Page 10 of The Bratva's Plus-Size Bride

When I reach the crook of her elbow, she shudders and comes to, drawing her arm back and clutching it to herself, wrapping it around her body like she needs protection from me. She does. The things I would do to her if she only let me. The way I’d devour her. I just need her to see that it’s inevitable.

“I’m going to unpack now.” She spins around and marches over to our luggage, dragging her suitcase toward the dresser. “And maybe you should go take a cold shower.”

I laugh. “We’d run out of water before I washed you out of my system.”

Chapter 6 - Ella

“What do you think?” Mr. Milov spreads his arms wide to encompass the potential build site in all its glory. “Can you picture it? The casino at the center there built in harmony with the surroundings, not in contrast with them. We’ll keep some of these trees, whichever ones we can, to give it that natural feel. Like you’re walking into a resort.”

He looks so good in his sand-colored shirt, the light material clinging to his arms as he gestures with them, that I can barely focus on his words or his vision. And did he really have to unbutton those top two buttons? I know it’s casual out here, but the view is distracting, the way I can just make out the curve of his chest muscle, and I’m tempted to run back to our room to grab him a tie, just so I can stop drooling.

Professional. Be professional. I can’t let him think that I’m into him or he’ll crack the tiny shield I’ve managed to put up, the one that lets me keep my job. Which I really, really need. Way more than I need to feel his mouth on me again. He’s looking at me in silence now and oh crap, he’s done talking, and I’m supposed to respond to whatever it was he said while I was busy checking him out.

“Oh yeah, this is a great spot. Perfect. Everyone is going to love it.” Smooth, Ella, really smooth. Might as well tell him that water is wet next. Just the sort of insight he hired me for.

His smile turns into a knowing smirk, and I want nothing more than to push him into the jewel-blue water encircling the cove, just to see him off-kilter for a moment. He’s always so unflappable that it makes me feel even more like a basket case.

“Not enough coffee this morning?” he asks, offering his hand for me to take as we step off the path and into the sand.

I’m in heels, foolishly, so I have no choice but to accept his help navigating the deep, soft sand. When he said we’d be visiting some sites today, I thought he meant ones that were already built, with concrete poured, hard, solid ground for me to stand on. Not these semi-wild areas. I’m already sweating, and it does not bode well for my hair, makeup, or outfit. He’s barely sweating, really glistening, as if he’s impervious to the weather.

“I don’t know if there’s enough coffee in the world to make up for that early of a flight,” I admit, stifling a yawn. I’ve never really traveled before, not since my senior class trip, and the whole airport and flight experience was a total whirlwind. “But I’m fine. We can keep going.”

I’m definitely not going to be the reason we don’t finish everything on today’s agenda. This is my first business trip, and as he reminded me before we left, it's going to be a crucial part of my job as his assistant. Jet lag, early flights, single beds; I just have to learn to adapt to all of it if I want to impress Mr. Milov.

Single bed. Ican’tbelieve he did that. I know it was intentional, too. There’s no way he couldn’t afford a second room with all his money, and there’s no chance the hotel wouldn’t have made a room available if he’d asked, given his reputation. So he didn’t ask. That means he wants us to share a bed.

My distraction costs me, and I stumble, catching my heel in a particularly deep pocket of sand. Mr. Milov catches me with ease, his huge arm wrapping around me, and holy crap, it feels so nice there. Warm and safe. Like nothing in the world can touch me when he’s around.

That’s what makes it so difficult to remember that he’s the danger here. He’s the thing that can destabilize my entire life plan with a single look from those gorgeous eyes. There’s no waya man like him wants me for anything more than a few nights of fun. So I build my walls back up and extricate myself from his arms, trying not to show how much I’d rather stay right there in them.

“Maybe we should head back so you can change. We’ve seen enough for today. Honestly, that agenda was ambitious, and we have plenty of time in the next few days to fit it all in.” He scans me from head to toe, and I hope I don’t appear as sweaty and disheveled as I feel. “You do have some flats, right? I think most of the sites are like this.”

I look down at my shoes. They’re covered in a layer of sand dust that’s turned the black suede grey. “Yes, I brought one pair. But we don’t need to go back to the hotel, I can handle this.”

Pulling the agenda from my purse, I take a quick scan of what’s left on it for today and feel my heart sink a little more with every line. There’s a lot left. Calling it at this point would be cutting off nearly half of the original plan, and he’s only doing it because I’m back here struggling.

“Ella,” he says, voice warm. “It’s been a long day for me, too. I wouldn’t hate taking a break at the hotel.”

I narrow my eyes and meet his gaze. “Fine, but only if it’s really what you want to do, because like I said, I can handle this. We could traipse up and down the country, and I wouldn’t give a single peep of complaint.”

“I believe that.” He stretches, rolling his head from side to side, and takes a long, almost wistful look at the site around us.

I like him like this. Outside of the office, where he’s all business, I can see that he’s something of a dreamer, too. He wants more than what he’s got in life right now, and that’s something I can relate to.

“Let’s compromise,” I suggest, taking his hand when he offers it again and allowing him to guide me back through our footprints toward the solid ground of the path. “We can head back to the hotel, freshen up, and I’ll change, and then we can head back out? There’s still so much on the agenda, and if we don’t get through some of it, we’ll be way off schedule for the rest of the trip.”

I wave the agenda in the air with my free hand.

He glances over his shoulder at me. “Deal.”

We make it back to the path, and I can barely resist kissing the ground when my heels don’t sink in. Some dignity is restored. The path leads us to the main road, where Mr. Milov has a car waiting. As always, he holds the door open for me and waits for me to climb in before following. It’s so old-school gentlemanly that I get a kick out of it. None of my other bosses were like this, and none looked like this, either.

It’s impossible to ride in a car with him and not think about the night we went home together. The tension between us builds until I can feel it crackling, and I pull out my phone to bury myself in work. Still, I can’t help stealing glances at him from the corner of my eye. His face is thoughtful, looking out the window and watching the beautiful scenery roll by.

The ride is thankfully short and I all but fall out of the car in my hurry to put some space between us, but of course, we’re going back to the hotel. To the room we share. Together. Even the extravagant luxury of the place can’t relax me. No amount of sandalwood incense and Himalayan crystal lighting can distract from the way my body absolutely freaks out around him.

“I’ll shower first!” I call, practically running into the bathroom the second we make it back to the room.

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