Page 94 of Sweet as Sin (Bad Habit 1)
My smile was tight. He should look worried. Lucky for him, there weren’t any sharp objects in the immediate vicinity.
Chloe murmured a good-bye to Nico, and then we were alone.
“You’re mad.” He said it as a statement of fact.
Since it was true, I didn’t bother to deny it. “I just thought we were on this whole ‘no more secrets’ train together. Considering that’s what I was told.” I looked at him pointedly.
He moved closer, watching my face. “Well, there’s a difference between secrets and surprises, am I right?”
Oh, goodie, we were back to the wordplay. I crossed my arms over my chest and kept quiet. My silence made him smile.
He stopped in front of me. When I refused to look up at him, he tilted my chin up so I was forced to meet his eyes.
He said softly, “We’re goin’ on tour. For two months. To Europe. Surprise.”
“Gee, it’s almost better than Christmas morning! Have a lovely trip. I’m sure the Krugermann twins will keep you very entertained.”
His soft laugh irritated me further. What the hell was so funny?
“No, darlin’, you’re not listenin’. We are goin’ on tour. Not just Bad Habit. Us. Me and you. That’s the surprise. You’re comin’ with me.”
Whatever look I had on my face amused Nico no end, because he threw his head back and laughed.
“Whoa. Wait. I can’t go to Europe for two months.”
Nico knelt in front of me, and took my face in his hands. “Course you can. Where I go you go, remember?”
“But I have to work. I can’t afford to take that much time off. Let alone the price of airfare, hotels, meals—”
“Christ. Here she goes.”
“No, I’m serious Nico. I can’t afford any of that—”
“I can,” he said calmly. “Everything’s already paid for. Flights, hotels, everything. Your name is on all the tickets. Band’s havin’ a little pre-tour party next Friday, and I was gonna tell you then. It was supposed to be a surprise. You’re comin’ with me, Kat. We’ll be in Barcelona for Thanksgiving, Florence for Christmas, Paris for New Year’s Eve.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “B-but my mortgage! I don’t have enough savings to pay that in advance for a few months. I used half the money from the video shoot to pay down the loan principal and the other half went to credit card balances—”
“Said everything was paid for, didn’t I? That includes your mortgage.”
My face went hot. I blinked rapidly, sure I’d misheard him. “I’m sorry, I must be hallucinating. I thought I just heard you say my mortgage is paid for.”
Nico leaned in and kissed me. “House is still yours, of course. Keep it, sell it, do whatever you want with it. You just don’t have to worry about payin’ for it anymore is all.”
“How . . . you . . . what?” I couldn’t form a coherent sentence.
Nico grinned. “I might have written down the account number from a statement I saw lyin’ on your dinin’ room table. And then I might have written a check to the bank.”
I couldn’t believe it. I simply could not wrap my head around a word he was saying. It must have been obvious I needed more explanation, because he readily provided it.
“The day the paps showed up at your house. You and the girls went in your bedroom to pack. Your mail was on the table.” He shrugged. “I couldn’t resist.”
My eyes bugged out. “You went through my mail?”
“Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t open anything. That statement was just lyin’ there on top of the pile, beggin’ any passersby to have a look-see.” His grin grew wider. “Further provin’ my innocence, I didn’t even touch the envelope from Magic Moments Sex Toys and Lingerie. Looked like a pretty thick invoice, sweetheart.”
“I can’t . . . Nico . . . I can’t accept that.”
He pushed me back against the bed and hovered above me, gazing down with a look of amusement. “No? And why’s that?” He dipped his head and drew the tip of his nose up my neck, from my collarbone to beneath my earlobe. I tilted my head to better accommodate him.
