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“Shamelessly.”
Cash’s eyes widened. “You involved your billionaire stepfather in your schemes?”
Nick laughed. “I tried to play it off real cool. Mentioned we had some fun conversations and that I thought you were interesting.” Heat crept up his neck at the memory.
“And?” Cash prompted.
“Let’s just say we didn’t play our sudden departure as coolly as we thought.”
Cash growled and kissed Nick hungrily. He pulled back suddenly and smiled. “They’re just lucky I didn’t throw you down in the center of the table and ravish you like I wanted to.”
“Which time?”
“Both! I didn’t know you were interested in me when you showed up for the second year. Why didn’t you say something?”
Nick had been asking himself that for quite some time too. They’d both arrived solo, and the spark was just as intense as it had been the previous year. “You intimidated me, I think.”
“You think? I’m not flattered,” Cash teased.
“Not in a bad way.”
“I’m not convinced intimidation is ever a good thing. What about me was off-putting?”
Nick shook his head vigorously. “Nothing about you repelled me. I just suddenly felt like an inadequate kid.”
“With me?” Cash asked. “You grew up with the wealthiest man in the state as your stepfather.”
“It’s not about the money.” Nick worked his bottom lip as he searched for the right phrasing. “You were different.”
“How so?”
“Everything. You stood taller, carried yourself with more confidence, and took up space in a way that said you belonged there.” Nick blew out a breath of frustration because he was botching his explanation. “The prior year, I got the impression you felt like an outsider.”
“I did,” Cash admitted.
“And so did I,” Nick told him. “People forget that I wasn’t used to a lavish lifestyle until I was a preteen. I still felt like an uncouth country bumpkin fifteen years later when I attended the benefit at Charles’s behest. Fast-forward a year, and I had graduated from the academy and boldly finagled an invitation to force another run-in with you. But you weren’t the person I remembered. The attraction was still there. I saw it flare in your eyes before you hid it beneath a cool mask. And that was new too,” Nick added quickly. “You’d telegraphed your every thought the first time we met.”
Cash chuckled. “And that’s how Charles knew what we got up to when we left so suddenly.”
“And everyone else too,” Nick added.
Cash groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face. He stepped back from Nick, linked their fingers together, and headed toward the couch. This time, Cash sat cross-legged sideways on the couch, and Nick mirrored his position so their knees and bare feet touched. Cash took Nick’s hands in both of his. “You’re not the only one changed by our first encounter. You’re the reason I seemed so poised and comfortable when we reconnected.”
Nick straightened and scowled at Cash. “How could that possibly be?”
“You might’ve noticed I had a chip on my shoulder at the first benefit,” Cash replied wryly.
Nick thought back to the moment he’d first seen Cash in the sea of black suits in the restaurant’s private dining room. Though he had dressed just as elegantly as everyone else, there was a stubborn tilt to Cash’s chin and an air of defiance that made him stand out in the crowd. The latter drew Nick to him like a beacon. Their eyes met and held for a few heartbeats before Charles approached Nick with someone he just had to meet. The introduction was brief and unremarkable. Hell, Nick couldn’t even remember who it was. He wanted to save all his attention for the stranger whose attire read business executive but whose eyes promised trouble. Nick couldn’t have turned his head more than a minute, two tops, but the mystery man had moved on.
He’d been more than a little disappointed, which had unsettled him. Nick had never lacked for company when he wanted it and even when he didn’t. He’d circulated through the room and chatted with those he knew and introduced himself to those he didn’t. He might’ve been newer to the game, but he’d been a quick study. By the time he reached the bar in the back, Nick had accepted that he’d either imagined the man or he’d left the benefit. He kept his back to the room while he waited for the bartender to pour his whiskey. That’s when the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Nick had known the sexy stranger was approaching before his woodsy scent tickled his senses. He was half-aroused when he turned around and raked an appraising gaze over the man who’d captured his attention so thoroughly. Nick half expected the guy to be less impressive up close. He’d been so wrong.
“There you are.” Nick hadn’t meant to speak the words out loud.
“Here I am.” The stranger’s voice was rough and low, better suited for a bedroom than a boardroom.
Unfortunately for Nick, he’d spoken that one out loud too. It had set the tone for the rest of the evening, and luckily for him, they’d been on the same page. If he didn’t pull himself from his trip down memory lane, Nick wouldn’t get to find out how he had inspired the changes in Cash he’d witnessed the following year.
“I recall a slight chip on your shoulder,” Nick replied, picking up the thread of their current conversation. “Barely noticeable.”
