He walked around the desk and sat down in his chair, keeping his eyes on his hands resting on his lap. “I don’t want you to treat me differently. That would be worse than anything I experienced in high school.”
My heart rate sped up at his words. I wasn’t sure what he meant, but I was thrilled at the possibilities. “What do you mean?”
He looked away for a moment, then turned those chocolate-brown eyes back to me. “It would just hurt too much if you did, Leyla.”
The tension between us was back, the pull stretching taut once more. I whispered, “Why?”
“Becauseyoumatter too much to me.”
The moment was heavy with sparking tension. Having this man’s full attention on me was like looking at the sun. Its warmth was comforting, but prolonged exposure would leave me singed.
“You matter to me, too. I’d never treat you differently, Niko. Knowing what I do now, I can appreciate even more how unique you are.” My voice sounding breathless in my ears.
He nodded, something I had come to expect. It was more than a physical gesture. It was an acceptance, a demonstration of what his beautiful mind had worked through, and an acknowledgment of what had been said.
I realized he didn’t need to speak an abundance of words. Somehow, I had just accepted him as he was back then, but my anger had colored the man I saw before me now.
“Friends, then?” he asked almost hesitantly, his soft expression revealing concern about being rejected.
“Absolutely. Friends.”
I pushed down the feeling of attraction that had recently stirred back to life in me. Niko needed a friend, a safe place to land, and an ally here at work. I was determined to be all those things to the man who had been vulnerable enough to entrust me with this part of himself.
Knowing now that’s all he wanted, I would be the best friend he had ever had. He never needed to know that my heart was disappointed that he didn’t want to explore more.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Nikolas
A few evenings later,Mike invited me over for dinner. While he cooked the chicken, I chopped vegetables for the stir-fry and brought him up to date on everything that had happened with Leyla.
He turned toward me, taking his attention off the hot pan on the stove, and glared at me.
“Friends? You told her you wanted to befriends?” he asked incredulously.
I shrugged. “What did you want me to do? Ask her on a date?”
“Ah,yeah,” he said, his eyes wide, eyebrows high like I was an imbecile. Maybe I was.
“I can’t logically jump from her treating me like the enemy to ‘hey, want to go on a romantic dinner date with me?’ I have a carefully crafted plan. I need to think about this scientifically.”
“You really are hopeless. This isn’t science, it’s awoman, a relationship. Two very different things, my friend.”
“I know that, but this isn’t somewoman. This is Leyla we’re talking about. She’s intelligent. Special. Unique. It’s going to take more than some silly scheme to win her over. By the way, you’re burning your chicken.”
He quickly turned back to the stove, muttering under his breath, and shook the pan. “Pass me the veggies. And don’t get your panties in a wad. I’m being nice and cooking you something special for dinner.”
I held back my retort that chicken stir-fry was theonlything he knew how to make. Over the years of knowing him, I’d eaten my weight in it.
“I’m not getting my panties or any other item of clothing in a wad. I just need to be methodical about this so I don’t mess up again.” I handed him the vegetables before washing my hands and stirring what he called his special sauce.
“Changing the subject for a minute, speaking of panties and whatnot, try dressing less…James Bond and more hot lumberjack.”
There was no way I was taking the bait on that subject, so I ignored him.
As he swirled the pan back and forth over the flame, he asked, “Anyway, what do you even know about relationships? Remind me again what your longest one was?”
“Three months. Luisa Reines. She was very sweet, but we weren’t compatible.”
