Sophia

 

 

I stare at him for a few seconds. Nicholas is standing in a private room in the VIP area of Veil East. He looks so fucking hot right now that I can barely control my desire to reach out and touch him, but I do. I stand in place, facing him and Crew.

Why is it that a guy can put on a pair of black pants and a white sweater and look like that? I seriously don't understand how any man can be as good-looking as Nicholas is.

"You two already know each other, so we'll skip the introductions." Crew approaches me with a chilled bottle of water in his hand. "Drink some of this, Sophia. You're dehydrated."

"I'm not," I protest but take the offered bottle. I unscrew the cap and swallow a large gulp. "Do you two know each other?"

"We went to high school together." Crew points at a booth. "Do you want to sit?"

"No." I drive the heel of my shoe into the carpet. "I want to know why you ordered me up here."

"How much have you had to drink?" Crew tugs his phone from his pocket. "Don't lie to me. I can call down and find out."

"No need, General Benton." I throw him a mock salute. "I had zero drinks tonight. I have to work on a dress when I get home so no alcohol for me."

"You dance like that when you're sober?"

Nicholas chuckles at Crew's obvious insult.

"What's wrong with the way I dance?" I shuffle my feet. "Did you call me up here to criticize my dance moves, Crew?"

"How do you two know each other?" Nicholas turns toward me. "Did you date each other?"

"No," I say too loudly. "No. There's no way. No."

"What the fuck, Sophia?" Crew throws his hands in the air. "You make it sound like a fate worse than death. I can tell you that I've never had a complaint from a woman."

"Never?" I concentrate on the smirk on his face. "I find that hard to believe."

He looks straight at Nicholas. "Sophia and I worked together about a year ago. We first met as she was walking out of one of our stores. I was on my way in and stopped her."

"You worked at Matiz?" Nicholas brows shoot up. "Haven't you been at Foster Enterprises longer than that?"

"I have." I let out a small sigh. "It complicated and we keep it quiet, but I did some modeling for Crew."

Crew opens the browser on his phone and pulls up a very familiar image from last year's fall lipstick campaign. "Do you recognize these lips, Nick?"

Nicholas takes the phone into his palm and studies the picture. It's a cropped photograph of my face. The only visible area is my lips, which are parted and painted a deep shade of red. My two front teeth are on display too.

I've never been recognized as the woman in the campaign ads and I haven't told anyone, other than Cadence, that it's me. It's not that I'm not proud of the work, but it was just a side job. Crew paid me well for a few hours of my time, including a lifetime supply of Matiz lipstick in any shade I want. I'm partial to red right now but come spring, I'll switch back to pale pink.

"I've seen this on a billboard in Times Square." Nicholas hands the phone back to Crew. "So you two know each other because of that?"

"We've become friendly since then." He holds us his hand to ward off any questions Nicholas might throw his way. "Platonic friends, Nick. I asked her out for a drink right after we met and she turned me down. I'm glad she did. I don't have a lot of female friends, but Sophia is an important one to me."

"Don't let this go to your head." I point my finger at Crew and give him the best stern expression I can muster. "Crew is my go-to when I need something. He's become one of my best friends in the city."

"Hear that?" Crew cups his hand over his left ear. "That's my heart melting because Sophia thinks I'm a stand-up guy."

"You're a jerk," I joke. "I'm trying to be nice, Crew."

"You're too nice." He taps the tip of my nose. "Here's an example, Sophia. You were way too fucking nice to whoever the hell that was you were dancing with just now."

Realization hits me like a speeding train. "Is that why I'm up here? You wanted to see me because I was dancing with Trey Hale?"

"Trey Hale?" Nicholas reaches for my bare bicep. "I read something online about the two of you from last year. I thought you tweeted that you didn't know him. Is that how you dance with men you don't know?"

My entire body shakes at his touch. "You're acting territorial, Nicholas. I'm allowed to dance with whoever the hell I want. We're not a couple. We're not anything right now."

"You're right." He releases my arm as he takes a step back. "We're nothing, Sophia. Enjoy your night."

With that he shakes Crew's hand, picks up a tumbler of scotch from the circular table near us and heads toward the elevator that leads to the dance floor.

 

***

 

"Do you think they're going to sleep together?" I stare down at the club. I've been watching Nicholas for the past ten minutes. Once he exited the elevator on the main floor, he made a beeline for the bar and the blonde bartender who seemed overly excited to see him.

"Nick and Penny?" Crew rests his hands on my shoulders. "He doesn’t want her, Sophia."

"Are you blind?" I arch my neck back to look at his face. "Look at the way he's staring at her. Her tits are four times the size of mine."

"What do her tits have to do with this?" He digs his fingers into my shoulders. "You're way too fucking tense right now. You have to loosen up."

"I don't want him to fuck her," I say it under my breath. "I don't want that."

"He's blowing off some steam." He moves his fingers to the middle of my back. "You need to go down there and tell him what you want. You have to stop playing games with him."

I turn sharply leaving his hands hanging in mid-air. I reach for them both and squeeze them in mine. "I'm scared, Crew. He's different. He makes me want things."

"You make him want things." He bends his knees, so his face is aligned with mine. "He's a good guy, Sophia. He worked his ass off to get to where he is. Sure, he's been a man whore, but who the fuck wouldn't be when they're thrown into the life he has? Give him a chance."

"I told him I wanted him to chase me." I hang my head. "I made a huge deal about it. I liked that he wanted me, Crew. I liked that he was going out of his way for me."

He drops my hand and reaches to tilt my chin up, so I'm looking at him directly. "He saw you with Hale and it pissed him off. If he didn't care about you, he wouldn't have stuck around and waited for you to come up to talk to us. He wants you. If you feel the same way about him, stop fucking around."

"You think I should go down to the club and talk to him?"

"I think you should take him home tonight." He winks. "If I'm never going to have you, Nick is the second best choice for you."

"You know that you're like a brother to me, right?"

"Don't say shit like that when you look like that." His gaze travels down my body and back up. "I get that we didn't connect on that level, Sophia, but give Nick a chance. He's a better man than I am."

I look to the dance floor before I level my gaze back on his face. "I know I promised that I'd never say this to you again, but I have to."

"Don't." He drops my hand and takes a measured step back. "Sophia, don't."

"Adley is perfect for you," I say it even though he asked me not to. Adley is another of Crew's female friends. I've seen them together more than once and the chemistry that flows between the two of them is off the charts. "If you want me to give Nicholas a chance, I think you should agree to give Adley a chance."

"She's too good of a friend to fuck around with." His tone is firm. "I love Ad. I'll always love her but only as a friend. She doesn't see me as anything other than a pal and I sure as fuck don't see her any other way either."

"Time will tell." I brush a piece of lint off the skirt of my dress. "I'll drop the subject now. I promise."

"You better." He points at the waiting open elevator. "Get on that and go talk to Nick. You won't regret it."

"I hope not." I steal one last glance at Nicholas and the blonde bartender. "I think it's time I let him catch me. If I don't, I might lose my chance forever."