“The path is clear,” I remind him, “and it’s not that far. Plus, I’m pretty sure there are armed guards patrolling the property at every hour of the day. Aren’t you one of them?”
He walks over to stand beside me. “No, I’m not. I do other things for the family.”
I can guess exactly what those things are, so I just nod and start walking again. He falls in step beside me.
“This really isn’t necessary,” I say again.
He shrugs. “It’s a nice night, and I feel like walking.” Turning to look down at me, he adds, “It’s just an added bonus that I get to enjoy the night with someone as beautiful as you.”
I snort out a laugh and shake my head at his stunned look. Ilya obviously doesn’t get turned down much, and if he thinks smiling at me with those big, brown eyes of his while he tells me I’m beautiful is going to get me to magically strip and invite him inside, he’s got another thing coming.
Been there. Done that. No thanks.
As soon as I reach the cute cabin I’m thrilled to call my new home, I say a quick, “Thanks for walking me back,” and start to open the door.
“You’re not going to invite me inside for a drink?” he asks.
“No, I’m not.” I step inside, flicking the light switch before I turn to shut the door in Ilya’s stunned face. I refuse to admit that it’s also an incredibly handsome face with a sculpted jaw, full lips, and the color of eyes that are so dark they look black.
Nope, not going there.
After a few moments of painful silence, I hear a deep, masculine laugh before he says, “Goodnight, Lily,” and then there’s nothing but the thud of his footsteps and the wild beat of my heart as he walks back down the path to his much larger house.
I refuse to think about how sexy his accent sounds or how broad his shoulders look when I peek out the window and watch him walk away.
Ilya is nothing but trouble, and I firmly intend to stay as far away from him as I possibly can.
Chapter 2
Ilya
It’s been a week since Lily slammed the door in my face, and no matter how hard I try to stop it from happening, my eyes keep finding their way to her. She’s a problem I hadn’t been expecting, and I’m running out of excuses for hanging out at my boss’s house. I know Vasya values the protection of his family above all else, and I’m not too proud to admit I’ve used that to my advantage. He has a very newly adopted son, a little boy whose family we still know nothing about, and a stranger living on the property. Lily came highly recommended, but it’s still a change out of the ordinary, and we’ve all learned to keep our guards up about anything and everything that’s outside the usual.
Normal has been knocked on its ass around here, so a little extra protection at the main house is more than welcome. My eyes start drifting back to the woman who now haunts my every waking thought when I hear a soft laugh. Peeling my eyes from the brown curls that I imagine are just as soft as they look, I turn to face Nikolai’s smug grin.
“What?” I ask.
He shrugs and runs a tattooed hand through his hair, making his wedding ring catch my attention. I’m still trying to get used to the idea of my closest friend being married, but he’d met Sabrina three months ago and fell hard. I didn’t understand his obsession, but I’m starting to understand it now.
“You’ve been hanging at the house a lot lately,” he says.
He’s speaking Russian, but I still dart my eyes to Lily, worried she might hear what I can only imagine he’s about to say.
“Just keeping an eye on things,” I tell him.
He laughs again, and I debate the pros and cons of punching him.
“Oh, I can see that,” he says, making a point of turning his gaze to the woman who’s currently trying to teach Bran a new sign. I’m momentarily distracted by how graceful she makes the language look. We’re all going to learn ASL so we can communicate with Bran, and I’ve been secretly practicing what I see Lily teaching every day, trying to get a jumpstart on it. I don’t look anything like her when I do it.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I pull my gaze from Lily and look over at Nikolai. “I’m just doing my job.”
“Uh-huh,” he quickly says, not even pretending to buy my bullshit. “I also noticed that you haven’t left the property since she arrived.” He holds his fingers up, making a show of counting the weeks. “That’s three weeks, Ilya.”
“So?”
He shrugs, but the grin he’s wearing keeps growing. “I had no idea you could even go that long without sex.”
I groan at the reminder of how long it’s been. I’ve never been the celibate type, and a three-week dry spell is unheard of for me, but ever since seeing Lily, I haven’t wanted to go out. I don’t want to search the clubs for a poor substitute. I wanther, and it’s driving me fucking crazy. I feel like I’m two seconds away from losing my grip on sanity. Between the massive case of blue balls and the lack of a physical outlet, I’ve been more antsy than usual and far more irritable.
