Page 37 of Touch Me Not

“You’re…ah…welcome.” Julie turned and walked away, glancing back several times. Lily made some kind of disgusted noise, but Nikoli ignored her. He picked up a fry and dipped it in ketchup. “So, now back to this bet…”

“The bet stands,” Lily said between bites of chowder, “unless, of course, you’re afraid you’ll lose.” Lily worked hard to keep her tone even. Nikoli had gotten to her for a minute there. She’d even wanted him to touch her, and it left her feeling nervous and confused. She’d gone so long without someone’s touch, it made no sense to her that she craved his.

“We’ve already established I’m not afraid of losing,” Nikoli countered. “Where did that particular little idea come from? It’s not something we talked about last night.”

“You want people to think we’re dating, don’t you?”

He nodded and continued to eat.

“Then I had to find a way to make them believe I’d ever date you.”

“What’s wrong with dating me?”

Lily giggled at how outraged he looked. An honest-to-God giggle. She was not a girl who giggled, but Nikoli brought it out in her. Not even Adam could make her so much as think about giggling.

“You’re not exactly dating material,” Lily told him, laughing as his face became even more outraged.

“Why the hell not?” he demanded. “No one’s ever complained before.”

“Nikoli, you’re gorgeous, sexy, and every girl’s fantasy, but no girl would date you.”

He growled, his feet inching closer. She glanced down nervously, but her eyes shot back up when a fry hit her in the face. He did not! “You really want to start a food fight when I have clam chowder to throw at you?”

“Explain why no girl would date me.” His tone was clipped and hard. Ohh, she’d hit a nerve! Good. The man needed taken down a peg or two.

“You’re the bucket list guy,” she told him. “You’re the guy every girl wants to sleep with just once, but that’s it. Oh, you’ll get those who think they can change you, but we know deep down, you’re a one-night stand kind of guy. You’ve got commitment issues.”

“I do not!”

“Really?” She arched a brow. “Tell me, when was the last time you had a relationship that lasted more than a night?”

“You.”

“I don’t count,” she said. “Besides, what we’re doing isn’t really a relationship. The question is why you don’t want a healthy relationship with one person.”

“I have my reasons.”

She rolled her eyes at his surly tone but continued. “Girls, like guys, don’t want someone everyone and anyone can have and has had at one time or another.”

“I haven’t slept with as many women as you think. Girls tend to let their friends think something happened. I just don’t correct them.”

Like she believed that? Ha! She’d seen him with more women over the last three years than she could count. “You also have no respect for women.”

“I have respect for them,” he said and then paused. “Well, some of them. I respect you and my mother. Doesn’t that count for anything?”

“Why don’t you respect them?” she asked, curious.

“As you like to point out, I’ve slept with a lot of women, not as many as you think, but enough. I’ve seen them cheat on their husbands, boyfriends, and fight with their best friends to sleep with me. I don’t say this to sound arrogant or to brag. It’s just a fact. Why would I respect people who would throw everything away for sex? If you’re not happy, then have enough balls to ’fess up to it. Don’t disrespect someone else by cheating.”

Lily shoved a spoon of chowder into her mouth to keep from having to respond right away. She hadn’t expected that answer from Nikoli. It was something she would have said. And he had a point, dammit. How could a person respect someone who couldn’t respect themselves or others? Well, hell, maybe Nikoli did have some kind of moral code.

“Anyway, back on topic, the bet.” She needed a few minutes to process this whole deep side of Nikoli Kincaid. “People knowme, they know I’d never go out with you willingly, so I came up with something they’d believe, thatAdamwould believe.”

“Boy Wonder does know about your car addiction.” Nikoli nodded as if everything made sense. “So, it’s not a real bet, then? I can do…”

“Oh, it’s a real bet,” Lily interrupted. “The way I see it, this…proposition of yours is completely one-sided.”

“One-sided?” he asked incredulously. “You get Boy Wonder out of it.”

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