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Apropos, she thought. Garcia had already proven herself to be a badass.
“Ironic you should say that,” Garcia said. “It means, fair or flower, in Latin. I liked the connotation when I was younger. Then…” She crooked a brow.
Nikki snickered. “Then you decided it was a great contradiction to your personality and that made you feel as though you had a little secret you were keeping from the rest of the world.”
She whistled under her breath. “Damn, you’re good, Dr. Kane.”
“A lot of people thrive on having an alter-ego. Even if you’re using the same name, it can have a light side and a dark side attached to it. It might mean flower in the general sense, but when you’re dodging bullets and putting a would-be assassin’s car into a tree trunk, it screams fierce.”
“I’m just glad we all made it out alive,” she said in a quiet voice.
“Me, too.”
Nikki enjoyed more food and another shot or two of tequila. A couple hours later, she was finally sated, totally wiped out, and actually did curl up on the sofa, her coat wrapped around her. The snow had stopped falling and the fire was blazing bright, so while Garcia was off talking to her family, Nikki drifted off.
Until a deep, intimate and resonant tone crept around the fringes of her subconscious, taunting her to wake up.
She wasn’t ready for reality to invade her peaceful thoughts, though…and she fought off the voice that whispered, “Let me take you somewhere warmer…more comfortable…”
39
She was bundled up in her thick, full-length coat, gloves and scarf, and there was a roaring fire emitting some serious heat. Still, Damen said, “Aren’t you freezing?”
“With all this tequila in my veins?” Nikki murmured in a sexy, sleepy voice. “Hardly.” Though she did snuggle closer to him as he carried her out of the courtyard.
Maybe it wasn’t because she wa
s cold.
Maybe she liked being that cozy with him.
As he thought of this, she inhaled deeply, as though drawing in his scent, his very essence.
Then she sort of purred and his groin tightened and…
Fuck.
He was back to agonizing over how she clearly wanted him, but was currently furious with him.
How she trusted him, but, again… She was hurt and angry.
Furthermore, Damen had to admit another truth. One he loathed facing: He didn’t think Nikki Kane needed him.
For anything.
Certainly not for the preservation of her computer and personal files.
Not anymore.
Likely his retrieval of her—and taking her back to his place to let her collect her suitcase—was the beginning of the end for them.
On their way out of the courtyard, he gave a curt head nod to Garcia to acknowledge her and to silently thank her for bringing Nikki here and for texting him to let him know she was safe and sound. Fortunately, not frozen to the core. Though the temps hadn’t dipped too low during the day. Just enough for a very light snowfall and then the sun had broken through the clouds.
He settled Nikki in the back of his Town Car and she instantly curled into him again.
“I could sleep for a week,” she muttered.
“Tension, danger and several plates of food will do that to you,” he lightly quipped.
