“I’ll let you know. Thanks, Sis.”
“Any requests?”
“Stroganoff, of course.”
“You got it.”
“How did you two meet?” Charlie asked.
I was tempted to tell him, but I knew that Angel would kill me.
“I hired Angel to do legal work for my company.”
“Are you crazy?” Inessa commented.
“Yeah, not to put a damper on it, but I agree with your sister. That’s not the best idea, Max.”
“Oh, come now, you two. It’s the Twenty-First Century. I’d like to think that the world has moved on from all that old crap. We’re both adults. It’s not like I’m gonna grab her ass at the office or bully her into doing my bidding for me.”
“Uh-huh,” Inessa said.
“Relax. I’ve got this.”
“I hope so for your sake.”
“If the preaching is concluded, may I have another crack at that delicious Pelmeni, please?”
“Sure.”
I dished up more food and hoped for a topic change. I knew my sister and brother-in-law were fussing over me as always, so I wasn’t upset. I knew dating Angel was risky but there was no way I was going to get her out of my system.
After dinner, we had coffee and dessert. I thanked my family for a lovely evening and went home. I knew I’d be asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, which was probably more than Inessa and Charlie could say.
I did look forward to having kids one day, but right then I was happy to retire to my bachelor pad–carefree and delightfully unencumbered.
Well, almost. I’d sleep like a baby if Grigoriy would leave me the hell alone. But that was a worry for another day.
13
ANGEL
“You know I can’t focus on a damn thing you’re saying when you’re naked, don’t you?” Max purred as he slid his tongue in and out of my belly button, igniting currents of electricity through me.
He’d invited me over to his place for dinner, but we both knew it would turn into a glorious sexual frenzy. According to stats–who knew how exactly researchers collected such data–sex between lovers became less earthshattering after roughly six months. I had my doubts. I could see myself suckling at the teat of glorious, explosive sex with Max for considerably longer than that.
“I said, would you like to have dinner with me and my parents on Saturday evening?”
I was half expecting Max to get dressed in a flash and make for the hills, leaving behind singed bits of carpet. But, to my surprise, my sexy belly licker didn’t flinch.
“I’d love to meet them.”
Alright!
“Is your mother as beautiful as you are?”
I hadn’t gotten around to telling Max about my adoption. It wasn’t as if it were a secret. The subject simply hadn’t come up. I sure as hell wasn’t going to dump my sad tale about my dead mother and jailbird father on someone unless I was serious about them.
I was serious about Max.