Lily gaped at Nikoli. How had he figured that out? "Awesome skills, there, Sherlock, but you couldn't be more wrong."
"I saw how you looked at him."
"Does it really matter?" She lowered her eyes, feeling dejected. She needed to learn to conceal her feelings better if Nikoli, a complete stranger, could see the truth.
"Of course, it matters," Nikoli said. "Does he know?"
"What do you think?" She focused her attention on the people walking along the sidewalk outside. "He's getting married in four months."
Nikoli stared at her, and it made her squirm. She couldn't quite read his expression, and it made her nervous. As long as they'd been talking about cars, she'd been fine. She adored cars as much as some women freaked out over shoes. To her surprise, she'd been having fun before Adam showed up. There weren't many people she could sit down and talk shop with. He'd surprised her.
"Why don't you tell him?" Nikoli asked her after a long moment.
"Because he thinks of me as his little sister," she admitted bitterly. "He's never seen me that way."
"Oh, I think you might be surprised there." Nikoli gaze swept to Adam and Sue's table. "The way he's glaring at me right now smacks of jealousy."
Lily forced herself to refrain from looking in Adam's direction.
"Again, you're wrong," she told him. "He's only looking out for me. I am, after all, going to dinner with Boston U's very own manwhore."
Beer spewed, and Lily laughed out loud. Nikoli looked at her, aghast.
"What did you just call me?" he demanded, his eyes smoldering.
"A manwhore," she replied sweetly.
"I am not a manwhore!" he denied hotly, which only made Lily laugh harder. He looked so shocked.
"Yes, yes, you are," she wheezed. "You sleep with a different woman every night, sometimes several a day. You define the word 'whore.' It's your nickname with most of the girls."
"I am a connoisseur of women," he growled. "Yes, I enjoy sex, but that doesn't make me a whore!"
Lily giggled, thinking about her earlier conversation with Janet about him hooking on the corner. She wondered what he'd say to that, but he looked so upset she decided to hold that little tidbit for later.
"I'm not sure I want to sleep with you anymore," he told her petulantly.
She only laughed harder. Gods, she hadn't laughed like this in ages. Her sides ached from it. She caught Adam staring at her from the corner of her eye. He looked bewildered and alarmed. It was almost as comical as the outraged look on Nikoli's face.
"This is a situation I've never been in before." Nikoli leaned back. "The girl I want to sleep with is in love with her best friend, who's getting married."
"It's not your average quandary," Lily agreed, trying to stop laughing.
Nikoli stared at her, his look calculating, and it made her nervous, drying up her laughter. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I'm thinking, here, Lily Bells," he said softly, his eyes measuring.
Lily's sense of self-preservation went on high alert—DEFCON two, to be exact. Her eyes narrowed. "There's nothing to think about here, Nikoli. Adam's getting married, I'm moving to New York when we graduate, and you're not sleeping with me tonight."
"No, I'm not sleeping with you tonight," he agreed, shocking her. "I have other plans for you, Lily. Things we can't really discuss here, though."
"We can discuss anything you want right here out in the open." No way was she going anywhere private with him. That might not bode so well for her.
"Let me ask you a question." Nikoli leaned forward, shifting his legs so they were touching hers. He'd essentially trapped her, because she couldn't scoot anywhere else, so she pulled her legs up underneath her. Nikoli raised his eyebrows. "Question answered."
"What was the question?" She pushed her food around on her plate nervously. She had an idea of where he was going with this.
"You don't like to be touched." It came out more of a statement than a question. He'd answered it himself, so she saw no point in denying it.
"No, I don't, but that's really none of your concern."
"Oh, but it is, Lily Bells, especially if I'm going to help you."
"Help me?" What was he talking about now? "If you think your sexual prowess is going to instantly cure me, you're dead wrong."
He smiled, but it was a smile full of danger. Lily shrank a little against the booth she sat in. That smile made all sorts of things inside of her clench in a not unpleasant way. She didn't understand how a smile could do that to her, but she was beginning to see how so many different girls had succumbed to it.
"Do you want Adam?"
"That's a moot point. He loves Sue, and he's getting married. Once we graduate, I can escape like I tried to before. He'll go off with Sue, and I'll go to New York and move on."
"Escape?"
"I decided to come to Boston because Adam was going to LSU," she admitted. "He changed his mind and came here instead."
"He followed you to Boston?" Nikoli's gaze became more calculated by the second.
"Yeah, but not for the reasons you're thinking," Lily put in quickly. "He only wanted to make sure I was okay, that I could handle it."
"Why wouldn't you be able to handle it?"
That was not something she wanted to get into with him. "Doesn't matter."
"Does it have something to do with why you don't like to be touched?" he asked softly.
Her nostrils flared defiantly. Why was he getting so personal?
"You realize if you want to stand any chance of winning him away from the blonde model, you're going to have to let him touch you."
"Adam is aware of my sensitivity to people touching me," Lily hissed. "Why are we even talking about this?"
"Look over at Boy Wonder. See how he's holding her hand? Would you let him do that? Could you let him touch you like that?"
Lily peeked over at Adam's table. Sure enough, he was holding Sue's hand, his thumb idly brushing the back of her palm. Lily wanted to be able to let him do that, but the thought alone sent her into panic mode.
