“It wasShadows of Albionby a debut author named Crispin Carter.”
By now you know what happens when I hear that name. But this time, my face must have fallen as well as my heart, because I saw Nick’s brow furrow.
“Have you read it?”
I resisted the temptation to scream,Yes, I’ve sodding read it, I pretty much wrote the thing. Instead, I took a deep breath. “I have, as a matter of fact.”
“Really? I have to say, I’m surprised. I’m fairly sure there’s no romance in it.”
“I don’t just read romance novels, thank you very much,” I said tartly, and he smiled properly then, his eyes twinkling.
“I stand corrected. So, what did you think ofShadows of Albion?”
“I mean, I thought it was pretty well written,” I said lamely.
“High praise indeed. I have to be honest, I don’t think I’m going to bother reading it, given the author was such a monumental prick.”
Oh, nowthatmade me smile. “Are you trying to tell me you didn’t love Crispin ‘Voice of a Generation’ Carter?”
“‘Void of a Generation,’ more like. The man was so far up his own arse—you should have heard the utter shite that came out of his mouth. Plus, he has this weird little beard that looked like—”
“A vulva,” I interrupted, stealing Bianca’s line from last week, and Nick threw his head back and laughed.
“Absolutely that! The beard was 100 percent pubic.”
“Yeah, Crispin never looked good in a beard.”
Nick stopped laughing and looked down at me again. “So youknowhim?”
Crap, what was I supposed to say now? I could hardly deny it. “Sort of. I mean, we dated a while ago.”
“You dated the Void!” Both Nick’s eyebrows shot up in such a comedic fashion that I had to laugh.
“Afraid so. And I can definitely confirm that he’s a monumental prick.”
Nick shook his head. “Wow, you really have terrible taste in men, don’t you?”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, Crispin Carter, Fitzwilliam Darcy… You seem to go for those pompous, self-involved types.”
I winced, hoping that Darcy had moved away from the bar and hadn’t just heard Nick slagging him off.
“Sorry, I know you don’t like it when I insult Darcy,” Nick said, his voice softening. “In fact, I promise never to mention him or bloodyPride and Prejudicein your presence again.”
“What makes you think you’ll ever be in my presence again?”
I meant it as an innocent question, but as soon as I said it, I realized how flirty it sounded. Nick must have heard it, too, because I saw his pupils dilate. For a second our eyes were locked, and I suddenly became very aware of how close we were to each other. What the hell was I doing? This was a man I hated—a man who thought the great Jane Austen wrote two-dimensional characters and who wanted to burnPride and Prejudice. I needed to get the hell away from him and those strangely magnetic blue e—
“Oh my God,hereyou are!”
Bianca’s voice jolted me, and I hurriedly stepped away from Nick. When I turned around, my best friend was standing in front of me, looking absolutely incredible in a bright-orange dress.
“I wondered where you were hiding,” she said, stepping forward and giving me a tight hug. Then she stood back and turned to Nick, eyeing him up appraisingly. “So, you must be Zoe’s new mystery man.”
I waited for Nick to correct her and make it clear that he was definitely notmyanything, but he just smiled at her.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Bianca. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
