Chapter 5 #2
Being this close to the man and having his full attention directed at her was potent.
She’d been smiling from ear to ear, basking in the silliness of the exchange she’d just witnessed, but as soon as their stares were locked in place, the strangest phenomenon occurred.
Nothing else in life existed. It was only the two of them, Niko and Tiana, on the dance floor, under the tent, at Liam and Frankie’s home, in Hope Falls.
The first thing she noticed was his eyes.
His irises shifted color depending on the angle, seafoam near the pupil darkening to storm cloud at the edges, flecked with amber like mica catching light in river stones.
They stood so close that for the first time she caught a light whiff of musk that drew her closer to him.
The scent was a heady combination of earth and fire, leather and cedarwood with hints of wildflowers.
With each inhale, she felt a rush of adrenaline, a sense of adventure, and a hint of danger, a tantalizing combination that made her heart race and her knees weak once more.
It also enveloped her like a warm embrace, stirring feelings of both comfort and excitement within her, leaving her feeling both protected and vulnerable in its presence.
It was a bold and captivating fragrance, perfectly suited for the man before her.
“Hi.” The rumble of his deep voice rippled through her, causing a shiver to race up her spine.
This man was an assault on her senses. She hadn’t been affected by the opposite sex like this in…well, ever.
She blinked, trying to gather her composure.
He tilted his head to the side, and a lopsided grin spread on his lips, revealing a deep dimple in his right cheek. “You beat me to it.”
“I did?” Beat him to what? She had no clue what was going on. Her mind drew a complete blank. That had never happened to her before.
He took one step towards her, eliminating the twelve or so inches between them, and in a motion so fluid, one hand rested on her hip, the other held her right hand, and he was leading her around the dance floor.
The heat of his breath wafted through her hair as he spoke quietly, his face only a millimeter beside her own.
“I’ve been working up the nerve all night to ask you to dance. ”
“You have?” She heard a voice, but she didn’t recognize it as her own.
It was breathy, needy, and borderline Marilyn’s “Happy Birthday, Mr. President.”
Her phone vibrated in her pocket, snapping her out of the spell she’d fallen under and back into her right mind.
“Oh, no, I didn’t, that’s not why. I wasn’t. I didn’t want to dance,” she stammered over her words as she took a step back out of Niko’s arms.
The moment his palm fell from her hip and he dropped her hand, she missed his touch. It sounded dramatic to say, but it was true. She shook her head, trying to erase that thought like an Etch-A-Sketch. She was sure it was a biological reason, since it had been so long since she’d been with anyone.
“Oh, okay. I thought…” He looked around, indicating that since they were on the dance floor, he assumed she wanted to dance, which was totally logical.
“No, I mean, yes, no, yes, that makes sense, but I actually wanted to talk to you.” She reached into her pocket, and as she pulled out her phone, she saw her hands were shaking.
Why was she shaking? Was she nervous? To talk to Niko Costas?
Apparently, yes.
Her heart rate was definitely elevated. It was embarrassing. It had to be because of the dancing misunderstanding and not because of her attraction to Niko. No, that had nothing to do with anything. She just had a silly crush.
She saw she’d gotten another text from Jess G.
asking if Tiana wanted her to troll Gianna’s socials.
As she was trying to swipe up on the screen to open a different message, the phone slipped from her hands.
She fumbled it, tried to catch it, but failed.
She expected it to crash to the ground, instead, Niko recovered it.
His large hand easily swooped beneath it and caught it mid-fall. When he handed it back to her, his fingers slid along her wrist. The contact was totally innocent, but her lady parts did not get the memo. They were lighting up like the Vegas Strip.
“Thanks,” Tiana managed a breathless response of appreciation. “Good reflexes.”
“I learned from the best.” He motioned over to Tabitha, AKA Princess Ninja Flower.
“Right.” Tiana smiled. It should be against the law for one man to be that good-looking, charismatic, charming, athletic, and good with kids. Her ovaries were literally aching. Throbbing.
