“Why?” she asked.
“I don’t like the idea of being so easily read by someone,” he said with more honesty than he would usually offer.
“Oh, well, I’ve known you a long time,” she said consolingly. “It is inevitable I would learn your tells.”
“If you say so.” Even his brothers weren’t that adept at reading Dimitri.
“What were you thinking about so hard?”
“You’d rather talk than kiss?” he asked, a little offended.
She rolled her eyes. “Are you saying we can’t do both?”
That was not a denial she wanted to kiss him, and he took that as a win. “I was thinking about how my brothers and I have brought enough scandal to our family.”
Which meant finding out how someone was mining Jenna for information was paramount. Especially now that Nataliya was pregnant again andnotready to go public with the knowledge.
“You can’t be angry with Kon for not knowing about his son.”
Dimitri gave a mental sigh. She really did want to talk.
And damn it, as much as he found it strange, he enjoyed their conversations enough to put off the kissing.
And other things.
For a little while anyway.
“No. Would you like something to drink?” He headed toward the wet bar.
“I’ll take a whiskey.”
“No white wine spritzer?” That seemed to be the drink du jour among the women in his family.
“If I were driving after, sure, but I plan on staying a while.”
“You aren’t nervous?” he asked, bothered that could be the case.
“Dutch courage, you mean?” She laughed as she kicked off her shoes, the sound going straight to his groin. “Not all. I learned to enjoy slow-sipping Scotch whiskey when I was on an assignment in Edinburgh.”
“Edinburgh and fashion are not synonymous in my mind.”
“Don’t be a snob. Fashion isn’t limited to New York, Milan and Paris, I promise you.” She settled onto the sofa, her feet tucked up beside her.
Dimitri poured them both a scant shot of well-aged whiskey. He handed one to her before sitting beside her. “I’m learning all sorts of new things about you.”
“I think before this night is over, you’re going to know a lot of things you didn’t.” The look she gave him told him she wasn’t talking about her preference in beverages.
Dimitri did nothing to stifle the smile that thought elicited. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“So, if you don’t blame Konstantin for the scandal he brought to the family, do you blame Nikolai?”
“I don’t blame anyone. It is what it is.”
“Really? You don’t blameanyone?” Her tone was tinged with disbelief.
“You mean Tiana?” Nikolai’s first wife had done damage to both his older brothers in her pursuit of what she wanted.
Or did not want.