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“Changed? I’m fine,” she assured him with a watery smile. “Really. I think I’m just tired, you know, from the driving and capering this week.”
Anton sucked his lips against his teeth and gave her a sidelong look. “Uh huh.” He didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t blame him. She didn’t even know why she was acting this way, because he was right. Her energy had changed. She was confused. That didn’t mean she couldn’t save this though.
She crossed her arms over her chest, aware of how great it made her breasts look. Her cleavage was at full power, on display in the pretty red satin bra she had chosen for the occasion. She saw the way Anton’s eyes dropped to her chest before darting back up to her face. Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she shimmied closer to him and shot him her best smile.
“Why don’t you let me show you how fine I am, Mr. Kovalev?”
“In a sec.”
Her mouth dropped open. What in the blue blazes did he mean?In a sec?Just as she was about to make her displeasure known, he bent and pressed a kiss to her forehead that stole the breath from her lungs.
“Don’t give me that look. Be right back.” He gave her a sweet smile before he bounded away from her with a wink and a hop. She blew her hair out of her face with an exasperated breath and flopped back onto the bed with a groan. Her boyfriend had high-tailed it out of the room. How in the world did that happen?
She clenched her eyes shut and yanked a pillow over her head. She really needed to reevaluate her approach to girlfriending, seeing as she had somehow missed the mark. There had to be a manual out there. Maybe somewhere on the dark web? Something she could study to keep from spinning out of control when Anton showed her affection. What the hell was wrong with her?
His softness had overwhelmed her. Short circuited her brain in half a second, at best.
The sound of footsteps approaching the bedroom pushed all thoughts of cryptocurrency and shady interwebz dealings from her head. She tensed as his footsteps moved closer and closer until she knew he stood beside the bed. The pillow over her face offered a small measure of respite, though for how long she didn’t know.
Maybe if she didn’t move she could wait him out until dinner time.
“What are you doing?”
“Mrmph,” she replied.
He put a hand up to his ear. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
Her hands clenched, but she made no move to push the pillow aside. “Mmmed mrrmph.”
“I’m not fluent in pillow speak. You have to come out from under there at some point,” Anton told her. He was smiling. She could tell from his voice. She bet he looked amazing, shirtless as he was.
She sighed, her own breath hot on her face—which wasn’t pleasant and became a deciding factor in her decision to push the pillow aside. Otherwise, she might have made a real go at living out her days as the pillow-headed woman. If there were men with pumpkins for craniums, then there was room in the world for a woman sporting bedding as a noggin. Maybe if she breathed to the side for the rest of their weekend? It would at least help her avoid eye contact with him.
“Grace.
She moved the pillow to the side and stared up at him. Odin, when had he learned to say her name like that? Did he practice when he should be sleeping? During his coffee breaks when no one was the wiser? It was downright indecent.
“Yes?” she asked, doing her best to keep her voice even.
“Why did you hide?” he asked.
She noticed he carried what looked like a soft, fluffy cloud straight out of a video game or cartoon. She raised her eyebrow at the blanket, but when he cleared his throat she realized he had asked her a question.
“What?” That look dazzled her.
“Why did you hide from me?” He inclined his head, a smile turning his lips up. “Not that it was the most creative disguise.”
She lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I was desperate. It’s all I had on hand.”
“But why?”
“I felt silly,” she admitted.
“Silly? What?” He frowned and reached a hand out to take hers, threading their fingers together. “Why did you feel silly?”
“It’s nothing.” She shook her head at him and then nodded at the fluffy cartoon cloud blanket. “What’s that for?” she asked.
He didn’t respond, and for a moment she worried he would press her to answer him, to admit that she had felt silly for feeling...rejected?
