He nodded; his eyes met mine for an instant then darted away. “Yeah. I’m fine. I’ve had worse.”

“Worse?”

“Groping.”

“Oh.” For some reason the thought of women, or men, groping Nico made me want to shoot a machine gun. “How much worse?”

I didn’t know what possessed me to ask the question; I was obviously an anger-masochist.

“Well.” He gathered a slow, deep breath; his chest visibly expanded. “A few years ago I was charged with assault when three women in a club stuck their hands down my pants.”

I choked on my own breath, “Wait—what? Why were you charged with assault?”

He appeared to be stalling, as though struggling to avoid telling me something unpleasant. “I elbowed one of them in the face and broke her nose.” He swallowed and didn’t precisely roll his eyes. “It was an accident.”

My eyebrows shot upward. “Were you convicted?”

“No, but she won a civil suit.”

“What a freak.”

“She’s crazy.”

The comment, seemingly offhanded, sounded strangely meaningful and loaded. “How crazy?”

He wiped a hand over his face. “She actually. . . she’s actually a bit of a stalker.”

“A stalker? You have a stalker?”

Nico grimaced, obviously uncomfortable discussing the subject. His tone was flat. “She hasn’t attacked me, but she has—”

“Except for sticking her hand down your pants.”

“Mostly a lot of hate mail.”

My mouth dropped open. “Your stalker sends you hate mail?”

He shrugged, like it was no big deal.

“Only you would have a stalker that sends hate mail. Is that why you just stood there tonight instead of tossing those crazy ladies off of you?”

Nico kicked a soda cup to one side.

Just when I thought he wasn’t going to respond he said, “I wanted to, believe me I did, but I don’t hit women.”

I studied him, his stern expression. He was seemingly unwilling to say anything further, as though that were explanation enough for not administering a smack down on the pack of she-wolves.

I brought the sleeves of his jacket to my nose, breathing out then in to warm the cold appendage, and studied him again. His jacket smelled like him—his expensive cologne as well as light traces of cigarette smoke and mint—and, of course, the scent further aggravated my muddled mind.

I loved the smell of his cologne; I hated the smell of cigarette smoke; the mint was unexpected, and I didn’t know how to feel about it.

“I’m going to have to insist that you hire some security to deal with the nutters, especially the hate mail wackjob.”

“I have. I do.”

“Where are they tonight?”

“They were there.”

“What the? You should fire those assho—er—clowns. Or I can do it if you want.”

He did meet my eyes then, and his mouth was curved in a quizzical smile. “You want to fire my guards?”

“Yes,” I answered honestly.

I enjoyed firing people when they were bad at their job. It felt somehow satisfying to be the angel of darkness, the necessary evil, the harbinger of doom. Someone needed to do it, and I didn’t mind dirty jobs.

“No, that’s okay.” His smile grew, but the bemused expression remained. “But thank you for the offer. It’s hard finding a good team. I like my privacy, and security guards know all your business whether you like it or not. I’ll just call the agency and get new ones.”

I glanced at my feet and considered the scene on the dance floor and my reaction to it. What bothered me almost more than the grabby ladies were all the people who witnessed what was happening and just stared, did nothing, like it was okay for Nico to be groped without his consent.

What a bunch of freaks.

“I will do it, you know. I will fire them for you if you want,” I offered once more.

“I know you will. But I don’t want to have to go through finding another trustworthy agency.”

“You’re going with the same agency?” I shifted on my feet, bracing them apart. “Why do you think the next team they put on you will be any better? You should go with a different agency.”

Nico’s eyes narrowed, a smile dancing over his expression. “You’re just as bossy as I remember.”

I echoed his narrowed eyes, but not his smile. “I’m not bossy, I’ve never been bossy. I’m just always right.”

“Not always.”

“Mostly always.”

Then, he laughed. It started as a small burst then became a tumbling landslide. It rolled over me, did lovely things to my stomach. I felt lighter and heavier at the same time. I brought his jacket sleeves back to my nose to hide the curve of my mouth.

