Touch Me Not (Manwhore, #1)(14)

Joe turned to look at him, and the censure in his eyes made Nikoli very uncomfortable. Joe was well aware of his one night stands, as well as his other peculiarities when it came to sex. The two of them ran in the same circles. It’s how he’d met Joe.

“Be careful with her,” Joe warned. “Slow, my friend, and you’ll keep her. She’s worth keeping.”

Nikoli nodded his understanding, aware Lily took an entirely different meaning from that statement. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

“If you don’t, I might,” Joe warned him.

Nikoli bristled and actually stood up.

“Just warning you, friend to friend.” Joe may have said it with a smile, but the warning was clear in his voice. The man was only twenty-six and handsome. If he wanted to charm Lily, he could, Nikoli realized. He didn’t like the thought of Joe with Lily, not one little bit.

“Stay the hell away from her, Joe,” he growled. A wave of rage he didn’t quite understand hit him hard. “She’s mine.”

“Uh, girl sitting right here,” Lily piped up, “and I don’t belong to anyone except myself.”

“Things change, Lily.” Nikoli’s voice had gone cold, and Joe finally got the message. He backed off and left them alone. Nikoli refused to let Joe anywhere near her, especially knowing what he did about him. If that meant Nikoli letting Joe believe Lily belonged to him, then that’s what he’d do.

“Care to explain that?” Lily asked once Joe had left.

“Joe is worse than I am,” he said after a minute. “I just wanted to make sure he left you alone.”

“So, protecting me from the wolves, huh?” she asked mildly. “Pot, kettle, black?”

Nikoli laughed, aware of the irony. “I’m the only wolf getting into your bed tonight.”

“You wish.” She grinned at him. “I’m remaining chaste tonight.”

“That remains to be seen,” he told her, his eyes full of the promise.

Lily picked up her sandwich and took a bite. A look of utter joy crossed her face. “Ohmygodthisisgood.” The words came out all strung together between mouthfuls of food.

“You are hungry. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone shovel food like that.”

“You don’t know our Lily then.”

Nikoli watched Lily stiffen up and then turn to see Adam glaring down at her, Sue beside him. How the hell had he found out where they were? Anger and frustration played a tug-of-war inside him. He knew Adam was Lily’s best friend, so he had to be careful here, or she’d get mad and leave.

“What are you doing here?” Lily demanded, obviously pissed. Maybe he wouldn’t have to do anything. Nikoli forced his face to remain calm as he watched the two of them.

“We came to grab something to eat,” Adam said carefully. “We saw you and decided to come check on you.”

“You wanted to come check on her,” Sue said petulantly. “I wanted to go get pizza.”

Nikoli frowned at Sue. He’d never liked the woman. What Adam saw in her was beyond him. It was obvious she despised Lily from the death glare Sue leveled at her.

“Adam, you hate Cuban food.” Lily’s voice was velvety soft, and Nikoli realized just how mad she was. “So why are you here? I didn’t think you even knew about Joe’s.”

“Luther mentioned that Nik loved this place, and I knew you loved Cuban food, so…”

“So you decided to stop by and what, exactly? Demand I go home? I’m not your sister or your girlfriend, Adam. You can’t tell me what to do. You don’t have that right.”

“Lily, you’re my best friend, I have every right…”

“You know what? I’m not going to ruin my date by arguing with you. I was having fun before you showed up. Why don’t you go and find a table and shovel food into your own mouth before you put your foot in it…again!”

Adam looked like he wanted to say more, but his very angry fiancée hauled him away. Nikoli studied Lily as she glared at their departing backs. It wasn’t until she looked back at him that the truth of it hit him. He’d seen it in her eyes before she could conceal it.

Well, hell.

“You’re in love with him!”





Chapter Seven




Lily gaped at Nikoli. How had he figured that out? “Awesome skills there, Sherlock, but you couldn’t be more wrong.”

“I saw how you looked at him.”

“Does it really matter?” She sighed.

“Of course it matters,” Nikoli said. “Does he know?”

“What do you think?” She focused her attention on the people walking along the sidewalk outside. “He’s getting married in four months.”

Nikoli stared at her, and it made her squirm. She couldn’t quite read his expression, and it made her nervous. As long as they’d been talking about cars, she’d been fine. She adored cars as much as some women freaked out over shoes. To her surprise, she’d been having fun before Adam showed up. There weren’t many people she could sit down and talk shop with. He’d surprised her.

“Why don’t you tell him?” Nikoli asked her after a long moment.

“Because he thinks of me as his little sister,” she admitted bitterly. “He’s never seen me that way.”