CHAPTER NINE
AS MAYBE AND RACHEL passed by Irena’s house, they heard a call of their names.
Irena came out to the porch with her usual armload of food. “I made a roast last night. He likes leftovers,” she told Maybe as she loaded the food into her arms. “I will drive you both. I have to get to the bakery.”
She pointed at her car, clearly expecting them to get in as ordered. And, as it involved a huge amount of food, the chance to avoid a bus commute and an order from Mrs. Orlova, they obeyed.
But it wasn’t Irena who drove. Vic came bounding around the back of the house, only to give his mother a suspicious look when he caught sight of Rachel and Maybe waiting.
“They needed a ride too” was all Irena said as she buckled her seat belt and waited for her son to get the car started and on the way.
“Hi, Vic!” Maybe grinned, though he wasn’t looking at her in the rearview because he kept stealing glances at Rachel.
Her sister blushed a little as she pretended she didn’t notice Vic.
“You’ll be helping us this weekend.” Irena hadn’t actually posed it as a question. Maybe knew where Alexsei got it.
“We’re always happy to help. What is it we’ll be doing?” Rachel asked. She and Irena had a complicated, but close, relationship. Her sister seemed to view Irena as a maternal figure and, given her very tense relationship with their biological mother, Maybe supported her sister having that sort of trust with someone like Irena.
“Russian Culture Festival happens this Saturday. The bakery has a booth. If you two have the time off, we’d appreciate the extra hands,” Vic said.
“It’s a busy day but we make good profits and then I don’t have to hear any nonsense from certain people that we don’t do our part in the community.” Irena’s tone made Maybe feel a little sorry for whoever had the nerve to say anything like that and now had earned Irena’s ire forever.
“The babushkas are very competitive,” Vic explained, amusement in his words. “She’s correct that we have a busy day and we compensate in all the food you can eat plus copious amounts of liquor to keep warm.”
“That’s pretty much all I need to hear. I’m in.” Maybe leaned back so she could better peek in the bags to see what all she was taking to Whiskey Sharp. Irena spoiled her nephews as much as she did her own children. Luckily for Maybe, Alexsei shared all the spoils with his friends.
“Where will you be spending Thanksgiving?” Irena asked.
Rachel’s sigh was audible. “With our parents.”
Irena turned in her seat to frown and investigate further. “If you change your minds you come to our house.”
She said nothing further on the subject and a short time later Vic dropped Maybe off in front of Whiskey Sharp.
Alexsei came to the doors, opening for her and then taking the things his aunt had sent over.
“I won’t be here Saturday. Apparently I’ll be working the bakery booth,” Maybe told him as she filled her mug with tea.
He shrugged slightly. “I will be there too. It’s a family thing. Did she leap on you the moment you left the house?” He didn’t bother to hide his smirk.
“Yeah, that. But who complains about being laden down with bread and leftover pot roast?”
“That’s how she gets you. She hooks you with food and fattens you up and then you’re stuck.”
Maybe snickered. He looked absolutely gorgeous. The pale sunshine filtered through the windows and against his skin. He wore his usual work outfit but she liked the shirt he had on more than most. It had a deep green pinstripe in it that always brought out the hazel of his eyes.
She paused to check out his forearms and hands, not caring that she was weird for it. He knew she was staring too. That smug smile of his made her tingly.
“She invited us for Thanksgiving.”
“Of course she did.” Alexsei shrugged.
“What does that mean? The shrug.”
“It means that she already likes you and Rachel, and that we are seeing one another now would only make her more eager to invite you.”
He said that loud enough for everyone around them to hear. Possibly even so they would hear. He was sneaky that way.
“You know we have plans. But I told her thank-you.”
“If things are terrible, you will get in your car and come to me.” He waved his client over, apparently done telling her what was what. For the time being.
* * *
“CAN YOU COME BACK here a moment? I’m doing some orders,” Alexsei said as he walked from his office out to the hall to catch Maybe’s attention a few hours later that day.
She put her things down and headed his way, following him into his office, where he managed to maneuver her into a blind spot.
