Chapter Fifteen

She slowly opened her eyes and smiled.  He was still sleeping, his chest rising and falling gently.  With his features relaxed in sleep, his face looked so much like a little boy even with all the whiskers.  She smiled wider looking at his unruly hair. It was sticking up all over. It gave new meaning to the phrase “bed head”.  She grazed her finger across his shoulder and lightly kissed it.  She was going to snuggle in and go back to sleep despite the sun, but his eyelids fluttered and slowly opened to reveal two magnificent orbs of blue.  She watched the soft smile spread across his face.  He stretched and wrapped his arms around her and rolled on top of her.  His kiss took her breath away. 

“I could keep you here, you know, just for me,” he said and brushed his fingers across her chin.  She looked up into his incredible blue eyes.  He was right. He could do whatever he wanted with her here and no one would ever know. At this point, the idea of him keeping her didn’t disturb her in the least.  Hiding away from the world here with him definitely held some appeal.

“You could,” she stated. She watched his eyes travel across her face and her hair and then back to her own. He sighed slightly.

“Time for food,” he declared and jumped out of bed.

He spent the day telling her about Moscow and his childhood here.  He told her more about Mishka and several friends who used to play hockey with him in the streets where they lived.  He smiled so much when he talked about his childhood that she got the impression that he longed for simpler times.  He stopped and looked at her for a minute.

“You have pretty dress, like one you wore to lunch?  We go back to Moscow. Get your stuff,” he ordered. He shooed her into the bedroom and started to help her with her bag. She shook her head at him. When he got an idea in his head, it seemed, he didn’t have the patience for anything else. 

“Why do I need a pretty dress?” she asked, slapping gently at his hand and taking her crumpled clothes from him.

“I take you out tonight. You like it. Be fun.”

“Out where?” she asked.

He just smirked at her making the dimples in his cheeks more prominent.

She managed a peaceful shower back at the hotel.  Alex didn’t just stay at the hotel occasionally. He kept a room all during the summer.  While he was gone, she had the opportunity to check in with her publisher. She just sent a quick email. She was still on schedule and ready to leave for St. Petersburg tomorrow morning.  She wondered if Alex might like to come with her.  Even though it was for the book and she’d have to be busy working for most of the morning, she would rather share it with him than go alone.  His smile was so infectious; she didn’t want to be away from him for a minute. 

She had just finished fixing her hair when he knocked on the door. He was standing there in a maroon button up shirt and black jeans.  He looked so handsome to her, she felt a tingle go through her.

“Wow,” she said and he flashed that amazing grin at her.

“You like to dance, yes?”

“Oh, um, yes, I guess so. Is that where we are going?”

“We go to B2. You will like. Has everything you could want.”

He wasn’t kidding. The music enveloped them as they walked in.  It was huge. There were hundreds of people.  She’d never seen anything like it.  She clung to his hand almost afraid to lose him in the crowd.  It seemed as if every person in the place said hi to him or waved at him as they passed through the lower level and to a sushi bar on the third floor.  She had almost forgotten that he was famous.  She certainly didn’t think she would ever forget again.  Every girl in the place had their radar set to the most eligible bachelor in Russia.  She held on to his big hand a little tighter. It was much quieter in the sushi bar.  It reminded her of a regular sports bar back home-- dark wood, televisions on the wall.   

They sat at a table near the back and he quickly ordered them something to drink and eat.  He smiled at her. It was a grin with a little mischief at the corner of his mouth.  She eyed him cautiously, wondering just what she was in for this evening.