Chapter 44

Kayla

Nicholas’s hand slid to the small of my back as he guided me onto the dance floor. The warmth of his palm against the fabric of my dress sent an unwanted shiver down my spine, and my traitorous heart fluttered in my chest as he pulled me a little closer.

I was supposed to be mad at him. How did he always have this ability to get under my skin, pissing me off one moment and then making me swoon the next?

Still, I couldn’t bring myself to entirely forgive him. Even though he was acting like a perfect gentleman right now, the stunning picture of a loving husband and mate, I couldn’t forget the frosting incident.

“You’re lucky I didn’t murder you back there,” I muttered under my breath, glaring up at him. “I’m still cleaning frosting out of my hair, asshole.”

He smirked, his eyes glinting ever so slightly under the dim lights of the disco ball spinning overheat. “It was an accident.”

“An accident that made me look like an idiot.”

“An adorable idiot.”

I scowled, resisting the urge to step on his foot. “You’d better have a plan to fix our reputation before it completely tanks,” I hissed. “We’re supposed to be creating an image of a loving couple, and you were a total ass earlier.”

Nicholas tilted his head. I couldn’t quite tell if he was beginning to feel apologetic or if he was genuinely trying to understand why I was so pissed.

“No one is going to think negatively of our image,” he finally said. “It was just a little blunder.”

My teeth clenched so hard I thought they might crack.

“Nicholas, you smeared frosting all over my face because you got distracted by an old buddy. You couldn’t look at me for five seconds just to make everyone else shut up. And, to make matters worse, an old fling of yours is watching us like a hawk.”

He furrowed his brow, clearly confused, and I subtly jerked my head in the direction I’d last seen the beautiful brunette and her little blonde lackey.

“They were questioning me about us earlier,” I whispered, my voice so low it was almost a growl. “And the blonde overheard me bitching about you to myself in the bathroom after the frosting incident. No doubt they’re going to start spreading gossip.”

As his eyes landed on the brunette, Nicholas’s smirk widened into something bordering on amusement. “Rebecca? You don’t need to worry about her,” he chuckled softly, the velvety sound sending a thrum of pleasure scuttling through my chest despite myself. “She’s a bitter old bitch who’s never had a real relationship in her life. Every man she’s ever been with runs for the hills after two weeks.”

“Really?” I arched a brow at him. “You say that, and yet you two hooked up for six months.”

He winced, his shoulders rising a little in an almost sheepish shrug. “I was young and stupid. It was a mistake.”

The bitterness in my chest surged before I could stop it. I glanced away, my gaze landing on the chandeliers above. “How many women have you slept with, anyway? And how many of them do you consider ‘mistakes’?”

“Kayla…” His voice carried a soft warning, the kind that begged me not to go down this road.

I shook my head, already regretting asking. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”

For a minute, we danced in silence. The tension between us settled a little but didn’t fully dissipate. I focused on the rhythm of the music, on the way the other couples glided across the floor as though they didn’t have a care in the world. I envied them—the ease, the effortless love, the absence of hidden motives.

Something I’d never really had with any man. Certainly not Liam. And Nicholas wasn’t even an option in that regard. He was just the playboy who would likely consider this arrangement to be a mistake, just like all the others.

Finally, Nicholas’s voice broke the quiet that had settled between us. “I’m sorry about the frosting,” he whispered softly.

I blinked up at him, caught off guard by the sincerity in his tone. His smirk had faded, replaced by something softer, his lips turned down slightly at the corners—so much unlike his usual devilish grin.

“I’ll make it up to you,” he continued before I could say anything. “How about I let you push me into a cake next time? Call it even.”

I rolled my eyes. Of course he couldn’t be serious for more than two seconds.

“You can start by never doing that again,” I whispered. “If we’re supposed to be putting up this front of being a happy couple, you can’t just half-ass it whenever it suits you. You humiliated me back there, Nicholas. And you ruined my makeup.”

His lips parted, but to my surprise, no quick-witted retort came. For once, he looked genuinely apologetic.

“It won’t happen again,” he said quietly. “But these silly little rituals… they’re just that. Silly. Maybe we’d be better off painting ourselves as the mature, sophisticated couple who doesn’t care about those kinds of things. It’s less effort and creates fewer opportunities to make fools of ourselves.”

I stared at him incredulously, the irritation that had been simmering just below the surface of my skin finally starting to boil over.

“Maybe I want to be part of a couple that does those things,” I bit out. “Have you ever considered that, or do you always just think about yourself?”

His brow furrowed, and his grip on my hand tightened ever so slightly. “Kayla—”

“No, seriously,” I pressed, ignoring the warning look he shot me. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe I want to have fun for once? To be romanced? To feel like I’m worth more than just a contract or an obligation?”

The words tumbled out before I could stop them, and I instantly regretted letting that much slip. But somehow, I managed to hold his gaze, even if I wanted to storm off again in shame.

For a moment, Nicholas didn’t say anything. But his expression shifted, his smirk fading into something softer, something that I didn’t quite recognize. Then, with maddening ease, that trademark grin of his crept back into place.

He leaned in, his breath tickling my ear. To anyone else who was watching, it looked like we were just whispering sweet nothings to each other. But in reality, the words he purred into my ear made my spine lock into place.

“If you really wanted to be all lovey-dovey, you could’ve just told me,” he teased. He pulled me closer, the space between us nearly nonexistent now. “I’m sure I could manage a few romantic gestures if that’s what it takes to make you happy.”

“You’re insufferable,” I muttered, even though my voice was suddenly lacking any real bite.

“And you’re adorable when you’re angry.”

Before I could come up with a retort, he somehow leaned in even closer, his breath warm and velvety against my ear. “Is that what will get you to sleep with me?” he whispered.

The audacity of his words made me pull back. My hand flew up, ready to deliver a well-deserved slap to his face, but something stopped me. Over his shoulder, I spotted Rebecca, her phone discreetly raised, the faint glow of the screen giving her away.

She was recording us.

My pulse spiked. There was no doubt in my mind what she was hoping for—a heated argument, a crack in our perfect facade. Something she could use to dismantle whatever fragile reputation we had managed to cobble together.

Panic flared in my chest, and I knew I had to act. My hand was already in the air, my intentions to hit him clear. But instead of slapping Nicholas, I grabbed his face with my outstretched hand and pulled him down to me.

And then I kissed him.