by Ellis, Aven
If Niko isn’t here on time I really might need to go home.
“Hey, Kimberlee,” I say, forcing a smile on my face.
“JP is so charming. And he’s Swiss.”
“Oh?” Chip asks. Then I notice his eyes move straight to Kimberlee’s boobs, which are barely restrained by the tiny, tiny extra-small black Dallas Demons T-shirt she’s wearing.
I resist the urge to smash my forehead on the keyboard.
“You’ve got to love those sexy imports,” Kimberlee says, laughing. “Right, Lexi?”
“I love imports who are left-handed two-way defensemen,” I say.
And cue the cricket chirping.
Kimberlee clears her throat. “Right. But I wanted to swing by and let you know I want you to bring my color up a bit on the next edit,” she says pointedly. “I looked a bit pasty.”
Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.
“I’ll do my best,” I say diplomatically.
She nods as she swipes things on her phone. “Please do. I can’t look bad due to negligent editing.”
Okay, I’m not having this.
“My editing is not negligent,” I say, standing up for my work.
“Well, you might have had an off day,” Kimberlee says as she types on her phone. “And did you look at my video from Rate Me to Date Me!? Because that editing team did a phenomenal job. You could pick up some techniques if you are willing to learn from some true professionals.”
Oooooooooh I hate her. I hate her with the intensity of a thousand flaming suns.
“Anyway, look at that, would you, Lex?” Then she drops her phone into her designer purse. “Listen, I’d love to discuss this further but I’ve got to run. I have a date tonight, and I want to look ravishing for him.”
“Lucky guy,” Chip says, grinning like an idiot at her.
“He is. And I bet Niko Xenakis would tell you that himself if he were here right now.”
Surely I didn’t understand that correctly. Or Kimberlee babbled her sentences together incorrectly.
“You . . . did you say Niko?” I ask, incredulous.
Kimberlee’s eyes sparkle at me. “Yes. We’ve been exchanging texts while he was out on the road, and we made plans to have dinner tonight. I’m sure he’s picked out something fabulous for us. After all, a man only gets one chance to impress me on a date, so he knows what the stakes are. Anyway, gotta go get ready for him. See you!”
Panic fills me. My brain is trying to make sense of this, but it can’t. I try to draw a breath of air, but I can’t breathe.
Niko asked out Kimberlee?
I turn around and stare at my computer screen in shock. No. No, something’s not right. Not after the way he touched me and kissed my cheek on Thanksgiving. There’s no way he’d ask out Kimberlee.
No.
I don’t believe it.
I refuse to believe it.
I get up, but as I stand, I find my legs are shaking. My stomach is tied into a huge knot. I swallow hard and force myself to walk down the hall, to see if Niko is in his office.
And he is.
With Kimberlee.
He’s laughing with her and chatting, and all of the sudden my world crashes around me.
Was I simply the back-up plan this whole time? Until a girl more in his league came along?
A girl like Kimberlee?
Tears fill my eyes, but I’ll be damned if anyone is going to see them.
I spin around to leave but I hear Niko call my name.
“Lexi, come on in,” Niko calls out.
I freeze.
So now is the time he’s going to make it clear that he’s the really nice guy who wants to be my friend, like every other guy in my life?
Once again, I’ve been rejected. I’ve been rejected by my birth parents. Rejected by boys who could only see me as a friend.
But now I’ve been rejected by the only man I’ve ever fallen for, the one man I truly let into my life.
And that thought has destroyed my heart.
I force myself to turn around. And when I see Niko smiling at me, I feel nothing but pain ripping me apart.
“Just leaving,” Kimberlee says, winking at me. Then she glides past me and out the door. “Later, Niko.”
“Right,” Niko says, nodding at her.
As soon as Kimberlee is out the door, I step inside Niko’s office.
“Hey, I couldn’t wait to see you,” Niko says, moving past me and going to shut his door. “I just got here.”
After he shuts his door, he turns to me. Niko reaches for my hands, but I pull them away.
“Don’t.”
Niko’s eyes flicker in confusion. “What? Because we’re at work?”
I can’t do this. I erupt before I can stop myself.
“Don’t play me. Whatever you do, don’t play with my emotions like this. I deserve better,” I say, my voice shaking with anger. “I’m not a fucking toy for you to toss aside when something shiny and prettier comes along.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Niko asks, raising his voice. “Lexi, what is going on?”
“I’m not stupid,” I spit. “And if you want to go out with beautiful idiots then you’re not the man I thought you were. And definitely not the man I want to be with.”
I storm past him, but Niko grabs my arm and spins me around.
“Do you want to let me know what the fuck is going on here?”
“Oh, stop it,” I snap. “Go out with Kimberlee. She’s gorgeous.”
Recognition flashes in his blue eyes. “Come again?”
“I know you have a date with her tonight,” I cry, my voice rising. “She told me so. That you’d been texting her and you’re going to take her somewhere nice this evening. So fine, go ahead. I don’t care. Be with that reality show reject if you want to. But if you expect me to sit on the sidelines and wait for you to see me as a date when she doesn’t work out, you can forget it.”
