“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.”

“Oh, I think you might be surprised there.” Nikoli gaze swept to Adam and Sue’s table. “The way he’s glaring at me right now smacks of jealousy.”

Lily forced herself to refrain from looking in Adam’s direction.

“Again, you’re wrong,” she told him. “He’s only looking out for me. I am¸ after all, going to dinner with Boston U’s very own manwhore.”

Beer spewed, and Lily laughed out loud. Nikoli looked at her, aghast.

“What did you just call me?” he demanded, his eyes smoldering.

“A manwhore,” she replied sweetly.

“I am not a manwhore!” he denied hotly, which only made Lily laugh harder. He looked so shocked.

“Yes, yes, you are,” she wheezed. “You sleep with a different woman every night, sometimes several a day. You define the word whore. It’s your nickname with most of the girls.”

“I am a connoisseur of women,” he growled. “Yes, I enjoy sex, but that doesn’t make me a whore!”

Lily giggled, thinking about her earlier conversation with Janet about him hooking on the corner. She wondered what he’d say to that, but he looked so upset she decided to hold that little tidbit for later.

“I’m not sure I want to sleep with you anymore,” he told her petulantly.

She only laughed harder. Gods, she hadn’t laughed like this in ages. Her sides ached from it. She caught Adam staring at her from the corner of her eye. He looked bewildered and alarmed. It was almost as comical as the outraged look on Nikoli’s face.

“This is a situation I’ve never been in before.” Nikoli leaned back. “The girl I want to sleep with is in love with her best friend, who’s getting married.”

“It’s not your average quandary,” Lily agreed, trying to stop laughing.

Nikoli stared at her, his look calculating, and it made her nervous, drying up her laughter. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I’m thinking, here, Lily Bells,” he said softly, his eyes measuring.

Lily’s sense of self-preservation went on high alert, DEFCON two, to be exact. Her eyes narrowed. “There’s nothing to think about here, Nikoli. Adam’s getting married, I’m moving to New York when we graduate, and you’re not sleeping with me tonight.”

“No, I’m not sleeping with you tonight,” he agreed, shocking her. “I have other plans for you, Lily. Things we can’t really discuss here, though.”

“We can discuss anything you want right here out in the open.” No way was she going anywhere private with him. That might not bode so well for her.

“Let me ask you a question.” Nikoli leaned forward, shifting his legs so they were touching hers. He’d essentially trapped her, because she couldn’t scoot anywhere else. So she pulled her legs up underneath her. Nikoli raised his eyebrows. “Question answered.”

“What was the question?” She pushed her food around on her plate nervously. She had an idea of where he was going with this.

“You don’t like to be touched.” It came out more of a statement than a question. He’d answered it himself so she saw no point in denying it.

“No, I don’t, but that’s really none of your concern.”

“Oh, but it is, Lily Bells, especially if I’m going to help you.”

“Help me?” What was he talking about now? “If you think your sexual prowess is going to instantly cure me, you’re dead wrong.”

He smiled, but it was a smile full of danger. Lily shrank a little against the booth she sat in. That smile made all sorts of things inside of her clench in a not unpleasant way. She didn’t understand how a smile could do that to her, but she was beginning to see how so many different girls had succumbed to it.

“Do you want Adam?”

“That’s a moot point. He loves Sue and he’s getting married. Once we graduate, I can escape like I tried to before. He’ll go off with Sue, and I’ll go to New York and move on.”

“Escape?”

“I decided to come to Boston because Adam was going to LSU,” she admitted. “He changed his mind and came here instead.”