Her gaze strayed to the left, and Nick glanced where she was looking.
Quinton.
Again.
Quinton always watched Nick’s demos and lent a hand when needed, and he just might need his help tonight.
Nick cupped Olivia’s chin and recaptured her attention, only for her to steal another sideways glance.
Last straw.
He let his hand drop and stepped back. “Pineapple,” he said through clenched teeth.
Olivia’s eyes widened. Her gaze ping-ponged from him to Quinton, then back again, and Nick clearly read the disbelief there.
“What?”
“Pineapple,” he repeated. The common, boring safe word she’d picked, which he’d agreed to because he never thought he’d use it.
He raised his hand in a signal, and the black curtain quickly lowered, immediately ending the scene.
The glare she gave him could have sliced steel. “Did you justsafe wordme?”
“Yes.” He didn’t offer more, further angering her; he could tell.
She tore her gaze away. He watched as she tracked Quinton’s approach, her breasts rising and falling faster with each noisy step he took. And then, she locked eyes with Quinton.
Well. Nick had suspected that she wanted Quinton and his infamous paddle, and now he had the confirmation. What surprised him was that he didn’t care.
Quinton looked at him questioningly as he came to a stop beside him. “You OK, man?”
“Yeah.”
Several attendants rushed forth then, one carrying warm blankets, the other Gatorade. A third brought Cheez-Its, Olivia’s go-to snack after a scene.
Nick bent to begin untying her, but she jerked away, looking like she could spit.
“Get the hell away from me!”
He paused. Aftercare was his responsibility, and he took it seriously. “I—”
“Donottouch me!” she yelled, leaning farther away.” She jerked her chin toward Quinton. “I wanthim.”
Of course you do.
Nick surged to his feet, his heart hammering from adrenaline and stress. Instead of feeling rejected, he felt relief.
He looked Quinton in the eye. “Take care of her.”
“No worries. I’ve got her.” Quinton’s eyes gleamed, and in that moment, Nick knew the guy realized the torch had just been passed.
Quinton had her, all right. Well, he could have her. He was done.
On his way out of the theater, Nick forced himself to nod and smile politely at several people who greeted him. He navigated through the crowded ballroom, where sequin-clad women and men in bow ties were bumping and grinding to a trendy song he was quickly getting sick of.
At last, he made it to the exit but not before he had to stop and chat with more patrons, accepting compliments about the newly opened club.
As he descended the steps into the cool night air, he turned to view what two months ago looked like a haunted house, falling to pieces by neglect. Every window was now alight, some glowing with color. The bass pulsed from the music playing in the ballroom, and chatter and laughter carried from the open windows. The overgrown weeds had been replaced with carefully designed landscaping that created curb appeal.
