Chapter 55

• “I'm sure you will,” Annabelle acquiesces in a hushed murmur, knowing he’ll probably get so much more than just that from her.
• He stares at her for a moment, a mix of emotions flickering through pools of emerald before he shrugs nonchalantly and looks out to the ocean, effectively stopping any chance Annabelle has of reading what is in them. “At first my parents used Kensington as a way to try and protect me as a child. When we traveled or had to use an alias, we would use it. But as I got older,” he takes a sip of his beer, “and as I got into racing, I wanted to make sure that I was good because of me, not my dad’s name. I didn’t want to be seen as some spoiled Hollywood kid who was just using his name and daddy’s money to make it.” He looks up at her, snagging a fry off of her plate despite having a plethora himself. “I wanted to earn it. Really earn it.” He flashes that grin at her again. “Now it doesn’t really matter. I could care less what anybody writes about me. Thinks about me. But back then, I did.”
• A silence falls between them. Annabelle is having a hard time reconciling the arrogant, sexy troublemaker the media portrays with the man before her. A man comfortable with himself—and yet a part of her still feels like he is striving to find his place in this world. To prove he is worthy of all of the good and bad he has experienced in his life. She has a feeling that the real Nicholas is a little bit of both, angel and devil. “So Nicholas, how’d you find this place?” She picks up her glass by the stem and swirls the wine around absently in the glass before she takes a sip.