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

The wicked smile creeping onto Irina’s lips had a knot forming in Dimitri’s gut. She had a tendency to make things turn ugly when there was something she didn’t like. “Yeah? And he has something against pink?”


Dimitri suspected Douglas would find something to dislike no matter what Elian did. “It’s more he has a thing against queers and anything not fitting the norm.”


“Oh, how lovely.” Irina grabbed Elian’s arm. “Salmon, you said? Come on, let’s put it on. I have three different shades of lipstick in my purse—” She shook a tiny black little thing and Dimitri was surprised she’d fit three items in it. “—are you okay with lipstick? We need to fix your hair. Do you have anything sparkly?”


Elian sent Dimitri a wide-eyed look as he allowed Irina to pull him toward what Dimitri assumed was the bedroom. It was the only doorway he could see that didn’t lead into the kitchen.


Chapter 21