Probably no older than twenty-four, Nick was lean and handsome. His shoulder-length dark brown hair could have used a trim, but somehow it suited his sculpted features. He was wearing a baggy sweater that had seen better days, and faded jeans with a hole in the knee.
"Hey, Rosa," he said without looking up from his catalogue, "if I take Spanish next semester, will you help me study for it?"
"Si. I imagine Kyrian will, as well."
"Great," he said sarcastically. "Between that and Ancient Greek Civilization, I'll have the friggin' time of my life."
"Nick!" Rosa chastised. "Such language you use. It is not becoming of a gentleman."
"Sorry."
Rosa set a plate of toast, bacon, and eggs down beside Nick, then turned and caught sight of Amanda in the doorway. "There you are, senorita. Are you hungry?"
"A little."
"Come," she said, indicating the stool beside Nick. "Sit and I'll make you breakfast."
"Thank you, Rosa."
Rosa smiled.
Amanda took a seat beside Nick. He brushed his hand off on his jeans and held it out to her. "Nick Gautier," he said with a charming, dimpled smile. "Better known as 'Nick, get your butt in here, I need you to...' Fill in the blank."
She laughed. "Bossy, isn't he?"
"You've no idea." Nick pulled his cell phone off his belt and handed it to her. "Speaking of, boss man said you'd need to call work."
"Thanks."
While Rosa made her breakfast, she called her boss and explained about her house. Luckily, her director was understanding and gave her a two-week leave of absence to take care of it.
As soon as she hung up, Amanda felt ill as she remembered her loss. "I can't believe they burned down my house."
"Your house?" Rosa asked. "Who burned it down?"
"The authorities are looking into it," Kyrian said from the direction of the living room.
Amanda turned around to see him standing in the doorway. He looked pale and uneasy.
Rosa smiled. "M'ijo, you are here today. Nick said you would be gone."
"I'm not feeling well." Even though his face was tender, he narrowed his gaze on Rosa. "You came in on time this morning, didn't you?"
Rosa ignored his question. "Come and sit. I'll make you something to eat."
Kyrian cast a wary look to the sunlight spilling into the kitchen from the open windows. He took a step back into the dark living room. "Thank you, Rosa, but I'm not hungry. Nick, I need to see you for a minute."
Nick gave her a knowing smile. "At least he didn't tell me to move my butt."
"Nick," Kyrian said. "Move your butt, boy."
While Nick went over to Kyrian, Rosa set a plate in front of her. "Poor little one. What are you to do without a house?"
"I don't know. I guess I need to call my insurance company. Find a place to live..." Amanda's voice trailed off as she thought over all the things that needed to be done.
She'd have to replace her entire life. Everything. Toothbrush, shoes, books, furniture, phones. She didn't even have a pair of underwear.
Overwhelmed, she lost her appetite.
Whatever was she going to do?
Nick came back to the counter and picked up his catalogue, then went back to Kyrian in the doorway. "I need a favor. I have to register at one o'clock, so if we're not back, can you sign up on-line for my classes? I know you need to sleep, but I really want to take Greek Civ next semester."
"Why?"
"Dr. Alexander is teaching it and he's supposed to be really good."
"Julian Alexander?" Amanda asked.
"Yeah," Nick said, looking back at her. "You know him?"
She exchanged a knowing look with Kyrian. "Not half as well as Kyrian does."
Nick shuddered. "Ah, man, not another one of you. Great. Shoot me now and put me out of my misery."
"Don't tempt me." Kyrian took the catalogue. "One o'clock. Anything else?"
"Yeah, do something about those eyes, they're creeping me out."
Kyrian arched a warning brow at Nick's commanding tone. "You two have fun."
"Fun?" Amanda asked as Kyrian left them.
Nick returned to sit on his stool. "We're going shopping." He curled his lips and shuddered at the word.
"For what?"
He took a drink of orange juice. "Whatever you need, my lady. Furs, diamonds, whatever."
"Diamonds?" she asked, laughing at the outrageous thought.
"It's on Kyrian, so I say go for broke. Literally."
She smiled. "I can't do that. I have my own money."
"Yeah, but why spend it? You have no idea how rich the man is. I promise you, buy the mall and he won't even notice."
Amanda had no intention of doing that. Still, she did need something else to wear. "All right, can we also stop by my mother's?"
"Sure. My assignment for the day is to serve you any way you want me to."
She shook her head at his devilish smile.
After she called her insurance company about the fire, Amanda let Nick take her shopping. But what frustrated her was Nick's inability to let her pay for anything.
"I'm under orders," Nick said for the fifth time. "You shop, I pay."
She growled good-naturedly at him. "Do you always follow orders?"
"I do so complainingly always."
She laughed yet again as they left the store and headed back out into the mall with Nick carrying her bags. "How long have you worked for Kyrian?" she asked as they got on the escalator.
"Eight years now."
She gaped. "Really, you don't look that old."
"Yeah, well, I was barely sixteen when I started."
"You can be a Squire at that age?"
Nick turned his head to ogle an attractive young woman in a tight, short skirt going up the escalator beside them, then he turned to flash a dimpled smile at her before he answered the question. "I didn't know what he was for a long time. I just thought he was some whacked-out rich guy with a 'pity the poor kid' complex."
She frowned as they left the escalator and walked through the downstairs level. "Why would you think that?"
Nick adjusted the bags he carried. "You see beside you, my lady, the son of a career felon. My father died in Angola eleven years ago during a prison riot."
Amanda winced at the thought of losing a father like that. "And your mother?"
"She was an exotic dancer down on Bourbon Street. I grew up in the back room of the club where she worked, helping the bouncers hustle clients."
Amanda cringed at the life he was describing. "I'm sorry."