Chapter 9 #2
Instead of her blushing or smiling as most women did, a look of mild disgust appeared on her face, and he could practically read her thoughts, knowing that she probably thought that everything he said was bullshit.
Nikos walked down the aisle with her on the opposite side of the rack as he continued to shift through it until something caught his eye.
He pulled out a black mesh rhinestone crop top and matching biker shorts.
He knew that Allison asked him to find something that he would like for her, but when Nikos saw it, all he could imagine was Honey wearing it and how good it would look on her brown skin, how it would make him want to drag his tongue against the material just to taste her.
“How about this?” Nikos said as he offered her the hanger. Honey took it from him and raised it up in front of her, taking a closer look at it, and he could tell that she was imagining herself in it too.
“It looks like something you’ll like. You like wearing sparkly things, right?” Nikos said, thinking about the outfits she had worn in the past before. Most of the time, something was bejeweled, and she often stuck to neutral colors instead of bright neon ones. “I’m certain it’ll look great on you.”
Honey glanced between him and the outfit before she passed it back to him. “No, thank you.”
Nikos was not at all surprised by her decision, and though he didn’t know Honey that well, somehow, he hadn’t expected any less from her.
As Nikos walked around the rack and into the same aisle as her, he said, “Is it not to your liking, or do you simply not want to try it on because I picked it out?”
Honey’s eyes turned on him sharply, and she looked like she wanted to argue before she shrugged. “You’re right.”
“You’re very stubborn, aren’t you?”
“I’m stubborn. You’re obnoxious. I guess we both still have things to work on,” Honey said matter-of-factly.
“Ouch,” Nikos said as he clutched his chest mockingly. “Obnoxious. I’ve never heard that one before.”
“And what do people usually call you?” Honey asked, humoring him.
“Handsome, charming, funny. Did I mention handsome?”
“Those people could be blind, and their sense of humor must suck because you haven’t said one funny thing yet. Don’t quit your day job,” Honey said as she pulled an outfit from the rack.
“But you didn’t deny me being handsome,” Nikos said.
“Beauty is subjective,” Honey said smugly. “Not everyone thinks that you’re handsome.”
“Not everyone has to,” Nikos said, shrugging. “But you do.”
Honey shook her head as she focused on the outfit she held. It was a nude brown fishnet body harness, similar to the color of her skin. Even as she held it against herself, Nikos could tell it complemented her.
“I like this,” Nikos commented, again letting his fantasy take control as he imagined it on her. But then again, he was certain that Honey would look good with anything on.
After hearing his words, Honey shoved the hanger back on the rack.
“Oh, come on!” Nikos said, laughing as she continued down the aisle. Nikos picked up the nude bodysuit harness and held it along with the mesh rhinestone outfit before following after her. “You can’t possibly be this stubborn.”
“I’m not stubborn,” Honey said, shrugging. “I just don’t want to wear something that you like.”
“That’s the definition of being stubborn,” Nikos said. “And why would that bother you anyway? Afraid that I’m going to think that when you’re up on that stage you’re thinking about me?”
“Exactly,” Honey stated. “That’s probably exactly what you’re going to think, aren’t you?”
When he didn’t deny it, she rolled her eyes. “So why would I wear it?”
“Because I’m probably going to think that anyway,” Honey lifted a brow in question, and Nikos explained himself. “Whenever I watch a stripp—”
“An exotic dancer is the correct term,” Honey interrupted.
“An exotic dancer,” Nikos said, correcting himself until the shorter woman was satisfied, “perform, I think that she’s only performing for me.
That’s the fantasy. I block everyone else out, and it’s only me and her in the room.
But she has to be a good enough dancer to make me believe that, to create the fantasy that when she got ready to perform that night that she slipped on her clothes thinking about me.
“So, it wouldn’t matter whether I picked it or not,” Nikos said as he leaned toward her ear. “When you dance, it’s only me and you. Everyone else disappears.”
“Funny,” Honey said, looking him in the eye with her chin lifted. “When I dance, I see neither you nor anyone else. I dance for myself. There’s no me and you.”
After she finished speaking, Honey stepped back from him but not without taking the nude brown harness. “Thanks for letting me know that, though. I actually really like this one.”
