Chapter1
Millie
Aman—anenormous, strange man—settled into the chair across from me that Ida Jane had vacated at our table a few moments before.
I stared for a moment, and his smile widened.I didn’t trust smiling, towering strangers.
Well, for the record, I didn’t trust.My father had taught me that lesson, and refusing to believe in people—except my bestie, Ida Jane—made life a lot simpler and less painful.
My muscles tightened as my heartbeat slammed against my neck.I was stuck between my instinct to flee and the paralyzing fear that I wouldn’t make it out of the restaurant alive.I took a deep breath, preparing to bolt while I screamed.Creating a scene was better than ending up dead.
“I’m Luka Stol,” the blond stranger said with a quick flash of teeth.His smile wasmesmerizing.“I’m your temporary date until your friend’s finished dealing with her pest problem.He’s a real douche canoe, huh?”
I blinked at him, my mouth hanging open and my tongue as heavy as a brick.I could not find the words to unstick my frozen vocal cords.The rest of me was equally as unmoving.This felt like some kind of prank.
He plowed on, seeming undeterred by my lack of response.“My teammates call me Stolly.Speaking of, Maxim and Cruz will make sure your friend is safe.She was holding her own, but that pissant got mouthy when he fell in the puddle.Served him right—talking to a woman like that.”
I melted a little with his words.I studied him, liking what I saw.
“Ah, dinner!”He smiled as the waiter arrived with plates.“Excellent.I’m starved.”
He grabbed Ida Jane’s cloth napkin, shook it out, and settled it over his legs.He picked up Ida Jane’s fork, speared a shrimp dripping with bechamel, and brought it to his mouth with a smug expression.I watched as he savored her dinner, mouth gaping, unsure what to do or say.
Okay, maybe he was pretty on the eyes, but he shouldn’t be eating Ida Jane’s birthday meal.That was…Trent-like, and I didn’t have anything to do with Trent-like men.
Never again.
“Ida—is that her name?—said you’re shy, but don’t tell me you’re starstruck, please.”He wiped his lips and peeked at me through his blond lashes even as he heaped up another bite.“I’m too hungry to deal with shrieking right now.It’ll give me a migraine, and that’ll kill my appetite.Creates a vicious cycle.You get it.”
That caused me to blink, and a tiny smile flitted over my now-closed mouth.I had two choices: freak out or go with it.He made me want to go with him—er, it.“Good to know how to bring you to your knees, Stolly.”
He smiled, lips closed until he finished the bite.Then he leaned closer, his light brown eyes warm with humor.I waited for the skyrocket of my pulse and the slickness of sweat to spread over my skin like a virus.I couldn’t help my reaction to men, not since Trent had tried to force—
I buried that thought in my mind by going through the molecular structure of jet fuel.There could be anywhere from eight to sixteen carbon atoms, and I listed the isotopes of two before my pulse regulated and refocused on the beautiful male in front of me.Affablewas the best way to describe him.
“You could just ask me,” he said when he’d finished chewing.“I’d drop to my knees for a pretty girl like you.”
I laughed, unable to help myself.I was in my nerd glasses that did nothing to showcase my green-gray eyes.My dress was a size too big intentionally.I never dressed to impress anymore.I didn’twantmale attention, but Luka Stol looked as if he saw me.Not the scared, scarred woman, butme: Millie Jones, the woman who craved adventure as much as she shied away from the terrible possibilities it would bring.
The sound of my amusement tinkled across the table, shivering over the silverware and warming my chest even more than Stolly’s smile.He was beautiful, he was presumptuous, and…maybe he was just what I needed.
Luka Stol made me feel sexier and more alive than any other person on the planet that I could recall.Definitely more than anyone in years.
“Just so we’re clear, I’m not shy,” I said, emboldened by my burgeoning fascination.
There were four types of molecular attraction, none of which had anything to do with human attraction.Sexual attraction was based on a different type of chemistry—one I’d never studied.I’d taken some psychology classes to better understand my response to my father and to losing my mother when I was young, but I’d mostly been much more interested in chemical compounds than people’s actions and reactions.
That was where I’d meet Ida Jane, though.In that regard, taking psychology courses was the best decision I’d ever made.
Stolly nodded.“Got it.Not shy.Just…quiet.Observant.”
I nodded back.As long as I was in this city, near my father and Trent—his protégé-from-hell—I would remain so.
Stolly lifted Ida Jane’s white wine.“To a lovely dinner companion and great food.”He sipped right from where her lipstick sat.He set the glass back on the table.
“Should you be drinking that during the season?”I asked.“I’m assuming you have nutritionists and—”
“So youdoknow who I am.”He preened.“We do, and I shouldn’t, no.But it pairs well with my dinner.”He winked.Winked.And I warmed further.“Eat up, pretty girl.We have a party to attend.”
