Page 62 of Touch Me Not

“Bring it on.” She laughed. “I’m willing to try it.”

“Excelente.” Joe grinned. “I’ll bring you both a bowl of it.”

Nikoli muttered something Lily didn’t quite catch, but it made her laugh. She smiled all the more at his exasperated expression. She was feeling more like herself now. Her muscles had relaxed, and she wasn’t ready to run screaming for the door. Nikoli had kept his word too. He hadn’t attempted to touch her in any way. He never lied to her. Maybe that was part of why she trusted him, part of why she never had a panic attack when he touched her. It was weird, and she didn’t really understand it, but as Adam always said, it was what it was.

“So, Luther said you guys were gonna work on the Mach 1 this week. Your race is coming up soon, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’s about a month away. It doesn’t need much work, but we want to modify the engine just a little more than it is now.”

“Do you want some help?”

Nikoli’s eyes snapped up, and he saw her smiling at him. “Love to have you help,” he said with a grin that had her narrowing her eyes.

Before she could say anything, Joe brought their food. He set it down with a wink. “I also brought a carafe of cold milk just in case it’s too hot for Niki boy.”

Lily snickered, and Nikoli shot her a menacing look. His mouth was not meant to be scorched so badly all his taste buds were burned off. “Go ahead. Take a bite,dushka.”

“How many times do I need to tell you not to call me that?” she asked, irritated.

He only nodded toward the bowl. It smelled delicious, but he knew better. He could see the chilis floating in it.

She scooped up a bite and shoved it in her mouth. He watched her for the first signs of the hot chilis assaulting her tongue, but she only closed her eyes as a look of intense pleasure came over her. His eyes widened when she took another spoonful into her mouth and said, “Mmmmm…this is delicious, Joe.”

Nikoli frowned and took a bite of the rich stew himself. It was delicious, but no sooner had he swallowed than the fire ripped through his mouth. He glanced at Lily and saw her taking another bite. She hadn’t touched her drink or her milk. He turned a suspicious look on Joe. Had the man added more chilies to his bowl than he had Lily’s?

“Something wrong, Nikoli?” Lily looked up and watched him curiously.

He shook his head, refusing to admit he couldn’t handle the stew when Lily was scooping the shit up like it was ice cream. His brothers would never let him live it down if they found out about this. Damn Joe and his spicy Cuban food.

Once Joe left, Nikoli took a small sip of the cold milk. Lily picked up her glass of cherry Dr. Pepper. Nikoli had asked Joe to stock it for her, and the man had complied readily. Lily ate here a lot, more than even Nikoli did.

“So, now, my little prude,” Nikoli said, deciding to rankle her, “where did you learn to dance like that?”

She wrinkled her nose at him. She hated the word prude as much as she diddushka. If she only knew it meant sweetheart. He suppressed a grin.

“Watching music videos,” she told him. “I spent hours in my room growing up, and I danced and sang along to my favorite bands and singers.”

He could just imagine her dancing around in her room with a hairbrush while she belted out whatever song she listened to. It was definitely something she’d do.

“You’re really good.”

She shrugged. “I’m all right. You’re not eating your food.”

“I’m not really hungry. I wanted to feed you. Food relaxes you.”

“It does not.”

He laughed. “Yes, Lily Bells, it does. Don’t look so horrified. I love watching you eat.” He held up his hand before she could spew whatever was forming on her lips. “It’s not what you think. No fat jokes. You savor food like you do life. It makes you happy, and anyone around you can see it. Here, you can have the rest of mine. You ate every drop of yours.”

She frowned but didn’t refuse. He figured the girl had a hell of a metabolism. She didn’t eat a lot; she just ate at odd times. She took a bite of his food, and her eyes widened. He watched sweat break out across her forehead, and she reached blindly for something to drink. He handed her the milk, and she gulped the entire glass down at once.

“What the hell is in that?” she gasped once she could talk.

“I knew it,” Nikoli growled. “The bastard. He filled mine with extra chilis.”

“Is he trying to kill you?”

“His idea of a joke.” He knew something was off. Joe was nowhere to be seen either. Bastard. “Are you ready to go?”

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