“You called me in here to feel me up?” she asked, her laughter dying as he pulled the cups of her bra down to expose her nipples to his fingertips.
Her eyes might have crossed, but she tried to find her words to tell him to knock it off. Not very hard though.
What if someone heard? Or came in?
Of course, the hardwoods in the long hallway cracked and popped when anyone walked on them so they’d have some notice. And if she bit her lip and held back that moan of delight, no one would hear them.
“I like feeling you up. I was just looking at you as you worked, my hummingbird, chatting and zooming around, and I wanted to touch you so badly I had to come back here awhile. Then I decided that on your next break between clients I was going to call you in so I could kiss you.”
She smiled, but before she could find a smart remark, he kissed her, using the weight of his body to hold her in place as he plundered her mouth.
She ached. Needing more than those kisses and the pinch of her nipples between his thumb and forefingers. So good but she wanted more. Wanted the quicksilver flood of pleasure that came with orgasm. Craved the taste of his belly, the scent of his skin.
So unprofessional, but damn she wanted a lot more.
Maybe wrapped her arms around him, holding him close, delighting in the solid heat of him, the weight of his body against hers.
Then footsteps sounded an approach and, with a curse of regret, he set her back to rights, stepped away and by the time the footsteps arrived at the doorway and Rada poked her head in, things were mostly back to rights.
Except for that whole Rada being in Whiskey Sharp thing. That part sucked.
“Oh. You’re not alone,” Rada said.
“What do you want?” he asked her.
Maybe tried to escape, but Rada took up the only avenue she could use to make that happen.
Ignoring Maybe, Rada put a box on the desk. “I lost my phone. Show me how to update the new one.”
“They can do that for you at the store where you got the phone,” Maybe said to Rada. “Did you know that? Way easier.” Than coming here. To Maybe’s workplace to be helpless to Maybe’s boyfriend.
“You just got a new phone. How could you have lost it so fast? How do you do this?” Alexsei asked.
With a groan, Maybe headed toward the door and Rada moved aside as she did. It was most likely petty to have taken the pleasure she did at the slight panic on Rada’s features before she quickly got out of the way. But she was feeling pretty petty. As well as sexually frustrated.
As she got to the end of the hall, she could still hear Rada’s voice talking about that damned phone.
* * *
“OH MY GOD, it smells so good in here,” Maybe told her sister as they helped set up the Orlov Family Bakery booth at the Russian Community Center for that day’s festival celebration.
Holiday crafts were on display, filling the space with bright colors and gleaming surfaces. Music played on the sound system as little girls with big hair bows and shiny shoes listened to their dance teacher near the stage.
Irena had stopped by their house a few days before to inform both Dolan sisters that they were to show up at seven Saturday morning and be prepared to spend the day working in the booth.
Maybe was still pleased by that. She and Alexsei hadn’t been dating very long, two weeks that day since their first date, but because they already knew her, they’d simply pulled her and Rachel in closer. Including orders to show up when it was still dark and pretty freaking cold.
Alexsei prowled around the booth, making sure everything was bolted tight and whatnot. “He really looks good with a hammer in his hand. You know?” Maybe told her sister. “I wonder if he’d be open to wearing a flannel shirt and flexing his forearms as he held an ax?”
“This is getting embarrassingly specific, Maybe.”
“Well I can’t help it. Look at him, Rach.” Maybe pointed at him. He caught her gesture, turning with a questioning glance. She sent him a smile before waving him away.
“He does okay in the genetic lottery, I must say.” Rachel thrust a basket at her. “Take these before Irena comes looking for us and we get in trouble.”
Irena barked orders while directing with waves of arms and jerks of her head. Vic watched her, amused as he followed up with his siblings and the other volunteers.
He also kept an eye on Rachel. A protective gesture Maybe liked.
Alexsei strolled over to stand right in front of her. “I like how you’re wearing your hair today.”
She’d used a headband to keep it out of her face and add a little vintage appeal. Knowing he liked it.
“Thank you. I like everything about you right at this moment.”
“Only at this moment?” He put a little extra into his accent.
