“You seem to bring it out in me, Ms. Cooper.” His voice was teasing but deep and raspy. As thrilling as it was, it made me laugh so loud I covered my mouth, embarrassed.
“Why are you hiding?” He had pulled up to a traffic light and was looking at me curiously.
“Sorry, you just took me by surprise. I didn’t mean to laugh like that.”
“I thought we talked about that,” he answered, looking back toward the front as he drove. “You don’t have to change the way you laugh, the way you talk, any of it. Not with me.”
Hot tears threatened to break through my defenses, so I blinked until they stopped. He had said that to me before, but there was something about being here in his car, dressed up and on our way to dinner, that made it feel different. My emotions were all over the place. He had no idea that his words were healing some of my most hidden scars.
“Okay,” I whispered into the void, hoping he’d heard me. Neither of us said anything for the rest of the short drive, and I was grateful, not trusting my voice if forced to speak. With anyone else, the silence would’ve been awkward, but I didn’t feel that way at all with Niko. I was starting to understand his quiet nature and how much it took for him to break out of it. Knowing this made me appreciate the words he did say.
Niko pulled up in front of the restaurant and waited for the valet to come to the door. With that taken care of, he helped me out of the car and into the restaurant, his warm hand once more at the small of my back.
It was not surprising people looked at us as we walked by. Niko never noticed the attention he received, even back in school. A tall, dark, gorgeous man in a tailored suit was a sight to behold, let me tell you.
More importantly, beneath all that beat a heart of gold. One who had faced challenges that would’ve broken some people, yet still kept his beautiful soul. I felt grateful to be on his arm as we were escorted by the host to our table.
He pulled out my chair, handed us menus, and said our server would be with us soon.
Niko didn’t pick up the menu right away but instead looked at me from across the table. “You know I don’t catch body language all the time, but it didn’t take much to notice every man’s head swivel to look at you as we passed.”
Shaking my head with a wide smile, I said, “You’ve got that all wrong, I think.”
“So the men were all looking at me?” he teased, his eyebrows lifted in amusement.
I laughed at his joke. “You think you’re funny, don’t you? I’m sure that might have been the case for a few of them, but it was everywomanstraining their neck to get a look at you.”
He blushed and looked to the side. “Not possible. Not with you in that dress.”
I scoffed. “I’m starting to think I’m being hustled. I’m doubling down on my statement that you don’t seem to need any help in the flirting department.”
Niko licked his lips when he looked back at me. “AndIkeep saying it’s you who brings it out in me. But honestly, I do need your help. This is usually when I shut down on a date.”
Feeling brave and a bit brazen, I said, “Well, you got me here. What are you going to do with me now?”
He choked on air, apparently, and I snickered at his reaction. “Sorry, sorry,” I said, through laughter. “I did that on purpose for shock value.”
Still coughing behind his hand, he wheezed, “You were successful.”
I started laughing so hard at his still-wide eyes that I snorted, which made him start belly-laughing. We were just starting to get a hold of ourselves, ignoring the hard looks from the tables near us, when a familiar voice ruined the moment.
“Leyla? Is that you?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Nikolas
Leyla’s reactionwas hard to miss. Her eyes were about as wide as her open mouth as she looked up into the face of a man wearing a smirk like an accessory.
“Itisyou. Wow, how long has it been?” asked the tall blond man holding hands with a woman who looked at everyone except Leyla.
Leyla recovered quickly, looking up at him with narrowed eyes and said, “Oh, let’s see. Since the day you broke up with me about two years ago, give or take.”
So this was Ethan. The man who broke her heart. I didn’t get angry often, but I couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to punch that smirk off his face.
The woman cleared her throat and said quietly, “Ethan, let’s go.”
Apparently, Ethanlacked common sense and dug in his heels.
