Lily glanced at herself in the mirror and grinned. Worn, baggy jeans and one of Adam's football jerseys over her black tank top was probably not what Nikoli had in mind when he asked her to dinner. Comfortable sandals completed her outfit, her toes shining from the pink nail polish she'd put on yesterday. Nikoli probably expected a dress and heels. She pulled her hair back in pigtails then slipped on her 1950's-style black-rimmed glasses. She screamed nerdy geek going to a high school football pep rally. So not Nikoli's style.
"Well, you certainly aren't going to inspire any lustful thoughts." Janet laughed from the open doorway of Lily's room.
"My point," Lily said with a grin. "Plus, I'm going prepared to wage war."
Janet arched a brow in question.
"You remember Stephanie and Mandy from last year? The ones who had the beer party that nearly got us all kicked out?"
Janet laughed. "Oh, yeah, I don't think I've ever seen you that mad."
"Well, seems our boy accosted Stephanie and left her in tears." Lily shook her head. "Why will they never learn? Women are just his toy of the hour."
"He's too pretty for his own good," Janet agreed. "I love Mike dearly, but if Nikoli gave me one of those sex-filled stares of his..." She shrugged. "I don't know what I'd do, honestly. I know how bad that sounds, but he is just one of those men..."
Lily understood exactly what Janet was talking about. Nikoli was a man who could potentially destroy a woman without a second thought, and she'd go into it with her eyes wide open. He never gave them any expectations. They did bring it all on themselves.
"Speaking of Mike, he said Adam put his foot in his mouth."
Lily rolled her eyes. "Yeah, he went into over-protective big brother mode and tried to forbid me from going out with the manwhore."
"Oh, God, I never thought about him like that." Janet giggled. "Now every time I hear his name, I'm going to think manwhore."
Lily laughed herself. "Just imagine it...Nikoli dressed in black strappy heels, a mini-skirt, and a slutty top, hooking on the corner."
"Stop," Janet gasped between laughs. "That image is going to stay with me now, damn you! How am I supposed to indulge in sex fantasies about him if I keep seeing him posed on a street corner in trashy prostitute gear?"
Lily performed a mock bow. "My job is done, and the only man you'll be having sex fantasies about is Mikey."
Janet took several deep breaths then walked over to Lily's bed and collapsed. "I needed that laugh. Mike has been grumpy all week."
"Everything okay?" Lily started cleaning up the nail polish she'd left scattered on her desk. She really needed a makeup case just for her nail polish.
"I think so." Janet frowned. "He's being very secretive. I'd almost think he was cheating if I didn't know him better."
"Cheat?" Lily turned and looked at Janet. "Mike wouldn't do that to you, Jan. He respects you too much. He'd break up with you before he went out with someone else."
"I guess." She sighed unhappily.
"I know," Lily said firmly. "Trust me. He loves you. When you broke up with him last year, I got the full-on Mike meltdown. If you'd seen what that did to him, you'd never doubt him again."
"I'm surprised he didn't go cry on Adam's shoulder," Janet said ruefully.
"Oh, he went there first," Lily confessed, "but Adam and Sue had just gotten engaged the week before, if you'll remember. Not the best place for poor, jilted Mikey to get some sympathy. Besides, he and I bonded over Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."
"That's what you guys did that whole week?" Janet asked, curious.
"I supplied him with beer, chips, and cartoons." Lily smiled. "Then he got drunk, laughed at Michelangelo and Donatello, and told me all about why you broke up with him, how much of a jerk he was, and his cockamamie scheme to win you back."
"Which consisted of him storming the sorority house drunk, busting out his Ninja Turtle moves, and confessing his undying love for me." Janet giggled. "He promised to try not to be such a jerk, emphasis on the word 'try.'"
"Mikey's a good guy."
"He is," Janet agreed and flopped over on her side. "Why are you going out with Nikoli, anyway? Adam is really freaking out."
Whiplash on the subject change, Lily thought to herself. "He said if I went to dinner with him, he'd leave me alone for the rest of the year. Apparently, he thinks a little alone time with me will be all he needs to charm his way into my panties. And Adam can go piss off. This is none of his business."
"He's only worried about you, Lils," Janet said softly. "He's over at the frat house beating himself up right now because he thinks he hurt you with some idiot thing he said."
Lily sighed. "Did he send you over here to try to get me to cancel my date?"
"Maybe," Janet hedged.
"No offense, Jan, but...butt out," Lily told her friend. "Adam has no right sending you over here to try to do what he couldn't."
"What was the idiotic thing he said, anyway?"
"Didn't tell you that, did he?" Lily bit out. "He insinuated I'm not good enough for Nikoli, that I'm too far out of his league to ever even catch his eye."
"Well, dressed like that..." Janet grinned.
"Shut it," Lily snapped. "I don't need you reminding me I'm not worth his time too."
"That's not what I meant." Janet sat up. "Lily, if anything, you're too good for the manwhore. He doesn't deserve anyone like you. I'm sure Adam didn't mean..."
"Can we not talk about Adam?" Lily asked, suddenly tired. "For once, I'd just like to forget Adam exists and have some fun."
Janet gave her the pitying look Lily hated with all her heart. Mikey knew how she felt about Adam, and Janet knew because Mikey knew. Why the hell had she let herself get drunk and confess to Mikey she was in love with Adam?
"Look, I just want to get this over with. He should be here in a minute. I told him I'd meet him out front. You can tell Adam to mind his own damn business."
Lily grabbed her purse and pointed to the door. Janet frowned but followed Lily out the door. "Want to come wait with me so you can see his face when he gets a load of me dressed like this?"
Janet grinned and nodded. The two of them laughed as they took the elevator down to the first floor and outside to wait on the front steps for the manwhore of the hour.
They didn't have long to wait, and when he pulled in, Lily gasped in delight. It had nothing to do with Nikoli and everything to do with the car he got out of. It was a black 1970 Plymouth Barracuda. She hadn't seen a car like that since the one her dad owned when she was a kid. He'd loved it.
She gave a squeal of delight, much to Janet's chagrin, and ran over to the car. Nikoli gaped at her as she lovingly ran her fingers just above the body of the car as she examined it. You didn't touch them with your fingers. Luther shook his head as he pulled himself out of the passenger seat.
"Are you running a 440 or a 426?" she asked as she squatted and inspected the rims.
"You know cars?" Nikoli asked incredulously.
She ignored him and looked at Luther. "What's it running?"
"Let me pop the hood for you, and you tell me."
Lily waited impatiently then dived to put the hood up when it popped. There, in all its glory, sat an original 426 engine running 425 horsepower. The car could run, and run fast. There were only a limited number of the 'Cudas manufactured. Her dad had one of the first ten off the factory line, and after he'd died, her mother sold it to help pay the bills.
"426." Lily grinned like an idiot at Luther. "It's gorgeous."
"How do you know about cars?" Nikoli stepped closer to Lily, his arm brushing hers. She took an instinctive step to the side to keep distance between them.
"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 be sweet and innocent and still 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. "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 since we were fifteen, 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 to 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. It had the exact opposite effect.
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. He didn't try to hide his desire, and in all honesty, she looked ready to bolt.
"Shall we go?" he asked mildly.
Lily nodded after a full minute and got into the car.
She was the prey dancing with the predator. The predator fully intended to win this hunt.