Honey slipped off another outfit from the rack and placed it in her arms, and though Nikos knew he should pick something out and give it to Allison as she had asked, Nikos found that his feet wouldn’t lead him far away from Honey.
“Why are you all buying these clothes yourself?” Nikos asked curiously as he fingered a pair of leather gloves, imagining Rachel wearing these. She was quite dominant in the bedroom. “Isn’t this something my uncle should provide?”
Honey paused in her steps, looking at him as if he were a child who had asked a dumb question. “Do you even know your uncle?”
“Not really,” Nikos admitted. “Seen him here and there during family occasions and celebrations, but since he lives here, and I’m from Greece, never really got the chance to be close to him like I am with the rest of my uncles.”
“Well, Antonis doesn’t provide us with clothes. We have to get them ourselves. Paris does sell clothes in the back, but they’re expensive, and the clothes here are way more affordable.”
“That sucks,” Nikos said. “I would imagine it would kind of be like a company providing uniforms.”
“Most clubs aren’t like that,” Honey said, shrugging. “I guess the owners feel like they’re doing us a favor by giving us a stage to dance on.”
“If I owned a club, clothes would be provided,” Nikos said absentmindedly as he scratched the scruff under his chin.
Honey didn’t say anything as she picked out one more item before she walked over to the dressing rooms. Nikos followed her, and in passing, he snagged something off the rack without looking.
When Honey found an empty dressing room, she turned and looked at him, and Nikos lifted a brow.
“Do you need help?” he asked flirtatiously, though he had no meaning behind it.
“No,” Honey retorted. Her eyes wander around suspiciously, never meeting his, before she put her hand out. Nikos frowned, not understanding the gesture until she did it more forcefully. When Nikos realized why she did it, he smirked.
“I thought you weren’t going to wear something I picked out,” Nikos said as he handed it to her.
“And I thought you said it wouldn’t matter either way,” Honey retorted as she stepped into the dressing room, but before she could close the door, Nikos stopped her, using his arm as a wedge in the entryway.
Honey looked at his arm as if it offended her, and Nikos found himself wondering if it would ever be possible for him to see her smile.
“Can I ask you a question?” Nikos said as he leaned against the doorway.
“Haven’t you asked enough questions,” Honey said as she hung her clothes up on the clothes rack inside the dressing room.
“Why don’t you like me?” Nikos asked seriously.
Even with her back turned to him, he could see her face in the mirror.
A deep frown of confusion appeared on her face as she turned to look at him with her arms folded on top of each other.
And Nikos waited because he genuinely wanted to know.
It was not as if he expected everyone to like him, but it was just interesting that Honey didn’t like him.
He didn’t remember offending her in any way, and yet, from the beginning, Honey had made it clear that she didn’t care for him.
It was not as if he planned on hooking up with her.
Those might have been ambitions he would have had if his uncle hadn’t laid claim on her, but his uncle and everyone else around him had already made it clear that Honey was off-limits, and even Honey herself made it clear that she was not an option for him.
But still, what had he done to cause a wall to be placed between them when less than ten words had been exchanged between them beforehand?
“Is it because I’m flirtatious?” Nikos asked as he thought back on her words earlier and how she had singled out only Allison, Sweetie, and Rachel— three women he had hooked up with.
Before he could get a reply, the next dressing room stall opened, and Allison stuck her head out, her eyes searching the store before they landed on him.
“What took you so long?” she asked, peeved as she tugged on his arm, causing him to lose his footing in the entryway and giving Honey enough time to close her own stall door and lock it. Nikos shook his head as he chuckled. She really didn’t like him, and he had no idea why.
“I thought you said you didn’t like neon,” Allison said as she took the item out of his hand, and Nikos realized that he had pulled out a hot pink bathing suit by accident.
He followed Allison into the dressing room and sat down again, and from where he sat, he could hear Honey dressing in her own room.
And instead of paying attention to the woman undressing in front of him, he imagined what Honey would look like in the outfit he picked for her.
***
Nikos was exhausted. Though he loved being around women, his idea of a good time was not shopping.
An hour later, after being held hostage in the store, his arms were stacked with bags as he leaned against the wall outside the store, standing with Allison, Honey, Sweetie, Amber, and Rachel as they waited for Rita to finish at the register with her items.