Sweet As Sin

48

But Nico, being Nico, made it all better with only a few well-chosen words.

With one side of his mouth quirked, in the most dismissive tone I’d ever heard, he said, “Nah, darlin’, you were never my lady. Or probably anyone else’s lady. More like the village bicycle. Haven’t taken a ride on that rusty, second-hand bike in what, six months?”

The look on her face was so priceless, I wished I had a camera.

“You f*****g asshole!” she shrieked, red in the face.

Nico shrugged, then winked at me. “Guilty as charged.”

It all happened so fast. The surgically enhanced Village Bicycle took a snarling step forward, her right arm c****d back, her intent to slap Nico across the face as clear as daylight.

So, naturally, because I’m s**t for making quick decisions, I slapped her first.

The crack! of my open palm hitting her cheek was immediately followed by her scream of disbelief. Her head rocked back. Staggering sideways in her heels, she spun around and stared at me wide-eyed, cradling her jaw.

Holding her gaze, I quietly said, “Back off, b***h, unless you want another.”

Across the room, the four other members of Bad Habit roared with laughter.

She lunged at me. Nico yanked me out of the way just in time, and she went flying by in a cloud of cheap perfume, screaming bloody murder. Her girlfriends were up on their stilettos before you could say “boo,” lunging at me, too. It was six against one, and if the boys hadn’t intervened, I would’ve been torn to shreds in a fury of red acrylic claws.

“Brody, get the girls outta here!” Nico shouted. He held me in a protective bear hug against his chest while the guys corralled the girls to the opposite side of the room.

“C’mon, hooker, you heard the man, party’s over.” Brody held the brunette firmly by the arm and began to pull her away.

“Don’t call me a f*****g hooker!” she hollered, struggling to get free.

Brody laughed. “You’re right. That’s an insult to hookers.”

He ignored her squawk of anger and dragged her from the room, while A.J., Chris, and Ethan managed to get control of her friends. They were escorted out in a spewing hail of profanities, and promises to gut me like a fish the next time they saw me.

Dumbfounded, I stared after them. “Jesus Christ. Where do you find women like that? The ninety-nine-cent section of hell?”

Nico turned me around and held me against his chest. He looked as if he was holding back a smile. “Yeah, it didn’t look like you got on too well with them, huh, baby? In fact, I think it’s fair to say you even got . . . aggressive.”

Shit. He had me. He so totally had me there.

“And I’m wonderin’ why that might be? Feelin’ a little . . . possessive maybe?”

“No!” Hello, blatant lie, my new best friend. “I slapped that cow in self-defense! She was about to hit you!”

“That’s not self-defense, Kat. That’s you protectin’ me. Kinda like I was protectin’ you against the paparazzi, and from my boys seein’ you in all your bare-ass glory.”

And there it was. The truth with a capital T. Which only meant one thing.

I was a complete hypocrite.

I rested my forehead against his chest, and sighed. “You know, if you’re going to be right all the time, it’s really going to get old.”

He laughed. Really laughed, his chest shaking with it.

“And smug is really going to get old, too!”

“Yeah, but you bein’ mad ’cause I called you out on some s**t you were just pissed at me about is never gonna get old.”

“Shut up.” It was a halfhearted “shut up,” because, once again, he was right. I would find the same thing extremely hilarious if the situation were reversed.

Nico tilted my face up with a knuckle beneath my chin. His eyes were warm and soft, his voice even softer. “Make me.”

Still smarting from the encounter with Miss Thing, I reluctantly rose up on my toes and gave him a dry little peck on the lips.

“Yeah? That’s all I get for bein’ so right? A grandma kiss?” He clucked in disapproval.

“Try not to break your arm patting yourself on the back, there, loverboy,” I said tartly.

Nico gathered me in even closer. His chuckle was a deep rumble in his chest. “Love it that you’re jealous over me, baby. But you don’t have to be. I’m all yours now.”

I might have harrumphed, but I loved hearing him say he was all mine.

Too bad it wasn’t true.

“Nico.”

We turned to find Brody, white faced and nervous, standing in the doorway.

“What’s up?”

Brody cleared his throat. He glanced at me, and I knew. I just knew it was bad, before the words were even out of his mouth.

“Got a situation, bro.”

Nico tensed. He stepped in front of me protectively. “Yeah? What?”

The sound of the air-conditioning kicking on seemed unnaturally loud in the brief silence that followed. “Think you should come see for yourself.” Brody looked at me again. I went cold with fear.

“Stay here.” Quiet and firm, this was directed at me. Nico should have known better.

“No.”

“Baby—”

“No.”

“Uh, Kat?” Brody chimed in. “I, uh, think that might be the best thing.”

I glanced at him. “Well, then. Definitely no.”

“What the f**k is up, Brody?” said Nico, bristling.

Brody cleared his throat again. “Got a visitor.”

For a moment there was no reaction. Then, as if he suddenly understood, Nico muttered, “Fuck.” He ran a hand through his hair. He turned to me, his eyes dark. “Need you to stay here, baby.”

“Nico—”