Page 59 of Marrying the Silver Fox

“I’ll make sure to give you her card,” I remark. “Nikolai, you could pass it on for me, right?”

“Happy to,” Nikolai agrees. “I can’t think of anyone better…”

Soon enough, they’re pulled away by another attendee of the party, and Nikolai raises his eyebrows at me, clearly curious to find out what I think about all of this. I squeeze his hand, silently promising that I’ll tell him just as soon as we’re out of here. I know gossip is a standard part of these society parties, but you have to at least have the decency to hold off on it until you get home, right?

We make it through the rest of the evening, until my feet start to ache in the heels I’m wearing and Nikolai seems to notice the slight winces of tension that I can’t hold in anymore.

“You ready to go?” he asks me, leaning down close enough to my ear that I can feel his breath on my skin.

I nod. “I think so, but if we need to stay longer⁠—”

“Come on,” he murmurs, dropping a kiss on my cheek. “I’ve been wanting to get you out of that dress all night, anyway.”

I giggle as he leads me out of the museum, and soon we’re in the car, heading back to the townhouse. I lean my head against the window, the rain-slicked city streets beyond the glass reflecting the streetlights in pools of yellow and orange.

“So, what did you think?” Nikolai asks.

“About Sasha and Malachi?”

He nods. He’s looking at me with genuine interest, and I pause for a moment, tapping my finger on my chin as I consider the answer.

“You know, I think they’re on different pages. I’d be surprised if the marriage even happened.”

“Really?” He leans forward, cocking an eyebrow. “What makes you think that?”

“The way they were talking about the wedding, it’s clear they want different things. I mean, she seemed pretty keen on having some big ceremony, and he talked about wanting to elope.”

“But the way he said it, it sounded like he wanted to keep it low-key, romantic⁠—”

“Yeah, but that’s his definition of romantic, not hers,” I point out. “And hers might involve having a great big wedding where she can show off her new husband to everyone instead of running away to some cave in the middle of nowhere and hoping for the best, you know?”

He ponders my response for a moment. “You’re sure?”

“I’m certain,” I reply firmly. “I’ve seen plenty of couples after they got engaged, and they shouldn’t be having disagreements about this kind of thing so early on. It’s a bad sign. Usually means there’s going to be trouble down the line, that there are other things they haven’t discussed that are going to become problems if they’re not careful. Didn’t you see the way she looked at him when he mentioned eloping? She couldn’t stand the idea, I’m certain of it.”

He smiles at me slightly, and I cock my head.

“What is it?”

“Nothing,” he replies. “I just appreciate your expertise. I never would have picked up on all of that if it hadn’t been for you.”

“Well, maybe I could come in useful in this business after all, huh?” I remark.

He takes my hand, lifting it to his lips and planting a kiss against the back of it, not moving his eyes off of me for a moment. “Maybe you could,” he murmurs.

And with that, we pull up outside the house, and he steps out, opening the door for me and gently helping me to my feet. It doesn’t matter how many times he does something like this for me, it always makes my belly fizz with excitement—being treated like a princess after so long having to fight to get by.

We head into the house, and we hardly make it through the door before he has me pinned back against it, his hands sliding up to roll up my dress.

“Hey,” I giggle, as he brings his mouth to my neck, brushing it lightly across my skin. “I haven’t even gotten my shoes off yet…”

“Hmm, maybe I like you in the heels,” he teases, as he scoops me into his arms, carrying me up the stairs. I laugh, looping my arms around his neck and hanging on for dear life as he makes his way to the bedroom. I swear, this man has a one-track mind sometimes…

Good thing I’m on the exact same track, then, I think to myself, as I trail my fingers down his back, all too ready for the after-party to begin.

30

NIKOLAI