She smelled so good—warm female skin, the faint traces of the tangerine soap she used, and sex. She hadn’t rushed off to wash herself and it was nice, just lying here with her, feeling the rise and fall of her breathing under his head, knowing she wasn’t going anywhere.
She sat up, dislodging his head. ‘Kostya,’ she said.
Realising a response was required from him, Alexei gazed up at her, a smile of disbelief on his slumberous face. ‘Relax, Maria will get him up.’
‘I always get him up,’ Maisy protested, swinging her legs off the bed, trying to drag the sheet with her.
Alexei had no intention of moving. ‘Come back to bed, dushka. Maria can look after him today.’
Even as he said it Alexei registered Maisy’s disapproval.
She made a dash for his shirt and thrust her arms frantically into the sleeves, covering herself as quickly as she could. She didn’t say anything, and the longer that went on the more annoyed Alexei was feeling. The baby was fine. He needed a bit of attention. Where in the hell was she going?
‘Maisy!’ He didn’t like the bark in his voice, and Maisy clearly didn’t either. She swung around, hair flying, frowning at him as if he had offended her. ‘Please come back to bed,’ he said with studied patience.
Maisy shook her head. ‘I can’t,’ she said.
‘Fine.’ He bounded off the bed and headed for the bathroom. He was going to shower and start the day. Maisy needed to know who was in charge.
‘Where are you going?’ she said.
‘The entertainment is over. I need a shower and a shave,’ he shot back at her.
Maisy paled. Her anxiety to get downstairs to the nursery dulled as the impact of that word pinned her to the spot.
Entertainment.
She stood staring at the open bathroom door. She felt as if he’d slapped her. He couldn’t mean it. She wanted to run after him and tackle him, demand he take it back, but there wasn’t time.
Kostya.
She kept moving, her heart pounding as she skittered along the hallway, praying no one appeared around the corner to find her naked except for a man’s shirt. Alexei’s shirt. Everyone would know what they had been doing, if they didn’t already. It wouldn’t matter so much if it was the beginning of some sort of a relationship; it mattered a great deal to her if he thought of her as providing ‘entertainment’.
Her heartbeat began to slam inside her chest, heavy and dull, as reality laid a cold hand on her shoulder. All the drama of last night came rushing back. He’d said some pretty hurtful things and he hadn’t taken one of them back. As if sex cancelled it all out. Although for him it probably did. He seemed very pleased with himself. And why wouldn’t he be? One meal and she was on her back. What sort of girl jumped into bed with a man so quickly?
Emotions were roiling through her and she could barely keep a lid on them. Oh, God. It was all too clear. She had made a huge leap of faith, and he had had a one-night stand.
She had to walk through the nursery to get to her room. The realisation brought her to a halt. She couldn’t walk in like this—not if Kostya wasn’t alone.
Trying not to think about the humiliation to come, she retraced her steps. She could hear the sound of running water. She took a deep breath and walked into the luxurious bathroom. Alexei was standing under a waterfall of water, head down, shoulders hunched. His beautiful long lean body took her breath away, still. Knowing he was an absolute bastard didn’t change that.
He looked up as he sensed her presence, his lips parting. He cut off the water. ‘Changed your mind, dushka?’
There was something about that endearment, that casual endearment, that twisted the knife. Maisy blocked the truckload of pain she could feel coming and said, ‘I need my dress. Where did you put my dress?’
‘A little cold in the shirt, Maisy?’ He grabbed a towel and began drying his hair, completely unselfconscious about his nudity.
Maisy focussed her eyes on a spot across the room and repeated, ‘I need my dress.’
‘I heard you.’ He casually wrapped the towel around his lean hips and knotted it. ‘It’s safe to look, dushka. Although I’ve got no idea what’s spooked you, Maisy. It’s not as if you haven’t been introduced.’
She wanted to hit him.
That did it.
Maisy stepped up to him and for a moment she fancied he actually looked expectant—as if she was going to launch herself into his arms after everything he had said and done.
Bastard. She slapped him as hard as she could across his face. His head jarred slightly to the right and then slowly came around again to stare down at her. Maisy took a backward step.