Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 76390 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76390 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Fuck. He could see it in her eyes, could see it in the way her lips parted in surprise and her entire face softened. She thought he was indirectly telling her she could do the invitations if she agreed to be his bride.
The moment he realized what she was thinking, it felt like someone was walking – no, stomping – all over his grave, and Nik’s jaw clenched.
The sensible part of him told Nik to be happy, but the stupid part of him told him to take it all back before it was too late.
This should make him happy. This was his opportunity to have his revenge. Daria was obviously convinced she had him, and now would be the best time to pull out the rug under her feet and show her that it was the other way around and she was the one he had eating out of the palm of his hand.
All of this should please him, so why the fuck did he feel like everything was just a second away from blowing up in his face?
Nik took a deep breath. He was going to tell her she had it completely wrong, he decided grimly. And after that, he would tell her this was the last day they would be together and that he never wanted to see her again.
He would make a clean break of it, and that would be it for them.
That was the plan.
But it didn’t happen, and Nik wasn’t able to take anything back because it was already too late.
From behind, Nik heard a familiar voice call out to him, “Nik, darling, I finally found you.”
Miranda.
Chapter Six
Daria had never thought herself to be the jealous type until that moment – until that second she heard another woman calling Nik by his name in a proprietary voice. It was a sound she’d probably never forget, and jealousy had already turned her blood cold even when she hadn’t yet turned around to see who it was.
In front of her, Nik’s face was tense and guarded, his eyes inscrutable. It made Daria straighten her back, as if her body instinctively knew it was about to be hurt.
She waited – she prayed and hoped, actually – for Nik to give her some sign – any sign – that the other woman saying his name like it was hers was no one, but there was none, and that was when her heart started to stutter.
Up, down, up, down it went, but Daria knew this time the rollercoaster her heart was on could – would – come crashing down at any moment.
The scent of perfume reached her first. Something bold, womanly, and expensive – something Daria would never have been able to wear without feeling like a fraud.
Down, down, down, down—-
The woman entered her line of sight. She stopped next to Nik, elegantly poised, speaking to him in fluent Greek with a teasing grin. She was tiny, with silky straight blonde hair and rosy white skin made seemingly translucent by her loose chiffon dress.
Down, down, down, down—-
Just looking at the other woman made Daria’s every insecurity rise to the fore, and she could feel herself inwardly shrinking the longer she stared at the couple in front of her.
It wasn’t that the other woman was prettier or sexier. Daria would have welcomed that kind of competition. But it wasn’t that. No, this newcomer was worse. This woman, with the way she just stood next to Nik’s chair, even flashing Daria a friendly smile – this woman threatened Daria the way no other female could.
This woman acted like she belonged to Nik, and Nik – the man who hated to hold hands, hated to do anything that would have made them look like a couple – that man, the man Daria felt something for, was letting her, was actually letting the other woman call him darling without biting her head off.
The fact made Daria’s own brain cringe for her while her heart...it was past stuttering.
Doooooooooown—-
It was staggering now, Daria’s emotional rollercoaster desperately trying to find a way to chug along even when—-
Nik stood up, and Daria almost tripped on her own feet as she struggled to do the same.
Standing together, Nik appeared more dashing while the woman appeared daintier.
But between Daria and the other woman, it was more like a troll looming over Thumbelina, and she itched to give the blonde ten-inch heels just so they could be on even footing, literally.
“Oh, dear.” A rueful note entered the woman’s voice as she looked alternately between Nik and Daria. “Did I come at a bad time?”
American just like her, Daria thought vaguely, recognizing the accent, but a lot smarter than Daria was since the other woman was bilingual at the very least.
“No. Of course not.” Nik’s voice was stiff as he answered Miranda, his gaze still trained on Daria. She had a fixed smile on her lips. It was a beautiful and terrible sight at the same time, and his tension increased.