"You don't stand a shot at winning him if you can't let him touch you, Lily Bells," Nikoli whispered so only she could hear. "You need to be able to tolerate it if you want Adam. He needs someone he can touch, caress, kiss, and make love to. Right now, that's not you."
"Do you think I don't know that?" Lily seethed. "I have wondered so many times how different things might have been if I could let him touch me."
"Then let me help you."
"How exactly can you help me?" Lily asked suspiciously.
"For starters, you said he only looks at you like a sister, but the looks I've been getting since he got here say something else entirely. He's jealous, and it's working the blonde up into a full-on rage. You need someone to show real interest in you, to spend time with, someone he can't stand."
"And that someone would be you?" Sarcasm dripped from each word.
He gave her a devilish smile. "Of course. Who better to get his attention than Boston U's very own manwhore?"
Lily smiled when he threw her words back at her. He sounded much less cranky now, but what was he up to?
"Everyone knows you don't date, Nikoli," Lily pointed out.
Nikoli's grin turned wolfish. He knew he had her attention. She wanted Adam, he wanted her, and he'd found a way to get them both what they wanted. Hopefully. It all hinged on her acceptance of his help. He had to be careful here.
"As you pointed out, everyone thinks of me as a manwhore." He couldn't help but cringe at that. He was not a whore. Usually. "So, you're going to help me buff up my image."
"And how exactly am I going to do that?"
"By dating me and making me remain celibate."
Her mouth dropped open. Just the right response. He was slowly reeling her in. Now, the tricky part.
"No one is going to believe that," she said after a minute. "Can you even go a day without sex?"
"Of course, I can," he snapped. "That's not the point, anyway. I'm not going to need to go have sex with random women. I'm going to have you."
"Uh, no, you're not," Lily told him hotly. "There is no way I am going to sleep with you just to get Adam's attention."
"Oh, baby, there is so much more to it than that," he said, his voice low and deep. He knew exactly how his voice affected women, and Lily was no different. Her eyes glazed a bit, and her cheeks flushed. Despite what she said, he affected her. He hadn't lost his mojo after all. "You can't just spend time with me. You have to let me touch you."
Her eyes went wide, and her nostrils flared. He saw sheer panic take over her expression. "Lily, if you want Adam, you have to be able to let him touch you. I can help you with that. You just need some structure, rules. I promise I won't do anything to scare you, and if I do, I'll stop right away. All you have to do is safe word."
"Safe word?" She frowned then gasped, getting ready to go all outraged female on him.
Damn those books. Was there a person left on the planet who hadn't read them? "Don't go and get all outraged, Lily Bells. It's not what you think. I don't do pain. I have no urge to inflict pain on you. I'm all about pleasure. The panic in your eyes right now makes me believe you'd be more comfortable with a safe word is all. I don't do BDSM in the sense that you know it."
"What exactly are you proposing, then, Nikoli?"
Tricky, tricky. How to do this?
"I'm not going to lie to you, Lily. I want you, very badly. But I don't stand a chance if I can't touch you. I want you in my bed, and I'm willing to be patient and teach you to trust me, to let me touch you, for a price."
"And what exactly do I get out of this deal of yours?"
"You get Adam," he told her bluntly. "You get to drive him crazy and make him see you for the beautiful, intelligent, and desirable woman you are."
"What's your price?" She sounded belligerent, outraged, and suspicious all at once.
"You, of course, Lily Bells. The chance to seduce you into my bed, to be more exact. I'm not a gentleman. I will get you naked, and then I'll use every trick I have to get you to say yes. That's my price."
She was staring at him like he'd lost his mind. Nikoli needed her to think about this seriously. He could help her, and he'd get to touch that beautiful body whenever he wanted to. Once she felt safe enough with him, he'd be able to seduce her. First, he needed to understand where her fear came from, but that was going to be a conversation for later. He'd shocked her enough for one day.
"Don't give me an answer right now. Go home, think about it, and then if you're willing to do what it takes to steal Adam from the blonde, call me. It won't be easy, and you're going to have to be honest with me, but I will help you." He signaled the waitress for their check. "Can I see your phone?"
"Why?"
"So I can put my number in it. You need to know it so you can call," he explained patiently. She was wary, and he expected that. He just needed to be patient and wait her out. Patience, however, was not a virtue he possessed. He was a child of the times. He grew up with the "I want it now, now, now" generation. It was going to be a test of his own willpower to do this, but he had a feeling she'd be worth it.
She begrudgingly handed her phone to him. He let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. That was new. He'd never been nervous about a girl before, but he'd been afraid she'd say no and walk away.
First, he dialed his own number so he'd have hers, and then he stored his number in her phone. "Come on, Lily Bells. Let's get you home."
Tonight certainly hadn't gone like he'd planned. He'd taken Lily out with the simple task of seducing her and instead found a woman who held his attention for more than five minutes, one he actually wanted to get to know. He wanted to help her, to see her succeed. As much as he wanted all that, he was slightly terrified. He didn't do the whole girlfriend scene, and that was exactly the position he'd put himself in.
How the hell had he gotten so far off track?