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“You never know.” A jovial singsong returns to her voice.
“Oh, I know.”
The last thing I need is the same old lecture on my love life. The idea of being responsible for someone, or worse, being taken advantage of again, is enough to rocket launch the nausea brewing in my gut.
Evelyn walks over to my place on the stools, grabs my hand, and wraps me in what must be our first-ever hug. I settle into her embrace, melting into the comforting feel of her limbs swaddling me.
She unhooks herself from me and sighs. “I’m not going to leave you hanging. I’ll pay you for two weeks of work and give you a stellar recommendation. Just as long as you extend your day shift into tonight.”
“This sucks, you know.”
Evelyn looks at me, curves her lips into another lopsided smile, and silently makes her way to her dust-ridden office in the back of the bar.
* * *
“There you are,”a familiar voice calls from the entrance to the Mademoiselle. I glance at the clock hanging above the entryway. It’s been eight hours since I started my shift, and I haven’t had a single customer today.
“Nico?” I ask, unsure if this horrid day is causing hallucinations.
Why else would my best friend’s soon-to-be brother-in-law show up at my bar?
At seven o’clock on a Wednesday night?
“The one and only.” Nico’s boyish grin beams beneath the bar’s dim light as he saunters over to me.
He looks as he did when I saw him five months ago: a clean, sharp jawline with dimpled cheeks and the familiar round, almost liquid-brown eyes lined with thick, dark lashes.
Women frequently describe him as dreamy, drop-dead gorgeous, and irresistible. I’d be a fool to disagree.
The Navarro brothers share the same straight nose, full, bottom-heavy lips, and curly, chestnut-colored hair. Where Nico’s older brother, Luca, is the reincarnation of a Roman warrior with a stern stare only my best friend, Avery, can melt off his face, Nico doesn’t have a trace of grouchiness in his features. Instead, his mouth sits in a permanent toothy smile.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“Oh, hello, Nico. It’s so nice to see you after all this time. I’ve missed you tremendously. Give me a kiss.” His grin accompanies his teasing tone.
The wordsplayfulandnonchalantmust’ve been assigned to him at birth for I’ve never heard a trace of seriousness in his voice in the time I’ve known him.
“You’ve been gone? I guess I hadn’t noticed.”
“My heart.” Nico stretches his palm over his chest and feigns a collapsing spell. “It hurts.”
“I’m sure.” I raise my brows at him as he settles onto a stool.
He’s wearing an oversized black T-shirt, revealing the random collection of tattoos on his arms, and a pair of dark-gray jeans on his muscular six-foot frame. He has the kind of coveted appearance that makes it hard to tell whether he just rolled out of bed or if he spent hours fussing in the mirror.
We’ve spent enough time together for me to know it’s the former. He’s generously handsome.
“How have you been,princesa?” He tips his head forward, and a loose curl tumbles onto his forehead.
The nickname ripples the nerves up my neck.
Princesa.
I earned that one during the first weekend we spent at Luca and Avery’s beach house in Montauk. Despite the teasing insinuation that I’m high-maintenance, I kind of like it.
There’s nothing wrong with having standards.
There’s also absolutely nothing wrong with packing two overnight bags filled with skincare for a weekend-long getaway.
