Page 24 of Dangerous Kiss
Chapter Nine
The nightmares were blown away the next morning by Biba’s cheerful smile at the craft service trailer. “Hey, dude. Today’s the day?”
For a moment, Cosimo was confused. “Huh?”
Biba pretended to knock on his head. “Your son, remember?”
God, Nicco, of course. He grinned at her. “I’m glad you’re cheerful about today, because I guarantee Nicco won’t be.”
“If he hated the idea that much, he wouldn’t have come.”
“There’s still time for him to cancel.”
Biba grinned at his woebegone face. “Is that so? So that handsome young boy over there isn’t your son then?”
Cosimo turned in surprise to see Nicco, taller than ever, stalking towards him. He stepped forward to hug his son, which Nicco accepted to Cosimo’s surprise. He stepped back and studied his son.
Nicco had always looked more like Grace than Cosimo: he had Grace’s Korean coloring, straight jet-black hair teased up into spikes, and dark brown, almost black eyes. Only his build and his height seemed to come from Cosimo.
Cosimo stepped away and introduced his son to Biba, who held out her fist for a bump. Nicco’s eyes lit up when he saw her, and Cosimo hid a smile. Like father, like son—completely unable to resist Biba May’s charms.
Cosimo drove Nicco, Biba, and Reggie into the city, and to Bob’s Java Jive coffee house on South Tacoma Way. Biba sat up front with him; Nicco chivalrously opened the door for her. Apparently though, that was the extent of his engagement. Biba and Reggie both tried to start a conversation with the teen, and although he was polite, he quickly shut down any talk they might have shared.
Cosimo shot Biba a look as she tried again, and she winked at him. She wasn’t going to give up on Nicco, and it warmed Cosimo’s heart.
At the coffee house, which was shaped like a giant coffee pot, Biba got out. “Uh-oh…my bad. I don’t think it opens until later. Hey, excuse me, sir?”
Cosimo watched her walk up to a man who was washing the outside windows of the place and converse with him for a few minutes. Working her magic again, she came back to them. “He says he can only do filter coffee at this hour, but he’ll let us in as a favor.”
As Reggie and Nicco got out of the car, Cosimo took her arm. “You are amazing,” he murmured, and she beamed at him.
“I shamelessly dropped your name. It worked.”
Cosimo laughed and reluctantly let go of her arm. He wanted to hold her hand, but it would be inappropriate, especially in front of Nicco.
As they sat in the coffeehouse chatting, Nicco seemed to thaw a little—a very little—but still looked bored. Biba nudged him with her elbow. “Come on, dude. This place is awesome.”
Nicco nodded reluctantly. “It’s okay.”
“Man, you are hard work, you know that?” Biba grinned at him to soften the judgment. “You’re such a teenager.”
That got him. “Dude, you’re like five seconds older than me.”
“Try five years. You know what happened to me when I was sixteen? I learned the art ofconversation.” She crossed her eyes at him, making a face, and Nicco chuckled.
The sound of his son laughing made Cosimo’s heart hurt. He hadn’t heard that sound in years. “So,” he said carefully, not wanting to break the mood, “where have our tour guides planned for next?”
“Well,” Biba said, “we assumed that you and your friends have done pretty much everything in Seattle, so Reg and I researched some places to go. Fall City, for starters. Treehouses, dude.”
Nicco nodded. “Grandma took me there last year.”
Biba’s face fell. “Really? Dang, I was looking forward to that.”
Cosimo grinned at her sulky face. “I’m sure Nicco wouldn’t mind going again.”
“No, it’s okay. I can go another time. Um…Reg?” Biba looked at her friend helplessly. She’d clearly set her heart on the treehouse. Cosimo told himself he would take her there one day.
“It’s a drive, but we could go to the Observatory at Goldendale.”
