Did. Not. I asked Nick if he’d partner with me, and he just side-eyed me and walked away.”
Your loss is my gain. Petty, I know.
Feigning indifference with a slight shrug of my shoulders, I said, “Wasn’t up to me. Logan put us together. Gotta go. Oh, want to meet me at La Jolla tomorrow morning? Heard the surf is going to be perfect.”
Shaking off her disappointment, she yelled back as she took a left down the long hallway, “You know it. Hey, Leyla. Be careful. Been told Nick is ruthless when it comes to his grades. Not sure how he’d do on a joint project like this.”
I waved without answering her, greeting several people as I walked, but her warning rang like bells in my mind. I couldn’t imagine Nick undermining a partner, especially since this project was forty percent of our grade. I shifted my backpack onto my shoulder, frowning at her insinuation.
“Hey, Leyla,” someone called.
I waved, not even looking at them. “Hey.”
As I made my way to the science building, crossing a courtyard, I forced myself to think about getting out on the water in the morning. Feeling the tension bleed from my mind, I took a deep breath. The only thing I loved more than science wassurfing. I pulled out the gold necklace that never left my neck and rubbed the pendant with my thumb and smiled.
Mom and Dad said I had saltwater in my veins. I totally agreed. Out in the water, I felt like everything got quiet and peaceful.
The science program at UCSD was rigorous, and I probably wouldn’t have made it without Luke’s encouragement, the dream of working together in the future, and, strangely, Nick Demir. He made me a better student, pushing me without even realizing it to excel as I tried to keep up with him. He was the Paris Geller to my Rory Gilmore.
Thiswas the Nick I knew, not the selfish man my friend had described. Resigned to lean into that belief, I wondered how he would react if I ever told him how much he challenged me.
There was no denying it. In his unique, quiet way, he made me dig deeper and find the strength I never knew I had.
The fact was, I really admired Nikolas Demir.
CHAPTER TWO
Leyla
Present Day
Nikolas Demir.Iloathedthis man.
I didn’t wish him any real harm, but if he got a hangnail on every finger and toe, I’d be a happy woman.
“That’s twisted,” my best friend Luke said with a scowl.
“Sorry. Didn’t know I’d said that out loud. Well, guess what? I quit!” I declared dramatically, gathering my laptop and favorite mechanical pencil from my oak desk and shoving them into my leather bag.
Luke eyed me warily, unsure whether I was joking. Honestly, I wasn’t sure myself. He knew all my tells, all my secrets (well, mostly all of them) and I knew his, including some embarrassing moments growing up. When you’ve been friends through puberty, pimples, his voice change in seventh grade, which was beyond hysterical, his foray into waxing his legs (true story), and awkward first-date comparisons, there wasn’t much we didn’t know about each other.
Including what Nikolas had done all those years ago.
“You can’tquit. This isn’t like your summer job at Surf and Sand, Leyla. You’re the CEO of my company, youmaniac.” He was standing over me as I sat at my desk, looking like I’d lost my mind. His sandy-blond hair had gotten longer and was pulled back in a man bun. I teased him about it mercilessly.
