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“You constantly surprise me with your beauty, Reina,” he said, sweeping me into his arms.
I melted against him and smoothed his tie, shades of blue and green that made his stormy eyes pop. My stubbornness wouldn’t let me thank him for all the clothes and jewelry, but I refused to let it ruin our night. Standing on my toes, even in my sky high heels, I kissed him.
“Where are we going?” I pulled away before things got heated. Yes, I wanted him, but I needed this night of freedom.
“Wherever you desire, my queen.” He tapped me on the nose and spun on his heel.
I followed him down the stairs, knowing better than to expect him to offer me his hand or put his arm around me when anyone else was around. Outside, a sleek, silver convertible waited in the circular drive by the front doors.
“Get in,” he grunted after he opened the passenger side door.
Small favors, I supposed, sliding onto the leather seat. He slammed the door, almost getting the hem of my gown before I could swing it in after me, and hurried to take the driver’s seat. I wasn’t sure if I was glad he was driving or sorry, because despite his rude treatment, I was already in agony to touch him again. I thought about our first meeting when I drunkenly climbed in his lap in the back of his car and looked at my hands to hide my blush.
The convertible squealed away from the mansion when he floored the gas without a word or a glance to see if I had my seatbelt on. He only turned to me once we were on the main road at the end of the long driveway.
I huffed, hating the way my heart constricted at his smile. “Why are you only nice to me when we’re alone?”
The smile faded. “I’ve told you. You mustn’t question me about these things.”
Blah blah blah, my safety, whatever. The sight of the palm trees lining the roads soon turning into shops and restaurants made me drop it, not wanting to spoil my night of freedom. Plus, when I turned to him to argue, his chiseled profile stopped me in my tracks and I reached to draw my finger down his smooth jaw. His smile came back and I knew I’d made the right choice.
“Tell me what you want to do,” he said. “Anything. I’ll make it happen.”
“What if I said I wanted to go to Paris, but I don’t have a passport?” I asked. All those French magazines made me yearn to travel, but I had never left the US in all my twenty-three years.
“Simple,” he said. “Shall I call my pilot?”
I believed him, but I got a sudden craving that almost made me double over when we passed a fried chicken restaurant and the smell wafted over us. I laughed, twisting to look back at the chicken shack.
“I was just joking before about going through the drive through, but now I’m actually really hungry for some of that chicken.”
He did a u-turn in the middle of the street, earning a few angry honks. He repeated everything I asked for into the speaker and when they handed over the buckets, I asked if we could eat it on the beach.
“Anything you want,” he said magnanimously. “You’re making things too simple.”
“I’ll make you jump through hoops later,” I promised, running my hand up his thigh.
He turned to me with a raised eyebrow and a wicked look that almost made me forget the chicken. “Don’t tempt me to take you back home right now.” He must have seen my disappointment because he leaned over to kiss me quickly. “Don’t worry. I can wait.”
His husky voice and the feel of his lips brushing mine made me wonder if I cared so much about this night of freedom after all. But as he turned onto the main strand and the ocean crashing mingled with the sounds of happy people settling in for their own date nights, I wanted to be part of it.
I slipped off my shoes as soon as we got off the sidewalk, grinning at the decadent feeling of sand between my toes while wearing a designer evening gown. We took the food out onto the beach and he pulled off his jacket for me to sit on, plunking down in the sand in his expensive trousers as if he had cut-offs on instead. I scarfed down the crispy chicken and all the sides like I was eating for an entire family, not just one extra person, and caught him looking at me with pride while my cheeks were full of coleslaw.
“Prize porker, huh?” I joked, but his eyebrows shot together in a scowl.
“You’re nourishing our child,” he said. “And taking care of this body I love so much.”
He wrapped his arm around me and squeezed. I was stunned and heat coursed through me, not just at his touch but his words. It was the first time he’d called the baby our child and not just his heir and the way he’d said the word love, even though it was just in reference to my body, shook me to my core. But in a good way or a bad way? I had no idea. Ivan was great at confusing me, that was one thing that was certain.
The sun was down and the ocean was just a dark, whooshing mass in front of us, but the lights from the hotels behind us were bright enough that we could take a walk along the sand.
“We can’t just leave the trash,” I said, more outraged at this crime than I had ever felt about his mob business.
He rolled his eyes at me and pulled me down the beach. A glance back showed a couple of his men picking up the food containers and carrying them away. I sighed. Of course we wouldn’t really be alone.
“Are they for safety or just cleanup?” I asked.
He leaned down and kissed me. “Shush, my queen. You’re too beautiful tonight to worry.”
