Page 38 of Touch Me Not (Manwhore #1)

Not that she wanted him. Oh, she wanted him sexually, but she didn’t want him .

He knew what she thought of him. Granted, her opinion may have changed a little over the last months, but she still thought of him as the manwhore of Boston University.

She would never see him as anything else.

And that was okay. He didn’t want her to see him as anything other than that.

He needed her to think of him that way so it would be easier when they broke up. For both of them.

“Hey.” Lily interrupted his thoughts. He turned and saw her smiling. How had he not heard her come in?

“Hey, my little stealthy ninja.” He pulled her to him. “You smell all minty fresh.”

She laughed, and he couldn’t resist leaning down to sweep her lips with his.

He felt the sigh go through her and pulled her closer in response, increasing the pressure of his kiss.

Every time he kissed her, he lost more of his desire to let her go.

This was getting to the point of no return.

He needed to end it soon. After Miami. He’d end it when they got back from Miami.

He pulled back and stared down into her eyes, sparkling with laughter and warmth. Miami. Well, fuck. The dread slammed into him with all the force of a sledgehammer. Now he didn’t want to go to Miami.

“You okay?” she asked, concerned. “You look like you’re gonna puke.”

“I’m fine.” He brushed it off. “Ready to go?”

“Sure.” Her eyes remained worried, but she grabbed her purse and followed him out the door.

The ride to his latest hole-in-the-wall discovery was quiet. He kept glancing at her, and she kept staring out the window. She had something on her mind, something that wasn’t good. Nikoli couldn’t explain how he knew this, but it was like an itch right at the base of his neck. It wouldn’t go away.

Once they were seated in the dinky diner with their orders placed, he asked, “What’s wrong, Lily Bells? Something’s bothering you.”

She turned confused and frustrated eyes to him, and he sucked in a breath. “Adam said some stuff this morning.”

“Did he hurt you again? I swear I will beat him this time.”

“No, no.” She shook her head. “Nothing like that. He was drunk, and I don’t think he meant what he said, or maybe he did because he was drunk. I don’t know.”

A sick feeling settled in Nikoli’s stomach. He knew what was coming. “What did he say?”

Lily sighed and looked into Nikoli’s eyes.

They were darker, almost angry. If she didn’t know him better, she’d say he was jealous, but the manwhore never got jealous.

He didn’t love her. She reminded herself of that forcefully.

He might want to have sex with her, but he would never want her. Not in any way that mattered at least.

“He told me he was in love with me and that he wanted to marry me and not Sue.”

“I see,” Nikoli murmured, and Lily shot him a glance. His eyes had gone blank and his face closed off. “That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Lily agreed quietly. “It was what I wanted.”

“Then why don’t you look happy, Milaya ?”

“Why now, Nikoli? Why now that I’m getting better?

Why now that I’m with you? I don’t know if Adam really means it or if he’s just reacting to something he’s never experienced before.

I was always there for him, and now I’m not.

What if he misses that and is confused about how he feels because of it? ”

“ Milaya , Boy Wonder is in love with you. Is this recent, or has he always felt that way? I don’t know, but I do know how jealous he’s been. He can’t stand the thought of me and you together. It drives him crazy.”

“Maybe,” she muttered.

“Well, if you decide to take Boy Wonder up on his offer, you renege on this imaginary bet, and Ellie stays with me.”

His car? That was his first thought? His car?

It only solidified Lily’s opinion that Nikoli didn’t love her, that he didn’t want her.

He just wanted his damn car. She felt her face heat up, but this time in anger.

Why should she care or be shocked? He was Boston University’s very own manwhore, after all.

Nikoli watched Lily’s cheeks fill with color and her blue eyes flash with fury, and he frowned. Why was she mad? Boy Wonder was her end goal. She should be happy.

Nikoli should be happy for her, but he wasn’t. He wanted to hit something. To beat someone bloody. Anger fought with jealousy inside of him, and he hated it. He didn’t get attached, ever, but this woman had gotten under his skin. She would leave him. He’d known that from the beginning.

“Hey, May, turn that up,” someone shouted, and he and Lily turned to see another crime scene pictured on the flat screen in the corner of one wall.

Another girl had been found, and it appeared to be the same guy who’d been killing all summer.

Boston was officially in the grips of a serial killer, and everyone was on edge.

“That’s two blocks away from the university.” Lily’s eyes widened. “Oh my gosh, he’s been getting closer and closer to the college since he started.”

“Don’t worry, Milaya , they’ll catch him.”

“Yes, we will.”

