Page 142 of Stay With Me

She noticed out of the corner of her eye someone had stopped to stand next to her, and she didn’t have to look to know it was Nick. It was that subtle intoxicating cologne, and she knew it anywhere.

She glanced at him and gave him a friendly smile. “Great party, Mister Chapman.”

He grinned. “Thanks for making it possible, Miss Holt.”

She tilted her head slightly. “Just doing my job.”

They stood in silence for a moment, and she could tell he was watching her so she gave him a little nudge on the shoulder in an effort to keep things light.

“You were sweet with Kimberly,” she mentioned. “That was the best possible way to handle that.”

“Well, she was heartbroken. That already sucks enough by itself. No need to kick someone when they’re down.”

Samantha couldn’t help wondering if that was intended to have some kind of double meaning so she glanced at him, only to find that he wasn’t actually watching her at all, rather looking out over the crowd.

“That’s true,” she agreed, and then felt the need to switch topics before he had the opportunity to bring up anything too personal.“I love this song. Didn’t Elvis originally do it?”

“I think so. It’s a great song.”

They settled into another silence, and after a while, she felt the back of his hand brush against hers. She noticed she rubbed her thumb against his a couple of times, and immediately wondered why she would do such a thing, and if he had noticed.

It was obvious that he did because he cleared his throat and turned to her, offering his hand.

“Samantha, would you like to—”

“Strictly professional, Nick,” she cut him off, feeling totally put on the spot, but once she turned toward his face, she immediately regretted her choice to shoot him down.

He pursed his lips together, gave a single nod, and slipped his hands back into his pockets.

“Right.” He cleared his throat again and seemed to turn away from her. “Excuse me.”

Then, he disappeared into the kitchen and her shoulders sank. That was clearly the worst possible way to handle that. She decided it was time to call it a night because, after that little exchange, she was definitely ready for a drink.

She took a moment to close things up at the hostess stand before making her way back to the office to get her things. She had just slipped on her coat when Nick waltzed through the door toward his desk.

“Hey,” he acknowledged her before turning his attention to the drawers, seemingly looking for something. She stared at him, feeling totally guilty again, and decided she owed him an apology of sorts.

“Nick, I’m not trying to be mean to you.”

He glanced at her briefly then turned his gaze back to the drawers while he continued to sift. “You’re not. Everything’s fine.”

She squinted at him as she continued buttoning her coat. “Are you sure? Because it seemed like just now—”

“It’s all good, Samantha.”

He gave her a quick smile, then paused for a second before closing the drawer.

From the hallway, she could hear the crowd in the dining room shouting out the countdown to midnight.

“Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!”

The lights in the office were low, but he appeared to be staring at her, and then crossed around the desk and seemed to be approaching her.

“Six! Five! Four!”

He stopped right in front of her and she froze.

“Three! Two! One!”