Page 116 of The Pucking Arrangement

I wanted fun. A distraction. A man too powerful and untouchable to ever derail my life.

But Sophie’s words won’t leave me.

Did you know he hasn’t been with anyone since Elena?

Three years. Not a single woman. The weight of it crashes into me all over again. This isn’t casual for him. It never was. And now it doesn’t feel casual for me, either. It feels inevitable. Like some invisible force that’s pulling me in.

Like no matter what I tell myself about my career, my future, my independence, the moment Dmitri touches me, none of it matters.

“Erin.”

His voice is a caress. A warning, a plea, a demand. All at once.

I look up, meeting his gaze. I need to tell him. About Dubrovnik. About the fall. Europe. A career-making opportunity.

And I need to know if what Sophie told me is true—about how he hasn’t been with anyone since Elena.

I need him to laugh it off, to tell me it’s ridiculous. That he’s just private, careful because of Ris. That Liam has it all wrong. That this isn’t as serious as it suddenly feels.

That we’re just fucking and having fun. That I can still walk away.

But before I can open my mouth, a blonde blur rockets into the room, and Dmitri shifts back slightly, putting distance between us.

“Papa, you’re home!”

Ris barrels into him, then launches herself onto the bed, her little arms wrapping around my waist like she belongs there. Like I belong here.

“Erin! Papa’s back!”

Thank God six-year-olds don’t question why their father is half-naked sitting on their nanny’s bed at seven in the morning.

“The picnic is today!” Ris bounces between us, utterly oblivious to the tension she’s just steamrolled. “We’re all going, right? Please say you’re coming too, Erin!”

My heart twists.

Because this, right here, is exactly what I’m afraid of.

How easily they’ve become my everything.

How much it’s going to hurt when I have to leave.

“The picnic?” I repeat weakly, buying time.

“The school family picnic!” She flops onto her back, star fishing across my comforter. “Everyone’s going! There’s games and face painting and ice cream and?—”

“Slow down, Amnushka,” Dmitri says, amusement in his voice. “Let Erin wake up first.”

But his eyes never leave mine.

Like he can sense something’s off. Like he’s reading every flicker of doubt written across my face.

“Please come?” Ris hits me with the puppy eyes—her most lethal weapon. “You can help me win the three-legged race!”

I hesitate and glance at Dmitri, whose stare makes my skin tingle. “Are you sure that’s…okay?”

His jaw tightens. Barely.

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

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