His display of merriment receded, leaving him with shining eyes and a wide smile; his teeth looked stark white, likely due to the dark beard framing his mouth. I liked his beard. It made him look a little wild.

“Ah. . . Elizabeth.” He shook his head then lolled it to one side; his eyes moved over my face. “I’ve missed you.”

“How could you miss me? This is the longest civil conversation we’ve had since I was nine.”

“I even miss our conversations that were arguments.”

“They were all arguments.”

“Not all of them.”

“You’re right, sometimes we didn’t talk.”

“I miss those times the most.”

His open appraisal and words were confusing; I didn’t know if he was being sardonic or sincere. I never could tell with him so I always erred on the side of caution. I decided to rebuff his maybe praise, probably innuendo with sarcasm. “You’re just saying that because moments ago I was the Kevin Costner to your Whitney Houston.”

“And I will always love you,” Nico said.

The sound I made was part snort, part laugh as I faced him. “Yeah right, you’re hilarious. . .” But the words died, caught in my throat, as I met his gaze.

He was staring at me, solemnly, and with no hint of sarcasm, no twinkle of mischief. The twinkle had been replaced with a cool heat which felt like a bucket of ice over my head.

“I, uh. . .” I took an automatic and unsteady step backward, and my heart felt like it was trying to escape my chest.

“Elizabeth. . .” His eyes moved to my mouth. Nico-fed radiant energy filled the expansive bleacher cavern; I heard buzzing in my ears. “I need to tell you—”

ALERT ALERT ALERT

“Can it wait? Because—because I basically left Sandra in a room full of crazy strangers.” I gained a step backward, then another.

I was out of practice. Avoidance, like any skill, required practice. My excuse for avoiding him and the next words out of my mouth sounded lame even to me. Nico opened his mouth to respond, but I’d already turned away and was jogging toward the opening.

“We’ve seen what they’re capable of, I should go get her.”

After a short delay on his part, which afforded me a head start, I heard Nico’s footfalls follow. I quickened my pace until I was nearly running and didn’t stop until I reached the front of the main building.

Nico’s steps were just behind me; an anxiety riddled electric shiver raced up my spine as I grabbed the door handle to the main entrance and yanked it open.

“Elizabeth, wait—” Nico called from just behind me.

“Elizabeth, hey.” Sandra called from just in front of me.

“Sandra!” I bounded into the safety of her sphere, relieved, anxious, and wanting to leave this epic confusion of a high school reunion as soon as humanly possible.

Nico caught my arm and spun me to face him, “Will you just wait a minute?” His expression, if I were reading it correctly, was a mixture of hope and hurt. It knocked the wind from my lungs.

“There you are.” Sandra’s voice, then hand on my arm, pulled me away from Nico’s soulful expression. The rescue was not a moment too soon. His eyes were a black hole, and I felt myself being stretched until I thought I would break.

I blinked at her, at the room, at life in general. I blinked against the creeping and tight feeling in my middle. I blinked against the burning sensation of Nico’s stare where, I was certain, it still moved over my face.

I gripped her hand like a lifeline. “Here I am.” I hoped she read the SOS clearly on my features.

“I was looking for you, I wondered if. . .” She glanced between me and Nico, her pleasant expression becoming somewhat perplexed, but no less pleasant. “I wondered if you would—”

“Yes. We should go.” I nodded.

She released a breathy laugh, “No, I meant, Micah and I—”

“I shouldn’t have left.” I interrupted her and pulled my arm from Nico’s grip. “Let me just get my purse.”

However, before I could complete my escape, Nico stepped in my path.

“Wait—” My heart continued to thump, picking up pace with his words. I fought against closing my eyes, covering my ears, and singing Mary had a little lamb, la la la, I can’t hear you. I settled for not meeting his gaze as he sighed then continued, “Before you leave, I promised my mom, I promised Rose, that I would invite you to breakfast at the restaurant tomorrow. Obviously, you’re both invited.”