Nick lets out a huge sigh and shakes his head. “Baby, I love your honesty and your sweetness. I will always reward honesty.” Umm, I don’t think he will, not if I told him what I was really thinking right now. He leans back in his chair and rubs at the back of his neck. “What was I thinking? I keep thinking you’ve known me for as long as I’ve known you. You’ve only met me briefly.” He pauses in thought. “Three times, as a matter of fact. You’re not like any of the other women I’ve had before, who bend so easily to my will. You’re right; it’s too much to expect of you in such a short period of time.”
The waiter catches my eye as he moves toward our table. This is awesome. My glass hasn’t been empty but for a couple of minutes, and hopefully he’s here to fill it back up. I think he’s going to ask me if I would like another, but my hopes are deflated when he ignores me and speaks directly to Nick. “Sir, would you care for a refill, and for your lady?”
Really? Ugh. I’m so desperate for another, I try my hand at giving him my famous puppy-dog eyes, the same ones I would give Jake growing up, cajoling him into popcorn and a movie late at night. I silently beg Nick to let me have some more. If not, I might excuse myself to the ladies room, look for an unsuspecting fool, swipe their glass right out from under their nose, and then I’d swig it all down before they even knew what was happening.
“Dear, do you think you could manage to sip this one slowly and savor it? Not guzzle it as if you were at one of your sorority parties?” he asks and I blush, averting my gaze to the lit candles on the table. Asshole. I hear him chuckling at me. “Yes, one more glass will be fine for the lady, thank you.”
My wine glass is refilled without pause, and I watch Nick’s movements from the corner of my eye. His large, masculine hand holds his amber drink, and as he swirls his glass, the ice clanks against the sides of the tumbler. He tilts his head back, taking a healthy sip, and I realize his gaze has never strayed from mine.
Nick has been nothing short of a gentleman the entire evening. He’s been attentive, magnetic, charming, and most important of all, in good spirits. He has worked hard to put me at ease all evening, when he didn’t have to. I find myself thinking back to Jared’s words, ‘You can catch more flies with honey,’ and I believe the man is right. I have been doing my damnedest tonight, spoon-feeding him honey, and it’s worked wonders so far. I smile at the thought, and Nick thinks I’m smiling at him.
I study Nick as I think about my situation. Given time, and if I were to take Blyss, I believe I’d eventually be able to come to terms with my circumstances, but right now, I still have too much fight in me. Yes, I would definitely need to take Blyss to cope with being a captive here. There is just something I haven’t been able to pinpoint about Nick that keeps me on edge. It has yet to be illuminated; I can’t quite put my finger on it.
Psychology was always one of those subjects I was never interested in studying while at college. I found it to be boring, especially when I could be using every spare minute I had to create art. But Nick has to have some form of delusional obsession that lies within his psyche. It’s the only explanation I can come up with. He’s stalked me for God knows how long and had planned for my very capture, down to the day. I still can’t help but think there is something familiar about him though. Someone of his prestige surely knows my father. I wrack my brain, only to come up empty-handed.
For some reason, my mind turns to thoughts of Travis, maybe because I’m feeling highly insecure and unstable at the moment. I think back over the way he would always pick up the broken pieces, putting me back together after having a nervous breakdown. The majority of the time, he always made me feel protected, special, and desired—unless, of course, I stepped out of line, and then he would show me just how brutal he could be.
I miss happy Travis, and I truly thought I had him figured out. I wish I had been given the opportunity to know him without all of the complexities surrounding us; on the other hand, I would never have given him the time of day, because my sights would’ve been set on Adam.