“You’re sure to get bossy or annoy me soon enough. But I’ll think about your forearms and probably find it in me to get over it.”
He kissed her quickly, but totally openly. And it felt really good to be claimed like that. Goofy with the schmoop of it, she grinned.
“Alexsei? Stop that ridiculous display.”
Maybe looked around him to the source of the words. Rada.
He said something to her in Russian. Obviously about Maybe because Rada’s eyes cut to her once or twice as they spoke.
She hated being spoken around like she wasn’t there and the switching to Russian pushed buttons way harder when he did it with Rada. And she hated that Rada still talked to him like they were together. Even though she knew that wasn’t the case. It still annoyed her.
Big-time.
Ugh. And so soon after telling him he’d annoy her again at some point!
“Take your hands off her and move this box. It’s very heavy. Perhaps your time would be better spent working instead of crawling all over Alexsei,” she told Maybe.
“Hi, Rada. I had no idea you were a life coach now.” Maybe gave Alexsei a look, but before anything else could be said, Irena called her name and she headed over.
* * *
“YOU SEE THE problems you cause?” Alexsei told Rada as Maybe walked away.
“Me? You’re the one who started speaking Russian to me so she couldn’t understand. Then she responded in typical, mannerless fashion. Is your big canary bird so intimidated she needs to throw a tantrum?” Rada made a derisive sound. “If she’s going to stay with you, she’d better get herself together.”
As if he’d have this discussion with her.
Instead of engaging, he knew the best way to deal with Rada was to just be direct and get her to state whatever she wanted. If you engaged with her side tangents it would only leave a person angry at wasting time.
He said, “What do you want? Why are you here? And if you don’t start talking to her nicer, she’s liable to respond back in a way you won’t like at all.”
Rada’s smile was slightly vicious. “Sure. I’ve been part of this family a lot longer than she has. Don’t forget that. I was invited.” She crossed her arms and glared. “Those boxes are too heavy. Move them for me. Please.”
“No need to forget that. She and Rachel were also invited. You’re being rude.” He moved around Rada and got to those boxes. It was better to do the task and be done with her instead of arguing. That way he could get back to Maybe, because apparently she was jealous.
He didn’t hide his satisfied smile. Maybe was so skittish and liked to pretend she was so casual and above things like jealousy. But not when it came to him.
He knew what he wanted. He’d settled and enjoyed what he had in the past. He’d been in love with Rada once, but compared to the intensity and yet utter comfort he felt around Maybe, he understood it had been a thin comparison.
He adored strong women and Maybe was that to her very bones. Even as she had a vulnerability that tore at him sometimes.
He needed to stop thinking about the things that made her upset or he’d get pissed off. The way her body language changed when she talked about her parents, for instance, made him want to punch someone.
The Rada situation did not bode well. Eventually there’d be some sort of blowup and he only hoped to be there so he could handle it and keep things civil. He didn’t want Maybe to feel bad around his family and Rada was going to be part of that at least half of the time.
But she needed to back off Maybe or his zajka would show her teeth and Rada wouldn’t like that one bit.
* * *
“I BROUGHT YOU COFFEE,” he said, placing a cup near her right hand. He’d given her some space as they worked their shifts, though he was sure to keep himself away from Rada when he could.
Maybe sent him a measuring look. “Thank you.”
“Are you hungry?”
She often got caught up in things and forgot. And when she ate, she did it with such pleasure it made him want to feed her all the more.
Maybe shrugged. “Not right now. But I will be.”
She flirted, but there was a distance there he didn’t much like. Apparently she was still agitated about Rada and the situation earlier.
He had some ideas about how she could work through her annoyance.
“I have to grab more supplies from the truck. I’ll be back shortly. But in the meantime...” Before she could move away, Alexsei leaned in to give her a kiss, delighting in the way her lips curved up into a smile against his.
“You’re going to get me in trouble,” she said with a smirk after he broke the kiss. But her hand remained in his.
“It’s my main goal in life, zajka,” he said as he walked backward to keep looking at her. He spoke loud enough to be sure everyone heard. Wanted Maybe to understand he had chosen her. He moved boxes for Rada but he’d move mountains for her.
