He opened it. And stared. Raluca enjoyed watching lust blaze in his eyes, followed by his jaw clenching as he tried to force it down. He wanted her body as much as he disliked her personally.
Good, she thought. Let him suffer. I shouldn’t be the only one.
He looked the same as ever, dressed in his usual clothes — black jeans, black leather jacket, black leather boots — but the sight of him, his green eyes, his tousled hair, his broad shoulders, the vine twining around his finger — affected her as much as it had the first time. As much as it always did. He was all wrong for her, and yet she wanted him so much that just looking at him made her nipples harden within their silken cups.
And she didn’t only want him sexually. She wanted to hear his laugh, see his smile, and comfort the hurt within him that she sensed without knowing what it was. The few occasions when they’d managed to have a conversation without arguing had been so fun. She wanted his body, yes, but she wanted more than that. She wanted to be friends with him. She wanted him to like her. To love —
But he doesn’t, she reminded herself. And those other things I imagine that I want from him are the mere byproducts of our unfortunate mutual sexual desire. It is a matter of chemistry, nothing more.
Her dragon hissed, It is much more.
Nick sucked in a gulp of air. His gaze, which had briefly drifted — was he speaking with his wolf? — focused again. “Right. Let’s go.”
Raluca once again seated herself in Nick’s car. She started to close the door, but a leather-clad arm shot out and held it open.
“Your dress,” Nick reminded her.
“Oh!” Raluca had been about to slam a car door on the trailing skirts of her couture ball gown. She lifted them inside. Nick closed the door for her. “Thank you.”
“No problem.” He pulled back his arm, leaving the faintest scent of leather in the air before it was blown away by the wind.
When he parked at Protection, Inc., Raluca accompanied him in with some trepidation. She liked Hal, but their introduction had been so embarrassing and awkward. She’d liked Destiny too, but only after the bodyguard had concluded her challenge of strength and decided to be friendly. Raluca wondered if that was some strange American ritual, and if she would ag
ain be subjected to a bone-crushing handshake should the other female member of Protection, Inc. appear. Then, too, there was Shane, with his icy blue stare. Raluca wasn’t sure she wanted to meet him at all.
But the only person at Protection, Inc. was a handsome Latino man lounging on the sofa with his feet dangling over the arm rests, his muscular body sprawled at ease. He wore a simple white T-shirt and blue jeans, but he wore them well. His black hair, which was longer and smoother than Nick’s, tumbled back in a chin-length mane. Raluca was irresistibly reminded of a lion soaking up the savannah sun, even before she remembered Rafa was, in fact, a lion shifter.
Rafa’s big brown eyes opened wider at the sight of her, and then a charming smile lit up his face. He rose from the sofa with easy grace. “What a pleasure to meet you, Raluca. You look ravishing.”
He held out his hand in a familiar and elegant gesture. Automatically, she offered him her own. He took it, bent, and brushed his lips against the back of her hand.
“The fuck you think you’re doing?!” Nick burst out.
Rafa unhurriedly released her hand. “I’m demonstrating proper etiquette for a white tie ball. Like the one you’re going to in an hour. Remember?”
“Yeah, I fucking remember!” Nick snapped. “But we’re not at the fucking ball yet, so you can shake hands like a fucking normal person!”
Raluca should have been offended by the cascade of f-words. Not to mention that Rafa had done nothing improper, and in fact had pleasantly reminded her of home. But an odd warmth rose in her at the sight of Nick seething over another man kissing her. If he was jealous, did that mean that some part of him cared about her?
Of course he cares, hissed her dragon.
Raluca shook her head, dismissing her dragon. If Nick was possessive, it only meant that he saw her as a possession: a thing to be used and discarded, not a person he cared for. But she could use his jealousy as another opportunity to get some revenge for the hairball.
“I am pleased to meet you, Rafa,” she said, making sure to sound flirtatious. “Since we seem to have offended Nick with a formal greeting, shall we make up for it by shaking hands?”
A spark of mischief gleamed in Rafa’s eyes. “Well, Nick did ask us to. Can’t refuse a teammate’s request.”
Rafa took her hand and clasped it just long enough for it to seem like an intimacy rather than mere politeness before he shook it. “There. Now we’ve been introduced in the styles of your country and mine. I do hope you’ll stay until Lucas comes back— I’m sure he’d be disappointed if you left before his return. And he told us so much about you, I’d be very sorry to miss making your acquaintance.”
“Rafa, are you fucking done yet?” Nick demanded. “You’ve got a fucking job to do.”
“Nick needs help getting dressed,” Rafa explained to Raluca, making it sound like he was teaching his toddler son to tie his shoes.
Nick flushed red, with embarrassment or fury or both. “Because that fucking white tie outfit has something like nineteen fucking parts that all have to be fucking perfect.”
“Exactly. Let’s start getting them on,” Rafa said smoothly.
He led them to the locker room, where Raluca retrieved her hoard pack from Lucas’s locker. Its contents sang to her soul, lightening her heart. Nick might not enjoy the evening — in fact, Raluca was quite certain that he would not — but she would. And at the end, she’d abandon him and fly away, taking her hoard with her. This whole American trip had obviously been a bad idea, but at least she’d end it on a high note.