“I have faith in you, Lily Bells,” he said. “You can do it. I’ll book you a ticket tonight.”

“No, I’ll pay for my own ticket,” she told him.

“Lily, I can afford…”

She leaned back and put a finger to his lips. “I don’t care if you can afford it. Thank you for offering, but I’ll pay my own way, thank you very much.”

“You are the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met and the first who didn’t jump at me buying her things.”

She smiled at him. Lily knew exactly who Nikoli Kincaid was. She read the gaming magazines. “Nikoli, all I want is you, not what you can give me.”

“You mean that, don’t you?” he asked, surprise in his voice and on his face.

It was her turn to laugh. She pushed herself up and sat on the edge of the bed, looking for her dress. If she let this conversation go further, it might cause her to say things she’d rather die than confess.

“It’s late, Nikoli, and I need to get back before security locks the door at the dorm.”

“We can stay here tonight if you want.”

Lily glanced over her should her at him. He looked satisfied, yet hopeful, like a little boy asking for a new toy. “I wish I could, but I have to be there for the girls. I can’t stay out unless I make arrangements ahead of time for someone to cover my floor.”

“That’s too bad.” He ran a finger up her spine and she gasped, her skin still sensitive.

She felt the bed shift as Nikoli stood up. She spotted her dress sticking out from under the bed and grabbed it, slipping her legs in and then sliding it up her body. Nikoli came to stand behind her. He pushed her hair over her shoulder, and then zipped the dress up. He bent and placed a soft kiss on her collarbone.

“I want to show you something,” he said. He was wearing his pants, but no shoes or shirt. Taking her hand, he led her out of the bedroom and down a hall. The last door on the right opened into an office.

It was full of dark mahogany wood furniture, and bookshelves lined three of four walls. A wall of windows overlooked downtown Boston. Lily skipped the scenery and went straight to the books. It was a jumbled up mess of computer programming books, fiction, classics, and general science. The man did not know how to organize his library.

“Leave it to you to beeline to the books,” he said with a laugh. “Come over here, please.”

Lily looked up to see him sitting behind the desk, turning on the computer monitor. He typed a few keystrokes and then hummed as he waited for it to log him in. She walked over to stand beside him. He wrapped an arm around her waist while he logged into a program.

“Lily, you’re a pretty decent gamer.”

She laughed. “I guess.”

“Well, would you want to test a beta game?” He looked up into her eyes, and she frowned. Was he asking her to beta test one of his games?

“It would depend on what kind of game it was,” she said at last.

“It’s a first person shooter,” he said. “Zombie game.”

“Sure, if you want me to. I’m a big fan of horror games, and first person shooters are my favorite.”

“I thought as much,” he said. “You kicked ass today in that tournament.”

“It had been a while since I’d played,” she said, playing it down. “It was a team effort, really.”

“Bullshit.” He shook his head. “You took out almost that entire opposing team by yourself. That requires a lot of skill.”

“It’s no big deal.” She shrugged it off.

“Lily, when I said before I could afford to buy you a ticket, I meant it. I own a gaming company.”

“And when I said before I didn’t care, I meant that too. I know who you are, Nikoli.”

“You know?” His mouth fell open, and she laughed. For once, she’d one-upped him.

“I’m a gamer, Nikoli. Of course I know who you are. I just didn’t say anything because I thought you wanted to keep that part of your life private, and it wasn’t any of my business.”

“You knew who I was all this time, and you never asked me for anything…”

“Because I didn’t want anything from you,” she said. “Well, I do want your car, but that’s beside the point.”

“You’re not getting my baby,” he told her, his eyes still wide with shock.

“That remains to be seen, Kincaid.”

“I think you and I both know you’re not getting that car.” His grin turned wolfish.

“We don’t know any such thing,” she said, her own smile turning slightly wolfish. “I can say no.”

“We shall see, my little prude.”

“So we shall,” she agreed, praying she could say no to him.

He gave her a gentle squeeze and focused on the monitor.

“Is this something you’re working on?” she asked.

“Yes,” he answered. “Luther and I are working on it, and we need beta testers to analyze the weapons, how they handle, glitches, things like that. Could you do that for me?”

“Sure,” she said, jumping up and down inside. She’d heard rumors of this game on the ’net, but their company was being so closed-mouthed about it, no one could get details.

He popped a blank CD into the computer and started the burn process. “Lily, I’m trusting you with this. You can’t show this to anyone.”

“I won’t. Not even Mikey.”

A few minutes later, he popped the CD out. He rummaged around for a sleeve and handed it to her. “Come on, Milaya, let’s get you home.”

She cast one last look at the couch, her face flaming before she followed him out of the apartment. She truly hoped she could say no.

But somehow she didn’t think she was going to.

Chapter Sixteen

The next morning, Lily woke up to someone pounding on her door. She groaned and cracked an eye. 5:30 a.m. Who in God’s name was pounding on her door this early? Sighing, she threw back the covers and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She’d gone to sleep less than an hour ago. Nikoli’s damn game kept her up till all hours, engrossed in it.

Another round of loud knocking earned the poor door a glare. “I’m coming! Give me a minute!” She grumbled, standing up. She dragged herself to the door and nearly ripped it off the hinges. Adam stood there, his eyes bloodshot, and he smelled like a brewery.

“Hey, Lils.” He grinned down at her. “Can I come in?”

A door cracked down the hall and Lily stepped back, not wanting any of the very gossipy girls on this floor to see him. “Hurry up,” she said as he took his sweet time stumbling inside. How did he even get in here? Guys weren’t allowed in the girls’ dorms past eleven at night.

“You’re drunk, Adam,” she said, a glare that would torch even Satan himself on her face.

“Just a little,” he agreed, his eyes drooping.

“What are you doing here?” She frowned when he tried to sit on her bed and missed, his butt landing on the floor with a loud thump.

“I don’t know,” he said, the confusion in his voice as puzzling to him as it was to her. Or it could have been the slight slur when he talked. “I just started walking and ended up here. I’m sleepy.”

Lily sighed. She couldn’t boot him out when he was drunk. She locked her door, and then threw him one of her pillows and grabbed a blanket out of the closet. “Here. You can sleep on the floor.”

He gave her a crooked grin and lay down, pulling the blanket close. He was always a blanket hog, even when they were kids. She climbed back in her bed and tried to ignore his shuffling. She needed sleep too.

Just as her eyes were closing, she heard, “Lily?”

“Yeah?” Go to sleep dammit.

“I’m sorry.”

He sounded pitiful and lonely.

“I need you to forgive me, Lils…I miss you. What I did, it was unforgivable, but I need my best friend back. Please.”

There was that heartbroken little boy she’d loved so much. The same one who’d stuck by her through everything. She missed Adam too. He’d hurt her deeply, yes, but he’d suffered enough. She’d forgiven him a while ago; she’d just been teaching him a lesson.