The Russian's Tender Lover (The Sisterhood) (13 page)

“I’ll walk you to your room,” he said and stood up, leaving his pennies on the table.

She didn’t like the sound of that and said so. “No need. It’s right down the hallway. I’ve gotten myself there for the past couple of nights without your help, I can easily do it tonight.”

He walked around the table and shook his head as he looked down into her nervous eyes. “You and I both know that I’m going to kiss you good night.”

“No!” she gasped, stepping backwards. “No need.”

He smiled slightly and touched the side of her face. “There’s every need. In fact, I have a very strong need right now. Would you care to discuss it?”

“You’re needs are your own private business. I’m only here as a…an unanticipated guest,” she finished, for lack of a better description. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

She started to walk out of the kitchen, but he easily followed her. “Why does our attraction for each other make you so nervous?” he asked conversationally.

She stopped and looked up at him, considering her answer carefully. “Because I don’t think we equate the culmination of that attraction in the same way. And I think you sleep with women for recreation, while I consider that kind of commitment something altogether differently.”

He looked at her, watching her features and looking for something, she wasn’t sure what.

“Just one more piece of the puzzle falling into place,” he said, pushing a stray strand of hair out of her face. “You’re not who you present to the world, are you?”

She shrugged and looked away. “I don’t think anyone is exactly who they present to the world. We all have secrets.”

“I suspect that yours are a bit more important than other peoples.”

“You’re assuming that other people are hiding something.”

“Everyone hides things. I know you’re hiding something. I just haven’t figured out what that something is.” He watched her eyes shutter before saying, “Yet. I will figure it out.”

“Don’t you have a missing future brother in law? Isn’t that enough trouble in itself?”

“He’s an annoyance.”

“And what am I?”

He considered his words carefully. “I think you’re a little hummingbird, carefully sipping nectar from place to place but never landing anywhere.”

His comment was a bit closer to home than she wanted him to know about. “That’s a lovely image, I think, but not very accurate.”

“Where do you live?” he asked.

“In a house,” she replied evasively.

He took her hand and held it in his own, leading her down the hallway. “What country does that house reside in?”

“The United States.”

“And to what state does the house owe personal property taxes?”

Darcy laughed and shook her head. “A secret state.”

“Why does it need to be a secret?”

“Because people are trying to find me.”

“And why do you not need to be found?”

“Because I prefer my privacy.” She was actually enjoying the banter, matching wits with someone like Sergei was a rush. At her bedroom door, she leaned against the wall and looked up at him, waiting for his next question.

“Is your privacy a security issue, or a privacy issue?” he asked softly.

Darcy’s face reflected her fear and her whole body tensed. How had he come so close to the truth? She’d never let anyone get this close except Emma and Claire. And perhaps their husbands, but they were good men and wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize her safety. Sergei, she didn’t know him well enough to trust him with that information.

“I’d better get some sleep,” she said, looking away and putting her hand on the door handle. “Good night.”

He stopped her by placing his hand over hers, looking down at her with concern. “Is there someone out there trying to hurt you, Darcy?” he asked gently.

She shook her head. “Don’t go there,” she replied, thinking of her father’s or brother’s reaction to someone important in her life that they hadn’t hand picked. It literally could be murderous and the thought of anything happening to Sergei was devastating.

“I’m already there. Tell me who you’re afraid of.”

“I’m very tired,” she said and opened her door, slipping inside before he could kiss her. The puppies immediately jumped up from their sitting position on the bed, still too small to jump down but the momma dog greeted her effusively, eager to get a scratch and a pet. Darcy was more than willing to oblige, climbing up onto her bed and hiding under the covers, pulling the dog and puppies close as she needed their wiggling warmth and eagerness. Their innocence and happiness was a balm to her worries. These animals wouldn’t do anything to hurt someone except in defense of their owner or each other. They didn’t know how awful people could be to each other, all they wanted was to protect and love. And food, she thought as she buried her face in the soft, lavender scented fur.

Chapter 10

Standing up and stretching, Sergei felt good about the day. It had been very productive financially, all his companies were doing well and showing a profit, even in some of the difficult economic areas. He’d given his managers several suggestions to improve the profit margins, and fully expected all those suggestions to be implemented immediately.

The sun was still bright when he left his office and he decided to take a swim as a break before dinner. He still had several reports to review and contracts to sign so he wasn’t done for the day, but in the back of his mind, he’d been wondering what his delicate little captive was up to in her spare time.

The sight that greeted him was beyond anything he might have imagined. Lying on a bright green pool chair cushion, several of which had been pulled off the chairs and were now playing together to form a sort of large mat, was his captive. Laughing! There was some sort of scruffy dog next to her, his snout very close to her ear and several squirmy brown things climbing all over her.

Her soft, brown hair was spread out behind her and she looked as if she was wearing basically the same outfit she’d worn all week, just in a different color.

Wasn’t her type supposed to change clothes several times a day? And why wasn’t she in a bikini sipping some sort of martini at this point in the afternoon? More of the mystery he was determined to uncover.

As he came closer, he realized that the squirmy things were actually puppies, but he had no idea where they’d come from. He hadn’t even realized there was a dog on the island.

“Good afternoon,” he said, his deep voice coming out across the concrete froze her activity and she scrambled to sit up. It wasn’t easy since the puppies obviously weren’t finished playing yet, but when the other person arrived, their little bodies all sat back on their haunches, tiny tails wagging behind them and soft puppy bellies protruding between their tiny legs. All of them looking up eagerly at him in the hopes of another human to play with. One even licked his lips as he approached.

