Touch Me Not (Manwhore Series #1)

Chapter Nineteen

Lily picked at the sheer black lace of the dress. It was so short it barely covered her bottom. A black choker encircled her neck, and strappy black heels made up the rest of her ensemble. Never in her life had she worn something this revealing. It made her uncomfortable, but more than that, looking at herself in the mirror before they'd left, she'd felt sexy for the first time in her life. And all that was due to the man sitting across from her, thanking the waiter for their food. She murmured her own thanks when he set her tilapia down in front of her.

"You okay, Lily?" She looked up to see a hint of concern in Nikoli's eyes.

"If you don't count the fact I'm practically naked, then yes, I'm fine," she said, cutting her fish.

He laughed. "Don't be a prude. You look beautiful."

"You're not the one showing off your naked ass, are you?"

"Want me to?" he countered, grinning. "I'll be more than happy to drop my pants in here so everyone can get a good look at my naked ass."

He stood up, and Lily hissed, "Don't you dare!" She shook her head when he sat back down. He delighted in upsetting her. "Are you and Luther ready for the race next weekend?" They'd been gearing up for the race in Miami since she'd started dating him.

"Yes," he said. "Luther still wants to add a few things, but I don't want any electronics on that car. That's where we got caught with our pants down last time."

"No, just let her run," Lily agreed. The Mach 1 didn't need electronics. They'd equipped it with a nitro system, but other than that, she was good. Let everyone else get taken out because of their electronics. If someone was going to beat Nikoli, they'd have to do it the old-fashioned way—by racing.

"Want to come?" Nikoli asked softly, and Lily's gaze shot up to his face. Had he just asked her to go to Miami with him?

"I..."

"I remember you told me your dad never let you go to this kind of race, and you've put as much time into getting the Mach 1 ready for this race as Luther and I have. I thought maybe you'd like to be there to see her run."

He was inviting her to go away for the weekend? Sure, Luther would be there, but she was betting Nikoli wasn't going to be sharing a room with him. Could she do that? Could she go away with him and not give in to what she wanted to do more than anything else?

"You don't have to answer now. You can tell me tomorrow."

She smiled hesitantly. This was the Nikoli everyone else didn't see. The guy who was sweet and kind and charming. Oh, he could be charming in the manwhore way, but this charm she'd only seen him use on her. The kindness in him was going to be her downfall.

"So, tell me about VSL and how you ended up on that type of game." It wasn't a request, and Lily heard the command in his voice. She started to automatically answer but stopped herself. She'd gotten in the habit of following his orders, and she didn't like it. The fact that she trusted him enough to do as he asked irritated her and overwhelmed her at the same time. It was very confusing.

She and Rebekha had had several conversations about this very subject. It worried Lily that she was turning into one of the women she read about in books. Rebekha had assured her she wasn't, had in fact pointed out how much stronger she'd gotten over the last month.

She wondered what Janet would say...Janet would tell her to run screaming. She wasn't into being a submissive any more than Lily was. Although, Lily admitted to herself, she wondered what it would feel like to do just that with Nikoli. She'd mentioned to Rebekha that she'd been thinking of this, and Rebekha had neither encouraged nor discouraged her. She'd told Lily to trust herself. Lot of help her shrink had been.