Trepidation swirled through her. He caught her hands in his, his fingers drawing circles on the backs of her palms.
“Or you can just scan a few teasers, and put it up on the web. There’s a large community online that’s much less scary if that’s what you—”
“Wait. How do you know all this?”
“I’ve been researching it. People are going to love your work. Compared to everything that’s out there, I have no doubt your work will stand out. The second way, you create a reader base, and the best thing about it is, knowing that people want to read it will motivate you to keep going.”
Lexi blinked, unable to formulate a response. The fact that he had put so much thought into this, that he had researched it, the fact that he understood her trepidation, it sat tight on her chest. “I just... It’s not going to be like Superman or Spiderman, you know. And I’m not that ambitious really, either. I just want to be able to do it more and support myself.”
His long strides swallowed up the distance between them. His gray V-necked T-shirt delineated that broad chest gloriously. His long fingers clutched her shoulders as he looked down. “Then stay here.”
“What?”
“Stay for as long as we both want this. It seems even your friend is going to be here for a while, right?”
She laughed at that last incentive and liked him a little more. He was making it so hard to say no to him, to refuse this chance. The little resistance she might have had was crumbling before his thoughtfulness.
“I can’t accept all this...” She colored furiously. “I can’t just live off of you, Nikos. That would just taint everything we have. Please try to—”
“I will respect your wishes,” he said with such easy acceptance that shock robbed her of words. “The second half of your payment should be debiting even as we speak.” He laid a finger on her mouth. “Before you argue, I am... I was the boss. All I wanted was to stop my sister from getting hurt. I think you did a great job. With that money you have, all I am offering you is a place to stay. It’s nothing less than what I would do for a friend.”
She scrunched her nose at him. “You don’t have any friends.”
He ignored her little quip. “Apart from this studio, I won’t force anything else on you. You can even put in a few hours at the hotel when they need some help.”
She thought her heart might burst open from her chest. It took every bit of self-possession she had to remain still. “This is what you want?”
He bent his head and kissed her nose. She smiled at the gesture. Over the past week, she had realized that while being an extremely physical man with an insatiable sex drive, Nikos really didn’t do the little things like touching, or hugging outside the context of sex.
So every moment he touched her, or kissed her like this, was a precious gift she hugged to herself. “I want this, too...but I won’t to be your sex stop of Greece.” In this, she would not relent. She fought to force casualness into her tone. “I grew a monstrous, scaly, green head when that woman was touching you the other day. I’m not sophisticated like your other—”
His hands moved to her buttocks and tugged her off the floor until she was cradled against his groin, his arousal a hard, pulsing weight against the V of her legs. “I haven’t looked at another woman since you began messing with my head. I don’t want anyone else but you.”
Something colored his voice—a resigned acceptance that this was different—and she smiled. It was not only her that was venturing into new territory.
She ran her fingers over his jaw. The rasp of his stubble against her palm was an intimacy that left her shaking. Equal parts excitement and fear raced through her veins. How long would they last? What happened when he was through with her? Wouldn’t it be better to walk away now?
She hid her face in his chest, fighting the swarm of questions, fighting the urge to ask them. His heart thundered under her cheek.
He smelled like sex and warmth and...even with all his contradictions, he made her happy.
Being with Nikos made her happy, made her feel alive for the first time in her life. It was as simple as that.
Of course, there was her fear that he would end this suddenly, that she was already in too deep...and that gut-wrenching feeling in her stomach every time he reached for her in his sleep.
It was the time her every defense, her carefully constructed attitude to keep this uncomplicated, collapsed like a pack of cards. Just as she did then, she pushed away the fear again.
Nikos liked her. Every action of his made up for words he didn’t speak. And that was enough for her.