No. She had to focus. No more being distracted by eyes she could drown in and a dimple she wanted to crawl into and hibernate for the winter and a voice and personality that could impregnate her without penetration.
“Um, okay.” Forgoing the password, she opened her phone using her face ID and then pulled up the photo. Before she showed it to him, she began, “I don’t know if you know this, but my ex is—”
“Brock Bartlett,” he interjected.
She looked up, just the mention of her ex completely changed Niko’s demeanor.
It actually freaked Tiana out. She knew all too well how someone could present themselves in one light and be a totally different person behind closed doors.
She hoped that wasn’t who Niko was. She thought she’d seen his hidden side, which was generous, caring, empathetic, strong, supportive, and a champion for those who couldn’t be a champion for themselves.
Had she gotten It wrong? Or did Brock just bring out the worst in everyone? ”
“Right. I know you guys have a…history.”
“That’s a very PC way to put it.” His jaw clenched.
She licked her lips. “AJ mentioned that you two saw your ex in town.”
“What does G have to do with this?”
G? He still had a nickname for her. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
“Um, well, I got a text from my ex-mother-in-law letting me know that he’s here with his family and they will be staying here until after Christmas. Every year he picks a different holiday destination, this year he chose Hope Falls.”
“He has family here?”
“Yeah, they’re staying at Mountain Ridge.”
He grinned. “No, I mean, does he have family that lives here?”
“Oh, no.”
“Who does he know here?”
“Me.” Me and Pops, but he never warmed to Pops, and the feeling was beyond mutual.
“So why is he here?”
“It doesn’t mat…” She shook her head. “I’m only telling you because he just posted this.”
She showed him the photo Jess G. had texted her that Brook posted of him cuddling up with Gianna.
Niko’s eyes didn’t reveal any emotion he might be having about his ex sitting on his enemy’s lap.
“We’re not together, so she can do anything she—” Niko began.
“I know, but do you two talk? Would she listen to you?”
Niko stared at her, as if he was trying to suss out exactly what she was asking.
“He’s not a…” Tiana took a breath, trying to figure out how she could say it without sounding like a jealous ex. “He’s just not a very nice person, and I don’t want her to…I just—I would warn her, but I don’t think she’d listen if it was coming from me since I’m his ex and—”
“Did he hurt you?” Niko’s voice was so low, only Tiana could hear it as he stepped forward, closing the space between them entirely.
His entire demeanor changed in the blink of an eye.
He appeared four inches taller, and somehow his body shielded her from the entire wedding party.
She wasn’t even sure how he’d managed to do that considering he was one man, but he’d done it.
She’d never felt more…protected. It was overwhelming for someone who’d spent the majority of her life feeling very, very…vulnerable.
“No!” Tears began to fill her eyes as she corrected him. “No, he didn’t, not physically, it wasn’t like that. He’s just very… I don’t know how to explain it, but he’s just not a good person.”
Niko was still staring down at her. She could see that he didn’t believe her, probably because her eyes were leaking.
Which was frustrating, and that only made her eyes leak more.
She wasn’t crying because of Brock or anything he’d done to her.
He’d never laid a hand on her. Well, that wasn’t entirely true, but he’d never hit her.
“Sorry, this was a bad idea.”
She sniffed back her emotion as she started to walk away, and Niko wrapped his hand around her wrist. It wasn’t tight at all, just the lightest of pressure.
That was all it took for her entire body to sing with tingles.
He must have felt her shiver because he instantly dropped his hold as if he’d touched a hot stove.
“I’m so sorry,” he apologized, thinking the shiver was the bad kind and not the good. She had no plans to correct him.
Tiana inhaled a ragged breath and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her head. “It’s okay. I’m just… I’ve gotta go.”
With that not-so-graceful exit, she left the wedding wishing she could have a do-over of the past five minutes. She knew she’d made a fool of herself. Brock had just arrived in town, and he was already messing with her life.