“I’ll be back,” he told her.
“Yeah, you will,” she said, a little more sauce in her tone.
* * *
AS THEY WATCHED him walk away, Rachel said, “I love the way he makes you smile.”
Maybe didn’t attempt to blow it off with a shrug. “Yeah. Me too.”
Then there was a rush that only let up once music from the main stage began and gave them a chance to take a breath as the spectators had moved to see what new act was up next.
Irena made sure everyone had a mug of strong black tea to ward off the chill of the big open space. She complained a little about the booth two down from theirs using smelly cooking oil but it wasn’t really a thing. She just liked to complain sometimes.
She looked over their area and once she was assured they were doing things right, Irena headed off to order other people around for a while.
“Vic is really cute, right?” Maybe asked Rachel as they leaned against the counter and watched the older kids dance onstage.
“Smooth. So, how do you feel about Rada being here?” her sister shot back.
“Damn, that hurt!” Maybe elbowed Rachel in the ribs as she laughed.
“That’s what a big sister is for. I make the cracks. You bring me sodas when I tell you to.”
Rachel was three years older than Maybe, and had been a great sister, but she could be a bitch when she wanted, as could big sisters everywhere. They never fought over clothes as they had drastically different styles, but just about everything else had been fair game. One summer, she’d ordered Maybe to serve her and her friends.
There’d been punching or hair pulling now and again, but usually Rachel used her position with their parents to try to deflect anything bad coming Maybe’s way. Maybe couldn’t think of a time when her sister hadn’t taken her side when it came to something with their parents.
“Oh I see what you did there.” For the time she’d been teasing back and forth with Rachel, she hadn’t been paying attention to Rada. And when she did, of course she was near Alexsei.
Again.
Maybe tried really hard not to hate Rada but she failed. And then she felt guilty because she should be a better woman than to be hateful and jealous of an ex-girlfriend.
Maybe hadn’t ever had to defend her territory or whatever it was you had to do when someone decided to get up in your significant other’s business. It was weird and it made her self-conscious and then annoyed as hell she was feeling that way at all.
“I can see the entire argument you’re having in your head,” Rachel said after she handed a customer a bag and their change. “He’s your boyfriend. You get to say something. Just tell him how it makes you feel.”
“I shouldn’t have to.”
Rachel laughed. “Well, whatever. But I know you. This will only make you more and more agitated as the time goes and he’s just doing what he’s always done. This isn’t even about her, she’s just someone tossing orders at him and he complies because it’s automatic. He pays attention to you in a completely different way.”
“I just hate that it riles me up. Any other guy and I would not have cared.”
Rachel snorted. “You’re mad at him because you like him more than you have anyone else and now you’re feeling jealousy for the first time like a common mortal?”
Maybe frowned. “I have feelings.”
“Shut up. You know what I mean. You get to be annoyed with her. You get to feel like he should know how that makes you feel. But it’s never mattered to you before because the people you’ve been with haven’t mattered like Alexsei does. It’s sort of nice that it’s you being scared of something for a change.”
“Well. It sucks.” Maybe snuck another look back to where Alexsei was but he was closer than she’d expected, looking at her with a question on his features.
Her heart thudded so loud she wondered if he could hear it. She needed to put a bell on him so he couldn’t sneak up on her.
“Looking for someone?” He reached out to tuck a strand of hair from her face, brushing the backs of his fingers against her neck briefly. “Have you taken a break lately?”
“It’s busy, leave the girl alone. You can sneak off with her when we’re done here,” Irena barked.
Vic rolled his eyes behind his mom’s back but part of Maybe really loved how Irena treated them the way she did by that point. She talked to Maybe like she was family and that was important. It meant they trusted her. Found her worthy.
“Are you all right?” Alexsei murmured, ignoring his aunt.
“Yes, yes. I’m fine,” she said, not wanting to get into anything in front of everyone. Hating the vulnerability she felt and then getting agitated about that.
One of his brows rose. “We’ll talk about this later. We will have dinner when we’re done here. I have reservations.” He kissed her forehead before getting back to work.