“I don’t think your girlfriend would like that very much.”
“Are you talking about the brunette who was here this afternoon?”
“Who else would I be talking about? I saw her leave your apartment looking very happy.”
Nico chuckles. “Interesting.”
“Why is that interesting?”
“You seem very concerned about how happy she was.”
I scoff. “Well, I’m not.”
Nico stands and walks over to his refrigerator. “The woman you saw was my cousin, Sofia. She brought food that my mother had made and put it in the freezer.” He tugs open the freezer door. The entire space is filled with casserole dishes of food.
“Why the hell didn’t you warm up one of those?”
He shrugs. “You didn’t believe I could cook. I had to prove you wrong.”
“So, no girlfriend?”
He slowly shakes his head.
My mouth feels drier than the desert as I stutter, “O-okay then.”
Glacial eyes pin me to my seat as Nico stalks in my direction. He grabs the stool I’m perched on and turns it, forcing me to face him. His muscled frame towers over me, and while his bulk should intimidate me, it has the opposite effect. The heat of his body calms me. The scent of his skin makes me lightheaded and my heart race.
There’s a charge in the air, and it snaps like static electricity when his finger makes contact with my chin to tilt my head back.
“I’m only going to tell you this once, so listen carefully,gattina.The only brunette—the only woman—who will leave this apartment happy and completely satisfied will be you. Capiche?”
A low hum tickles the back of my throat in response. He’s a hairbreadth away. My eyes fall closed. My body screams for him to close the distance and kiss me. All while my brain is throwing the alarm, but I’m helpless under the spell Nico has me under.
With a featherlight touch, he brushes his mouth over mine, sending sparks through me like a shot. My lips tingle, and time slows down.
The sound of Tegan and Sara singingCloseris a bucket of ice water down my back.
My eyes fly open, and I rear back. Hearing my sister’s ringtone startles me and shakes me free of Nico’s heady magic.
Reaching into my robe pocket, I pull out my phone and wield it like a shield. “I need to take this. Thank you fortonight.”
Nico steps back, allowing me to run away from him like a scaredy-cat. I rush out of his apartment as if my life depends on it, but his amused yet slightly annoyed expression says it all.
Whatever just happened between us is far from over.
twenty
Nico
Withoneoutinthe top of the ninth, the man on first base takes a generous lead off the bag and stares at me dead to right. Cocky bastard.
Guy Fernandez is Arizona’s rookie, and the kid is known for taking big risks and stealing bases. He’s good, and his stats prove it. He’s an incredibly successful baserunner. But the kid has met his match. Fernandez thinks that because I’m getting older—by baseball standards—that I’m slower and he can steal on me now.
Not gonna fucking happen.
With a sly look over his shoulder, Cam notices the lead and hand signals the play. He wants to pick the guy off as badly as I do. Teach these young bucks a thing or two about the game.
Loudly popping my cinnamon gum, so as not to give away my next move, I return a hand signal to Cam, and I adjust my squat as I signal Heath on second. The three of us are ready for the play to begin.
