“Right,” he affirms. “We’re talking about you, and what you do for work.”
I can’t tell if he’s trying to flirt with me or just making friendly conversation. The whiskey is making everything a little blurred at the edges. My heart is beating wildly.
“I’m an international spy,” I lie. “I’m very good at blending into the background and apprehending my target.”
“Before this conversation continues, you have to be honest with me,” he says seriously. “Are you wearing a wire?”
I giggle again and set down my whiskey on the nearby table. I stand out and stretch my arms out to my sides, doing a little twirl.
“You’re more than welcome to search me,” I say in a husky voice.
What is happening to me?I’ve never even been this bold with Kostya and we were planning to get married.
“That’s okay,” Andrei says coolly. “I believe you.”
I feel disappointed somehow. I sit back down, and he finally comes to sit next to me. That, at least, makes me feel better. He hands me my whiskey back and we both take a sip, locking eyes with one another.
“So, Alina,” he starts. “How long have you been an international spy?”
I laugh so hard I nearly spit out my drink. “About five years,” I say. “Which is, ironically, also as long as I’ve been a caterer.”
“I hear there’s a lot of overlap in the two fields,” he quips jokingly, never breaking eye contact. “Which do you prefer? Catering or being an international woman of mystery?”
“Obviously the latter.” I laugh. “But catering pays the bills for now. It was nice to have someone helping with that, but that’sover now, obviously. So, I guess I’ll be focusing more on catering for a while.”
“I’m sure it hurts now,” he answers mildly. “In the future, though, you’ll be glad for it. Any man who can’t even stay faithful for six months would make a shit husband.”
I laugh and look away, finding his gaze a little too intense.
Am I imagining the look of desire in his eyes? We’re so close, it would be impossibly easy to reach out to him and pull him into a kiss. He’d probably make me forget my own name. I wonder what else he could do with those lips.
I lean in to him, ready to find out, when he swiftly stands and goes to grab his phone.
“I should call you a car,” he says suddenly. “It’s late and I’m sure you’re exhausted.”
I feel the sharp sting of rejection. It obviously pales into comparison to what I felt seeing Kostya with that woman, but it hurts nonetheless.
“Of course,” I say, standing and heading toward the door.
“Hold on a moment,” he says, and the hope flares to life again. “I’ll get one of my security guards to walk you out.”
Just like that, it’s put back out.
4
ANDREI
Once the door closes behind her, I feel her absence acutely.
Her presence lingers in the room like a ghost I’m more than willing to be haunted by. I stand where I am for several seconds, my hands loose at my sides, breathing deeper than is strictly necessary.
I’m glad I had my wits about me. That was entirely too close. I almost broke all my rules to have my way with her.
She’s beautiful, of course, but beauty is common. That’s not what drew me to her in the first place. It was her chaos. For whatever reason, I wanted to find the center of it and insert myself there. I wanted to order it for her and make it all make sense.
I’m a man, though, and I wasn’t blind to the way that taut dress fit over her body. The way her breasts were pushing against the fabric, and could have easily spilled out with the easiest provocation. The way her eyes were heavy-lidded and inviting.
I shake my head to rid myself of the image of her. I move slowly and deliberately through the suite to erase all traces of her. Ipour her whiskey out in the marble sink and set the dirty glass back on the bar cart. I down my own drink in one gulp, glad not to have to be in control in the solitude of my room now. I need a moment to pull myself together.
