She took a breath. “Niyah and I rented a house here in town, and that’s where we were when Nico finally came home. I think he slept on our couch for about a week. Maybe a month.”
Nico was shaking his head. “I did not.”
“But you could have.” She flashed another grin. “Shortly after that, my grandpa died.”
Her gaze shifted back to Stone, and he could see the echo of sadness still there.
“Long battle with cancer. I spent a lot of time with him after I graduated high school because my parents were always fighting. We were close. Me and Grandpa. I figure that’s why he left me money. He wanted me to be independent of my parents. I used it to bribe Nico into startin’ a business.”
Nico laughed. “Bribe? Is that what you’re callin’ it?”
“Works.” Her grin grew wider. “We started the business. It was slow at first. Real slow. But we were both determined. That’s how he met Melanie. Her parents are clients of ours.Were, I guess, is the better word. They don’t like him much anymore since he broke up with her.”
“They like me just fine.”
Stevie giggled. “I know. Which is weird. He broke their little girl’s heart, but they still like him.” She shrugged. “Anyway.Beforehe broke her heart, he planned to live happily ever after with her in this great big house. They were gonna have a horde of kids and at least three house servants.” Stevie canted her head. “After all, Glamour-life Barbie didn’t intend to pay for anything or, God forbid, get her hands dirty with kid slobber. She preferred to spend her days at the hair salon getting ready to have tea with her bitchy ass friends.”
Nico snorted. “She’s not too far off on that.”
“I take it you didn’t like her?” Stone asked Stevie.
“I liked her just fine—right up until she decided she’d fill Nico’s schedule so he didn’t have time to spend with his sister. That lasted a while. And then, as a shock to everyone who knew them, Nico proposed.” She gasped dramatically, pressing her hand to her chest. “With wedding bells as the soundtrack to her new future, Glam Barbie morphed into Psycho Barbie and became downright mean.”
Stone looked at Nico again, trying to gauge whether there was any truth to this story. He was surprised when Nico nodded, his gaze shifting to his lap.
“But thankfully, he came to his senses and realized good ol’ Mel couldn’t give him what he needed.”
“Which was?”
“Penis,” Stevie answered, her expression serious.
Stone barked a laugh.
“What? It’s true. Don’t believe me?”
He planted his hands on her thighs. “I believe you.”
She sighed. “Anyway, last year, Niyah and Adam got engaged, and they borrowed the wedding bell soundtrack for themselves, so I knew it was only a matter of time before I would be lookin’ for a new place to live, and I mentioned as much to Tara. She’s the receptionist at the office. Nico, who likes to eavesdrop, overheard us, and the next thing I know, he’s offerin’ to let me rent a room in this great big mansion.”
“I didn’t eavesdrop,” Nico told her. “Niyah told me.”
Stevie rolled her eyes, smiling at Stone. “So he says. And somewhere in there, my mom decided that Texas was much too small to contain all her big dreams, so she got on the internet and started searchin’ for the Barbie life that Mel had tried to design for herself—I think they drank from the same well or somethin’. Anyway, my mom found some rich dude who would give her not just the Barbie dream house, but the Barbie sports car, the Barbie swimmin’ pool, the—” She waved a hand and exhaled heavily. “You get the picture.”
“You have somethin’ against Barbie?”
She laughed and rubbed his chest. “A little bit, yeah.”
He’d missed this woman so damn much.
Stone tapped her thigh to get her attention. “While Nico was shackin’ up with Glamour Barbie and Niyah was datin’ her future husband, who was keepin’ you company?”
Stevie snorted. “Oscar. And no, it was never serious. He entertained me—in bed and out—but he was not boyfriend material. The guy still sleeps on his mom’s couch from time to time. I ended it a few months before I moved in here.”
Good to know.
Still watching her, Stone asked, “At what point in this story did you and Nico start doin’ the nasty?”
She laughed, the sound so beautiful, he couldn’t resist reaching for her.
