her again and then made himself walk out of the house and over to where his family had spilled out into the yard saying goodbyes. Half of them would be at the airport tomorrow to say goodbye again, but it wasn’t as if they saw one another very often.
“Wherever have you been?” Vic asked in an undertone as he approached.
“I had a drink with Maybe.”
“And?”
“And now I need to ride with my brother and his fiancé and our mother to her hotel and pretend there’s no tension. I’m overjoyed to have been torn away from Maybe’s bedroom for that.”
Vic’s smile flashed quickly. “Sorry about that.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he told his cousin as he held the car door for his mother.
ALEXSEI ADJUSTED HIS cuffs one last time before he grabbed his keys and headed out. He forced his attention away from the mirror on the back of the door. He’d changed already, not sure if he should be more or less formal and then getting really annoyed with himself for making such a big deal out of a simple date.
But it wasn’t simple. Because it was Maybe.
And it was their first official date and he wanted it to be just right.
He cruised down to the theater’s box office to pick up the tickets. A big-budget Hollywood action movie with giant muscles, fast cars, machine guns and lots of explosions.
He knew she had a particular weakness for such fare. And the theater was within walking distance of the restaurant he had dinner reservations at after the movie ended.
Because he was picking her up at her house, he bought some roses at a nearby florist and then headed over.
She deserved to be cosseted and treated. To know she mattered. To him.
It had been a very long time since he’d done this. Went to a woman’s house with flowers to pick her up for a date. Even then he hadn’t been as nervous as he was standing on Maybe’s porch and ringing her doorbell.
The door opened and there she was in a crisp white shirt open several buttons paired with high-waisted pin-striped pants. Her eyes were lined to emphasize the color, lips a glossy red.
“Wow.”
She smiled. “Okay, I’ll accept wow as a very fine response. You look pretty wow as well.” She opened the storm door wider. “Come in while I put those in a vase.” She pointed at the roses in his hand that he then thrust her way.
“Yes, of course.”
He followed her through to the kitchen, where she pulled a pretty glass container from a high cabinet and arranged the flowers in it. “Thank you. I love roses.”
He knew, of course. But it was always nice to be appreciated. Especially by her.
He held her things while she locked the front door and then helped her into her coat before they left the porch, pausing to brush a kiss against her temple. “You look beautiful.”
From her blush, he took that she liked the compliment. Which was good because he wanted to say things like that all the time. Needed her to hear what she did to him.
“First thing up is a movie. Are you ready?” He opened the car door for her.
“I was born ready.”
He bent to kiss her, not caring about lipstick smearing.
She hummed, her fingertips digging into the back of his neck as she held on. He liked very much that it was totally fine for him to kiss her this way. Liked that he could give in to his desire to touch and nuzzle.
Really liked her response, to nuzzle or kiss back. Tonight was just the beginning. Just the first steps in what he felt could be something deep and lasting.
One last kiss and then a quick cleanup of his lips with a tissue and they were on the way.
* * *
THEY SAT SIDE BY SIDE, a tub of popcorn between them, along with fourteen different kinds of candy—who’d have thought he had such a sweet tooth—as the opening credits began.
On this, their first official date, he’d brought her to see a huge, ridiculously loud and bloody action flick.
Her absolute favorite.
Being someone who talked a lot meant she knew lots of people only half listened. But Alexsei paid attention to what she liked. Movies with explosions and fast cars and pretty people.
The date was remarkable in its total normalcy. They laughed and jumped and ate too much junk, rolling out of the theater two hours later, his arm around her shoulders as if it belonged there. He touched her often and she found that she liked it.
“Wow, that was so utterly empty of story. I loved every minute of it,” she told him.
Wearing a faint, satisfied smile, he kissed her quickly. “Good. Are you hungry? I have dinner reservations.”
“I shouldn’t be after licorice, popcorn, M&M’s, and fourteen gallons of Slushee, but yes, I’m starving.”
He kept his arm around her as they walked the three blocks up to a tiny hole-in-the-wall Italian place she’d wanted to go to for ages.
“I really figured most of what I said rolled off your back,” she said. “To be fair, zajka, most of it does. Because you like to update about your experience. Of a great many things. But I listen to what’s important. I hear what you like. What you might crave. You’ve mentioned this place more than once and I’m house-sitting close enough that it wasn’t so difficult to remember when I was planning.”
She licked her lips, so glad she’d opted for the hoop with the bead because he seemed to like that a lot.
“It’s really sexy that you listen. I’m just going to let you know that up front.”
He held her chair out, but let her scoot it in. The server pretended not to stare at him and totally failed. Maybe understood. He looked ridiculously handsome in a fisherman’s sweater and dark pants. Casual and formal at once. It worked and left her all tingly.
They drank red wine and managed to fit in some bread, apple and fennel salad, which had been unexpectedly fantastic, and some of the best spaghetti alle vongole she’d ever had.
“The house I’m staying in isn’t far from here. Would you like to come over before I drive you home? I can make you coffee.”
“Will you kiss me again? I mean, after I brush my teeth as I did have clams for dinner.”
He laughed as he helped her into her coat before they headed back outside. “That is most definitely on the agenda. I promise to kiss you a lot more. Is that all right with you?”
She smiled as he hugged her into his side. They already had a friendship and an ease, but this new level of connection felt very natural.
“Hi, Lexi!” a woman called out as he unlocked the front gate leading to the small front yard of his friend’s condo.
He grimaced, held Maybe even closer as he raised a hand while unlocking the door quickly with his other hand and pushed her inside, closing and locking the door at his back.
“Lexi?” Maybe asked, unable not to smirk.
“I have no idea. No one calls me that. She thinks it’s cute.” His look of distaste told Maybe all she needed to know about that.
“She does it because she’s trying to attract you. Like shaking her plumage.”
His frown deepened and she couldn’t help but smile. But then he decided to switch their positions and back her against the door, holding her there with his body as he dropped