Bonnie spun in her chair, her eyes wide and her lips parted. “You’re home!” In one hand, she held a tool of some nature, and in the other what seemed to be a clump of clay was pinched between her fingers. She set the tool down and tugged one of the cords dangling from her earbuds free of her ears. “I was starting to wonder when you’d be home.”
“You could have called me.”
Pulling the other cord free, she carefully set the claylike substance on the workspace in front of her. “Well, yeah. But I didn’t know what you were doing and didn’t want to interrupt anything, so I waited.”
Patience. That was another thing he appreciated about her. Yes, she liked to debate and never failed to ask questions, but she didn’t panic. She reasoned things out. Held herself calm in the middle of a storm. He nodded at the varied small boxes on his table and the tools placed all around her. “I take it Aryeh found an eager student?”
“Dude. You would not believe how cool this stuff he gave me to work with is.” Motioning to the chair on her left, she spun back to her work and picked up the gray ball in front of her. “He started me with this stuff called gold metal clay. It’s actually gold with clay binding so you can get your design in the form you want. Then you use a kiln to melt the clay away so you’re just left with gold.” Her head snapped up. “I hope you don’t mind, but I plugged Mr. Frannelly’s kiln in next to the sink. It’s small, though. I can move it.”
“You can put it wherever you want. We can make one of the bedrooms upstairs your workroom if you like. Then you can leave your things out and work whenever it suits you. Also, that is not Mr. Frannelly’s kiln.”
“It’s not?”
“No.”
“Whose is it?”
He paused, trying desperately hard not to laugh. “It’s yours, moya koroleva. All of these tools and supplies are yours to work with. Whenever and however you choose.”
She held herself completely still for one heartbeat, then another. Slowly, her gaze trailed the items on the table. “He didn’t tell me all this was mine. I just assumed he was loaning it to me. Giving me something to learn with.” Her attention drifted back to him. “You bought them for me?”
He nodded.
Rather than argue, she nodded and carefully set her clay back down on the white tile surface she’d been working on. “Thank you.”
Not an argument. Not a list of reasons why she didn’t deserve what he’d given her or a demand he return them. Just a simple yet genuine note of appreciation. Perhaps she’d begun to move toward acceptance. Not just of the new life he intended for her, but for what he wanted for them both. “It was my pleasure.”
Grasping the white cloth beside her tools, she wiped her fingers and asked, “Wanna talk about your day?”
No. He didn’t. Dead ends were hard for him to swallow on the best of days. When they impacted Bonnie, they were intolerable. Still, she’d opened the door on the topic. Not walking through it would only make things more difficult later. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t cushion the blow in a better environment where he could hold her while they talked. “I do not relish talking about today, no, but if I shared it with you beside me, perhaps it would be more palatable.” He stood and held out his hand. “Come. It’s late. We can talk upstairs and then you can show me what programs you like to watch.”
She grinned and placed her hand in his, standing as she spoke. “Is that a Russian’s version of Let’s Netflix and chill?”
“Vozlyublennaya.” He pulled her closer and teased his mouth against hers, the need to take first and talk later nearly overriding his control. “When I want you naked and under me, there will be no pretense in getting you there.”
A shiver wriggled through her and her voice dropped to that husky tone he’d come to crave. “Man, you really don’t mince words, do you?”
“Do you want me to?”
“No.”
“Well, then.” He forced himself to release her and urged her toward the hallway and the stairs beyond with a hand just above her perfect ass. “It seems there is no issue, is there?”
“Hmph,” she said with a toss of her fiery hair and a smirk as she went up the stairs.
He echoed the sentiment with his own harrumph, but it came out as more of a growl. Hard for anyone to blame him, though. Her cotton pajama bottoms were no thicker than a soft T-shirt and clung perfectly to her beautiful ass, enticing him with the sexy sway of her hips as she took each step.
In his room, one of the two lamps on either nightstand cast the large room in a warm glow. While she’d still been mostly asleep when he’d left this morning, she’d made the bed at some point in the day and tidied up the clothes he’d eagerly rid her of the night before. Even the throw pillows he detested were neatly arranged atop the comforter.
Not giving her time to reach her side of the bed, he snatched her wrist, sat on the bed and pulled her across his lap so she was nestled close.
“Oh, man,” she said staring at his boots. “I’m thinking two days is going to be the max our relationship can go if you’re thinking shoes on the bed is okay.”
“They are not touching the sheets.”
“No, but this comforter is silk, which means you’re not gonna be able to toss it in the washer downstairs without ruining it. Do you have any idea how much it costs to get one of these things dry-cleaned?”
He didn’t. He’d never really bothered with a comforter or the other nice finishing touches in his home until Evette had talked him into letting her decorate. So long as he had clean sheets and a blanket he’d been happy. He grunted, set her beside him and shed himself of his boots and socks. As soon as they were off, he stretched back out, but this time rolled toward her, propped himself on his elbow and settled one of his legs between hers. “I agree. This arrangement is much more comfortable.”
She chuckled at that. Skimming one hand around his waist and another up the outer side of his arm, she let out a contented sigh. “Well, if it makes you more comfortable, that’s not a bad thing. I’m kind of interested in hearing how you spend your days...even if it wasn’t something you enjoyed.”
He needed to focus. To stop staring at her lush mouth and say what needed to be said before neither of them could think at all. He focused on her collarbone and traced the fragile line with his fingertips. “Most of my days are spent visiting properties. Reviewing financials with managers, gathering deposits where necessary and touching base with our construction foremen.”
“You did all those things today?”
He shook his head, still not able to look at her.