Chapter Thirteen
Alex had never experienced the silent treatment before, but he was almost certain that was what he was getting from Maddie at the moment. It had been two days since the two of them had shared hot, sweaty sex on the balcony. Since that night she had not spoken to him and had only met his gaze in the most cursory fashion. He had no idea how to break down this barrier she seemed to have erected between them. Unfortunately, protocol provided no answer when it came to this particular issue.
He paced from his bedroom to the first floor terrace. The wide sandstone space was dotted with comfortable furniture arranged to encourage intimate gatherings and conversation. How was it that he could be here on one side and Maddie could be on the opposite side and the two of them might as well have been in separate countries?
She had her laptop open and was enjoying her morning coffee while she caught up on correspondence. Or at least that was what he figured she was doing. He had absolutely no frame of reference for her activities. He didn’t know enough about her job to make a guess at what her tasks for the day might be.
“Here’s your breakfast, sir.” Ivan approached the table with a cart laden with Alex’s breakfast favorites.
Alex pursed his lips. He really didn’t want to sit here alone and eat once again. This would be the third morning of that.
Clearing his throat, he prepared to offer a truce of sorts.
“Would you like to join me for breakfast?” he called out to Maddie.
“Already ate,” was her response. She didn’t even look up from her laptop.
He took another breath to speak, but her phone rang. She picked up the call and began pacing in circles on the terrace. Alex had noticed that she often preferred to be moving while she spoke with clients.
“That’s great!” she said enthusiastically. “I told you that would work out for you! Thanks so much for letting me know. Yes, of course I will try to be there for your first walk down the red carpet!”
She hung up the phone and did what could only be described as a victory dance. She shook her backside, lifted her hands into the air, and spun in circles. Alex caught his breath at the picture she painted. The woman didn’t have an ounce of inhibition. It was so refreshing and yet frightening. There was so little room for a complete lack of propriety in his life.
“Good news?” Alex ventured.
She spun around. Her expression was beautiful. “Great news! One of my artists is up for a Grammy!”
Alex knew this was an American music award of some kind, although he knew very little about the music scene in general. He typically listened to classical composers if he listened to anything at all. Still, he could appreciate that Maddie’s hard work had resulted in this person being honored for their talent.
“So why don’t you come up and have something to celebrate?” he coaxed. “There is fritule on this tray.”
“It’s really no fair using those scrumptious little doughnuts against me,” she accused. “In fact, that’s pretty low.”
“So then I’ll just have Ivan throw the fritule over the railing and feed it to the birds to make up for my crime,” Alex replied, keeping his tone very serious.
“Don’t you dare!”
***
MADDIE WAS FEELING so buoyant that it was impossible to keep up the pretense of not talking to Alex for the moment. At least not for this moment. The long skirt of her dress glided against her legs as she headed up a short flight of stairs toward the table. The tank straps of the garment were just a little too big. And as usual, she wasn’t wearing a bra. Being this close to Alex was also drawing her nipples into hard little points.
She ignored what was probably already obvious and plopped down in a seat at the table. Crossing her legs at the knee, she began bouncing one bare foot with impatience.
“You’re all energy and fire this morning,” Alex commented mildly.
She made a face. “And you’re all lukewarm like usual.”
“Lukewarm, hmm?” He seemed to be truly contemplating her comment. “Is that really how you see me?”
“Oh, honey, there is no other possible way to see you.” She grabbed a round, sugar-crusted doughnut and popped it into her mouth. She chewed a moment then swallowed before finishing her thought. “You’re so wrapped up in protocol and propriety that it’s like you’re wearing underwear that’s strangling your balls.”
His eyes went wide, and she couldn’t help but laugh. “Mortified” was a term that would apply nicely to this situation. He appeared to have been knocked on his ass by her comment. How cute.
“You see me as stiff and unbending then?”
“You treated me like a whore the other night.” She just threw that out there for good measure. “You acted as if my behavior was somehow reprehensible and that I was corrupting your goodness. Do you have any idea what a snob you are?”
“I suppose I hadn’t considered it that way.” He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and took a sip of his coffee. “I find you fascinating. My life is governed by rules. Yours seems to be a free-for-all.”
“So come play on my side of the fence,” she said with a careless shrug. “You’re a grown ass man. You’re going to be a father. Take that stick out of your ass and try to have fun for once. Life is too short to spend it worrying about what other people think about you.”
Oh yeah. She’d just rocked his whole damn world. How insane was it to think that the idea of coloring outside the lines for one second was so earth shattering to this man? She knew he was capable of loosening up. She’d danced with him. He was so different then. It was as if he could actually let go and be himself for once. The rest of the time he was too worried about being the man everyone else wanted him to be.
