“My dad taught me,” she explained as she examined the engine more closely. “I could put a carburetor back together by the time I was nine, and rebuild an engine before I turned twelve. I used to live under the hood of a car when my dad was racing.”

“Your dad was a racer?” Luther frowned and then gasped. Lily figured he probably just put her last name together with her dad’s.

“Martin Holmes,” she muttered and stepped back out from under the hood. Her dad had been one of the biggest NASCAR drivers on the circuit, but his real love had been rally or strip racing. He’d never let her go to any of those, though. Said it was too dangerous for a kid. She’d grown up on NASCAR tracks instead. “He died in a crash down in Daytona the summer I turned twelve.”

Luther let out a low whistle. “Did he teach you to drive?”

“’Course he did,” she laughed. “I was driving before I could reach the pedals. I used to sit in his lap and steer the wheel until I grew enough so my feet actually touched the gas pedal.”

“Who would have thought sweet, innocent Lily Holmes was a car junkie?” Luther laughed.

“I can still be sweet and innocent and be a car guru,” she said with a wink and turned to Nikoli. “Can I drive her?”

Nikoli frowned. This was not what he’d expected. She knew cars. She knew them enough to know the engine model under the hood of the limited edition car he drove. It threw him slightly.

“Well, can I?” she demanded impatiently.

“I don’t know,” he said slowly. “I don’t even let Luther drive my baby. She’s…”

“A limited edition ’Cuda, only six hundred sixty-six made in 1970,” she interrupted him. “I know what kind of car it is, Nikoli. My dad owned one. He had the seventh one off the assembly line. I promise to be careful.”

He blinked and shook his head. “Maybe on the way back,” he said finally.

She pouted. It was a full-on lip pout, and he didn’t even think she was aware she was doing it. Her lips were beautiful when she pouted, and he took a step closer, noticing she took another step back. He was going to have to get to the bottom of this. He had no chance if he couldn’t touch her.

“Don’t feel bad, Lils,” Luther said. “I’ve known him for years and he barely lets me ride in it.”

“Why don’t I know that you know about cars?” Janet asked from behind them. “You think Mike or Adam would have mentioned it.”

“Mikey doesn’t know,” Lily said, “and Adam wouldn’t say anything. He gets embarrassed when he has to call me to fix his car.”

Janet laughed. “I’ll bet. Well, I’m off to find Mike. He’s supposed to take me go see some new scary movie.” She shuddered. “Why I let him talk me into these things is beyond me.”

“Hey, can you drop me off at my frat house on the way?” Luther asked. “Nik refused to stop on the way over. We were running late.”

“Sure,” Janet said. “Lily, call if you need anything.”

Nikoli snorted at Janet’s very obvious innuendo. Frankly, he was sick of it. For the last three hours, his phone had been blowing up with texts from people he knew telling him to leave Lily alone and not to hurt her. You’d think she was Mother Theresa the way people rallied to protect her.

She was still eyeballing his car with lust when he finally focused his attention on her. Her barreling down the steps toward them and straight for his baby had sidetracked him. Now he gave her a good once-over and laughed outright at her obvious attempt to make herself look awful. Unfortunately, Nikoli didn’t think the woman could look awful in a burlap sack. The pigtails made her look cute, and the baggy clothes she had on only added to her comfortable appearance. She looked adorable, and it made him all kinds of curious to see what she had on underneath them.

“Alone at last, Lily Bells,” he murmured salaciously.

She gave him a startled look and took another five steps back.

“Shall we go?” he asked mildly when she looked ready to bolt at the desire in his eyes.

She was the prey dancing with the predator. The predator fully intended to win this hunt.

Chapter Six

“So, where to?” Nikoli asked as they pulled away from the dorm.

“Doesn’t matter,” she said, distracted, her fingers caressing the interior of the car.

Nikoli grinned. She was too busy examining the car to be nervous with him. If she only knew what watching her fondle his car was doing to him, she’d put her hands under her rump and sit still for the rest of the ride.

“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.”