I took a long, nice shower. I wore my pink robe and dried my hair. As I walked towards my closet, I heard my doorbell ring. My brows scrunched in confusion. I wasn't expecting anyone. I walked to my door and opened it to find a squealing Sky and a grinning Beth. My eyes squinting between the two trying to figure out what they were up to. 

"We are here to get you ready for your date," Sky squealed, reading my confused expression. She pulled me towards my room, Beth following. She walked towards my closet and picked out the black dress that I bought yesterday and thrusted it in my hand. She pushed me towards the bathroom, "Go change. We just have two hours, not enough time," she groaned checking her watch and clicking her tongue. I heard the door shut behind me. I stood there for a minute, experiencing a mix of shock and resignation. I sighed, I hadn't uttered a single word till now, knowing that when Sky was upto something, there was nothing I could do. 

I changed into my undergarments and pulled the dress over me. I turned to look at myself in the mirror when I heard Beth call out, "Are you done?"

"Yes. Give me a minute." I said opening the door and walking out of the bathroom.

"Good. Now sit in front of the dresser, close your eyes and relax. Let Sky and I work our magic." I did as I was told.

After one and an half hour of tugging and twisting, "It's done. Open you eyes."  I heard Sky whisper. I looked at the mirror stunned. They had done a marvellous job. They had twisted my hair and pinned it to the back, leaving my hair loose. They had chosen black smoky look for my eyes matching it with a dark red lipstick. They curled my lashes, black cat winged eyeliner and mascara complimenting it. I wore a red six inches pumps, open toes and closed back. 

"Wow!" I exclaimed, my eyes glued to the mirror. I turned towards them and engulfed them in a hug. "You guys are the best."

"Of course we are," Sky said flicking her hair to the back while rolling her eyes. And with that we all burst out laughing. Nicole can be very dramatic at times. We suddenly heard the doorbell ring. Before I could take a step forward, Beth rushed past me to open the door, Sky hot on her heels. 

"I am Skylar, You must be Nicholas." I heard Sky say, not giving Nicholas a chance to speak. "If you hurt my best friend again, I will kick your balls so hard that you will never be able to father children." Sky threatened, her hands on her hips. I saw Nicholas gulp, he could see that she would really carry out her threat. Sky was a gem of a person and if you mess with someone close to her, she will become a tigress ready to pounce.

"I would never do that to her." I heard Nicholas say, his voice holding a promise. Satisfied with his answer, Sky's demeanour changed. A full blown smile made it to her face. 

I walked to where Nicholas, Beth and Sky were standing. Noticing me walking towards him, Nicholas sidesteps Sky and walks towards me. He bends down and pecks my cheeks. His eyes trailing down and then back up, taking me in. "You look stunning, absolutely beautiful," He whispers in my ear. 

"You look handsome too," I say as I take him in. Nicholas wore a grey blazer over a white t-shirt matching it with black denim. His hair messy, a light stubble on his face. I have never seen Nicholas so casually dressed. This suited him better, he looked carefree and not the domineering, intimidating businessman that he is.

"Are you ready?" He asks me, I nod as I grab my black Michael Kors purse. He takes my hand in his and walks towards the door. I look towards Sky and Beth to find them beaming at me. "Don't forget to use protection" I hear Beth say as we walk out of the door. I glared at her as I feel my cheeks turning warm, a blush making its way. 

"We won't." I hear Nicholas reply as he looks at me with a smirk on his face. I could see the mirth in his eyes as he was enjoying my embarrassment. I looked at him annoyed which made him laugh.  "You are so cute, so innocent," he says chuckling. I ignore him as I walk faster. We make our way to his car. 

"Your friends are... nice," he said finally breaking the silence as we drove towards Oak. 

"Yeah, they are. Sky is the cheery one, she is fiercely loyal and would go to any length for her loved ones. Beth is the feisty one, I have yet to meet a man who could handle her. However she is sensitive and soft on the inside, she just has walls build up around her, not letting anyone in." I say sighing. "What about your friends? How are they?" I ask him.

"Liam is the cheery one. He can lighten the mood and kill tension at any given point, believing  in living in the present rather than worrying about the future. A lady's man. I think he will match Sky's personality." He said winking, face turned towards me. "Alex is comparatively the more serious one. If you want an advice or want to talk to someone who would listen to you without judging then Alex is your guy. We always thought that he would be the last one to ever fall in love, he proved us wrong." He said chuckling. I could sense that Nicholas valued friendship just as much as I did. 

"We are here." Nicholas said pulling me out of my thoughts. Finding a spot to park our cars, we made our way to the club. The club filled with people.

We made our way towards the bar, I could see the silhouette of two men and a woman. As we walked towards them, I could see their faces clearly. There stood a brown haired man, he was wearing a black black t-shirt and blue jeans. His arms wrapped around a brunette woman. The woman was beautiful. She wore a knee length blue dress, her brown hair loose falling to her shoulders. Her slender nose was scrunched in what seemed like disgust looking at the man in blonde hair as he was roaring with laughter. 

