“He can go sign up for a tutor.” His girlfriend, Janet, shook her head at him. Janet was a tiny little thing. She always reminded Lily of Tinker Bell with her gamin features and pixie cut strawberry blonde hair.

“Hey, can I borrow you for a sec?” That was the only thing Lily heard before someone grabbed her hand and she was running to keep up. What the hell?

She ran straight into him when he stopped. They stood about a hundred feet away from the crowd she’d just been in. Yanking her hand free and taking several steps backward, she turned furious blue eyes up at him and nearly stopped breathing. The inky black depths she stared into were alight with amusement.

“That was rude,” she told him in an attempt to regain a bit of her composure.

“I thought you needed rescuing, Lily Bells.”

“That’s not my name,” she seethed. The nerve.

“I know who you are.”

Lily knew exactly who he was too, and what his reputation was, but damn, why was his voice like silk with his sexy Russian accent? She had no intention of ending up on his list of one-nighters, though.

“And I know who you are, Nikoli Kincaid, so you can just march yourself back to wherever you came from. I’m not interested.”

“Aw, now, Lily Bells, don’t get your panties all in a twist. I never once asked you out.”

Lily narrowed her eyes. She could see Adam and Mikey staring at them, a frown on both their faces. “I’m just saving you the trouble.”

He smiled, which caused things south of the border to clench, and Lily gasped slightly. “What if all I wanted was a tutoring session?”

“Your GPA is as high as mine.”

He reached up and traced the outline of her lips with a finger, and she flinched back. She did not like to be touched.

“That’s enough,” she told him a little more forcefully than she’d intended. “I’m going back to my friends now. And even if you did just want a tutoring session, the answer is still no.”

His words stopped her retreat.

“I don’t give up that easy, Lily. I always get what I want.”

“Then get used to disappointment.”

Nikoli watched her stomp back over to her friends and smiled wickedly. He hadn’t had a challenge since the ripe old age of seventeen when he’d set out to seduce one of his uncle’s newly divorced friends. She’d held on to her morals for all of a week. Lily was going to be a challenge he’d relish.

Yes, indeed, Lily Holmes and he were going to be on intimate terms, and soon. This was going to be fun.

Chapter Two

Lily was fuming by the time she returned to her friends. The nerve of the cheeky bastard. She was mad at herself too. Nikoli’s touch had not inspired the same type of fear everyone else’s did. The fear was still there, just lessened a bit by something else she didn’t understand. Something that made her stomach clench deliciously. He wasn’t going to know that, though, not ever. She had no intention of ever being one his girls.

“What was that about?” Adam asked as soon as she returned.

“Nothing,” she said dismissively. “So how was your summer, Mikey?”

Mike laughed at her obvious attempt to change the subject. “You need us to go explain a few things to old Nik?”

“No, there’s nothing to explain,” she said, exasperated. “He needed a tutor, and I told him I didn’t have time to take on anyone else.”

“Tutor, my ass,” Adam grumbled. “Lily, you…”

“I know exactly who he is, Adam,” she interrupted. “I already told him no.”

Adam frowned at her, before turning his eyes back to where Nik still stood under the tree where she’d left him. Sue, who up until now had not said anything one way or the other to Lily, reached out and tugged Adam to her, reminding him she was there. He looked down and gave her his one hundred watt smile. Lily died a little inside at the sight, but she kept her bland expression firmly in place. Wouldn’t do to give Sue any more ammunition against her.

“So, did you guys watch the news last night?” Janet piped up. “There was another woman reported missing.”

Lily had been watching the news, and it disturbed her. Three women had gone missing in the Boston area over the last three months. The bodies were recovered exactly a week after their disappearance. All three had been brutally raped, tortured, and severely beaten before being strangled. The police were finally admitting they had a serial killer on their hands. This latest disappearance had occurred six days ago. If the serial killer stuck to his pattern, the poor woman’s body would show up tomorrow.

“Janet, you worry too much.” Sue rolled her eyes. “We’re perfectly safe on campus.”

Lily wanted to roll her eyes at the little blonde tart. She honestly thought they were safe just because of a college campus? Psycho killers could stroll through campuses as easily as they could through a mall. There was no major security when it came to monitoring who was and who was not supposed to be on campus. Colleges were just as open to the public as the local McDonald’s. Sue grew up in a bubble. She had no idea of the big bad wolves out in the real world, right in your own backyard. Stupid.

“Don’t worry, ladies.” Mike flexed his muscles. “We’ll protect you.”

Lily did roll her eyes at that. Mikey, for all of his six feet, two inches, still behaved very much like a little kid showing off. It was one of the things she loved about him, though.

“All right, Michelangelo, I feel soooo much safer now,” she said. She and Mike had bonded over Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reruns last year when Janet broke up with him. They were both addicted to the new TMNT cartoon series, despite the fact they were both technically adults. Who said adults couldn’t watch cartoons?

He smiled and threw a fist in the air. “Who else is gonna save your ass?”

“Campus security?” Lily asked dryly.

He stuck his tongue out at her. So mature. Lily turned her attention back to Adam, who was still nose deep into Sue. They looked so happy. It was one of the reasons she was so supportive. She didn’t really like her, but Sue made him happy, and that was all that mattered to Lily.

“Lunch?” she asked Adam pointedly.

A contrite expression appeared. Oh, no…the little Barbie struck again.

“Lils, we had something come up, and I have to go to lunch with Sue and her Mom. Wedding plans.”

“No worries.” Lily laughed good-naturedly, even though she was cursing six ways to Sunday inside. “You go do what you need to do. We’ll get dinner or something later in the week.”

“You could always come with?”

Sue glared the promise of death at her from behind him. She was tempted to say yes just to piss her off, but shook her head instead. “No, I’m good. I’m gonna go grab a bite, then head to the bookstore to check on a textbook I’m waiting for.”

“You sure?” he asked again, a hopeful expression on his face. Lily knew for a fact he detested Sue’s mother. His bed, he could lie in it.

“Yeah, I’m sure. You two go make your wedding plans.”

“He’s a blind fool, Lils,” Mike whispered sympathetically as they watched Adam and Sue walk away.

She sighed, not bothering to deny anything was wrong. Mike knew her too well, almost as well as Adam. Instead, she changed the subject. “What are we gonna do about that economics class of yours?”

“Did you have to remind me of that?” he grouched. “You know I’m doomed, and I won’t graduate.”

She rolled her eyes at him. Despite being a jock, Mike was exceptionally smart. He just needed a little prodding in the right direction sometimes. “You know I’m not gonna let you fail if I got you through statistics.”

They both grimaced over that statement. Statistics and Mike were not things that should ever be said in the same sentence. Lily had almost given up on him before she found something that made sense to him. Thank God she had, or they’d both have failed. She’d spent so much time trying to teach him the basics, she’d fallen behind herself last year. It hadn’t even been a class she needed, as she was an English major. She’d only taken it to help him, but she refused to do that again. Her GPA meant to much to her.