Read Team Niklas (The Saints Team #3) for Free Online Page A

ordered for him. It was weirdly comfortable, as though we were
housemates who would soon be fighting over the remote.
    “How do you feel about the
remote?” I asked, just out of curiosity.
    “I have to have it.”
    “Hmm,” I said. “Me too, especially
in my house,” I added.
    His eyes narrowed as he took that
in.
    “Buying dinner tonight is not
replacing Friday night dinner when you dress up, I pick you up and take you
somewhere nice. Right?” he asked.
    I delayed my response while we
moved to the sofa again and he joined me this time, abandoning the window sill.
We sat on opposite sides to each other.
    “Is this something you do… if a
girl turns you down on a date you pursue her until she changes her mind?” I
asked. “Or do you just persist until you understand why you’re not date-material
to every woman on the planet?” I wound some delicious noodles around my fork,
taking a huge mouthful with no thought of being glamorous.
    He shrugged. “I’ve never been
turned down before.”
    I nearly choked on my noodles, finishing
with a charming snort of derision.
    “What?” I said, swallowing. “How
old are you?”
    “Twenty-three,” he said. “And
you?”
    “The same, twenty-three.”
    “See we like our food and we’re
the same age, so many things in common,” Nik teased, and I snorted again in a
ladylike manner. I could understand why he was completely taken by me.
    I continued my research. “So let
me clarify this… you’ve never been turned down before? You’ve asked women out
though, right?”
    Nik rolled his eyes. “What do you
think?”
    “And you’d have a lot of women who
hang around you and want to go out with you right?” I continued.
    He shrugged. “Yes, but you’re the
only woman I’ve asked out who doesn’t find me attractive and won’t go on a date
with me.”
    “I didn’t say that… I mean clearly
you’re okay in the looks department,” I said. That shouldn’t make his head too
big.
    “Thanks, wow, big compliment.” He
feigned being overwhelmed. “Hold on, any minute we both won’t fit in here as my
head expands,” he joked.
    I grinned. “Okay, you’re good
looking, happy now?”
    “Very,” he said. “About what you
were saying before Sah-sha, your sister is lovely, but you are gorgeous. I
can’t believe you can’t see it,” he said.
    I stopped, my fork suspended in
mid-air and I looked at him. It wasn’t fair saying stuff like that without any
warning. I stuffed the noodles in my mouth and pretended I didn’t hear it; I
avoided looking at him but in my peripheral vision I could see him cock his
head on the side and study me.
    We sat in an awkward silence or
maybe it was just me that felt awkward. I swallowed. “Water top up?” I asked.
    “Please,” he said. He put his
unfinished meal down on the coffee table and waited for me to return before
eating. Nice. We ate our way through the meal. It was going well. Maybe we
weren’t jinxed after all, and as soon as I thought that, it happened again.
    My husband arrived.

 
    Chapter 5
     
     
    I heard the knock on
the door and looked at Nik. I’m very particular about my guests and I wasn’t
expecting a client.
    “Are
you expecting anyone?” I asked and he laughed.
    “Yeah
I gave out your address to everyone, told them to find me here,” he said, and continued
eating.
    I
rose and went to the door. I barely had it opened a foot before my husband, photographer-cum-druggy
Adam Lattimore stomped in. Just a bit taller than me, thin, hippy, artist,
boy-next-door charm—he looked more like a musician in a band than a
photographer.
    “It’s
official, we’re unofficial, babe, miss me yet?” he asked, and threw some
paperwork on the kitchen counter.
    Make
that my ex-husband.
    “Yeah,
well thanks for bringing around the paperwork and see ya,” I said, still
standing with the door open.
    “Thought
you might want to celebrate,” he smiled, grabbing my hips and pulling me close
to him. He had a smile that