at the thought that something had happened to Cliff that would prevent him from answering my call. He wasn't exactly the youngest of men, nor was he in the best health.
"Is he all right?" I asked even as I dropped my work phone and searched out my cell phone. It was one thing for Cliff to not answer calls from the office, but I had his private cell phone number that few people were privy to.
My fingers actually shook as I tried to find his contact information. Before I could react, a warm hand was pressing over mine.
Falkov's hand.
The contact caused an instant and almost violent reaction. But not the bad kind of violent. So many things happened at once that my breath actually caught in my throat. The sensation that fired from the tips of my fingers to the top of my arm was almost crippling. Not surprisingly, my dick reacted to the feeling of his calloused fingers brushing my skin. But it was the overwhelming need to not move, to stay there like that with his hand covering mine, that was equal parts joy and pain.
People didn't touch me. That was just an unspoken rule. Yeah, I shook hands with customers and clients and such, but no one ever touched me.
No one.
"He's fine, Jude," Falkov said. The timbre of his voice caused that rubber band of need inside me to wind even tighter. The knowledge that Cliff was okay should've been enough to release some of the tension, but the physical contact with the beautiful man across from me was making that impossible. I yanked my hand from his and took several steps back. I knew it was like showing my throat to him, but I had no choice.
"You can call me Mr. Archer," I bit out. My rudeness did what I needed it to. The momentary softness I'd seen in Falkov's eyes, had heard in his voice, disappeared just like that.
"Daddy Hayes won't answer your call because even he's done with your games," Falkov said. "Jude," he added. "And I know you couldn’t care less, but you can call me Nik."
"Fuck you, Nik," I said. "Yeah, that has a nice ring to it," I remarked snidely. I hadn't missed how he’d referred to Cliff. He wouldn't be the first to believe the rumors of my relationship with Clifton Hayes. I certainly wasn't going to correct him because I didn't give a shit what he thought.
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