Nadia POV
Cole had said something quietly in my ear before we reached the table at the bar. "Don't tense up." That was all. Two words delivered in a low voice directly beside my jaw because the blogger was already watching.
I had wanted to argue, but he was right. I hated that I had to swallow my annoyance and smile for the next forty minutes.
The hand at the small of my back had lasted maybe three seconds. It was the lightest possible contact, the kind of thing that looked effortless to anyone watching. My nervous system had registered it instantly.
That was just the performance. That was the mechanic of a deal that cost twelve hundred a month and had specific terms in writing.
Petra closed the legal pad first.
That was always the signal. When the pad closed, the meeting was over.
