“Ooh, that one’s my favorite.” Wendy grinned. “Great choice.”
Nick smiled. “Perfect.”
“You’ve had that one before?” Jannie asked.
His dark eyes locked onto hers, piercingly deep. “No, but I’ve always wanted to have the golden goddess.”
Wendy stood there, her lips parting. “Um … I’ll, uh, be back with your drinks.”
She walked away, and Nick turned the full force of his attention on Jannie.
His gaze dropped to her mouth. “Where were we?”
“You were telling me what you’re into.”
“Was I?” He tilted his head. To her relief, his eyes took on the same warm expression they always had when he looked at her. “What do you want to know?”
“Why would you own a sex club?”
“Why not?”
Jannie said nothing, waiting.
He closed his menu, then leaned forward. “Because I looked for such a place and never found one, nor anything close. So, I found a few friends with the same vision and created one. We opened last month.”
Sin City Dark.It suddenly occurred to her where she’d heard that name before, and a strangled little laugh escaped her. “You named it after adessert?”
“Not just any dessert.” He smiled, just a tiny tipping at the corners of those lips. “What can I say? It was a great name.”
“You stole the name!”
“Well, not exactly.” A mischievous twinkle entered his eye. “I convinced your brother to let me feature Louise Fontaine’s pastries on the dessert menu. She agreed to let me use the name in exchange for a small ownership stake.”
These arrangements, she knew, didn’t happen with just one conversation. “How often have you spoken to Adam?”
“A few times. Ian, too. We reconnected in the bar at the Mile High and got to talking about old times.”
“Ah.”
Well, now it made sense. After all, they had attended the same high school. Nick never socialized, but her brothers must have at least crossed paths with him in the hallways. She might have even mentioned him once or twice back then.
A sudden thought occurred to her. “Were you keeping tabs on me?”
She thought he looked a tad uncomfortable, and warmth spread through her chest at the thought that he cared.
“I tried to. But you wouldn’t talk to them, so …” He shook his head. “I didn’t get much information.”
The server appeared with their drinks. Nick, she realized, had only ordered Pellegrino.
Jannie raised her cocktail. “Cheers.” She took a sip. It burned as it went down, and she welcomed it. It had been such a long time since she’d indulged in a strong alcoholic beverage that she could practically feel it rushing through her veins.
She could also feel Nick’s eyes on her. There was something about the way he looked at her tonight that both excited and unsettled her. Hopefully, it wasn’t him liking the disguise more than her usual appearance. “What’s that look for?”
“Honestly?” He sipped his Pellegrino. “I’d like to see the real Jannie.”
His bottom lip was wet. She wanted to lick it. Bite it. “The real Jannie? Who even is that?”
“Oh, she’s in there somewhere.”
