Chapter 17 #2
Both Nina’s sudden appearance and her question threw me so off guard I spewed wine all over myself. That caused her to fall into a fit of giggles. I heard little feet running away and I stared at my lap as I tried to recover.
“I’m sorry, Lainey. Here are some napkins.”
She plopped down next to me, kicking out her feet and still giggling.
I took my time wiping my face. What was I supposed to say to her? “I haven’t known your daddy very long.”
“You’ve known him for four months and three days. That’s long enough to know if you’re in love. Emily said Alexsey fell in love within minutes of meeting her mommy.”
As I bit my lower lip to keep from laughing myself, I placed the wine on the table and sat back, twisting so I could look her in the eyes. “Really? What do you know about love?”
She shrugged, every little action dramatic just like a princess. “I know things. I am seven now. Soon, I’ll be dating.”
“Somehow, I don’t think your daddy will be happy to hear you say that. Do you have a boyfriend?”
“Ew. Not yet. All the boys my age are gross.”
The sweet angel was going to do me in. “Well, I can honestly tell you that it takes boys a very long time to grow up.”
“That’s what my aunts say. Aunt Marissa. And Aunt Bristol. And Aunt Fallon.”
While they were more like second cousins once removed, I wasn’t going to burst her happy little family bubble. “They’re right.”
“You’re deflecting.”
“I am?” I was about to fall into a fit of laughter. Sasha was going to have his hands full with this one.
“Yes, you are. You didn’t answer the question. It’s okay if you are.”
“It is?”
She nodded vehemently. “Mama wouldn’t mind.”
Tilting my head, I was fearful she’d burst into tears and I wasn’t sure if I could take that. “She wouldn’t?” I barely managed.
“She’s in heaven, you know. Daddy told me she’s an angel. I know she’d like you and do you want to know why?”
“Why?”
“Because you make Daddy happy. He’s been very sad for a long time. He doesn’t think I know. He thinks he can hide it, but he can’t. He’s not a very good actor.”
A series of flutters rolled through my heart. “That’s something else boys aren’t very good at.”
Her grin was infectious. “I think Mommy would really like you to become a part of the family.”
My hand was shaking as I reached for the wine. “I adore your daddy, Nina, but we aren’t ready to… I mean we just are getting to…”
“Oh, I get it. You need to start kissing and stuff. It’s fine if you do that around me.”
The heat rushed up my face to the point her little eyes opened wide.
Every time she giggled, she made my heart sing just a little bit.
“Please don’t grow up too fast. You deserve to enjoy your childhood.
” I managed to take a sip of wine realizing this little girl was making me face how I felt about him.
We’d gone from flirting to him being my protector. Then my lover to hero.
Maybe I could be his girlfriend. What was I saying? The tabloids would go wild.
“You’re special to him, Lainey. He gets nervous around you.”
“Oh, he does?” Now I laughed.
“Yes. He once changed clothes four times before he was going to work. I caught him and asked why. He said he was meeting you to go over some final details about the contract. Whatever that is.”
“Did you tease him relentlessly?”
“Duh. I also picked out the color tie for him. Purple.”
Laughing, I pressed my fingers against my lips. “I remember that tie. It was utter perfection.”
“I thought so. I told him girls liked boys who weren’t afraid of being a little different and making a fool out of themselves.”
“That is excellent advice.”
Her vocabulary shouldn’t floor me. She was the spitting image of her father in actions and everything else. What did were her words. I hadn’t expected to discover the man could be nervous about anything. He was such a powerhouse.
“Do you like him?” she asked innocently enough, but I had a feeling she had something up her sleeve.
“I do.”
“So, you love him.”
“Well, I… I care about him and think he’s handsome and fun to be around and…”
“Yep,” she said, nodding emphatically. “You’re in love. Wait until I tell Emily.”
“I would wait just in case your daddy doesn’t think so.”
“He loves you. He said you were the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen.”
“He did, huh?” A noise caught my attention. She hadn’t paid any attention whether the door had opened and Sasha had walked in, but I had. I could see a cart he was ready to roll into the room. It was filled with bags from various stores and wrapped presents. They must be from Nina’s birthday.
“Yep. You should have heard him,” Nina said as if she was in the know about all things involving her father.
Both his eyebrows knitted together and when he was about to open his mouth, I gave him a quick and daring look. He better not interrupt this perfectly fine conversation.
His facial expression suddenly reminded me of a beast on the prowl. For a man who had remained mostly expressionless around me for months, to see him making crazy faces added credence to what Nina had said.
Maybe I did make him happy after all.
“What else did your father say about me, little miss?” I pushed, increasing the volume, and I was almost certain I’d pay the price for teasing him later. Well worth it.
A teensy tiny part of him was curious as to what she would say. He narrowed his eyes and closed the door with a soft push. When he inched closer, he shook his head and his expression changed to one of enjoying admonishing me right before he punished me.
Or maybe he was preparing to devour me.
I wasn’t certain I’d mind a little of both.
“Well,” she said, adjusting herself on the couch.
It was all I could do not to expose his presence.
“He said that you looked like a model only more gorgeous than any girl he’d seen on a magazine.
He also said that he wanted to ask you out to dinner.
He was shy and didn’t think you would say yes.
I tried to tell him that all he had to do was ask nicely. ”
“Really?” I shifted my attention back to him. “Let me get this straight. Your father, a man with broad shoulders and chiseled muscles was scared of little ole me.”
“Yep. He was even sweating.”
She’d leaned forward as if telling me a secret. At that point, I couldn’t stop from falling into a fit of laughter, which prompted her to mimic my actions.
“I can’t leave you two alone for a few hours.” His deep baritone had the same dazzling effect. Every nerve ending was on fire. Every wild pulse of my heart was because he’d returned.
“Daddy!”
“I think that’s enough, my darling little girl.” Sasha swept Nina into his arms, spinning her over his head before tickling her tummy. She giggled the entire time, her face lit up from just having her daddy home.
“Daddy. Do you love Lainey, because she’s in love with you?”
“Is that so?” He lifted his gaze, his eyes immediately shifting from sheer delight in teasing his daughter to something much darker and more carnal.
“Yep. She told me. That means you are getting married. Right?”
We just looked at each other, testing the waters, which was crazy. Completely certifiable.
Maybe he was a gangster, a big, bad Bratva man. Maybe he’d done some terrible things in his past as he’d tried to tell me without graphic details.
Maybe he’d broken several laws. Maybe I should be afraid of him.
None of that mattered when I saw the way he was with his daughter and with me.
He wasn’t just a hero in my mind.
Nor was he just my lover.
He was the powerful man I was falling in love with.