Four years ago, Dimitri Petrov had his leg blown off by a landmine while in military service. Suffering from PTSD, he doesn’t do crowds, and he doesn’t do people. If he had his way, he’d never leave his house at all. Dimitri’s sister, Irina, runs a dating agency, and despite that it would be better for business if they had a pretty woman working the front desk, Irina insists Dimitri’s the man for the job.<br><br>In a whirlwind of pink shirts, flapping hands, and outrageous flirting enters Elian Hubert. Elian needs a date. Invited to speak on love through time in fiction at a Valentine dinner, there is no way he’s showing up alone. When Dimitri tells him The Single Pursuit is unable to help on such short notice, Elian suggests Dimitri be his date.<br><br>Dimitri doesn’t do dates, and he doesn’t do dinners, but Elian’s made him happier in the last few minutes than anyone’s been able to do in years. He might not do Valentine's, and he might not do gatherings, but maybe he can do Elian ... a favor and accompany him to his presentation? If things go too badly, he can always hide behind a curtain and pretend he’s somewhere else.

Be Still, My Heart

“Oh…eh…what do you prefer?” He’d get sweaty if they did this, and then he’d have to change the compression stocking or he’d slide around in the socket.


“I don’t give a damn about your leg Dimitri.” Elian widened his eyes. “Or I mean, I do, I’m sorry you lost it, but I mean it’s not what I’ll focus on as we do this.”


Dimitri shook his head. “Off.” He reached down and rolled down the outer liner, removed the prosthetic. Elian sat back and watched. Before he rolled off the last stocking, Dimitri met his eyes. It was one thing to see a prosthetic leg, another to see the leg with nothing on it at all.


“More than.” Elian grinned at him. “I don’t care, Dimitri. I’m sorry you had to suffer; I’m sorry you’re still suffering, but as for what turns me on—feet have never been my thing.”


Chapter 17