Page 21 of Nikolai
Nick found it hard to imagine a straight guy with all his hormones not staring at her.
Parker turned to Nick with a smile.“The fish won’t be salty, promise.The salt forms a crust that keeps the moisture in.You’ll like it.And the greens are local to here, calledfriarielli.They are bitter, but good.And the potatoes are roasted with rosemary and oregano.”
“Sounds good.”
Nick enjoyed everything, including the bitter greens which were surprisingly good.He wasn’t much for bitterness, life being bitter enough as it was.But these were tasty, cooked in a garlic sauce.
There was silence as they ate.This level of food deserved attention.Parker’s appetite ran out before his did.He was still going strong when she laid her fork across her plate and sat back.It felt like forever since he’d had decent food.And here he was eating food of this quality with an amazing dinner companion like Parker, surrounded by the beauty of Naples.
Life had been pretty harsh these past years and now life was trying to make it up to him at every level.
“Ahh.This is really good stuff.”He put down his fork and smiled at Parker.“So, when is your next book due?”
“Well.”She sighed and took a sip of her wine.“It’s due next April.The problem is that my production company wants the documentary to come out at the same time as the book.It’s hard to get the dates to mesh.The production company sort of speaks a different language from the publishing house.”She smiled.“Sorry.Those are first world problems, I’m sure you face much worse in your job and don’t want to hear about mine.”
“Yeah, I’ve faced worse, but that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in your problems.Actually, I find them fascinating.Probably because I couldn’t write a book if you put a gun to my head.It feels like magic.”
Parker turned her head, fixed those twin cobalt headlights on him.“That sounds like the way I feel about how you negotiate Neapolitan traffic.Like magic.”
Nick met her gaze.Held it.“I guess right now we’re both touched by magic.”
There was no way she could miss his meaning.She nodded.“Yeah,” she said softly.
Damn right.Something was happening here, and it had never happened to Nick before.He’d been attracted before, plenty of times.Maybe not with this degree of intensity, but he’d had his share of infatuations.He liked women, a lot.Not just for sex, though that was always fun.He liked their soft voices, and gracefulness and different take on things.He lived in a man’s world of iron and steel, and softness was precious and rare.
But this—this was something else.This was all of that cranked to eleven.Nick could almost see the lines of attraction in the air, like iron filings over a magnet.Parker was fascinating and intelligent—certainly better educated than he was—and incredibly talented.And that otherworldly beauty that was entirely natural.
An image sprang full blown in his head.Parker in the morning in bed, after a night of sex.Already full lips rosy and swollen from his mouth.He kept his eyes on her face, but he had excellent peripheral vision.He could tell her breasts were small but full and absolutely perfect.When they woke up, her nipples would still be cherry red because he couldn’t imagine not licking them, sucking on them for hours.Between her legs, she’d be soft and wet and a little swollen because fuck, once he got in, he wasn’t getting out for a long, long time.
Shit, he’d given himself a boner.Not the hopeful half woodie he’d had all evening, but the real deal, hard as a club and almost painful.He had to get rid of it, fast.First of all, because he was wearing lightweight trousers, and if she looked down, she could see it.And secondly, because women had the spooky ability of catching things in the air, and he was sure she would soon realize he had a hard-on.After which he could kiss this relationship goodbye.What woman wanted a randy guy who couldn’t control himself and got wood at a restaurant, of all places?
Nick was thirty-eight years old, and this was the first time since freaking high school he couldn’t control his dick.And here he was, losing control of his dick with the most attractive woman he’d ever been out with and that he wanted to see again.And again and again and again.
This had to stop.Right fucking now.
Nick took a deep breath and sat back in his seat, the picture of someone who’d eaten well and was stretching a little.He looked out to sea as if enjoying the view—which was spectacular—and thought of a village in Afghanistan after the Taliban had gone through.Nothing was left alive, not even the dogs and the chickens and goats.The ground had been soaked with blood.Then he thought of Ahmed.Everyone had been fond of him, he’d been so bright and friendly.He thought of his last glimpse of Ahmed, just before some fuckhead in another building blew him up.That small face looking so sad…
He had a lot of getting-rid-of-wood memories but those two were top of the line and they worked.
He’d got himself under control.
He poured another half-glass for Parker.She wasn’t driving so she could indulge.“Speaking of your books, I never told you how much I enjoyedThe Smiling People.As soon as I saw the documentary, I ordered the book on my tablet and read it in a couple of days.It was amazing.You write beautifully.I honestly don’t know which I enjoyed more, the documentary or the book.”
Parker sipped and a blush rose to her cheeks.She had remained indifferent to compliments to her beauty but compliments to her work made her blush.Oh God, he slipped a little deeper into infatuation.She had nothing of the coyness of a beautiful woman.
He’d dated good-looking women, and there was usually a background hum ofhow’m I doing?going on.Am I beautiful enough?Are you paying me enough attention?If I tilt my head just so, you can admire my profile.Your last compliment was half an hour ago, I need another one.Quick.
All that.
But nothing like that with Parker, who was by a factor of ten the most beautiful woman he’d ever been out with or even seen.She didn’t want or need compliments on her looks.But she did appreciate compliments on her work.And rightly.What he’d read and seen represented hours and days and months and years of very hard work.Like a SEAL who didn’t need compliments on his physique.It was earned, fought for.It was what a SEAL could do that was important, not what he looked like.
“Thanks for that.”She looked down at the tabletop.She was self-assured, but at that moment she looked a little shy.“I appreciate it.”
“No need to thank me.You earned it.You could tell that there was a ton of research behind it, but it was thoroughly readable.Do you have a list of future books in your head?”
She looked at him carefully as if judging whether he really wanted an answer.Yeah, he really did.
“Are you sure you want to know?”
