I smirked, standing before this could devolve into a stranger connection between us. Like we could be friends, even. “I’m sure you would’ve survived without me there to assist you,” I quipped wryly.
“Where are you rushing off to?” he asked, that low-burning intrigue shining in his dark-blue eyes.
Am I amusing you?
“I’m here to work.” I lifted my hand vaguely to gesture at, well, at the air. “I need to check in with Renee and begin my day.” Clearing my throat and hoping that I looked semi-professional, I dipped my chin. “I am glad that you look like you’re recovering well, Mr. Orlov.”
Before he could say anything else, I turned and left the room.
It wasn’t long before I spotted him again. He strolled up behind me while I wiped the windows in a lounge.
“Here,” he suggested, toeing the leg of a chair and easing it closer.
I looked down and frowned, my hand still on the glass. “What’s that for?” I laughed once. “Renee won’t be happy if I’m sitting and taking a break from the chores she’s delegated to me.”
“You’re so short.”
I scrunched my nose. “I’m not standing on that to clean the windows. Then I’d get the chair dirty.”
He shrugged. “How tall are you, anyway?” His slow once-over had me blushing.
“That’s rude.”
He smiled. “I’m six, three.”
I resumed wiping. “Congratulations.”
I heard the smile in his low chuckle. When he didn’t leave—either bored or, um, bored—I groaned. “Five, one,” I muttered.
After that odd encounter, I was spared his presence. Being in the laundry room meant he wouldn’t pop in, but once I came up to the kitchen area after lunchtime, he trailed after me again. That time, he tried to engage with me in small talk about the summer heat outside.
Later, he sat near where I was sweeping and struck up another conversation about coffee.
Then he tried to get me to talk about my pet peeves. Further on through the morning, he found me in the conservatory as I dusted, where he asked for my opinion about the waterfall structures out there.
I lowered my duster to my side and huffed. “Don’t you have things to do?” I asked.
He stepped closer, almost smiling as he watched me. Inches separated us, but I couldn’t feel intimidated or scared. All morning and day long, he’d been a pestering presence. But a good one.
“That man in my office last night was the solution to a problem I’d been working on.” He brushed some of my hair off my shoulder, eying it as if he wanted to feel the strands between hisfinger and thumb. “With that done…” He raised his dark gaze to my eyes. “It seems I have some leisure time off now.”
Well, fuck.
If he was going to be hanging around here more often, I’d have some trouble sneaking around and sending anything to my uncle.
I nodded once. “Oh. And you have a favorite pastime of doing… this?” I flicked my finger between us, indicating how he’d been following me and inserting himself into my space.
“This?” He stepped closer, watching my lips. “What would you callthis, Sofia?”
Madness. Insanity. Wild excitement I can’t have in my life.Swallowing hard, I tried to talk myself out of the idea that he could be interested in me.
Fear for my cousin’s declining well-being kept me in check. I wasn’t here to swoon or flirt with him. I wasn’t supposed to be smiling back at his persistent “visits” as he acted like he wanted to get to know me.
“I’m not the only one who’s feelingthis, am I?” He inched closer yet, placing his foot between mine and wedging near me. Practically flush together, I was within his reach. He acted on that proximity, too, addling my mind and making my body wake up with desire as he banded his uninjured arm around my waist. “This pull,” he whispered, lowering his lips toward mine so slowly that I could’ve trembled with anticipation.
“I…”
“Mr. Orlov.”
