Touch Me Not (Manwhore, #1)(12)

“Joe’s okay?” he asked her.

“Sure,” she said. “They’ve got the best Reubens in town, and I’m starved.”

“Didn’t get to eat?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I had too much to do, speaking of which…”

Nikoli glanced over at her and grew slightly alarmed at the pissed off look on her face. “What?” he asked cautiously.

“You made one of my girls cry today.”

Nikoli groaned inwardly. He’d only had sex with one girl today, the lusty blonde from check-in. She was in Lily’s dorm? Damn.

“Lily, we’ve already been over this,” he warned. “Every girl I have sex with knows up front what to expect. I already told you this.”

“Oh, I know.” She nodded. “Stephanie knew it too, but she assumed she could make you feel differently.”

“Her mistake,” he put in quickly. “Not mine.”

“Agreed,” Lily said. “What I’m talking about is the fact you had someone, I’m presuming Luther, throw her out instead of having the decency to do it yourself. Do you even realize how used that makes a woman feel? Especially a nineteen year old girl?”

Well, hell. Who knew the blonde was going to land him in a morality lecture from Ms. Sweet and Innocent herself? Lily needed to stop trying to think of him as a decent guy. He wasn’t, and he knew it. He was a selfish bastard on the best of days.

“What’s your point, Lily?” he asked. “She knew what she was in for when she came back to my place. I was done and needed a shower. I figured she had the good sense to get gone. Not my fault Luther had to kick her out.”

“You really don’t care how your actions affect the women you sleep with, do you?” Lily asked, appalled.

“First, there’s no sleeping involved,” he grinned wolfishly at her, “and second, no, I don’t care. We both get mutual pleasure out of the deal. Why should I care about anything else?”

Lily opened her mouth, but he interrupted her. “Look, we could argue about this forever and we’d never agree, so let’s drop it, okay? We’re here, and I actually want to eat. I didn’t get lunch either.”

He’d brought her to Joe’s because he thought it would be the one place he wouldn’t run into many people she knew. Joe’s was a little hole-in-the-wall that specialized in Cuban cuisine, and most of the BU students specialized in pizza, burgers, and beer. Nikoli had been surprised Lily knew it. She kept surprising him the longer he was around her.

“Nik!” Joe boomed when they walked in the door. He found himself tucked into a huge bear hug. Joe owned the place and treated the regulars like family. Nikoli loved it here. He’d sat here for hours programming a new game before, and Joe supplied him with food and beer for as long as necessary. Most people did coffee shops; Nikoli did Joe’s.

“Hey, man.” Nikoli grinned when he got loose. “Got a free table?”

“Always for you, my friend.” Joe smiled, and then looked past Nikoli to where Lily stood watching, amused. “And who is this?”

“Joe, this is Lily Holmes.”

Joe frowned, and then he brightened. “Original Reuben?”

Lily smiled and nodded, causing Nikoli to frown.

“I do a lot of takeout from here,” she explained. “Mikey and I found the place last year, and I fell in love with the food. Mikey eats here too.”

“It is good to put a face to the name.” Joe smiled at Lily. “A beautiful face for a beautiful name.”

Lily blushed and Nikoli laughed. Leave it to Joe to try to schmooze his date. “Down, Casanova, she’s here with me.”

“You’ve never brought a girl in before.” Joe winked at him. “She must be very special.”

Lily laughed, but refrained from saying anything, much to Nikoli’s astonishment. He assumed she’d make some wisecrack about their date, but she didn’t. Much to his chagrin, he was glad she didn’t. He sighed and ushered her into the dining room.

“We’re starving, Joe,” Nikoli said. “Where’s the table?”

Joe led them to the back of the small eatery where an empty booth sat. Lily slid in, and Nikoli debated about sitting down beside her. Remembering her earlier reaction, he opted for sitting in the opposite seat. As much as he would have really liked to trap her, he would give her some space for now. The small sigh of relief she let out told him he made the right decision.

“The usual for you both?” Joe asked, and hurried off when they both agreed.

“Pigtails?” Nikoli smirked. “Going for the cute schoolgirl look?”

“Nope,” she said. “I was going for comfortable. Your jeans and t-shirt make me glad I didn’t go all out for a dress and heels.”

“I figured you’d pull something like this,” Nikoli admitted. “I came prepared for war.”

“War?” She laughed. “It’s just a fast dinner so we can go our separate ways and not have to think about each other again.”

Nikoli frowned. Fast was not going to cut it. He needed to get her talking again. “So, your dad was Martin Holmes?”

She nodded, her expression sad. She must miss him a lot.

“What was that like, growing up on the racetrack?”