Page 11 of Touch Me Not (Manwhore #1)

CHAPTER NINE

“What’s wrong?” Nik sat up in his chair and pushed the blonde off his lap. Lily sounded like she was crying. “What happened?”

“Doesn’t matter,” she whispered, her voice a little broken. “Do you want the deal or not?”

“Hell, yes, I want the deal.” Why was she crying?

“Call me tomorrow, and we’ll set up the details.”

Click .

Nik pulled the phone from his ear and looked at the screen, shocked. She hung up on him. No one ever hung up on him.

Why the fuck was she crying?

The blonde tried to crawl back in his lap, and he stood. “Luther!”

Luther emerged from the direction of the pool tables. “Yeah?”

“Find your own way home,” he told him. “I need to go take care of something.”

Luther nodded and wandered back the way he’d come.

Nik waved his waitress over and paid his bill, tipping the girl a fifty.

She’d been a good server, actually doing her job instead of flirting.

Plus, he knew she had three kids at home she was supporting off her tips.

He’d overheard her discussing it with one of the other waitresses last year.

Since then, he always tried to tip her well when she was his waitress.

She appreciated it, and he got great service.

“We’re leaving already?” the blonde asked, her eyes lighting up.

“I’m leaving. You can do whatever you want.” With that, he grabbed his keys and walked out of the bar, the blonde forgotten. He couldn’t get Lily’s voice out of his head. She’d sounded devastated. He was thrilled she’d agreed, but the thought of this making her cry unsettled him.

It only took him about twenty minutes to get to her dorm. He nodded to Jamie, the security officer, as he strolled in. “Jamie, how’s it going?”

“Not too bad.” The young guard yawned. “I just got here, so I’ll let you know in a few hours.”

“I’m supposed to meet Lily Holmes, but I forgot what floor she said she’s on,” he continued, not missing the look Jamie gave him. “She called earlier and left a voicemail.”

“Lily called you?” Jamie didn’t look like he was buying that. Why was it so hard for people to believe Lily would agree to even talk to him?

Nikoli pulled out his phone, showing Jamie the last call with Lily’s name on it. “What room?”

Jamie’s eyes narrowed further, and his red hair only served to make his face look redder when he glared at Nik. “She’s in room 416, but I swear if you upset her, I won’t let you back in this dorm for any reason.”

Nikoli was getting tired of the threats.

“Trust me.” He forced himself to curb his irritation.

“The last thing I want is to hurt her. She’s upset, and I just need to check on her.

” With that, he boarded an elevator and tapped his foot impatiently as he rode up to the fourth floor.

When he stepped off the elevator, two girls, probably freshmen, gawked at him, but he ignored them as he started searching room numbers.

Lily’s door was dead center of the hall, and as he was about to knock, he heard something.

Listening, he realized she was crying, and it made his gut wrench.

Not letting himself think about why it bothered him, he knocked.

He heard shuffling, and then the door opened.

Her face was a puffy red mess. “You don’t cry well,” was the first thing out of his mouth.

She tried to slam the door in his face, but he caught it and pushed his way in, closing the door behind him.

“I said we’d meet tomorrow.”

“ Milaya , what happened?” he asked softly. “Why are you crying?”

She just looked at him, tears leaking out of her big blue eyes, and it nearly undid him. It was a feeling he’d never experienced, and it left him unsettled, unsure of what to do with it.

He reached out to touch her, and she shrank away from him, her whole body trembling.

He could see the fear in her eyes. This was the first time he’d ever really wanted to comfort someone, and he couldn’t.

Her phobia prevented him from even trying to soothe her.

Frustration burned inside, both at himself for wanting to comfort her and his inability to do just that.

“If our arrangement is upsetting you this much, Lily, we won’t do it.

” Nikoli couldn’t believe the words escaped his lips, but he wouldn’t be the cause of this.

People were right in that Lily was special, and maybe that was why he was determined to have her, but he would never deliberately do anything to cause her this much pain.

She shook her head. “No…no, this isn’t your fault. Adam…”

When he heard her voice break, he wanted to smash Adam’s face. What the hell had the little fucker done? “Adam what?”

She shook her head again and hiccupped. “Doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me, Milaya .” His voice was deceptively calm.

When he got his hands on Boy Wonder, he was going to do some damage.

“I…” He broke off when someone started pounding on the door.

Growling, he swung around and nearly ripped it off its hinges, hoping Adam would be standing there so he could hurt him as badly as Lily was hurting now.

Instead, he found the same girl he’d seen Lily with earlier tonight.

She blinked at him, surprised. “Where’s Lily?”

“She’s not seeing anyone right now.” Nikoli tried to shut the door, but she slid around him. When she saw Lily in tears and shaking, she turned on him like a rabid dog. “What the hell did you do?”

“Nikoli didn’t do anything,” Lily defended him. “What are you doing here, Janet?”

“Adam said you were upset and…” Her eyes widened. “Adam did this? Honey, what happened?”

Lily’s gaze shot to Nikoli, and he cursed. Janet did the same.

“Come on, Milaya ,” Nikoli said. “We’re getting out of here for a little while.”

“I don’t know.” Lily backed farther away. “I…”

“I promise, I’ll be on my best behavior,” he assured her. “You need to get out of here, away from everyone for a little while.”

“I don’t know, Lily.” Janet’s gaze swept to him, and his own anger sparked.

“I’m not the one who hurt her.” The bite in his own voice shocked him. His babushka would slap the back of his head if she heard him snap at a woman that way.

“Not yet,” Janet said hotly. “She’s not a one-night stand, and she’s not one of your girls who spread their…”

“Enough!” Lily shouted. She’d had it. Everyone needed to shut up. Her head was pounding, and she felt like she’d been dragged over a bed of hot coals. She hurt. Everywhere. She couldn’t deal with any of this right now.

“I’m sorry,” Janet apologized. “I just…”

“I know, Jan.” Lily closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. “You care, and you’re concerned, but Nikoli isn’t anyone’s business but mine. Leave it alone.”

Janet’s eyes went round, but she nodded. “Do you need to come stay at the house tonight?”

Lily shook her head. She couldn’t face anyone until after she calmed down. No way in hell did she want Janet pitying her all night either. “No, I’ll be fine. Go home, Janet.”

“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.”

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.”

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 him.

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.