“Your kisses are always going to lead to other things. And you can’t stay.”

“Those other things kissing leads to are good, and you like them.”

“I love them, but that only means you get your way.”

Her voice was drowsy. Sexy. Impossibly, his body stirred in response.

“You’re going to love all the other things I’m going to be doing to you. We’re just getting started. You might not mind me getting my way when I’m making you say my name.”

Her lashes lifted and he found himself looking directly into her eyes again. So blue. So filled with laughter and that look of near adoration.

“Don’t be so sure. You’re already going to get your way because I like giving you everything. I don’t need you adding to my problem.”

He lifted his eyebrow at her again. “Problem? You think it’s a problem that you want to give me everything I want from you?”

“You’re already arrogant and demanding. Can you imagine how much worse you’re going to get if I spoil you?”

He brushed his lips down her cheek to her chin. “No one has ever spoiled me, so no, I have no idea how much worse I can get.” He inhaled her scent and then grinned at her.

Her eyes closed again, and she snuggled into him as she gave an exaggerated sigh. “I guess we’re going to find out, then. As much as I want to wake up to you, you can’t stay. Billows sends a man to watch me. I don’t know why he started doing that, but he threatened any man I might date. His man can’t see you.”

Andrii couldn’t help loving the little command in her voice. She was sleepy, exhausted, probably a little freaked out, yet she was looking after him. He was staying, and not just because he needed to search her backpack for the necklace with the chip that opened the door leading to the offices and possibly to rooms where women were held and trained as sex slaves. He wanted to wake her up in the middle of the night. He wanted to spend the night breathing her in. Feeling her next to him.

“Need to take care of you before we both fall asleep. I told you, leave Billows’ man to me. He’ll never see me.”

She didn’t hear him; she was already asleep.

FOURTEEN

“I’m going to see Andrii again tonight,” Azelie reported to the merry widows. This time Doug Parsons and Carlton Gray were seated with the three older women.

Azelie set her drink on the table and scooted a chair closer to Blanc Christian. The ladies leaned in to hear every word. The older men crossed their arms and sat back in their chairs, regarding her with disapproval.

“Not a good idea,” Carlton said.

Doug nodded his agreement with a jerk of his chin. “Absolutely don’t date that man. In fact, never be alone with him.”

The merry widows gasped in unison. China glared at them. “Seriously? You two don’t have a clue what you’re saying.”

Azelie tried not to smile. She covered her reaction to the long-standing arguments between the five friends by sipping her iced latte. It didn’t matter that they were not in agreement over her developing a relationship with Andrii; it was a standing practice for them to take opposite points of view on nearly every subject. She found it hilarious. If the women said the sky was blue, the two men would take great exception to that color and begin to describe the sky in any other hue but blue. She thought it best to stay out of the disagreement and let them go at it without her.

“We’re men,” Carlton pointed out. “We don’t judge other men by their looks.”

Blanc did her best to look outraged when in fact, the hotter the man, the more she was all for Azelie to take a chance. They’d tried to set her up with countless other males who had innocently come into the coffee shop, unaware the merry widows would be scoping them out for Azelie.

Azelie always hid in her books or writing, pretending she had no idea what the women were doing. At first, their interference had been so upsetting she had nearly stopped going to that particular shop, but it was close to her bus connection to get to the college, the coffee was amazing, and it was smaller and more intimate than one of the popular chains. Once she knew the owners, Shaila and David Manger, she had to support their small business. She liked them that much. In the end, she was grateful she had stayed and gotten to know the merry widows and Carlton and Doug. They provided much entertainment when they weren’t trying to set her up with every available male who walked into the coffee shop.

“Looks? Do you think the only criterion we have for a man to date our beloved Azelie is to be hot?” China demanded.

Doug nodded. “Absolutely. The three of you ogle every man who enters this place and then you discuss whether or not they are good enough for our Azelie. And you do it loud enough that the entire coffee shop can hear every word, including Azelie and the potential male.”

Carlton added his agreement. “The words hot and gorgeous and OMG are in your conversations quite often.”

Azelie nearly spit her latte all over the table. The way the merry widows exchanged outraged looks was hilarious. Carlton and Doug were not wrong. In fact, they spoke the strict truth.

“You’ve scared off many good men,” Doug continued. “And now you’ve got this Russian. He’s Russian.”

Azelie stiffened, the laughter fading. “Okay, I’m going to have to object to the way that sounds prejudiced. You absolutely can’t dismiss my man because he’s from Russia.”

“I don’t care that he’s Russian, honey,” Doug said. “Only that he’s from another country and looks as dangerous as hell. Not just looks it—he is. Any man worth his salt can see that.”

“Oh my goodness,” Penny exclaimed in an overloud whisper. “Do you think he’s a spy? He looks like he could be a James Bond kind of man.”

The Christian sisters nodded in agreement. “Super cool,” China said in a breathy tone.

“If only,” Blanc added. “Azelie, maybe he’s a government agent. Wouldn’t that be awesome?”

“Just the idea is sexy,” China pointed out.

Azelie was back to stifling a full-blown laugh. The merry widows were ecstatic at the idea, already weaving a fantasy around Andrii. Doug and Carlton looked as if their heads might explode.

“I hate to burst your bubble,” Azelie said. She had to press her lips together several times to keep from laughing. “Andrii is a United States citizen.”

“What?” Blanc looked deflated. “That’s too bad.”

“Maybe not,” China denied. “It’s possible he’s an agent for the United States. The boys are right; he does look sexy and dangerous.”

Carlton choked until his face turned bright red. “I never said the man was sexy. That was the three of you crazy women. Good God, we’re going to have to work to keep you in line. We were gone too long this time and left you alone with your conspiracy theories and your inclination to find men and pick over their bones.”

Penny straightened her back and squared her shoulders. “We don’t ever indulge in conspiracy theories. What are you going on about?”

Again, Azelie nearly spit out her iced latte at the outright lie. Practically everything the merry widows talked animatedly about was conspiracy theories or drop-dead, seriously hot men. Even when Azelie didn’t see any of the contenders that way—with the exception of Andrii.

“Woman, the three of you watch too many crime dramas, and you always think someone is a spy or a murderer,” Carlton said.

“Unless they’re hot, and then they become some kind of fantasy hero,” Doug qualified.

“I’m going to have you banned from our coffee shop,” Penny declared.

“You’ve tried to have us banned at least once a month for three years,” Doug said. “Shaila and David aren’t going to kick us out because the three of you are wacky as hell.”

“We’re wacky?” China sputtered indignantly. “We were sitting here calmly waiting for Azelie to give us a report on her new man, and you shot her down, so now she isn’t about to share.”

Doug instantly looked contrite. “I didn’t mean to do that, honey. It’s just that men can look at other men and see them for who they are, whereas women don’t always have that ability. Forgive me, but you’re very young. Andrii is a good ten years older than you, and he didn’t get those scars from playing in a play yard. I’m just worried.”

Azelie could see the conflict on his face and hear it in his voice. So could the widows. Their indignation vanished, and the three women immediately sat straighter, appearing somber and interested in what Doug and Carlton had to say.