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“Boinking? Seriously? You sound like Alexis.”
“That’s because that’s what Alexis said when I told her I was babysitting tonight so you two could go out on your yacht.”
I roll my eyes. “How mature my two older sisters are. What role models.”
“Hey, you can’t shame me, little sister. You’re the one blushing at eight in the morning while thinking about your boyfriend. The date is ten hours away. Keep it in your pants.”
I throw the pillow back at her, but she isn’t wrong. There is a lot of day ahead yet, and I need to go take a shower. A very cold shower.
* * *
I do my best to cover my yawn with my hand, but Kirill still sees it. He sees everything.
“The night is young. I even let you sleep in this morning,” he says. “How are you still tired?”
Even as he complains, he tucks a flannel blanket around my legs. I hardly need it with him next to me, though. The breeze off the open ocean is cold, but Kirill is a nonstop heater. I want to crawl under his clothes and paste myself to his warmth.
“It was a busy day! You have no idea how demanding Lily and Yuli were about their manicures. I had to redo each of them twice because they weren’t up to snuff.”
“Yuliana certainly knows how to go after what she wants.” Kirill doesn’t even try to hide the pride in his voice. Yuli can do no wrong in his eyes.
“To my detriment!” I hold up both hands, showcasing the nail polish all over my fingertips. Really, that was my fault. My hands were shaky, so I had to swipe up a lot of extra polish off their skin. The girls were right to complain.
Kirill leans forward and kisses each of my palms. Then he folds my hands together and wedges them between his arm and his rib cage. “Your hands are cold.”
“Werecold,” I correct. “They’re perfect now.”
He smiles and we sit back and appreciate the way the sky shifts from ruby red to purple to velvet blue. Out on the water, the sky comes to life. We can actually see stars twinkling as the sun sets and full dark settles over us like a weighted blanket.
“This is nice.”
My head is resting on his chest, and I nod in agreement. “I love being out on the boat.”
“That’s nice, too,” Kirill says. “But I was talking about life. Our life. It’s nice, isn’t it?”
A surprised laugh bubbles out of me. “Um… Yes? Of course it’s nice.”
“You say it like it’s a given. But a lot of people don’t have nice lives. Take Sasha and Viktoria for instance.” Kirill shivers in exaggerated disgust.
“They each have their reasons to stay, I guess.”
Kirill gently pushes me into a sitting position and turns me to face him. I complain with a groan, but he ignores me. “What’s your reason for staying?”
I frown at him. “What?”
“What’s your reason for staying with me?”
One second ago, I was lying on Kirill’s chest, moments away from slipping into sleep. Now, he’s practically bouncing in his seat. He’s almost giddy, though I never thought I’d use that word to describe him.
“There are a million reasons. Too many to list.”
“Then name a few.”
I bite back a smirk. “Okay. Well, the first and most obvious reason is that you’re amazing in the sack.”
Kirill nods seriously. “Of course. That makes sense.”
“I was joking,” I laugh, slapping his arm. “Okay. The real first reason is that you’re my best friend. Also, you’re a great dad. And a great partner.”
