Swiping my nose, I asked, “What?”
She smiled. “I will forgive you sometime in the future. For now, I’m going to let you work on convincing me you’ll never deceive me again.”
“So I do get a second chance?”
“Yes. Both in life and with me.”
“I’m one lucky bastard.”
Sarah laughed. “You say that now, but you have no idea what I’m going to put you through before I forgive you.”
With a smile, I said, “I’ll t-take it.”
“Can I give you a kiss?”
“Please.”
Leaning over, Sarah tenderly brought her lips to mine. Just when she was going to pull back, I bore the pain to bring my hand up to cup the back of her head. Keeping her in place, I slid my tongue against her lips. When I thrust it inside her mouth, we both moaned.
At that moment, Dima returned with the nurse, which caused Sarah to jerk away. Her face turned the shade of a tomato, which made me laugh.
Sweeping her hands to her hips, Tati blared, “Mr. Korolov, do you want to bust your stitches open?” she asked.
I’d met Tati, or Tatiana, during Dima’s recovery. She didn’t give a shit if he was the future pahkan then, and she didn’t care that I was pahkan now.
“I’m so sorry. I promise to be more cautious,” Sarah apologized.
Glancing between the two of us, Tati said, “You two need to put any sort of fucking out of your mind. It’s going to be a long road to recovery.”
I grimaced more from the pain than the idea of being sexless. “Do you need a pain shot? I grabbed one when Dima came to get me,” Tati asked.
Although I wanted to be tough, I decided to give in. “Yes, p-please.” Turning to Sarah, I said, “I know this is g-going to put me under, and I just woke up.”
She cupped my face with her hand. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”
“For forever?”
She smiled. “If you play your cards right.”
In that moment, I felt like the luckiest fucking bastard in the world. With a wink, I said, “You fucking b-bet I will.”
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR MAKSIM
Six Months Later
After Oleg putthe SUV in park, I exited the car and started up the sidewalk into the building. The moment I stepped inside the boutique my skin felt like it was shriveling over my bones. It wasn’t just the pastel colors or mood music piping in through the overhead speakers that made me anxious. It was the manikins outfitted in bridal gowns.
Peering around, I searched desperately for Sarah. I don’t know why I didn’t tell her just to come outside. I mean, I’d be seeing her in her bridesmaid dress soon enough at Mila and Kellan’s wedding.
Since it was her last fitting, she wanted my opinion on the dress. At the sound of the voice behind me, I jumped and went for the gun in my jacket.
“Can I help you, sir?”
When I whirled around, the saleslady eyed me curiously. “Sorry. I’m a little jumpy.”
The woman grinned. “Yes, bridal shops can do that to men.”
“I’m not commitment p-phobic,” I argued.
