Or perhaps she was just reacting to the idea of a guy this hot being an ass. A charming ass, who would dazzle your socks off then leave you confused and wanting more.
The world wasn’t fair.
So absorbed in her thoughts was she that Alex didn’t see him coming closer – until there was a hand extended right in front of her.
“I’m Nick Marino.”
She stared at it for a few seconds, wondering if she should touch it.
“It’s not going to bite,” Nick murmured, amused.
Alex took it reluctantly. “Alice.”
His handshake was firm. Strong.
“…last name?”
“We’re not that acquainted for me to give it out.”
“Funny. You just gave me your first name, which speaks intimacy in most countries.”
So did the fact that their hands were still touching.
“Well, this is America. You never trust anyone in America that easily.”
“Are you always this paranoid?”
She tugged at her hand. He wouldn’t let go. “Are you always this insistent?”
He grinned again, then slowly let her hand go. “Touché.”
They stayed quiet until the elevator landed on the first floor.
“Are you off to eat?” he asked as the door was opening.
Alex stared. “What’s it to you?”
The man named Nick shrugged. “I’m hungry. Plus you’re fun company.”
The sardonic way he said it almost had her laughing out. Charm in spades. Instead, Alex shook her head and walked out. Then she turned slightly to give him a bright, innocent smile.
“No thanks. I’m paranoid, remember?”
His laughter echoed as the elevator door closed on him.
---
Alex bumped into her brother at the front door of their building, and she was too surprised to see him that it took her a moment before happiness rushed in and she made a move to give him a hug.
He was faster, already hugging her and trying to twirl her around – not an easy feat considering she weighed much, much heavier than her skinny brother.
“Alessandra!”
He said her name so delightedly, she couldn’t help but grin. Then they began peppering each other with questions – well, she peppered, and he fired back answers with unbridled enthusiasm.
When did you get back? How was your flight? How are you? Have you been eating? Do you have food right now because I’m hungry? Do you have a girlfriend? Where’s your rabbit’s foot?
The last one wasn’t answered because something at Alex’s back caught his attention – or rather, someone. Knowing exactly who it was, Alex rolled her eyes and tugged Sam along.
“Come on, let’s get something to eat.”
Sam ignored her and continued staring at her back. Suddenly, his blue eyes lit up and he was pulling away from her.
“Alex, quit tugging and come meet my old college roommate – or you could say, our lucky charm!”
Oh, no.
Sam had to be kidding. There had to be a different person behind them.
Alex turned around, hoping for a miracle. Instead, she found brown eyes staring at her in smug delight.
Well, hell.
CHAPTER FOUR
Nick observed the interaction in front of him as he leisurely bit on his pizza slice.
After the pleasantries were over (to Sam’s obvious joy and Alex’s obvious disbelief), they had decided to order pizza for delivery and just eat in Alex’s apartment – which was a good thing, because a writer’s first job was getting the lay of the land before penning anything.
She had no personal stuff except for a stack of video games on the coffee table and some figurines on a shelf, most unrecognizable to Nick’s untrained eye. There were books, too, the variety too vague for him to determine what genre she liked best. In partiality, it told him that she liked video games (of course) and liked to read here and there. He already knew that she was a bit paranoid and funny when she preferred it.
She could also freeze you over with one perfectly placed glare.
Nick sat at the blue couch while the siblings went straight for the kitchen, which was just a few steps away – hence he could hear every other word that was being furiously whispered. Sam and Alessandra – or Alice or Alex or better known as Axel – were at it for a few minutes now. It seemed like Alex was arguing over the choice of a certain arrogant jerk being the contender for revealing her most precious secret to the world, and Sam was trying to cajole her out of her bad mood.
And here he thought he’d already won her over.
Letting the cheese melt in his mouth, Nick allowed himself to stare unashamedly at them. No wonder she had seemed familiar. Sam had showed him a picture of his sister years ago, smiling shyly at the camera and wearing a red Christmas sweater. She had been chubby and cute back then, with her silver braces and her royal blue glasses. Sam had talked enough about her that Nick felt like he knew her already, though they didn’t go to the same school. When Sam had become famous years later, it didn’t sink in Nick’s mind that the sister would be the mysterious gamer.
She wasn’t chubby now, but she was curvy enough to lead in that direction – and the outfit wasn’t exactly helping. Sam, in the meantime, was as tall and lanky as he had been in college. The only similarities they had was the brown hair.
Alex suddenly smiled at Sam, and a tiny dimple appeared beside her mouth.
Ah. And that.
A few seconds later, they were headed for the living room. Ignoring him, Alex plopped herself on the other end of the couch, grabbed a pizza slice and hungrily dove in.
“So,” he drawled. “I take it we’re all good now?”
“Yes,” Sam agreed.
“No,” Alex said at the same time. She closed her eyes and openly savored her bite, a trait he appreciated in women.
“I thought you were ready to reveal yourself to the limelight,” he said.
