It was the strangest sensation, but it literally gave her goose bumps.She wasn’t expecting it.He cupped her chin between his fingers and kissed her.She closed her eyes, and for the briefest of moments, she completely forgot Nikolai was there, until he let out a little sigh.
She pulled away, and when she glanced toward him, he had his hands together, looking all dreamy.
“You two steal my heart.”
Jane laughed, quickly averted her gaze, and grabbed some bacon and eggs out of the fridge.
“Shut the fuck up,” Alexey said.
“So, what’s on the agenda for today?”Jane asked.She had a feeling it would result in her staying here at the apartment, working on that dreadful sweater that seemed to develop more holes as she worked.
“I’m taking you to go and look at dresses,” Alexey said.
This surprised her.“Dresses?”
“Yes, you’re going to want a wedding dress, aren’t you?”he asked.
“Well, yeah, I guess.But I figured you’d have them come to me.”
“Nah, we’re going to them.Also, be warned, you won’t be having any girlfriends with you.It’ll be me, Nikolai, Makar, and Igor.”
Jane frowned.“Isn’t it bad luck for you to see my wedding gown?”
“I can always turn my back, and you and the guys can choose which one is the favorite.You can name them, one, two, three, or something like that without me knowing.”
“Have you always imagined what your wedding day would be like?”Nikolai asked.
“No, I haven’t.”
Jane cracked each egg into a jug before adding them to the bowl.She absolutely hated getting shell into her scrambled eggs, so she was always careful.Also, there was one time she didn’t do it this way to save on dishes, and one of the eggs had been off and had ruined the other eggs in the bowl.She had never gotten a bad egg since, but that memory had stayed with her.
She looked back at the two men, and they looked confused.“What?”she asked.
“You never thought about getting married?Or imagined walking down the aisle?”Nikolai asked.
“Are you telling me you two have imagined getting married?”Jane asked.
“No.”
Jane laughed.“Look, I know the books and movies paint a picture of all women looking at wedding photos and pretty dresses and all that.I just wanted to have a family, and seeing as from a young age I was blatantly told that was never going to happen, you kind of cut off everything other people have.”
“That’s just sad.”
“But it’s true,” she said.”
“It can’t be true,” Nikolai said.“Otherwise, we wouldn’t be enjoying this breakfast and about to go and find you the perfect wedding dress, would we?”
That was also true, and she couldn’t argue with him.
She got the breakfast underway and couldn’t help but wonder if this could be her chance to get to that pregnancy test kit without Alexey knowing.
****
Alexey had never takentime in a wedding dress shop.This had never been something he thought he would ever experience himself.
Nikolai, Igor, and Makar were delving into the experience and had even opened the expensive bottle of champagne.Jane had declined a glass, while his friends each filled their glasses to the rim.
Jane had already been out in two dresses.Both had been pretty, but none gave him the wow factor.