“What are you doing here?” she gasped, setting a puppy down beside her and placing a protective hand on the scruffy mother.

“It’s my house. I’ve come out to swim.”

Darcy stood up, confused. She’d known many other wealthy people who owned houses with pools but the pools were never used. Most were merely for show which is why she’d chosen the pool area to play with the puppies today. After last night’s conversation, she’d decided it was better to stay out of sight of his perceptive eyes.

As she watched, he dropped his shirt onto a chair and stood there in only swimming trunks and nothing else. Darcy had no idea when her mouth dropped open and was completely unaware that she was staring at his chest. Yesterday by the beach, he’d either been behind her or he’d been holding her close so she hadn’t gotten a very good look. But now, she took it all in, amazed that she had the courage.

There was a light layer of hair sprinkled all over it, which was very nice, but the main attraction was the span of muscles that covered his chest, arms, shoulders…the man didn’t just have a six pack. He was completely ripped! As she stood there staring, her fingers actually itched, physically itched, to touch his chest, to feel the texture and the muscles ripple under her fingers like they had yesterday. She imagined that his skin would be soft and cool, a bit fuzzy and her mind took her off to places she really shouldn’t be imagining.

“Now that you’ve had your fill, it’s my turn,” he said.

His deep, teasing voice snapped her out of her trance and her eyes shot up to his face, noting the amusement that was lingering in his eyes. ‘Excuse me?”

“You’ve been standing here staring at my chest. It’s only fair that I get the same opportunity,” he explained, crossing his arms over his chest as if he were patiently waiting for her to comply.

Darcy was horrified, both by his request and the fact that she’d been blatantly staring at this man’s physique. “I’m so sorry!” she stammered out, pulling her eyes away and turning to the side. “That was incredibly rude of me.”

“I don’t mind,” he said, chuckling at the blush that traveled up from the pale skin on her neck until it pinkened her whole face. “I’m honored. I imagine you’ve seen many male chests and the fact that you like mine only makes me feel as if I compare favorably.”

Darcy didn’t respond, and thankfully he dove into the pool at that moment, giving her a chance to regain her composure. She bent down and took the hem of her shorts out of one of the puppy’s mouth, then tried to pick them all up, intending to move them to a more private place. But Sergei again caught her attention as he swam laps in the pool. Back and forth, his powerful arms straining to push harder through the water. She couldn’t remember how many laps the man swam, but when he stopped and stood up, walking out of the pool, she again had to tear her gaze away, feeling awkward and clumsy as she tried to pick up the puppies.

It was worse when he sat down in one of the nearby chairs, drying off the pool water with one of the towels. “So are you going to explain to me why my patio chair cushions are now completely infested with fleas due to these ….creatures?” he asked, looking down at the pile of puppies that had decided to take a nap, all piled on top of one another, noses tucked under arms and tails wrapped around heads, as if they were still in the womb and didn’t mind the crowded nature of their dog pile.

“I found the momma down in the village and she was pretty hungry. I had no idea she had a brood of puppies she was also protecting, but they aren’t infested with fleas. They’ve had a rosemary bath every day for the past several days and I haven’t seen any evidence of additional infestation. They’re only eating leftovers and are really becoming healthy once again. I hope you don’t mind, but they’re not any trouble I promise.” She finished when she saw the amused expression in his eyes, then turned away to scratch the momma dog’s ears.

“What are their names?”

Darcy shrugged and glanced down at the brood. “I won’t name them since I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep them.”

“Naming them implies ownership?”

She shook her head. “Naming them indicates commitment. And since I don’t know if I’ll be here tomorrow or if you’ll find the recalcitrant fiancé, I don’t want to become emotionally involved with the little guys.”

Sergei looked at her hand gently petting the momma dog, whose head was in her lap staring up at her adoringly. He then looked back at Darcy, raising his eyebrow. “You’re not already emotionally involved?”

Darcy snatched her hand away, only to bring it back when the momma dog nudged her hand with her cool, black nose. “I’m trying not to be.”

“What do you intend to do with them?” he asked.

She looked up at him, for the first time realizing that he might not allow them into his house. “Oh, well,” she bit her lip and looked down at her new “family”. “I guess I was thinking to take them back with me when I leave here but I don’t want to take them away from you if you wanted to keep them.”

“Why would you take them away from their current family?”

“Because Jose just left them here. I’m sure he didn’t realize that the adult was pregnant or he wouldn’t have done something so heartless but since they’re here, would you mind terribly if I took care of them?”

“And you’re sure your apartment will allow pets?”

Darcy laughed. “Oh yes, have no fear about that!” she replied, thinking about the house full of pets that ran across the pastures chasing the horses and cows Matt kept near the barn. “They’ll have plenty of room.”

“She’s pretty mangy,” Sergei said with disdain. “You realize that your adoration of these scruffy animals is just another piece in the puzzle. Soon, I’ll have you completely figured out, my little hummingbird.”

“I’m really not that much of a mystery,” she said quickly, wanting to throw him off of the issue. The more banal she appeared, the less interested he would be.

Standing up, she started to walk over to the table for a glass of ice water, needing something to quench her suddenly dry mouth. If she could, she would have walked away, leaving him alone with his puzzle. But she couldn’t leave the puppies so close to the pool and they were sleeping, and she didn’t have the heart to wake them.