What Lies Ahead

Chapter Fifteen

"Eve," Matt called from behind me just as I was about to enter my office. He stood in the doorway to one of the meeting rooms. "A word, please?"

Changing directions, I followed after him in the small meeting room. Everything was white except for the two chairs at each end of the large table that were a bright shade of red. Matt leaned against the table, crossing his arms over his chest as he gazed at me. "How are you?"

"I'm good," I said with a smile, having a feeling I knew what this was about.

"How's Volodin treating you? Is he behaving?"

If only he knew. Maks was treating me well all right. "Everything is fine, Matt. You don't have to worry about it."

He didn't look convinced. "I saw the layout for the guesthouse. It looks great."

My smile was genuine this time. It always felt nice when he expressed his appreciation for my work. "I'm glad you approve."

He sighed, shaking his head. "God knows it's more than he deserves."

I had to bite my tongue not to ask him about his history with Maksim, knowing it would only make him defensive.

As soon as I left the meeting room, Ava fell into step with me. "What was that about?"

I waited until we were in my office with the door closed before answering. "He wanted to know if Maks is behaving himself around me."

Ava let out a graceless snort. "I don't want to imagine the different ways he's not behaving with you. If Matt knew he'd have a massive heart attack."

"He won't find out." I gave her a pointed look, sitting in my chair and turning on my laptop, placing it between my two large screens.

"Hey, don't give me that look. Your secret is safe with me." She plopped herself on the edge of the desk, pushing a few papers around aimlessly. "So, how are things with Mr. Tall and Dangerous?"

I shrugged but was unable to hide a smile. "Things are good."

"You've been seeing him for a while," she noted.

"A little over a month," I agreed. "What's your point?"

"Don't go all defensive on me. You've been pretty tight-lipped about it, so naturally, I'm curious. You never hesitate to share personal details with me."

I glanced at her over the top of the screens, going for the brutal truth. "I'm enjoying our arrangement a little more than I should, and it scares me. Not talking about it gives me a false sense of security. It feels as if I have two lives now. One is my old life, with my friends and work colleagues, and the other revolves around Maksim and my time with him. I think about him all the time and I know at some point I'm going to regret having agreed to sleep with him, but right now I'm so happy I couldn't care less."

"Wow," Ava said quietly. "I didn't expect you to be so honest about it."

"On a scale from one to ten, how stupid do you think I am?"

She sighed. "You're not stupid, but you should be careful not to fall for him. Nothing good can come out of it."

~*~

On Sunday morning I woke up alone in Maksim's bed. I always woke up alone because he was such an early riser, and I had to admit it was a little frustrating. Turning on my side, I grabbed my phone from the nightstand to check for the time, and was surprised to see that it was only six thirty-five.

The toilet flushed, and a moment later the sink faucet turned on before the bathroom door opened and Maksim stepped out. He was wearing shorts over a pair of running leggings, a thermal long-sleeve shirt underneath a hoodie, and running shoes. Everything was black, and I didn't think I'd ever seen running gear look so hot on someone before.