"Come up," she said on a defeated sigh.
Nikos had not conquered her desire to be alone and think; her own conflicting needs undermined it. She wanted to spend time with him. She craved his presence like a drug and was just glad he wasn't one. She'd always thought she had a strong sense of self-control, but when it came to Nikos, she lost touch with it and her sense of self-preservation as well.
Which was one very good reason for not giving him an answer to his proposal tonight.
He climbed out of the car and came around to open her door. Always the gentleman, even more so than a lot of men born to money, social elevation and manners. He helped her from the car, transferring his hand to the small of her back once she was standing. She realized he did that a lot, this guiding her where he wanted her to go with a possessive-protective hold.
He kept his hand on her even in the elevator. He did that a lot, too…simply touching her for the sake of doing so, not because he needed to. He touched her like she was already his. It was one of the reasons she had been so confused over him not pressing to have sex.
She understood better now, but wasn't sure that with understanding came acceptance.
Silence reigned in the elevator on the way to her fifth-floor apartment and no one else joined them to break it. It wasn't an awkward silence, but she was lost in her own thoughts and she sensed that Nikos was content to leave her that way.
He waited patiently for her to open her apartment door and deactivate her alarm with the code and her thumbprint. The double locks on the solid steel door molded to look like a classic paneled wood door undid with a snick . She pushed the door open and led him inside.
"I like the security here."
She laughed. Sometimes, she got the impression that, like her mother, Nikos considered the security at the Denver Mint no more than routine. "I picked out the apartment in a secure building to help Mom make the transition to me no longer living at home. That wasn't good enough for her. She gave me a security system installed by Stellar Security for a housewarming gift."
"I have used that firm before myself. They are very good."
"I'll say and the installation expert was to-die-for gorgeous."
"Was he?" Nikos, asked in a rough voice.
"Totally delicious." She licked her lips. "But too short for me. He came all the way from the head office in Sicily. Mom demanded the best."
"I must then be grateful I inherited some tall genes somewhere, hmmm?"
She eyed his six-foot-three frame. "I bet that's one good thing you got from your father."
Nikos frowned, but he didn't deny it. Considering the fact that his mother was barely over five feet, maybe he couldn't.
"We all inherit things from our parents, and we hope they are the best things," she said as she led him into the living room. "I got my mom's stubbornness. Just ask her."
Nikos waited until she sat down on the blue leather retro sofa before settling right beside her. "I have no need, having seen ample evidence of it myself."
She laughed again, loving just being there with Nikos at that moment in time. She kicked off her sandals and curled her feet under her, turning her body slightly so she faced him.
He wasn't smiling in response to her laughter. Instead he was looking at her like he was trying to piece together what made her tick. "You're very understanding of Rachel's need to protect you."
"I love her." She sighed. "And I understand that as the sole heir to a woman as wealthy as she is that I'm a good candidate for a kidnapping."
"Yet you insist on living alone."
She barely stifled the urge to snort. "I don't exactly live alone, do I? Her security team has the next apartment over. They monitor me as well as my apartment while I am gone."
"Wouldn't it be easier to simply live in your mother's home?"
"Maybe, but while it may not be perfect, I have a lot more independence than I would have if I had stayed at home." It was also easier to convince herself that the reason she saw so little of her mother was that they lived apart, not because she didn't care enough to make any time for her. "Besides, I really don't want my mom's money dictating every aspect of my lifestyle."