Niko releases my arm. And now I see nothing but pure fury etched on his face.
“So that’s what you honestly think?”
I swallow hard but don’t say a word. And I can tell my silence is upsetting him.
“Nice. Really nice, Lexi. Because I thought you knew me better than anyone else, but if you think that, you don’t have a fucking clue,” he says, his deep voice reverberating with anger.
“Don’t put this on me. I don’t want to hear it.”
“Too bad, you’re going to hear it. Yes, I’ve been texting Kimberlee. After she texts me with questions about Demons Magazine. She has been hounding me to go to dinner so I can help her with her reporting technique. I relented and agreed to do it tonight. In fact, I just agreed to it an hour ago, and I didn’t even have a chance to tell you about it.”
I feel my heart spiral into my stomach. I see the hurt on his face, and I know I’ve made a horrible, horrible mistake.
“And that’s it,” Niko continues. “But if you think after all the time I’ve spent with you, that I’m after some blond bimbo’s tits and ass, then you’re not the person I thought you were. And we definitely shouldn’t date.”
“Niko,” I say, my voice breaking. “I—”
Niko angrily strides past me to his door. He puts his hand on the doorknob but stops to look at me with nothing but hurt and anger in his eyes.
“By the way, I was going to ask you to be my date for Casino Night today. But I’m going to ask Kimberlee now. Apparently she’s more my type, right, Lexi?”
Then he jerks open the door and storms out.
Somehow I manage to keep it together at work until it’s time to go home. I drive on autopilot back to Uptown, fighting back tears as I head to the apartment I share with Kenley. I turn the key in the loc
k and find it dark, as Kenley is staying at Nate’s tonight.
And as soon as I shut the door behind me and flip the lock, I burst into tears.
I keep replaying our entire fight on a loop in my head, cringing when I get to me throwing ridiculous accusations in his face. How pissed-off and hurt Niko was by the fact that I could even entertain these thoughts in my head, let alone believe them.
I head to the couch and flop down on it, grabbing a throw pillow to sob into. And thanks to my own insecurity, I shoved him right into Kimberlee’s waiting arms.
Suddenly my phone buzzes. My heart jumps, and I fumble in my purse for it. Maybe Niko is responding to my apology text. Maybe he’s calmed down enough so he’s willing to talk.
But my heart sinks when I look down and see that it’s Kenley calling me.
I swallow down my tears and answer. “Hello?”
“What the hell is going on? Why is Kimberlee posting pics of Niko on her Connectivity Pic Chat page? Why is she saying she’s on a date with him? Why are they are sharing a romantic Italian dinner with the hashtag ‘don’t be jealous’?”
I feel like I’ve been punched. I want to throw up. And I can’t breathe.
Of course Niko isn’t going to text or call me.
He’s on a date right now.
And the thought of him being with her and asking her to Casino Night makes me lose it.
“Lexi! Lexi, what’s wrong?” Kenley asks, her voice filling with concern at the sound of my sobbing.
“I shoved him right into her arms, how about that?” I manage to get out.
“No. I don’t believe for a millisecond that he’s interested in Kimberlee. Not after what I saw on Thanksgiving,” Kenley declares. I hear Nate’s voice in the background, and then Kenley continues. “Nate agrees with me. And I don’t care what you could have done, there’s no way Niko likes her. No way.”
“Kimberlee’s an idiot,” Nate yells so I can hear him.
“Well, I accused him of wanting to go out with her and keeping me as a back-up plan, how about that for starters?”
Kenley is silent for a moment, and I bite my lip to keep another sob from escaping my throat.
“I’m coming home. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“No,” I say firmly. “Please don’t. It will make me feel worse knowing I’ve ruined your evening.”
“You’re my best friend, and I’m going to be here for you. Right now. You’re going to tell me everything, and then we’re going to fix it.”
She hangs up, and despite the fact that I hate ruining her plans with Nate, I’m so grateful she’s coming back tonight.
And maybe, just maybe, Kenley can help me figure out if I can fix things with Niko after all.
After going through a box of tissues and a few glasses of wine, and endless episodes of Say Yes to the Dress on TV with Kenley, I start to get a better perspective on things.
Kenley pointed out several things I couldn’t see in my state of panic. Like that while Niko is furious right now, he’s not irrational. He wasn’t going to like Kimberlee simply because he was mad at me. And even if he did ask her to Casino Night, it would be to upset me and nothing more.
“But I don’t think he’d do that,” Kenley declares, tucking a lock of her long, wavy blond hair behind one ear. “He said that out of anger.”
“But that won’t change how much I hurt him,” I admit.
“You need to tell him why you drew that conclusion,” Kenley says. “Your past drove you there, Lexi. Niko would get that. I know he would. This is nothing you both can’t resolve when you are calm enough to talk.”
Then she sits straight up on the couch. “And we can give him a shove on Casino Night.”
I see how her blue-green eyes are lit up, and I know there’s a plan she’s coming up with, much like she does when she formulates a new truffle flavor and has the eureka moment.
