Chapter Six
“So...”
They were seated across each other in Daria’s dining room, eating Chinese takeout for a late lunch. It wasn’t the first time he had done so with a woman. He had shared such meals with Miranda. The difference, however, was that Miranda had only been humoring him as a mistress while Daria seemed to genuinely enjoy it.
Either that, Nik thought, or it was still an act.
“Say ‘ah’.”
Startled, Nik did as asked and found himself being fed a spoonful of white chicken dipped in ginger sauce.
Daria beamed at him as he chewed. “Great, right?” But while she really had wanted to feed him, she had wanted to distract Nik, too. She was beginning to understand him, her beautiful, tortured Greek. If he had a dark look in his eyes, chances were he was thinking about Daria The Liar and not Daria The Best Mistress Ever.
And she was determined to put a stop to that.
“Your turn,” Nik said suddenly. “Say ‘ah’.” He had his chopsticks right in front of her, and she opened her mouth unthinkingly.
“Umm, what is this?” Daria asked, mouth full.
“Fried intestine.”
Daria started to choke.
Nik laughed.
After gulping down her entire glass of lime-infused water, she glared at him accusingly. “I hate you!”
“It was just intes—-” She groaned, her face screwing up in disgust, and Nik grinned. As Daria started on a diatribe over the many reasons he shouldn’t trick her with awful, awful food again, he simply listened and continued eating. Half of him was content at hearing Daria talk. The other half was even more disturbed at how content he was.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this, dammit. The plan was to fuck her and leave her. So why the hell was he here eating Chinese takeout with Daria? Why had he left work well before lunch for her? Why was he staying when he should be running in the opposite direction?
“Nik?” Her voice drew his attention back to her, and he immediately noticed the troubled look in Daria’s gray eyes.
“What is it?”
She lowered her takeout box on the table. “You remember our agreement?”
When her eyes didn’t meet his, her meaning became clear. “You have something to ask of me.”
She nodded slowly.
“Ask.” He watched her take her time, feeding herself a spoonful of rice, and he knew whatever it was, he probably wouldn’t want to answer it.
And he was right.
“Can you tell me why you’re the world’s most elusive billionaire?”
“When I was young, I wanted to be like Bruce Wayne.”
She frowned. “Seriously.”
“Good security.”
His continued evasiveness revealed how much he disliked her question, but that only made her even more determined to find out the truth. Knowing she had to tread carefully, she changed tactics, saying lightly, “Nik?”
He raised a brow.
She asked innocently, “How much did you like fucking me this morning?”