"Hey Nick," the brown haired man greeted Nicholas with a fist bump that men do. "And you must be Hayley. Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Alex, this asshole's best friend." I laughed at that as he winked at me. I saw Nicholas scowl from corner of my eyes.

I saw two head turn towards us. "Hi! I am Emilie." the brunette said shyly. 

"Hi! I am Hayley. You look beautiful," I say. I could see her cheeks reddening, her eyes downcast. She was really cute. 

I was suddenly engulfed in a hug. I patted his back awkwardly. "I am Liam. I have been waiting to meet you since a longgg time." He said in his cheery voice, pulling away. 

"Can you keep your hands to yourself?" Nicholas said in a cold voice. I felt his arms wrap around my waist, his scowl deepening further. It seemed to have little effect on Liam as he took my right hand in his, placing a small kiss at the back of my palm. I could see a mischievous glint in Alex's eye. These two were upto something. They had planned this, probably to get on Nicholas' nerves and I could see that it was working. Nicholas pulled my hand that Liam was holding making it fall. He pulled me closer to his body and glared at Liam. Seeing Nicholas' reaction, Alex let out a chuckle, obviously enjoying this. 

"Chill bro! She is yours." Liam said winking at Nicholas. Nicholas and his friends, all looked like Greek gods. No wonder that they were the three of the most eligible bachelors in New York. Nicholas was the brooding one, Alex the mischievous one and Liam the cheerful and optimistic one.

"Why am I even friends with you two?" Nicholas asked rhetorically as he rubbed his forehead however I could see his lips twitch, he was suppressing his smile. 

Liam bumped his shoulders with Nicholas. "Because you love us," Liam said giving him a cheeky grin while Alex just looked at us with a smirk on his face, his elbows resting on the bar as he leaned on it with a glass of whisky in his hand. Nicholas rolled his eyes at that. 

Ignoring the banter between friends, I turned my attention towards Emilie. "Hi! You don't drink?" I ask as I take in her empty hands.

"No." She said in a very soft voice. I would have missed it if we weren't standing so close. 

"Do you want to dance?" I hear Nicholas whisper in my ear, his breath against my skin. I felt a shiver run down my body. I don't think I will ever get used to Nicholas' touch. I nodded in response. 

We made our way to the dance floor. Nicholas wrapped his hands around my waist, pulling me closer. My hands on his chest as we started moving to the music. His front pressed against mine, our face close to each other. My eyes kept darting between his grey eyes and his luscious lips. Not being able to control myself I stood on my toes, wrapped my hands around his neck pulling him closer. I kissed him on the lips taking him by surprise. The shock quickly wearing off as he pulled me even closer if that was even possible. His lips moving passionately against mine. He bit my lower lip asking for entrance. I parted my lips and felt his tongue enter mine, our tongues wrestling with each other for control. It must have been few minutes but it felt like hours when I tore my lips from his, breathless. 

"That was a first." Nicholas said smirking as I blushed. "Let's go back." He said pecking my lips and taking my hands in his. Liam was on the dance floor dancing with a red head. He surely was a lady's man. We walked to where Alex and Emilie were standing. They had their arms around each other. Emilie was looking down blushing and Alex smiling at her, his eyes shining brightly. I could see the way Alex looked at Emilie, his eyes full of love. Is that the way I look at Nicholas? I mused. What does Nicholas feel about me? I really wished that he said something. I sighed and felt my mood slightly dampening. 

"What is wrong?" Nicholas asked sensing the change in my mood. I just shrugged in response.

"I need to make a quick trip to the washroom." I told Nicholas. 

"I will come with you." I heard Emilie say. I nodded and we started walking towards the washroom. 

"So how did you meet Alex?" I asked Emilie. 

"I worked as a financial analyst in his company. I crashed into him one day, pouring my coffee all over his suit." She told me as she let out a small chuckle, probably reminiscing that day. "He was so angry at first but when he saw me, his anger vanished into thin air." I let out an awww. "And since then he started appearing on my floor everyday." I let out a chuckle at that. Men.

We entered the washroom which was surprisingly empty. We did our business and started making our way back. 

"What abut you? How did you and Nicholas meet?" I was about to reply to her question when we heard her phone ring.

"You should go ahead, I need to take this." I nodded at her. Emilie was in my line of sight so it was okay. I didn't want to leave her alone. 

Nicholas and Alex's back were towards me as I made my way towards them. They hadn't spotted me yet. 

"Does Hayley know that her father murdered yours?" I heard Alex say. I stopped dead in my tracks. It couldn't be... No.. I saw Nicholas shake his head. 

"You need to tell her. If she gets to know that she was part of your elaborate plan to get to her father, it would destroy her. I see the way she looks at you.. She is in love with you."

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