The doorbell rang, chiming through my house, and I steeled my spine before answering it. Brian stood there with flowers, tall and confident, with a warm smile on his face and deep brown eyes that sparkled with enthusiasm. He was dressed casually, as usual, and his blond hair was neatly combed.
He thrust the bouquet of flowers, carefully arranged and expertly wrapped, at me. They were beautiful, but Alek’s words came back to haunt me:Flowers just die.
And now I was thinking about the necklace. I should have kept it. It would have been a sweet reminder of him. I wasn’t entitled to it, though, so I’d left it in the suite, along with whatever else he’d purchased for me. Nik’s T-shirt had become one of my favorites to sleep in.
Comparing Alek and Brian only made me feel like a horrible human being. Brian was only trying to be nice. He’d commented on more than one occasion about my moping. I must have looked desperate for attention.
Putting the flowers in a vase, I thanked him. I was happy when we settled into our normal banter. I was in the middle of cracking eggs when my doorbell rang again, so I asked Brian to answer the door.
“Ah, it’s the coworker, Brian.”
I groaned immediately, recognizing the voice. Continuing to stir the batter, I walked over to the door. His eyes flicked to me, and he ignored Brian.
What is it with these men and their fitted T-shirts seeming like a walking advertisement of their muscular strength? Would he swap the one on my bed with the one he was wearing if I asked nicely?
His effortless style with designer jeans and sneakers only added to his confidence and swagger. Bold as could be, he strode inside like he owned the place. A glint shimmered in his beautiful eyes as he allowed his gaze to leisurely traverse every curve of my body. His tongue darted out, moistening his lips before he smirked in my direction.
“Nikolai King, to what do I owe the pleasure?” I greeted him sarcastically, even though my heart leaped.
He stood next to a man I’d never seen before. Turning to him, he said, “Jason, you can get started.”
“Excuse me. What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
The man had a big box that he unpacked. It had equipment, a camera, and something that looked like a control panel.
“Installing an alarm system,” Nik answered. “Go back to what you were doing. We’ll be in and out in no time.” Irritation flared through me as he dismissed me like a child.
“I don’t need that. What’s going on? Why are you here and not Alek—” I immediately cut myself off, my face burning.
Was I really going to ask him where Alek was? He smirked, letting me know he heard.
Perfect. I’d bet with their no-secret rule, Alek would know by the end of the day. Damn him. Nik stepped toward me, put his finger in my mixing bowl, and stole some of the batter. He licked his finger and moaned, his eyes dancing the entire time.
“You need a system in place. You’re a beautiful girl who lives alone. While you might think your baby blade, as Ivan called it, will keep you safe, it may not be enough. Even if you happen to have another arsenal somewhere around here. A little extra protection never hurt anyone.”
“Get out, and you stop what you are doing,” I exclaimed in anger, turning to Jason. He was kind enough to stop, but he looked at Nik, waiting for his command.
“Continue on, Jason. Ms. Taylor and I are going to go put this batter in a pan, or better yet, a cupcake pan. Those don’t take long to bake. Right?” He grabbed my elbow to lead me back toward the kitchen.
I heard Jason chuckle and murmur under his breath. If I thought Alek was absurd, Nikolai was as bad, except he had more finesse.
“A little piece of advice. It’s never a good idea to date coworkers. It can get messy if it doesn’t work out. And I can tell you now, it won’t work out for the two of you,” Nik remarked knowingly.
“What? We’re not dating, and even if we were, I didn’t ask you for advice. I didn’t ask for an alarm system, either. What is going on? I thought I was done with Kings.” I flushed.
He stepped up to me, taking the bowl and setting it down. He gently put my hands behind my back, holding them lightly in one hand. Just the smell of him—confidence, coffee, and leather—made me want to draw closer. My body willingly went slack, and my head bowed.
“Look at you, sweet baby girl. Alek was right. So beautiful with your head bowed.” He rubbed my cheek, lifting my chin, but I looked away.
“No, look at me. That’s a good girl. How I’d love to see you in a modest kneel or wall position,” he said, making my knees weak.
My breath caught in my throat as I envisioned myself in those poses for him. The subsequent flood of my panties only irritated me and made me angry. He had no right to be here or say those things to me.
“You said you thought you were done with us. Unfortunately, you’ll be done with us when our investigation is completed. Since I’m in charge of that, I can make it nice and slow if you’d like me to.”
I trembled, wanting to look away, but felt like I was frozen in place. If he didn’t stop looking at me like that, I was going to step across a line. So I relied on my only defense mechanism. My mouth.
“What I like doesn’t seem to factor into anything anymore. I just want it over with,” I hissed.
