Page 24 of Kidnapped Bride

But like every man, he had a weakness, and I was willing to bet that weakness was sex, just like every other man on this planet.

It was stupid and reckless and probably the wine talking.

But the only weapon I had was the one thing I knew affected him.

I ran my finger along the rim of my glass and let my eyes stay on his a beat longer than I needed to.

"This wine is really good," I said as my mind tried to figure out how to do this. I'd been nasty with him and treated him poorly. It wouldn't do to just start throwing myself at him in hopes to manipulate him. He would see right through me.

"It's from a vineyard in Tuscany. I go there every fall."

"Do you travel a lot?" I tilted my head and let genuine curiosity into my expression. It wasn't hard because I was genuinelycurious. I'd always been curious about him and that was the whole problem.

I had been hooked on him and that dazzling smile since day one.

Faking being interested wasn't really all that fake for me.

"When business allows."

"You never told me that when we were texting. You told me about St. Petersburg and your mother's cooking, but you never mentioned Italy."

Nikolai lifted an eyebrow and cocked his head.

The corner of his mouth twitched like he wanted to smile or maybe smirk, but he kept a placid exterior as he chewed his food then swallowed. "There's a lot I didn't tell you," he said.

"Like what?" I leaned forward on my elbow and let my chin rest on my hand. The T-shirt shifted when I moved. I felt the V neck dip a little, maybe exposing some cleavage, and I didn't fix it. "I mean, if I'm stuck here, you could at least be interesting."

He wiped his mouth and sat back, saying, "Careful, Kira. Remember what happened last time you drank around me." I almost rolled my eyes and scoffed at that. The "last time" was the only time I'd drunk around him and I remembered very clearly.

It was why my body already felt warm at the thought of him touching me again.

But this time, I was in control of myself.

I wasn't drinking alcohol to lose my inhibitions with a man I just met.

I was choosing every sentence cautiously to craft a specific response from him.

So far, it was sort of working.

"You're the one who keeps refilling my glass," I pointed out.

I held his stare and took another slow sip. The wine was warm going down and it made my whole body feel loose and heavy, and I told myself the flush creeping up my neck was the alcohol and nothing else.

This was going to be a dangerous game.

I knew that.

Playing with someone like Niko was like reaching into a fire and hoping you'd only get warm.

But I didn't have any other cards left, and if flirting with my captor was the only move available to me, then I'd play it until something broke.

I just had to make sure it wasn't me.

I kept my eyes locked on his and let my finger trace the rim of the glass one more time, picking up the droplet clinging there after my last sip.

The wine hummed in my veins, loosening everything that had been knotted up inside me for days.

"You know," I said softly, "I used to picture you like this when we texted. Sitting across from me, looking at me the way you are right now." The way he looked at me was almost devastating, and it would be if I let it. He was so handsome.