Worth the fight Read Free Page A

wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.  I pretend to cough to cover my smile with my hand and William offers me his water.  Always the gentleman.
    Nico picks up where he left off and I take a minute to get a better look at his face before he locks my gaze with his again.  I notice a small, healed scar above his left eye and another longer one on his right cheek.  They are faint, like they’ve been there for years, but his tan skin color yields a lighter shade to scars, making them stand out more than they normally would.  The scars make his face look even more rugged and somehow emphasizes the masculinity of his chiseled jaw.  The face belongs to a strong man, a man I can’t take my eyes off of for some reason.
    William speaks when Nico is done and his voice finally makes me remember that he’s in the room.  I hope I wasn’t drooling while his client was speaking.  I try to focus on William as he talks, but my eyes keep wandering back to Nico, who catches me each time.   I see an ever so slight twitch at the corner of Nico’s mouth each time, secretly acknowledging that I’ve been caught.
    William is able to refocus me by drawing me into a conversation about how the Weiland case could apply.  Nico wants out of an endorsement contract he is in because the manufacturer us es child labor.  The fact that the man is willing to give up what amounts to a multi-million dollar contract for such a noble cause makes him even more sexy to me. 
    After almost an hour, William looks at his watch and begins to wrap things up.  Nico asks me my opinion on his case and I tell him I need a copy of the contract and some time to do a little research on the company before I can give an educated opinion. 
    William nods and stands, “Are we on for Thursday, maybe we can discuss it further then?”
    “Umm, yes.”  I catch Nico looking between the two of us.  I think he is observing our interaction.
    Nico shakes my hand again and my heartbeat speeds up at the simple contact.  He doesn’t release my hand right away.  Instead he uses his other hand to motion between William and I and asks, “Are you two a couple?”
    I respond no at the exact same time that William responds yes.  I look to William and then to Nico , who is still holding my hand from our handshake, and I think I catch a glimmer in his eye that matches the smirk on his face.  He’s amused at our answer and I don’t blame him.  He finally releases my hand and I find myself oddly disappointed that he’s not touching me anymore. 
    I turn to William and find he is still looking at where Nico’s and my hands had been joined.  His face looks conflicted and confused and I feel badly for the disrespect that I’ve just shown him.  He lowers his voice to me, “I’ll see you Thursday?” 
    I nod, thinking it best to have whatever conversation needs to be had between us in private.  I stand at Regina’s desk as the two men walk out the door.  Nico looks back at the last second and smiles at me.  William never looks back.
    ***
    I toss and turn all night, unable to get the picture of Nico Hunter out of my head.  The man is sexy as hell and it bothers me that I can’t control my thoughts.  It feels like I only fell asleep ten minutes ago when I wake up to the music blasting on my phone alarm.   I drag my half-sleeping body into the shower and let the cool water pour over me in an attempt to force myself awake.    After a few minutes of self inflicted torture, I adjust the temperature on the water and close my eyes to relax into the warmth.  It hits me then.  My eyes dart open, trying to force out the picture that appeared from the darkness of my memory without warning.
    Nico Hunter.  Nico “The Lady Killer” Hunter.  I was there the night that he killed a man.  It was the one and only fight I’d ever gone to.   And it all comes flooding back.   I referred to the fight as the cage fight, but now that I think about it, it was called MMA, mixed