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I wasn't surprised when the man didn't take the bait. He seemed unflappable. I'd realized that the night before when he'd been arrested. He'd been calm and cool, easily answering the officers’ questions as they'd led him away. Under normal circumstances, I would've enjoyed the challenge of taking him down a peg or two, but I was still mentally exhausted from my first meeting with the man.
Nik.
The name suited him and yet it didn't. I remembered his business card that he'd given to Simon. The card hadn't said Nik. It'd said Nikolai. Why did I even care about that? Why was I thinking that the longer version of his name fit him better?
And why was I fascinated by the hint of the accent I could hear in his voice? It sounded Eastern European. Russian maybe. Or Ukrainian.
I could feel my thoughts starting to scatter into different directions. That wasn't something I could afford, especially not in front of Nikolai.
Jesus, where had that come from? Was I seriously going to call him that in my head?
My eyes fell to my damp sleeve. The discoloration from the spilled coffee put me on edge. But it also gave me something to focus on. I moved around the desk and past Nikolai. The wide berth I gave him was ridiculous, but I told myself it had nothing to do with my fear of getting too close to him. I shrugged the jacket off my shoulders as I walked toward the bathroom.
"Pick that up," I said to Nikolai as I motioned to my fallen computer. I didn't expect him to do it, of course, but I'd lost a lot of cool points already.
Hell, who was I kidding? I had absolutely no cool points going for me this morning.
As I neared the bathroom, I tossed my jacket over the back of the couch and began unbuttoning my shirt. I was just reaching for the handle on the door when firm fingers closed around my wrist and I was pulled back several feet. The action had me bumping into Nikolai hard. His strong fingers curled around my upper arms. The heat was unmistakable. So was the fact that I couldn't breathe.
I automatically yanked myself away from him and spun around. The move caused me to hit the door behind me. "What the fuck are you doing?" I snapped. He was still too close for comfort. I could smell his scent. I could feel the waves of heat rolling off his body. God, he’d be so warm to curl up against in the middle of the night, especially after a nightmare. No doubt those arms of his could chase away any fear.
I fully expected him to back off because I wasn't playing around anymore. He'd already crossed way too many boundaries. But instead of stepping back, Nikolai stepped forward instead, crowding me against the door. His jaw was set into a hard line as he said, "Lesson number one. You never enter a room until I do a sweep of it."
A twinge of disappointment went through me, though I didn't really understand why. It probably had to do with the fact that my body felt like it was in all sorts of knots from his proximity and all he was doing was teaching me a so-called lesson.
"Get off me," I ordered. I'd somehow managed to keep my hands from pressing against his chest, but now I was regretting that fact. He was far too close for comfort and I had no defense against him beyond my words.
"Lesson number two," Nikolai continued as if I hadn't spoken. "You calm the fuck down."
It was all I could do not to shove him away. "You done?" I asked as I fought to get control of my emotions. Falling apart would get me nowhere and I couldn't afford for my brain to scatter into a million pieces like it was prone to do whenever I got overly stressed. No way in hell was I going to allow Nikolai Falkov to undo what I’d spent years and years working to overcome.
Instead of letting me go, Nikolai pulled me toward him briefly before setting his own body between mine and the door. At that point, he released his hold on me and entered the bathroom. I had no doubt that he'd already checked the bathroom after entering my office before my arrival, but he still made a big show of checking every nook and cranny. When his big body filled the doorway, he said, "Now I'm done."
My fingers felt like they were shaking as I plucked at the last few buttons on my shirt. I practically ripped the last one off as I tore the shirt from my body at the same time that I strode past Nikolai. Our bodies briefly brushed one another's, but I ignored the fiery sensation that shot straight to my balls and practically slammed the door shut on the man. I flipped the lock on the bathroom door and stumbled to the sink. I leaned over and cranked the cold water as high as it would go.
