I COULDN’T BELIEVE it. Katerina was here. In the competition. I was screwed. Then she made the comment about me coming in second. Then about her winning.
Oh. Hell. No.
Watching her walking away with her group of Maria’s, I spun around. Pointing to Liza, I said, “Menu. Change.”
“What? You can’t do a menu change. Are you crazy?”
I paced back and forth as I rubbed my temples and tried to think of one of my grandmother’s best recipes.
“Uncle Dimitris says Italian food is just Greek food, but with no flavor.”
My eyes swung over to the dark haired beauty in front of me. Without taking my eyes off of her, I said, “Nic.”
“I’m on it,” he said as he walked toward his cousins and ushered them away.
Turning back to Liza, I said, “We have got to win. I want to take that woman down!”
She nodded then said, “You do know that’s your boyfriend’s mom? Like, this may end bad.”
“Bullshit! She’s challenging me, Liza. Don’t you see that? She wants to test me. See if I’m strong enough. Well, I’m strong enough!”
Nic walked back over rubbing the back of his neck. He always did that when he was worried or nervous about something. It was a habit of his I picked up on early on.
He grinned. “I took care of my cousins.”
I nodded.
“Okay. I’ve got the menu and I know we have everything.” Liza smiled as she took out a pen and paper to write it down. “We’re going to start with Spinach pesto bruschetta.”
“Yum,” Nic said with a huge smile.
“Then steamed mussels in that Italian beer we brought for Nic to drink.”
“Hey!” Nic said with a sexy smile.
“Two appetizers?” Liza asked with a slight shake in her voice.
“Then, hazelnut chicken. It’s a one-pot dish and will be easy to deal with.”
Liza nodded. “Okay dessert?”
“Not yet, Liza. It’s time to go big or go home. The other main course will be lemon and herb branzino.”
“You’re gonna make a fish also? Are you crazy?”
I smiled bigger. “Then for dessert, we’ll have the one Italian dessert everyone loves, cannoli’s.”
Liza breathed a sigh of relief. They were simple as hell to make and I could whip them out like nothing.
“And . . . the olive oil sobertto with raspberry and balsamic. Gotta love Giada for that recipe.”
Liza shook her head. “What!”
“The sorbetto is already made. So that is an easy one as well.”
Peeking over to Nic, he wore a grin from ear to ear. “Don’t you dare tell your mother I’m going double.”
He pretended to lock his mouth and toss the key. “Not a word.”
“Okay, now that we have a menu, let’s write it up for the judges and finish getting set up. It will start soon.”
As Liza and I moved about getting everything set up and ready to go, I felt confident I was going to at least beat Katerina. If I could place better than her, then it would earn me the respect I needed from Nic’s family.
Nic walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. His breath tickled my ear and my heart froze as I waited to hear what he was about to whisper in my ear.
“You’re so fucking sexy right now.”
“Yeah?” I asked with a smile as I attempted to plug in the mixer with Nic all over me.
“Yeah. You have no idea how hard I am for you right now.”
I pushed my ass slightly into him. My stomach clenched as I felt his desire.
“Fucking hell, Gabi.”
Turning in his arms, I glanced over to see Liza pulling out all the sugar and flour. I looked into his dark eyes and softly asked, “Tell me what you would do to me if we were alone.”
Nic swallowed hard then leaned in closer. “I’d slip my hands up that dress of yours and slowly pull your panties off. Then set you up on this counter and slowly lick your pussy.”
Holy crap’ole. I wasn’t expecting him to be so dirty.
A small moan slipped from my lips.
“Then . . . then what?” I asked, nearly panting.
“I’d finger fuck you while sucking on your clit until you screamed out my name and begged me to stop.”
I could feel myself getting wet and I had to squeeze my legs together. Another peek at Liza showed she was talking to the lady setting up next to us.
“Then I’d spread your legs wider so I could see those pretty pink lips that my cock was dying to slip into.”
“Nic. Stop.”
He smiled. “Turning you on, baby?”
When his hand started for under my dress, I knew things were about to get a little crazier. Nic’s hand came to a stop when he brushed his fingers across my bare lips.
With wide eyes, he stared at me. “You’re not wearing panties?”
My face heated. “I . . . I wanted to . . . surprise . . . you . . . later.”
I was so horny I could hardly think straight. This never happened to me before I met Nic. He quickly found a way to work me up so much I would be practically begging him.
“I need to fuck you.”
I closed my eyes and mumbled, “Yes.”
“Now.”
My eyes snapped open. “What?”
Nic grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the exit door of the conference ballroom.
“Where are we going?”
He looked around after he nearly busted the door down.
“Nic! Nic, the competition is about to start!”
Dragging me down the hall, he looked back at me. “I don’t think this is going to take long.”
A zing zipped through my body at the idea of having Nic before the event started. It would relax me, there was no doubt about that.
Turning down a hall, he started checking doors until he found one open. Pulling me inside, he shut and locked it. Then he quickly pulled my dress over my head and pushed two fingers inside of me.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. You’re wet as hell.”
“Of course I am. You were just whispering dirty things in my ear.”
Nic laughed. “You like that don’t you, baby?”
I wasn’t the least bit embarrassed by admitting I did. “I do. It turns me on even more.”
He pushed my bra up and over my breast, letting them bounce down as he grabbed one and clamped his mouth onto my nipple. Electricity raced through my body as I held onto his shoulders.
“Oh, God, Nic.”
“I know, baby. I know.”
He lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist.
The way his eyes turned dark with desire almost had me coming on the spot.
Nic positioned himself at my entrance and pulled me down onto him in one quick movement, causing me to gasp.
“Damn it. I’m sorry, Gabi.”
I gripped his shoulder and started moving my hips. So close. I was so close.
“Nic. Fuck me. Please!”
He did exactly as I asked him to do. I came almost immediately and the moment I did, he came right along with me. He grunted and then called out my name as I felt his warm seed spill into my body.
We stood there in silence, his cock twitching inside of me. I was a web of ecstasy as I slowly brought my breathing back down. Nic pulled out of me and smiled. I could feel his cum sliding down my leg and it was the hottest damn thing ever. He quickly looked around and found some paper towels. Dropping to his knees, he cleaned me gently before slipping my dress back over my head.
I went to talk but stilled when there was a knock on the door.
“Nicholaus? Are you in there?”
My eyes widened in horror. Nic and I stared at each other. He put his finger up to his mouth in a motion for me to keep quiet. I tilted my head and shot him a really look.
“I don’t know where they went.”
I mouthed, who was that?
Nic rolled his eyes and pulled me to him. Pressing his lips to mine, he kissed me. So deeply and so passionately I forgot that his mother was on the other side of the door. I forgot about the competition and most importantly, I forgot I was running from my past.