Black Sheep Bargain by Naima Simone

Author:Naima Simone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mills & Boon Desire
Published: 2022-07-01T20:29:41+00:00

* * *

“I’m not discussing this with you anymore.”

“Hah!” Athena stabbed her tiramisu-stained fork in his direction, a triumphant grin stretched across her face. “That’s the refrain of a loser.”

“No, it’s the statement of someone who refuses to argue with an illogical person,” Nico shot back.

Athena chuckled, the sound wicked. “Illogical? When you start tossing insults, it’s another sign you’ve been thoroughly beaten. Just admit it. You’re wrong.”

“I’m not.”

“You so are.”

Nico ground his teeth together. “We’re going to have to agree to disagree. Although you’re wrong as hell.”

“Say it,” she sang. “Just say it. Gandalf is a better wizard than Dumbledore.”

“I don’t know what’s in that tiramisu,” he said, jabbing a finger at the half-eaten dessert, “but no doubt it’s one hundred proof.”

Snickering, she scooped more of the sweet into her mouth and hummed in pleasure. He swallowed down a curse as his cock jerked behind the zipper of his tuxedo pants. His heart squeezed at the humor in her eyes, no traces of her earlier pain in evidence.

“You’re still a sore loser, Nico.”

“That would imply that you’re the winner of this argument. And that would be a fallacy, Athena.”

More chuckling, and Nico fought back a smile. Rising from the couch, he said, “I’m a little afraid to offer you more wine, but can I get you another glass?”

She grabbed hers off the coffee table and held it up with a wide grin. “Yes, please.”

Shaking his head, he headed for the kitchen for refills of the Moscato. As he returned to the living room with the two glasses, he surveyed the open floor space of her condo, as he often did when he arrived to pick her up. The ordinariness of it struck him again. There was nothing wrong with the matching canisters in the kitchen or the landscape painting on the wall of the living room or the royal blue throw rug in the hallway. All perfectly fine—for an apartment staged by a real estate agent preparing for a showing.

Athena was missing.

“Why’re you looking around like that?” Athena asked as he stepped down into the living room.

“Like what?” Nico handed her a glass and sank down onto the couch.

She tapped a finger against the bowl of her glass. “Like you’re trying to figure out a puzzle.”

“That’s pretty accurate,” he said, weighing whether he should go forward with the conversation.

They’d enjoyed a rare, good evening. One where the thorny past hadn’t intruded. Even now, she sat, curled up on the sofa, dressed in a loose-fitting, off-the-shoulder T-shirt and black leggings. He’d shed his jacket and bow tie and had rolled his sleeves back. Since they’d reentered each other’s lives, it was the most relaxed they’d been together. Almost as if they’d silently agreed to lower their guard. At least for tonight.

And he loathed fucking up that temporary truce.

“Let me guess what you’re thinking right now,” she murmured, leaning forward and cradling her wine. “We’re having a great evening where no verbal swords have been crossed or blood shed, and you don’t want to ruin it with a possible argument.

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