What if Ivy sees me?What exactly am I supposed to tell a six-year-old if she catches me sneaking out of her daddy’s bedroom at sunrise, looking like a woman who made several questionable life decisions?
And worse.What if Alexei regrets this?
The thought sinks low in my chest in a way I don’t enjoy even a little.
Now that it’s morning, last night feels unreal. Men like Alexei don’t fall into bed with women like me and wake up eager to repeat the experience. They wake up polite and distant, pretending the night before was just a passing moment.
I slip out of bed as quietly as possible and grab my dress from the floor with shaky hands. My heels are tipped over by the chair, and my bra is hanging from the lamp like it got thrown there in the middle of a natural disaster.
“Classy, Maggie,” I mutter.
The shower keeps running. Maybe I can slip out before this becomes awkward.
I dress in record time, struggling with the zipper on my dress. My hair looks wild when I see myself in the mirror near thewardrobe, all tangled curls and flushed cheeks. I look thoroughly ravaged.
I grab my purse, ease toward the bedroom door, and place my hand carefully on the handle. Then the bathroom door opens. I freeze.
Alexei steps into the bedroom with a white towel hanging low on his hips, water still glistening across his chest and shoulders. Damp dark hair brushes his forehead, and a thin trail of water slips down the hard line of his stomach.
Oh, my word.
My brain exits my body.
His eyes move from my face to my purse, then to my shoes dangling from one hand. One dark brow lifts.
“Are you sneaking out?”
My mouth opens, but nothing comes out. I try again.
“I wasn’t sneakin’.”
His expression says he doesn’t believe me for one second.
“Maggie.”
“I was leavin’ quietly,” I correct, lifting my chin with what dignity I can manage while staring at a half-naked Russian man who looks like heaven spent entirely too much time showing off.
A slow smile spreads across his face, and my stomach does another flip.
“You were escaping.”
“I prefer strategic retreat.”
He lets out a rough laugh, and the sound wraps around me warm as sunlight through open curtains. He walks toward me slowly, and my pulse starts acting foolish all over again.
“You regret last night,kotyónok?” he asks.
“No.” The answer comes out so fast it embarrasses me a little, warmth rushing straight into my cheeks the second it leaves my mouth.
Alexei stops in front of me, close enough that I can smell the soap on his skin.
“Then why are you trying to run away from me before sunrise?”
I swallow audibly. “Because Ivy exists.”
The lines around his eyes ease a fraction, and the change is subtle enough that I probably would have missed it if I wasn’t staring at him so hard already.
“She’s asleep,” he says.