“If the right person handles it,” Alex countered.
Nick smiled. “Trust me, I’m the right person to handle it.”
She frowned and went for a second slice. Sam, oblivious to the tension, went on about how excited he was about everything. Alex ate a third slice, remaining silent while they mused about college memories.
When it was time to discuss the game again, Alex hastily said she had errands to run.
Leaving Sam to unpack his bags, Nick went after her.
---
He was nothing if not persistent.
Alex tried to ignore him while she wandered the breakfast aisle and filled up her cart with food to last her a month, but he wasn’t exactly the sort of person you ignore. Nick radiated presence, even when he didn’t say a word as he walked in step beside her, curiously eyeing her choices.
Had she been the patient sort, she’d have remained silent and had the satisfaction of watching him slink away in defeat. But being pursued – for professional and personal reasons – was something she wasn’t used to, and when Alex was uncomfortable, she babbled.
“We’re not friends,” she said firmly.
The dangerous smile came on again. “Exactly why I’m trying to befriend you.”
She scoffed. “So you could write your piece and get on with your life?”
“So I could help your brother out. This is as important to him as it is to me.”
That shut her up and made her study him. Comfortable with the scrutiny, Nick reached behind her for a bag of Cheerios, indicating with his hand at her cart. She reluctantly nodded her consent and he tossed it in.
“What is it about me that you have a problem with, exactly?”
Plenty, she wanted to say. She settled for the generic.
“I don’t like you, Nick.”
“Why?”
Because guys like him used girls like her, then tossed them aside – and she knew this from experience.
“Because you’re used to getting what you want, and that makes you arroga
nt. And you’re a flirt.”
Part of Alex wanted him offended by her frankness, but she found it a lost cause when he gave her an appreciative stare.
“You want to know something, Alessandra?”
“Alice,” she corrected.
“One – I do get what I want, because I work hard for it. There’s no point in hiding that.”
Silence.
“Two – I can be bullheaded and persistent—”
She smirked.
“—but I’m all about good journalism, and would never resort to deceit to get my readers hooked.”
Hmm. Point taken.
“Lastly – this entire thing between us is going to be strictly professional. I have respect for your brother and I want this article to be a success.”
She frowned. She remembered her brother mentioning a Nick a few times when they were young, and he often used two words to describe the guy: brash and loyal.
“Now, to keep it simple – you tell me what you want and I tell you what I want.”
Alex thought this over. Then she rapidly fired off.
“You keep the article objective. No personal biases involved.”
“Check.”
“You attend one video game meeting with me. You need to get a feel of the other players, too.”
“Check.”
“You play StarCross. You need to get a feel of what’s it like, otherwise you’d be doing this blindly.”
He winced slightly at the last one, but nodded his head.
“Anything else?”
“That’s all. For now.”
“My turn.”
“Fine.”
“I ask you reasonable questions, you don’t give me crap about it.”
“Check.”
“You come with me – you and Sam – to our annual media party. It will be to start off of your launch – though we won’t reveal the Axel part yet. I’ll just get you guys out in circulation, so every news place in the city will be aware there’s something big going on involving you two.”
“Check.”
“You allow me to give you a makeover.”
“No,” she said automatically.
Without missing a beat, he tossed a bag of Hershey’s kisses in her cart. “It won’t be drastic. You can’t attend the party looking like that.”
Alex sulked at this. Then she shrugged. “Fine.”
“You’ll thank me later, Alessandra.”
“Alice. Ah-lice.”
“Alex,” he compromised.
“Fine. Alice in public.”
“Fine. So do we have a deal?”
It didn’t sound too bad.
But then again, so did dealing with the devil until the bargain was done.
“Deal.”
They shook their hands on it.
CHAPTER FIVE
It took Alex a few days to get Nick familiar with the types of games she usually played, and the mechanics of each. Warcraft was the most popular one, of course – but StarCross was the one she played with her brother, and it was the one where she secretly had the best record. Educating him with only words and YouTube videos was the first step, but she knew it wasn’t as effective as the one he really needed to experience – using a mouse and keyboard all on his own.
“This is pretty easy,” he said confidently once he got past level one.
“You wish,” Alex muttered, happily anticipating level two.
Two weeks and plenty of takeout boxes later, they were at level two and he declared it the most frustrating game he has ever played.
She smirked and kept the food and coaching coming. He wasn’t so bad, as it turned out. Maybe a bit impatient, and plenty cocky. But he had his upsides – like being very intelligent and genuinely kind to her brother. He asked questions about her life, but he didn’t push it on the sensitive ones.
Her eyes trailed over his profile as Nick frowned at his latest quest, one hand distractedly sweeping his hair out of his forehead. Those brown eyes were heavy with focus, and his body was tensed forward as he steadily navigated his character. His muscles shifted when he moved. In response, warmth spread in her stomach.
He wasn’t that bad to look at, either.
