Touch Me Not (Manwhore Series #1)

Chapter Nine

"But..."

"No buts," she said firmly. "I'm going out with Nikoli, anyway, so no need to stay here. I'll be fine."

Nikoli held the door open for Janet. Lily expected to see a self-satisfied smirk on his face when he closed it behind her, but instead, he still looked angry. Lily had been surprised to see Nikoli at her door to begin with but was even more surprised he seemed to be pissed on her behalf. It confused her a bit. She hadn't expected him to rush over here after her phone call.

"Why are you here?" she asked him, more curious than anything.

"I honestly don't know." He grimaced. Lily had the distinct feeling he was as confused by his own actions as she was. Nikoli Kincaid was not a man who checked on women, let alone women he'd just met.

"You didn't need to come over," Lily told him after a minute. "I'm fine."

He snorted. "You are not fine, Milaya. Come on, let's get out of here."

"I just told Janet I was going with you so she'd leave," Lily said. She had no intention of going anywhere with him. "You can leave too."

He studied her, and Lily squirmed under the intense gaze. "Do you really want to stay here by yourself, Lily? As soon as I leave, all those girls are going to start knocking on your door asking questions. Are you up for that?"

He had a point. She'd seen the number of people staring when Janet left and had no doubt they'd be over here as soon as Nikoli departed. Dammit. She just wanted to curl up and cry in peace and quiet.

"Fine," she said. "But no funny business. Deal doesn't start until tomorrow."

He gave her that sly smile she was coming to actually like, despite her better judgement. "Scout's honor."

"You grew up in Russia," she reminded him. "Do they even have Boy Scouts in Russia?"

"No, but I like the American saying. It makes people trust you."

"I trust you about as much as I would a scorpion, Kincaid."

He grinned wider. "Let's go, Lily Bells."

Lily grabbed her keys and followed Nikoli out the door, stopping only to lock it. She stared straight ahead, catching curious faces staring at her out of the corner of her eye. She rubbed her forehead to try to ease the throbbing headache as she walked, knowing she was going to be the talk of the campus after this. So not what she had planned for tonight.

She waved at Jamie, the security guard. He took one look at her and stalked over to them. "What the hell did he do to you?" Then he turned his fury on Nikoli. "I told you if you upset her, you'd be banned from this building..."

"Jamie, wait," Lily interrupted. "Nikoli didn't upset me. He came to check on me."

"But you've been crying." Jamie frowned.

Lily stared at Nikoli's somewhat pained expression and shook her head, frustrated. "Has this been going on all day?" she asked Nikoli.

He nodded. "Yeah, it's a little hard to get near you without someone trying to get in my face about it."

"Adam." Lily sighed. She should have known he'd pull something like this, which only infuriated her more.

"Oh, no, Lily Bells." Nikoli laughed. "It's not just Adam. I don't think you realize how many people care about you. My phone has been blowing up since lunch."

Her eyes widened. People were warning Nikoli away from her? Why? "Jamie, I'm fine. If you want to blame anyone for making me cry, blame Adam. Nikoli is just being a good friend."