Valeria felt the brush of his lips on her cheek, and he broke away a second later.

“You'd better put it on my tab, troublemaker, because I'm likely to end up doing worse things to you than just kissing you.”

“Stop it!” Valeria got annoyed, pulling away from him, and Nick smiled as he shook his head. Yes, that would be a war of attrition alright, but he would not be the one to give up.

He reached the door and waved goodbye with a half-smile, and Valeria went back to all her papers. That night