“Mr. Hunter?” an anxious voice called from the other side of the door. The voice of a young man, probably one of the wait-staff. “Mr. Hunter, is everything alright?”
The door shook again, and Nick bowed his head with an almost imperceptible sigh. He flashed me the quickest of glances, before his lips twitched up with a regretful smile.
“Yeah, Jake. Everything’s fine.”
Fine was one way of putting it. I had never felt so unbalanced in my entire life. It was like I was having some kind of out of body experience. A dream from which I couldn’t wake up.
I tried to come out of it, while I hastily straightened my dress. Pressed against the far wall of the little room, Nick was having a similarly hard time fixing his own attire. No matter how calm he might have looked on the outside, his hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
To make matters worse, this Jake—whoever he was—was unbearably persistent. Not a second later, the bronze handle rattled again.
“The door is locked—”
“Yeah,” Nick interrupted with a touch of impatience, “I’m opening it up right now.”
Before he did so, he cast a quick glance over his shoulder. Our eyes met, and upon seeing my clothes straightened and smoothed, he sighed again with the deepest frustration.
“You ready?” he asked softly.
No. Not hardly. Not at all.
“Yeah,” I replied, giving my dress one more unnecessary pat down. “Lead the way.”
There was a tiny crowd waiting for us when stepped out. A crowd consisting mainly of butlers, security, caterers, and half a dozen other people who had worked themselves up into a panic that one of the world’s richest men had somehow barricaded himself in the coat closet.
In the forefront stood Max Marino—Nick’s long-suffering bodyguard, and one of his closest friends. His eyes sparkled with amusement as Nick stepped self-consciously out of the closet, just as he’d done so many times before, but then widened almost imperceptibly when I was the one who followed him out.
My cheeks burned bright pink, and I made a conscious effort to avoid his gaze. It was bad enough that he and I usually covered for Nick in these types of situations together. I couldn’t begin to comprehend how I’d somehow ended up on the other side of the door.
Nick, as was his habit, fell into his usual routine.
Lik
e he did in most cases where he needed an escape, he made a bee-line for the imposing man, glaring viciously over Max’s bulky shoulder as the rest of the crowd scattered and fled. It was a well-tested strategy. Max tended to have that effect on people.
“What’s new, boss?” Max asked quietly. It was the standard question he asked whenever his charge got in over his head, but under the present circumstances, it suddenly sounded entirely different. “I heard some chatter over the staff radio and came to find you.”
“Came to find me after the siege had already started,” Nick retorted, taking a moment to quickly tuck in his shirt. My face blanched. I hadn’t realized he’d begun taking it off.
Max’s dark eyes twinkled, gazing down with the affection one might show to a wayward younger brother. “Perhaps if you had given me a bit of warning—”
“Aren’t you supposed to have my back with these sorts of things?” Nick interrupted impatiently. I blushed and hid my eyes as he straightened his crooked tie. “Stand as a lookout or something? What the hell am I paying you for?”
Max graciously suppressed a smile as he batted away his boss’ manic hands and straightened the tie himself. “I’m supposed to stand as a lookout for you and Abigail? Since when?” His voice was innocent enough, but the implication was overwhelming. “I wasn’t aware of that.”
Nick’s eyes shot up to his, before he dropped them quickly—running a casual hand back through his messy hair. “Yeah, well...now you are.”
This time, it was my turn to look surprised. This wasn’t some ‘heat of the moment’ kind of thing? This was to be a regular occurrence? One that came with a lookout?
One that was going to happen again?
“Are you two an item now?” he asked. “And when did this exactly happen?”
I looked up at him. “I’m his fake girlfriend, since he fired his last one.”
Nick rolled his eyes. “I had no choice! The woman was impossible. But I’ve got you now and that’s a million times better.”
Max smiled. “I’m glad to play along. I can do anything you want. If you need me Nick, I’m here for you.”