He rolled his eyes. “We’re going to have meetings and dinners with the Koboyashis. You need to look like my wife, not my assistant.” Now his eyes moved up and down my body, making that odd fluttering feeling happen to my heart again. “Not that you don’t always look amazing.”
“I get it,” I said. “Better clothes.”
“Nothing on sale, nothing last season. Shoes and jewelry, too. No budget. I want you back here before the end of the day so I can approve what you’ve bought.”
So I spent the rest of the day on a crazy shopping spree, holding myself back from holding back and letting the saleswomen who were hungry for commissions go to town with expensive suggestions. It was the most fun I’d had in ages, and I felt like Cinderella as I twirled in front of the three-way mirror in a cocktail dress that could have been made for a real princess.
“Your husband will drop dead, you’re so gorgeous,” the saleswoman cooed.
“Then I'd better buy it,” I told her, forcibly reining in my soaring mood when she took it to add to the pile. I was no princess. Not even a wife.
This was just business, nothing else. I wouldn’t get to keep these clothes, and I had no reason to want to. I wasn’t really marrying my boss.
Chapter 7 - Rurik
Everything was falling into place without having to do much at all, and I was riding high. The few things that I had to deal with for the company while Clem was out shopping barely held my attention, wondering what she would buy.
Should I have sent my cousin Mila with her? A notorious shopper, she always had her finger on the pulse of the latest styles, even after recently becoming a mother. She would have kept my frugal assistant from gravitating to outfits solely because they were cheaper. I hoped Clem would take my warning seriously and only buy the best.
Not just because she deserved it, but because we had to put forward the best image as a successful couple to impress Koboyashi Corp. The import company I started with Gavril wasn’t merely a hobby or tax shelter like it was to him, and I didn’t blame him for wanting to remain the silent partner. He had his own organization to run, and after he had to rid the LA Collective of its traitors and then convince the international branches of the major crime conglomerate that the Fokins were no longer an enemy, he had enough on his plate.
But I was ready for a new challenge, and if we got exclusive rights to this game system, I’d have all the more reason to stay in the US instead of going back to Moscow. Now that Clem was in the picture, there was no going back.
She returned at last, laden down with outfits for me to approve.
“Of course I won’t need them all,” she said. “I’ll return the ones you don’t like tomorrow.”
She wouldn’t be returning any of them. They were perfect, and when she held a white dress up, it made her goldenskin glow and her sleek black hair shine like highly polished ebony. Just imagining her in it made it hard to keep from drooling.
“Put that one on,” I said. “We’re going to dinner.”
“I shouldn’t risk spilling something on it before—”
“Put it on,” I repeated. “We need to discuss strategy, and I’m in the mood for lobster at Providence.”
Seeing there was no arguing with me, she hurried out, returning to take my breath away.
The sleek white dress clung to every curve. Not so low cut, it would be inappropriate for a business dinner, but much more revealing than anything she wore to the office. The image of her in the towel sprang to mind as she self-consciously smoothed her hands down her sides.
So many thoughts that had no place in an office filled my head. My fingers ached to reach for her. Patience was a virtue, but it was starting to become my enemy, too.
My eyes followed the motion of her hands, down her creamy thighs to the new high-heeled sandals she wore. A perfect match. She needed an entire closet full of clothes like these, not just the handful of outfits she bought today. She deserved the whole world.
While I didn’t have a reservation at the upscale seafood restaurant, the maitre d’ recognized me from my last meeting there with a few of my cousins and found a seat for us. All eyes were on Clem as she strode beside me, her dark hair swept back over her slender shoulders.
The woman was a goddess, and I had to give a few men a threatening look to get them to drop their gazes that lasted too long. I ordered champagne right away. Clem thought it wasbecause of the upcoming deal, but I was already celebrating something else that was much more important.
“I hope you’re not jumping the gun,” She said. “Isn’t this kind of crazy, what we’re doing?”
“You said yourself that Gavrik Imports is the best company.”
“It is. Definitely. But I have this thing when I tell a lie. I get twitchy and start clicking my nails together.”
In fact, she was doing it at that moment, and we both laughed. I took her hands and held them as a blush rose up her chest. “So what are you lying about now?” I teased.
The soft blush turned deep red. “Nothing. Just thinking ahead, I guess.”
“I’ll hold your hand if I see you starting to do it around the Koboyashis,” I said. “Now tell me all about yourself so I don’t trip up on backstory.”