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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

ROCCO AND NICO

R occo stuffed another piece of chocolate in his mouth and watched Nico as she examined the box. He had more than one question he wanted to ask her. He’d start with the one she was most likely to answer— or at least answer truthfully , he thought.

“How do you do that?” he asked after licking his fingers free of chocolate.

“Do what?” she asked.

She was still surveying the box.

“Do you like dulce de leche?” he asked.

“Yes,” she exclaimed, nodding with energy.

“This one,” Rocco said, taking a piece of dark chocolate out of its black paper cup and handing it to her. “How do you drink like that and look like you do? I mean, not be shitfaced like me.”

She bit into the chocolate. “I’ve had a lot of practice.”

What did she mean?

“Where’d you grow up?” he asked.

“Who says I grew up?”

He grinned. “Good answer, but you didn’t answer my question.”

She hesitated, but then shrugged.

“No one place really. We moved around a lot.”

“So, you grew up a nomad. A gypsy.”

“Something like that.”

“Okay, so how about this one: Why?”

That got her to look up.

She frowned. “What?”

“Why race? When you were talking with the photographer during the photoshoot. You never said.”

So, he’d been in the room.

She remained silent.

“You don’t want to tell me.”

That’s right. I don’t.

“Okay,” he said, “well if you won’t tell me, then at least you can tell me the truth about the drinking—the whole truth.”

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll let you in on a little secret.”

“Come closer,” he whispered, “so I can hear.”

“You don’t have to whisper,” she said.

He continued to whisper. “You said it was a secret. Come closer.”

She was already close enough. She could smell the bourbon, caramel, and chocolate on his breath. She shivered when she felt his breath tickle her flesh.

“Are you cold?” he whispered.

She shook her head.

“Come closer.”

She inched forward but quickly stopped.

His lips were only a few inches away from hers.

“That’s close enough,” she said. “Any closer, and I’ll be behind you.”

“Not possible. ‘What’s behind you doesn’t matter.’ You know who said that?”

She knew. What she didn’t know was why he’d said it. What did he mean by it?

Just remember, he’s drunk. He doesn’t know what he’s saying.

“Enzo Ferrari,” she responded.

He grinned. “You’re right, but that’s too loud.”

She blinked. “Does your head hurt?” she whispered.

“No. Does yours?”

She shook her head. Even for a conversation with a drunk, this was loopy. “You should rest,” she whispered.

She made a move to go, but he grabbed her wrist.

That hand must have made a pact with that snake. She felt that reptile slithering over the entire square footage of her skin.

Slithering over everything.

Every. Thing.

“You can’t go yet,” he muttered. “You haven’t told me the secret.”

He took his other hand and opened hers, grazing her palm with his finger.

Slow-twitch-fast-twitch-slow-twitch-fast-twitch-slow-twitch-fast-twitch.

What is the name of that snake in Chile?

He looked up at her. “Are you okay? You look like you did in Barcelona when you looked like you might faint.”

She stiffened. “I told you I don’t faint.”

He grinned. “That’s right. That’s me. I’m the one who faints.”

She dropped her chin to hide her smile.

He stared back at her palm, running his finger back and forth, her flesh shivering in its wake.

“Your hands are small.” He looked up at her. “Did you know that?”

You just told me that.

If he can’t even remember that, he won’t remember any of this.

“So I’ve been told. Now please give me back my hand.”

“Not until you tell me the secret.”

She sighed. “I didn’t drink as much as you.”

“Yes, you did. You had the same number of rounds as the rest of us. And you drank to a lot of the never-have-I-evers I did. That surprised me.”

She felt her heart start to pound but not in a good way. “Why? Because I’m a woman?”

“Maybe.”

At least he was honest.

She sighed. “It may have looked to you like I was drinking as much as you were, but I wasn’t. Whenever I went to buy a round, I got Coke for myself.”

“But Coke is darker than scotch, and it has bubbles.”

“Not if you water it down, which is what I asked the bartender to do.”

He grinned. “That’s cheating.”

She smiled. “It is.”

“But what about when you weren’t buying the round?”

“I didn’t always drink it or drink as much.”

“If you didn’t drink it, where’d it go?”

“I spilled some on the table, which I quickly mopped up with a napkin.”

“I never saw you do that.”

She smiled. “I also put some in Dario’s and Celeste’s glasses when they weren’t looking, when they got up to use the restroom.”

“But not mine?”

“No, not yours.”

He smiled. “That was nice of you.”

“Niceness had nothing to do with it. They were drinking scotch like me. You were drinking bourbon. Also, you were more—observant.”

“Oh.”

“Please don’t tell them.”

“It’s a secret. I can’t.”

“I even managed to spill some in Carolyn Wickham’s purse.”

His jaw dropped. “You did?!”

She nodded.

His eyes sparkled as he laughed, and then he gazed into her eyes.

It felt as though— But no , she thought. She wouldn’t allow herself to think it, let alone act upon it.

Better to throw some cold water on the situation and retain her sanity.

“You can let go of my hand now.”

“Okay, but you gotta do one more thing.”

She narrowed her eyes, suspicious. “What?”

“Come on,” he said, dragging her behind him as he headed down the hallway.

She dug in her heels.

He stopped and turned around but still had yet to let go of her hand. She was surprised his hold could be so firm and not hurt.

“Don’t worry,” he said, that wicked grin on his face, “I’m not going to jump you, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

His response surprised her. Did it also disappoint her? No , she thought emphatically. He was drunk. Really drunk. If they slept together, the best she could hope for was that he wouldn’t remember it. Because if he did, he was sure to regret it.

He resumed walking down the hallway, pulling her after him, clearly thinking his response adequate.

“Then why … ?” she asked but stopped.

She was going to ask why were they going to his bedroom?

But when she looked around, she saw they were already there.