AMB~she~OUS

TWENTY SEVEN

Being around my stepson alone always put me on the edge and not for the obvious reasons; that I wasn't his biggest fan.

But because I was afraid that someone would take one look at us and put the pieces together. The sexual tension was there, had been disguised in hate and loathing. Now that we were trying to be cordial, I didn't know how to act around him.

I tapped my Louboutins impatiently as I watched Nick cross the restaurant with two cups of steaming coffee. It was past midday but the weather had done a complete 180 in the last 30 minutes and coffee seemed more appropriate now.

"For the lady, hope you like hazelnut." I mumbled a thanks as he handed me a hazelnut flavoured coffee and proceeded to take a seat in front of me.

"The food will take a while so I thought we could enjoy a coffee first." He explained with a small smile on his lips, he seemed really relaxed and that put me on the edge more.

Every now and then I would look around the restaurant to check if anyone was paying extra attention to us, I felt like a kid afraid of being caught stealing candy. I didn't know if had always been like this or if that envelope had triggered it.

"Relax Katherine, we're not doing anything wrong." Nick spoke as if he had read my thoughts.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I denied taking a small sip.

"You're extremely tense, you keep looking over your shoulder. It's just lunch, we're being cordial." He didn't bother hiding the annoyance in his tone.

Cordial? I scoffed at that even though I had thought the same thing. When I didn't say anything he spoke again.

"I heard you're hosting something this weekend." I had to give it to him, he was surely hell-bent on making some sort of conversation.

"I was but I'm not so sure anymore, I might be busy and your father won't be around so." I let the sentence hang.

"We can still do it, have a lot of our business partners come over and hang out, it's also great for exposure."

He was right but I hadn't even put that in mind and to be honest, I wasn't planning anything for real, it had been a futile ploy to get Craig to stay home.

I wordlessly nodded at him. I didn't feel like talking much, watching him was sufficient enough for me. It was extremely dangerous for me to pay such extra attention to him but I couldn't help it.

It had all started during our time in Paris. I would notice little things about him, like how he would rub his wrists when he was frustrated or how he would unnecessarily stir his coffee when he was thoughtful or distracted. There was so much more to him than a multi billionaire's son and I couldn't help but wonder how things would have turned out if I hadn't married Craig.

Would we have...

"Your order." Another voice disturbed my train of thoughts, I was grateful though, my thoughts had been treading in uncharted waters.

Two plates of chicken alfredo and side salads were placed in front of us. I raised my eyebrow at Nick's move to order for me without asking me.

"You were so reluctant to come to lunch with me, if I had asked you what you wanted you would have probably ordered water and found a reason to leave soon."

My lips tugged up in a smile, it was weird how right he was and odd because nobody could see through me the way he was able to.

I cleared my throat.

"I was actually craving something sweet and I don't think this would do." I lied as I pushed the mouth-watering looking dish away from me.

I just hated it when he was right about me and I was on a path to prove him wrong.

"I ordered some cake to go but you will have to wait for me to finish up." He turned to focus on his food, a satisfied smirk on his face.

The rest of the lunch was finished in silence, I gave in to the mouthwatering chicken alfredo that I had once turned down. Nick didn't say anything about my change of mind but the glint of amusement in his eyes told me he had noticed.

"So..." He started as we sat in his car back to the office.

"So?" I inquired keeping my eyes out the window.

I could feel the his heat of his stare every now and then from the moment we got in the car. I knew it was only a matter before he opened his mouth.

"I'm bothered by the fact that I don't know anything about you." He spoke softly.

His statement had me whipping my head to his so fast that a few strands of hair fell from my bun. I pushed them away from my face and eyed the man sitting beside me with a frown.

"Pardon?" I sputtered out.

"If we're going to be related then shouldn't I know something about you. I mean people will be curious about how I know nothing about my father's wife." He spoke the last word like it was the most comical thing in the world.

In a way it was but I didn't need any reminders.

"Wouldn't it be weird if you knew anything about me? The world doesn't expect you to like me, so you're fine."

It wasn't a lie, it only seemed proper to fit into the stereotypical perception that the son wouldn't like his gold-digging stepmother. It had been working so well till now.

Nick gave a dark chuckle and his eyes trained on me, I met them fiercely.

"You're right. It would cause quite the stir if the world knew just how much I know about you. And I'm not talking about your favourite colour but the kind of things that make you lose control."

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A new update right there with your two favourite people.

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