Solving For Nic Read Online Free PDF Page B

nodded toward the stage where Jared and Adam had the crowd under their spell.
    Lizzie smiled as she watched Jared crouch down and sing to a couple of girls standing by the stage. One almost fainted. Adam shook his head in disgust and played his guitar. He was as serious as Jared was crazy.
    Then fingers had hold of her chin bringing her attention back to the man holding her. Jared and Adam were boys compared to Nic. Lizzie was way out of her league with him.
    “The musicians. Are you waiting for them to finish?”
    She tilted her head and slicked her tongue across her dry bottom lip. She loved the way he honed in on the small movement. It made all the liquid in her body start to simmer.
    “What if I was?” she taunted, knowing she was poking a real live tiger. She couldn’t stop herself.
    Her breath caught as he moved in, backing her up against a wall vibrating with bass. He crowded straight into her personal space until nothing else existed but him. His dangerous edge was back and once again her response was seriously inappropriate. Instead of trying to get away from him, she lit up like a Roman candle.
    “Tell me about blue-haired boy.”
    She tried to smile but she was trembling too hard. This was definitely not the elegant man she’d danced with at the wedding. This guy was ruthless and…hungry?
    “He’s a friend.”
    He relaxed but didn’t move away from her. Instead his head came down, but he didn’t kiss her. His mouth opened against her throat and Lizzie’s water bottle crashed to the floor, water going everywhere.
    “Are you really this sweet?” The words wisped against her ear, making the tiny hairs on her body decide to tango. “You are, aren’t you? Are you going to let me find out?”
    “Yes.” The word trembled out despite her mouth and throat feeling as dry as the Sahara.
    “Then come with me, Lizzie.”
    “Okay.” Her eyelids were starting to lose the war. The muscles in her neck were protesting and she wanted to lean into him until she was no longer in the world. Her body was going to burn to a crisp if she didn’t get next to him soon.
    “Don’t you want to know where?”
    “Doesn’t matter.”
    His smile was strange. “Then let’s go.”
    Her lips parted to speak as she stared up at him again. Time froze around them while they continued to move. Or they had slipped into imaginary time. Lizzie wasn’t sure.
    She was standing at one of the crazy crossroads life liked to throw at you. She saw her life down one road, all planned out and ready to go. Graduate School. Full Professorship. Tenure. Field medals. Finding a real unicorn or a nontrivial zero that wasn't on the half line of the critical strip. Her odds were on the unicorn.
    There was another, darker road, but Nic blocked the entrance. He held out his hand, ready to drag her away from both paths. His way was the most dangerous. The devil had nothing on Nic Maretti. The devil, like the unicorn, was the safer bet. He only wanted her soul. Nic would take everything.
    There was no way she could go back the way she came. If she did, she'd lie awake every night for the rest of her life regretting it. She had to go with him or she’d never get him out of her system.
    Staring at him too long was like staring into the sun. Her eyelashes flickered and she smiled. Alarm bells went wild in her head, but she ignored them. “Okay.”
    A smile curved his sensual mouth ripping through her like shrapnel. She had been gloriously and deliciously wrong. The fantasy she'd built around him wasn't even the tip of the iceberg. Nothing about Nic was ordinary. He was pure, dark, dangerous magic, and the rest of her life could hold on because Lizzie was going. Anywhere Nic wanted to take her was fine with her.
    He slid his arm around her waist then they stepped outside. The French Quarter was in full swing. People were milling everywhere as they walked to his SUV. He’d also parked at Elliot’s which surprised her. He opened the car with his remote