Page 11 of Unwrapped

I know what I should say. I should tell him no, walk away, and never see him again. I should avoid this dangerous game he wants to play, but I know I don’t want to walk away and not see him again.

“I work until six,” I tell him.

“Come over to my house afterward.”

“Mr. Bain,” I begin.

“Nick,” he corrects.

“Nick, is this a good idea?”

“Probably not. It’s probably the worst idea I ever had, but it’s a better idea than not seeing you again.”

When the song ends, he walks to the bar and I go sit at the table with my mother and her colleagues. Despite carrying on with their conversation, I can feel my mother’s eyes on me as I do my best to appear stoic and bored, relieved that she cannot feel the rapid beating of my heart.

Thankfully, the party ends soon after, and people start to leave. Nick comes over to say goodbye, shaking hands with everyone at the table, starting with me. Our eyes lock when he shakes mine, leaving a small piece of paper in my palm.

It’s not until I get home that I realize it’s his phone number with instructions to text him the minute I get home.

CHAPTER 6

NICK

An hour later, I walk through my townhouse, pulling the damn tie off my neck. The entire drive home, I kept my phone in the cupholder, waiting for it to vibrate with an incoming message, and nothing. I toss the offensive phone on the bed as I stomp my way into my walk-in closet. I’m out of the suit in record time and change into a set of gray sweats.

There’s still no text by the time I walk back and pick my phone off the bed, but just as I’m about to toss it back on the bed, it vibrates in my hand with an incoming text message from a strange number.

I relax, letting out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. Instead of texting back, I call her on FaceTime, holding my breath again until she answers.

It’s dark where she is, but I know she’s in bed by the sight of her headboard. Her face no longer has any makeup, making her look younger than her twenty-three years. My heart beats faster just at the sight of her.

“Hey,” she says, biting her bottom lip as she looks at the screen.

I decide to get right to the point. “Six-thirty tomorrow.” It’s not a question. I can see the uncertainty in her eyes, and if I pose it as a question, she might decide not to come.

“I don’t know, Mr. Bain,” she says, biting that damn lip again. “Maybe we shouldn’t.”

She’s absolutely right. We definitely should not, but the pull I feel is too powerful, too strong.

“It’s too late,” I say to her.

“What are you talking about?” She furrows her brows and scratches her head. “We just met tonight and if you add up all the time we actually spent together, it probably only adds up to an hour. I don’t want to upset my mom. She complains about you, but she loves the job.”

“I don’t understand why she would complain about me. I’ve been nothing but pleasant, but this won’t affect her job. This has nothing to do with her. I just want to see you. If, after tomorrow, you never want to see me again, I’ll drop it.”

I already know I won’t, but that means I’ll have one opportunity to make her not want to walk away.

“I get off at six. I’ll be there after, okay?”

“Okay,” I say, relieved.

“I have to be up early, so I’m going to say good night.”

Satisfied with the conversation, I say, “Good night, Miranda.” She doesn’t say anything else, but I feel a void the minute my screen goes black.

I lie on top of my comforter and stare at the ceiling, confused by what happened tonight. How a woman who is just barely over the drinking age can bring me to my knees with nothing but a smile and a handshake. I think back to when I first met Paige. It was over drinks with Ben and Melissa, who was his girlfriend at the time. They told me they were bringing her, and I admit I found her attractive right away, but there was no rush for me to go after her. There was nothing standing in our way of being together. She was a thirty-year-old woman, and she made it more than obvious she was interested that first night.

Miranda is the daughter of one of my employees. Despite this only starting as something temporary, Uncle Joe has not been shy about making this a more permanent arrangement.

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