***
ALEX DID NOT have words to express what he was feeling. Not in English, Russian, Croatian, or any of the dozen languages he spoke could he verbalize what he was feeling inside. Perhaps this was what drew him to Maddie so forcefully. She lived her life.
She rose abruptly from the table. “It’s time for my walk down on the beach. You want to come with me?”
“Now?” He stared dumbly at her and thought of the dozen or more phone calls he needed to make. Vladimir had returned to Moscow, and Alex needed to check in with his friend. “I have tasks to complete.”
She shrugged. “Then I guess you stay here and complete them. I’m going walking.”
“Take Ivan or Igor with you.”
“I always do,” she told him with a derisive snort. “If you paid any attention, you would have noticed that in the last few days.”
He had no answer for that. He was right in the middle of negotiating a merger between two of his subsidiary companies. He’d been rather tied up with work lately.
Or if he was honest, he would say that he’d been rather tied up with work for most of his adult life.
Okay. All of his adult life.
Alex stood up. “Fine. I’ll go with you.”
“Really?” She raised her eyebrows. “Damn. I owe you an apology.”
“Why?”
“Because I wouldn’t have bet a penny that you would leave work for an hour or two and just enjoy yourself at your vacation home.” She pointed to Ivan. “You win.”
Alex gazed at his long time bodyguard in shock. The man was actually smiling for starters, but it was also obvious that Maddie had a sort of rapport with Ivan that Alex did not. It wasn’t just disconcerting. It was disheartening. When had he become so predictable, insulated, and sedate? Or had he truly always been this way?
“Come on then,” Alex said brusquely. “Shall we go down from here?”
She was already headed toward the stone steps that led from the terrace to the beach. The staircase had been carved and created from the rocky wall that provided the foundation for his home. It had initially been one of the features that had drawn him to the estate itself. He had craved the privacy and the space.
“It’s so beautiful here.” There was a note of wistfulness in her voice that made him wonder what she was thinking of.
“Would you like to stay someplace like this?” he wondered. They hadn’t spoken at all about where she would live once the baby was born.
Maddie glanced back at him as she reached the bottom step. She took one dancing step and then buried her toes in the pale, perfect sand. “I could never stay someplace like this for good.”
“If you did not have to work, you could be wherever you wanted.” Alex needed her to know that he would care for her, and yet he could not bring himself just to say the words.
“I could never be a kept woman.” She tossed him a dirty look over her shoulder. “I like to work. I like to feel independent. If you want a kept woman, you should have fucked one of my sisters. They love to be taken care of.”
He hadn’t meant to put his foot in his mouth once again. How many mistakes would he make with this woman? “I meant no insult.”
“I know you didn’t.” She gathered her skirt in her hands and began twirling her way across the beach. “You can’t help the way you are. You throw money at problems to solve them instead of just trying to reason things out.”
“I suppose I do.” He shrugged and followed her. He realized belatedly that he was going to completely ruin the cuffs of his dress pants. “You have to admit that method is generally the way the world works.”
“Perhaps,” she allowed. “Do you want our child to grow up thinking that money and power solve everything?”
He didn’t even have to consider it. “No.”
“What do you want this child to be like?”
“Likeable.” The word came unbidden to his lips. “I want this child to be easy with others in ways that I never seem to be able to grasp.”
“Like me,” she said with a gleeful laugh. “That’s what you’re getting at.”
She sprinted away from him, heading right for the ocean. He started to follow and then stopped. Was she actually going into the water? What was she doing? She was dressed! He was dressed.
***
MADDIE HIT THE water and kept going. She lifted her skirts and felt the sea spray rise around her body. She laughed and spun and kicked at the water until she had made a grand mess. Then she looked back at the shore and saw Alex standing there with a bemused expression on his handsome face.
“Come on in. Chicken!” she called out. “What are you afraid of? You can buy a dozen new suits and not even think about that one if it’s ruined. Live for once!”
She was surprised when he actually did as she challenged. He walked straight to her. The power that emanated from him smoldered around her and rendered her unable to walk away. This was the Alex she loved! This was the man who enthralled her. And when he took her in his arms and slammed his mouth down on hers, she could barely breathe for wanting him.
She dropped her skirt, and the fabric swirled around their legs along with the waves. She twined her arms around Alex’s neck and let him claim her mouth as he continued to make love to her with his lips and tongue. Their teeth clicked together as he angled his mouth and drove deeper again and again. She was so hot for him at this moment that she could almost forget the last few days. Almost.