“What are you thinking of?” I say, furrowing my brow. “Remember, this isn’t an episode of Gossip Girl,” I say, referring to one of our guilty Netflix pleasures.
“Two can play this game,” Kenley declares, swiping her phone off the coffee table.
“Who are you calling?”
“The one expert we have in our back pocket for hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” Kenley says devilishly. “We have CiCi on our team.”
“What?”
Kenley puts out her hand to silence me. “Mom? Hi . . . Very good, but Lexi and I need your help . . .”
I stare in shock as Kenley fills her mother in on the latest developments between me and Niko, and then she passes the phone to me.
“Mom wants to talk to you.”
I put the phone to my ear. “Hi, CiCi.”
“Darling Lexi,” CiCi says soothingly, “don’t you worry. We’re going to get his attention on Saturday night. I’m on it. The Greek One will realize he’s screwed up, as most men except for Nate and Ryan are prone to do, and he’ll be begging to speak with you, mark my words.”
“CiCi, I don’t know. I said some horri—”
“Listen to me,” CiCi interrupts. “That Bimbo With the Ridiculous Implants—I pulled up that slut’s account on Connectivity while Kenley was talking—doesn’t stand a chance when we take action. And neither will The Greek One.”
Then she hangs up.
I put Kenley’s phone down on the sofa. At this point I probably don’t have a choice but to put all my cards in CiCi’s hands for Saturday.
And I pray she can somehow come up with a royal flush on Casino Night.
Chapter 16
The One Online Dating Service Profile Question: Do you have a jealous streak?
My write-in answer: When it involves a genetically blessed woman with surgical enhancements who could be a Victoria’s Secret model, then yes. YES I DO.
I stand outside the Grand Ballroom at the ultra-chic Jourdin Dallas Hotel. I draw a nervous breath of air and fight the nausea that is attacking my stomach.
It’s Casino Night.
And Operation The Greek One is about to get underway.
I pace for a bit before making my entrance. The fringe of my black cocktail dress sways back and forth as I move. I catch a glimpse of myself in the glass window of the ballroom, and I hardly believe it’s me I’m looking at. I’m wearing this gorgeous fringe dress which makes me feel sexy. I have on glittery high-heeled Jimmy Choo sandals, ones my mother bought me last year and that I swore I’d never go anyplace where I could actually wear them. My auburn hair is swept back into a loose chignon, and my lips are matte red.
I open my matching Jimmy Choo sparkle clutch and retrieve my cell phone. I message everyone with a WhatsApp group text that I’m outside the ballroom and wait for instructions. If so much weren’t riding on this I’d laugh at the absurdity of what I’m about to do. But since Niko hasn’t responded to my text, and didn’t even come into the office Friday like he always does, I had no choice but to put myself into CiCi’s hands.
And attempt to make him see what he’s missing.
Beep!
I glance down and see that Holly has messaged me:
Go to the back of the ballroom. Niko is at a craps table. He looks miserable. Heads up, Kimberlee is at his side.
Oh God. Did Niko really ask her to be his date? I thought he said that out of anger. Is that why he didn’t reply to my text? Tears prick my eyes at the thought.
Beep!
Now CiCi has replied:
That Booby Bimbo doesn’t stand a chance. Make your entrance, Darling.
Before I can respond, another text drops in, this time, from Amanda:
If he asked her he’s an idiot.
Beep!
Now Kenley has responded:
He didn’t. No way. I�
��m with CiCi at the blackjack table where Nate is dealing.
I take a moment to compose myself. I blink any form of tears away and draw a breath of air. This is it. If I’m going to get Niko’s attention and get him to talk to me, now is the time to do it.
Determination fills me. I draw myself up tall in my gorgeous shoes. Okay, so I did make a mistake in thinking what I did.
But I also deserve a chance to explain myself.
And right now I’m going to get it.
I stride into the ballroom, which has a sexy vibe to it thanks to the backlit blue lighting and amazing crystal chandeliers lighting the massive room. All around me I see women in gorgeous dresses and men in sharp suits, milling around gaming tables or selecting items from the elaborate buffets. Laughter, conversation, and music fill the air. I check in at the reception table, and a woman cheerfully puts a wristband on my left wrist and explains what is going on, from games to the silent auction, but I barely comprehend what she’s saying. I politely nod, thank her for the information, and head toward the gaming area.
I move through the crowd with purpose, determined to find Niko. I locate Nate dealing at a table. CiCi has Kenley seated to her left, and on the right she’s next to Peter Deveraux, the famous hotel mogul and owner of the Dallas Demons. He’s talking to her, and CiCi throws her head back and laughs at what he’s said.
If I didn’t have my own drama going on, I’d be fixated on this. CiCi usually hates men, but since Kenley started dating Nate and she began seeing a life coach, she’s changed. And now—is she flirting with the owner of the Demons? Once my own love life is straightened out, I need to find out more about that.
I glance at the next table, a roulette wheel, and Harrison Flynn is manning that game. He’s grinning and encouraging his players while Kylie, his wife, is sitting at the end of the table, waiting for her turn to play.
