Free From This Moment On by Bella Andre

used the other to pull him toward Nicola, who’d been watching them warily. “Come here. I can’t wait to introduce you to Nico.”
    Nico?
    Something flashed in his mind, a hint that he should know something he’d been missing since last night, but he was so off-kilter from seeing the woman he’d been reluctantly fantasizing about all day, that he couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
    “Nico, this is my brother Marcus.”
    Nicola—Nico didn’t sound quite right to him, even though his sister said it with such confidence—was gripping the wooden barre in front of the mirror so tightly he could see her knuckles turning white. Her face was on the white side, too, and she wasn’t doing a damn thing to erase the horror on her face at seeing him again.
    Guilt hit him square across the chest. She’d put herself out there by asking him for another night and he’d turned her down cold. Apart from the kiss, which had been anything but cold.
    And now, here he was, barging in on her dancing gig for a big pop star.
    Seeing him had to be the very last thing she wanted.
    Lori was looking between the two of them with an utterly confused expression. Knowing he’d better break the ice—and fast—before his sister clued in to just how wrong things were, he held out his hand and said, “It’s nice to meet you.”
    Nicola stared down at his hand for a long moment, before looking back at him with those big eyes that had been haunting him all day. Her movements were jerky, almost robotic, as she finally pushed away from the barre and put her hand in his.
    “Hi.” She cleared her throat as she yanked her hand away. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”
    The silence hung heavy and thick between them before he asked, “So, how long have you two been working together?”
    Lori shot him another strange look. “You know I’ve been working on this video shoot for the past couple of days.”
    Okay then, Nicola must be one of her new dancers. But before he could ask any other questions or try to make small talk to set Nicola more at ease, a large group started coming in through the doors. He recognized most of them as men and women Lori had worked with in the past and they raised their hands in greeting .
    “Got any vino for us, Marcus?”
    He smiled, but it didn’t feel right on his face, not with Nicola still looking at him like his appearance was totally and completely unwelcome .
    “I’ll make sure there’s a case waiting for you guys at the end,” he promised. He turned back to Lori. “Looks like you’re getting back to it. I’ll get out of your way.”
    She put her hand on his arm. “I wanted you to stay and watch.” She looked at Nicola. “It’s still okay if he hangs out, isn’t it?”
    Nicola licked her lips, looking uncertain. And then she smiled, a lifting of her lips that looked about as genuine as the smile he’d just given the dancers .
    “Of course.” Her lips moved into a wider smile, almost a grimace. “He should see the magic you’ve created, Lori.” Finally, she looked back at him, their gazes locking together and holding for a long moment before she said, “Your sister is amazing.”
    Nicola was so beautiful—so incredibly vulnerable as she stood there in front of him—that he had to focus hard just to get out the words, “I know.”
    They stood like that for way too long, staring at each other without speaking. At last, Lori said, “Come sit over here where no one will accidentally kick you in the face.”
    Someone turned on the music as he and Lori walked away from Nicola. “I didn’t think you’d act that way around her,” she hissed .
    Marcus mirrored back his sister’s frown. Had Nicola told his sister about meeting him? About going back to Smith’s house and falling asleep on his lap?
    No. Lori wasn’t capable of holding something like that inside. She would have called him hours ago to demand to know what he was doing fooling around with someone she worked with.
    “Nico has to