AMB~she~OUS

THIRTY TWO

"This is where I grew up." Nick answered my unvoiced question from the entrance.

"I never asked." I muttered, my hands tracing the spotless wooden table where multiple frames were displayed.

All of them of Nick and his mother, none of Craig.

"I know but I think you were curious." He said with a small chuckle and proceeded to the kitchen.

"You hungry? No, scratch that I know you're going to say no. I just need to know if you're opposed to having dessert before the main course."

The only thing I was opposed to was this Nick. Cold and Rude Nick, I could handle but I didn't think I could survive this whole new side.

Was sex really that powerful?

"I don't mind." Staying cold and neutral was my best defence at this point. That's the only thing I could contain the butterflies that threaten to erupt each time I was in this man's presence.

"Here, they are chocolate fudge brownies." A small plate piled with brownies appeared in front of me.

"Thanks." My hand reached out for one and bit into it.

"Not bad huh, they were my mom's favourite."

My hand which was about to reach for another brownie stopped midway.  This was the first time Nick had ever mentioned his mother, I didn't understand what he was getting at.

"What are you trying to do Nick?"

"What do you mean?" The slight smirk on his face was proof that he knew what I was talking about.

"Cut the crap, what's all this? We're not friends and if you're hoping to get me in bed again then you can keep dreaming." I was surprised by how firm my voice was considering how uneasy I felt at this moment.

And he had the audacity to laugh.

"I don't find this particularly funny." I deadpanned at him.

"Well, there goes my first attempt in trying to get to know you. I'm not exactly fond of the card I have to pull to get to know you." He said his gaze holding mine.

Again with the getting to know me nonsense.

"Don't you think you owe me?"

Owe him?

"Pardon?"

My eyes stayed glued to him as he stood up and moved towards the kitchen counter.

"That interview with Esquire today, I got it for you."

This was just confirmation of something I had been made aware of an hour ago.

"I never asked you so... I don't owe you shit." I scowled at him.

"But you've always wanted an interview where the journalist asks serious questions and not what label you're wearing, right?" He raised one eyebrow at me.

Was it that easy to see through me or did Nick just have good luck with guesswork?

"You're a businesswoman Katherine, no businesswoman likes feeling indebted to anyone. With the knowledge of what I did for you, I'm pretty confident that you feel  a certain need to reciprocate and letting me get to know is the simplest way." He spoke, a slight grin making its way to his lips.

It was stupid psychology that had me caving into his little manipulative games.

"5 questions."

"What?" Nick blinked at me.

"Since I only got to answer five questions in that interview, I should extend the same favour." I said.

"Fair enough. Care for a drink?" He motioned a glass toward me.

"No, thanks."

"I'm curious, how did a young woman from Boston climb up the ladder so quickly without a single qualification in her name?" He asked making his back to his seat.

"You ran a background check on me?" I wasn't surprised, he was the type.

"I was curious, wouldn't you?" He quipped.

"If you checked my background then what's the purpose of this?"

"I want to hear what you have to say about it." A smug smile sat on his face.

"I married your father to get here there's nothing to it."

And that was the truth in all its honesty.

"What's your favourite colour." He blurted out.

"I don't have one." I didn't think it was mandatory to have a favourite colour.

"Hmmm, grey it is."

"Grey?"

Nick nodded his head before taking a long sip.

"You wear more grey than I've ever seen anyone do. A bit of colour on special events so I think it's safe to say you prefer grey to any other colour, you even had your office wall repainted to shades of grey." He pointed.

I was a bit taken aback by how closely he paid to details about me. Things I did without even realizing, small habits that any other person could easily overlook.

But not Nick.

What was more frustrating than his behaviour was how my heart reacted to it.

"Next question." I said looking anywhere but him.

"Why my father? It could have been any rich man in the country, why did it have to be my father?" I could hear the grimace in his voice and still could not hear to look his way.

There was no clear answer to his question. I wish I could tell him that there was a big plot behind it but there wasn't, Craig and I met by chance and everything else easily fell into place.

I might have taken advantage of the situation but I never sought him out intentionally.

"I don't know what you want me to say." I said softly.

With one final chug of his drink, Nick placed his glass down and stalked slowly to where I sat. My back straightened when he placed his hands on the armrests and leaned in.

"Why do you fight it?" He whispered sending delicious shivers right down my spine.

"Your marriage to my father is a sham but you insist on fighting this even when you want this just as badly as I do. Are you that devoted to him?" He murmured right above my ear, my hands fisted the fabric on the sofa to stop me from reaching for him and doing something I would regret later.

"I don't need to be devoted to him to not want to do anything that could jeopardize my marriage." I scoffed at him.

Nick leaned back to look into my eyes, searching for something, I didn't know what.

"You could do it on your own you know." He said in a small voice.

"What?"

"You've already made it. You've gone far beyond what most wom- people your age could ever dream of. You don't need him anymore..."

--------------------------------------------

😍😘