Don’t go there, Alex.
He was very good at his job, too – something she discovered when Googled his name on the internet and found articles written with wit and accurate details.
On the second week, she joined him and they played a dual battle for the first time. They lost, of course, and Alex hated losing. The battle continued on, and they ended up yelling at each other as Nick led his character into the maze, even when Alex told him it was going to be very dangerous.
“I explicitly told you not to go there—”
“You only said it was dangerous—”
“That means the same thing!”
“That means it’s irresistible! You didn’t say no!”
His character died a very horrible death at the hands of a gnome.
“A gnome,” he said in disbelief.
“A very dangerous gnome,” she disputed.
They lost again.
The third time they lost a battle, Alex wanted to throw her pillow at him for not listening to her again. He ended up throwing his pillow on the floor and crazily announcing that he wasn’t going to stop until they won this thing.
On the third week and the nth battle, they were almost winning. She let her character rest and let him take control, watching his every move with rapt attention.
“What should I do?”
“I’ll let you decide that on your own,” she teased. A small smile played on her lips despite herself at the excitement she heard in his voice.
His character went head-to-head with a giant snake, and got trapped in a corner.
“Alex, a little help here,” he grumbled.
Amused, Alex relented and nudged his hands to get his character in the right direction. Thirty minutes later, the computer declared his first victory in neon green letters.
“Hell, yeah!” Nick shouted at the top of his lungs, grinning. He reached for her for a hug, but Alex backed away before he could.
“Oh, no – you haven’t taken a bath in days. Keep that hug to yourself, dude.”
Still grinning, Nick ignored her protests and dragged her towards him, telling her to quit whining and hugging her fiercely. Alex yelped as her head got buried in his shoulder. It was a hard shoulder, and she suddenly found herself assaulted by the scent of sweat and blatant maleness. Unexpectedly (liar), lust shot in her system, almost like coffee.
This was so wrong.
Alex wondered if she was insane, or just high from lack of sleep. Memories of the battles and his epic fails flashed through her mind, particularly the gnome.
Unbidden, she snickered nonstop.
“Gnome wuss.”
He chuckled at that. She did too, and suddenly they couldn’t stop.
“You guys are weird.”
Sam’s voice snapped them both out of their state, and Alex jerked away. Nick, unbothered, kept an arm on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off good-naturedly and went to her brother instead.
“Hey, Sam. Glad you finally got out.”
“Me, too, sis – me too. Christ. That was a long time to be inside that room.”
He had isolated himself for almost three weeks now to work on his game at her guest room, getting out only to bathe and eat at Alex’s insistence.
“So it’s done?” Nick asked.
“It’s done,” Sam confirmed, nodding his head. He turned to Alex and beamed like a kid, reaching his arm out for an embrace. “Christ, Alessandra, it’s done.”
They couldn’t stop talking after that. Nick demanded that they discuss marketing strategy, while the siblings could only discuss mechanics and game characters. Wanting to celebrate, Alex decided to cook her special pasta dish while Sam took a bath in their bathroom and Nick went to his unit to do the same.
He came back with red wine and the three ate he
artily – and kept on discussing. After arguing good-naturedly for what felt like minutes, Alex glanced at her watch and was startled to see that more than an hour had gone by.
“Yikes.”
“What?” Nick asked.
“The video game meeting. We need to go.”
Nick’s hand froze mid-sip. “Now?”
“Yup.”
Sam shook his head and said he was gonna pass on this one, since he hadn’t slept for more than twenty-four hours now. Watching him sleepily trail off, Nick raised a brow.
“Do we have to?”
She gave him a look. “A deal’s a deal, right?”
Nick sighed and disappeared back into his unit, obviously not excited.
Alex grinned at his back.
“You’ll love it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered.
She threw a pillow at him.
CHAPTER SIX
“So…this is the group meeting.”
Nick wasn’t exactly sure what he was expecting. Perhaps some tiny, boring group discussion where everyone sat in a circle and discussed boring games very seriously. He expected guys wearing glasses and limited edition game shirts, and girls wearing...baggy sweaters, maybe? Or costumes? There was a sprinkle of those here and there, but the majority in the room looked normal, even well-dressed. It wasn’t even a room, per se – it was a very big hall.
And this wasn’t some meeting.
This was a freaking convention of epic proportions.
There were tables everywhere, with game character figures displayed and beer. And wines, lots of wines. There were crowds of people milling about, standing or sitting in groups and involved in loud, friendly arguments. There were booths, one for each video game, selling food and merchandise and anything in between.
“So this is your regular meeting?”
Alex nodded her head, looking around excitedly. She was wearing a black shirt that said Wowing the WoW in big white letters, and loose jeans. She had glasses on, these yellow things that obstructed his view of her eyes. He could tell they were sparkling though, just by the sound of her voice when she talked.
Best Friends To Lovers Romance Series: Complete Series Boxed Set Romance Page 18