Nikoli’s head snapped up, and he saw his brother, Kade, grinning down at him. The mess of curly black hair and sleepy black eyes made Nikoli laugh. Kade looked like he hadn’t slept in a week and had a serious case of bedhead. He stood, wrapping his brother in a bear hug.

“Good to see you, Nik,” Kade said when they let go. “One would think you were hiding from your brother the way you hardly call.”

“Just busy, bro,” Nikoli said. “Lily, this is my brother, Kade.”

“Hello,” Lily said, smiling. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

Kade’s eyebrows hit his hairline. Not that Nikoli blamed him. He and his brothers were all alike. They didn’t take girls to breakfast. They had sex, and they moved on.

“You’re the oldest brother, right?” Lily asked.

“Uh, yeah,” Kade murmured and gave Nikoli a look that said, “What the fuck, dude?”

“Kade, have a seat, man. We just ordered breakfast, and the food here is stellar.” Nikoli scooted over so his brother could sit. Kade slid in, but his eyes stayed on Lily. “How did you find me?”

“FBI, remember? It’s easy to track you down.”

“Pretty sure that’s a violation of my right to privacy.” Nikoli snorted at his brother’s pious look.

“Brothers don’t have an expectation of privacy.” Kade laughed. “So, Lily, how long have you known my brother?”

“I’ve known the manwhore for a couple months,” she said, her voice completely innocent, causing Nikoli to spew the mouthful of coffee he’d just taken.

Kade’s laugh boomed through the diner. “Manwhore?”

“Well, he does have a bit of a reputation,” Lily said, “but he has been behaving the last few months.”

“Has he?” Kade asked, glancing at Nikoli, who shot him a fuck-off look. “That doesn’t sound like him. My brother doesn’t know how to behave.”

Lily just smiled. “Then you don’t know him as well as you think you do. Nikoli is a decent guy…for a manwhore.”

“I thought we agreed you would stop calling me that,” Nikoli seethed. He hated that nickname. Truly hated it, especially when Lily used it.

“Did we?” she asked, her voice all sweet, and his eyes widened. She was still pissed at him. But why? He hadn’t understood it to begin with. Why was she mad at him because her dreams were coming true? The woman made no sense.

“Yes, dushka , we did.” He leaned closer, eyes narrowed.

“Don’t call me dushka !” Lily’s own eyes narrowed.

“Oh, I’ll do more than call you dushka ,” Nikoli said, his eyes a clear threat.

“You can try, Kincaid.”

Nikoli’s grin grew at the sly tone in Lily’s voice.

Kade interrupted before Nikoli could respond. “Um, big brother here…do I need to leave so you two can get a room?”

“No.” Nikoli sat back when the waitress came to set down their food. He waited for her to take Kade’s massive order that had Lily scrunching her nose in disgust before asking, “What are you doing here, Kade?”

“Your serial killer.” Kade’s usual carefree face was serious for once. “The Boston PD called, and we were sent to do what we can to help catch the guy.”

“Called?” Lily asked.

“I’m Special Agent Kade Kincaid,” he said. “I’m a member of the BAU?—”

“The Behavioral Analysis Unit,” Lily finished for him, and Nikoli sighed. Lily was a true fan of the show Criminal Minds . She could watch that show for hours when the reruns came on. Truthfully, it had grown on Nikoli too. He found himself watching it even when Lily wasn’t around.

Kade gave Lily his best “come here and let me hit that” grin. Nikoli turned so he could look his brother dead in the eyes. “No.”

Kade’s eyebrows shot up again. Nikoli knew how territorial he was being and how unusual it was for him, but he’d be damned if he sat here and watched his brother flirt with his girlfriend.

He saw Lily shake her head out of the corner of his eye, and he shot her a glare. “I mean it, Kade. Hands off my girlfriend.”

“Your what?” Kade spewed his own coffee across the table and right onto Lily, who let out a dismayed gasp. Coffee stains covered her t-shirt.

“Girlfriend.” Nikoli leaned over to wipe the coffee off Lily with a napkin.

She looked so shocked at his use of the dirty word “girlfriend.” She was his until he broke up with her after Miami.

Or until she said yes to Boy Wonder, whichever came first. A brick settled in Nikoli’s stomach at the thought.

Damn, he really wanted to hit something.

“You don’t do girlfriends,” Kade sputtered.

“I do now,” Nikoli growled. “Apologize to Lily Bells.”

Kade stared at her with his mouth open, and Lily suppressed the urge to laugh. The man looked like he’d been kicked in the teeth at the thought of his little brother having an honest-to-goodness girlfriend. So funny.