Chapter 8 - Anya

I brush the knots from my hair with a little too much vigor and end up yanking my hair hard. “Ouch,” I say loudly to myself. I need to calm down.

Forcing myself to slow down, I brush the rest of my hair out at a much calmer pace, not torturing myself, just trying to get ready.

I’m in such a bad mood. It’s been a week since that disaster of an evening and I am still agitated and annoyed about what happened between Rodion and I.

The only relief I have is that he has been really busy working in his home office almost this entire week, so I’ve been spending time alone most of the days—not forced to face him. And my own embarrassment.

Why should I be embarrassed though?

He’s the one who stopped.

Wrapping my hair into a messy high bun, I sigh at my reflection in the mirror.

“Whatever,” I say, annoyed.

Grabbing my phone off the bathroom counter, I shove it into my pocket. I wonder what he’s been working on all week.

I’ve been bored.

But today, I decided to get to know the mansion better. It is my home, so I may as well learn where everything is.

I start on the ground floor, exploring room by room.

It’s a gorgeous place.

There is so much natural light flowing through here, I love it. I wonder why he bought such a big place to live alone in. It must have been an investment of some kind.

I roam from room to room. The library is my favorite, with its floor to ceiling stained glass windows. I also love the sunroom upstairs, which overlooks the massive garden and pool area. There is a gym, he was being serious about that. That will be a good way to stay busy.

As I walk down a long passage, I hear his voice. The deep, alluring tone pulls me towards him. I shouldn’t go. I should stay away from him because all we ever manage to do is argue.

Curiosity gets the better of me, though and I make my way towards him despite the warning in my head.

I don’t want him to catch me snooping around and think that I’m up to something.

It's already so tense between us that it would make it ten times worse.

Besides, I’m a little worried about coming face to face with him because I know my body is immediately going to want him again. Every time I even think about him I want him.

I can’t believe he pulled away from me the other night. Isn’t he also going crazy about it? I guess not.

That thought embarrasses me even more. Am I more attracted to him than he is to me?

“No, I don’t want to do business with that client anymore. He’s an asshole. We can reply to his message and tell him to basically get fucked. Actually, let me do it. Forward me the order he is trying to place.”

There is a pause and I creep close to the door, keeping my body flat against the wall.

“Yes, I’m sure. He is more trouble than he’s worth and he keeps demanding discounts. I’m done with him.”

I lean a little closer and hold my breath. I wonder what the client did. It’s pretty cool to be able to tell clients to piss off because you own your own business. Not letting people walk all over you is a sign of strength. But you also need to learn when to put up with difficult clients and when to let them go.

“Alright, and what about—“

I lean a little too far forward and bump into a picture frame hanging above my head. It makes a loud knocking sound and my heart speeds up while I hold my breath, hoping he didn’t hear.

But the silence from his office indicates that he now fully aware that someone is out here.

I look left and right, trying to find an escape route, but there isn’t one. The door to the closest room is too far away and it will look much worse if I’m literally running from the scene when he catches me.

So, instead, I stand tall and force myself to take a breath and try to calm my heart.

He steps out of his office, his eyes are dark and narrowed as he looks down at me.

Lifting the phone to his ear he says, “I am going to have to call you back.”

He clicks the button and cuts the call off. I can feel my body rigid and stiff as I wait for him to release his anger on me.

“Princess. What do I owe the pleasure of your— company ?”

“I wasn’t spying,” I blurt out. As I say it, I feel my throat tighten because just saying it out loud makes me appear far more guilty.

He leans against the door frame, his thick arms folded across his chest. His shirt is rolled up over his muscular forearms and I can’t help but eye the taunt flex as he moves.

“Is that so?” his deep voice sounds accusing but calm. I can’t work out if he’s angry, but I’m terrified.

“I promise,” I stammer. “I was just exploring the mansion and I heard your voice. I came to—” my mouth falls open. This is not easy to explain.

“What did you come to do?” his eyes are like daggers into my mind as though he is trying to read my thoughts.

“I was just curious,” I sigh, raising my hands in the air and flopping them back down at my side. “That’s all. Honestly, I was just curious about your business.”

“What would make a pretty little thing like you curious about business?”

He reaches out and brushes his fingers beneath my chin and my body sparks with desire.

Dammit.

One touch.

That’s all it takes from him.

I pull my head to the side because I can’t think straight when he is touching me like that.

“I was curious because my brothers always hid the business stuff from me. I wasn’t allowed near it. I think they were trying to protect me, but I don’t see the harm in learning about how things work.” I bite my lip, hoping he believes me.

He looks down at me for a long time. I can see his mind churning as he tries to figure out what to do with me.

Finally, just as I’m about to sigh and walk away because I can’t take the silent treatment, he says “Do you want to learn more?”

Is this a trick question?

My eyes narrow towards him. I scrunch my nose, watching his expression. But he appears calm and without any trace of anger towards me.

“I would like to learn—“ I hesitate.

“You only needed to ask, Anya. I’m sure there is a lot I can teach you.”

“Really?” I can’t hide the excitement in my voice.

He chuckles, one corner of his mouth lifting into a half smile. “Why does that surprise you?”

“Because my brothers were so adamant about it.”

“Well, I am not one of your brothers. I see value in you knowing about the world you live in. Knowledge is power no matter where you are or what you do.”

***

I’m grinning like an idiot, excited about him letting me do this, and relieved that he wasn’t angry. But then I realize that I’m standing at his office door just grinning—and I feel silly.

“I’ll, um, let you get back to work then,” I say quickly, taking a step back.

He watches me, noting my discomfort. It looks like he is amused by it.

“Anya, join me for dinner tonight,” he says.

“Ok,” I answer. Then, after another tense moment of silence, I smile and walk away.

I can feel his eyes on me all the way to the end of the passageway, right until I turn the corner and breathe a sigh of relief.

It was awkward, because of what happened between us before, but it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as it could have been.

In fact, I think bumping into him like that might have eased away some of the tension that has been building in this house over the last few days.

He did invite me to have dinner with him. So, that’s a good thing.

If we can find some common ground, then life will be a lot more pleasant here.

It’s been so uncomfortable.

It’ll be nice to be civil to each other.

Because I have nothing else to do, I change into my workout gear and head up to the gym.

Rodion has a really well-kitted out gym and I spend an hour and a half doing weight training after a little warm-up on the treadmill.

I get so into the workout that I don’t notice him standing at the door watching me.

I yelp in fright when I see his reflection in the mirror after I set the weights I was using down on the floor.

My heart is racing when he walks towards me.

My entire body is drenched in sweat, I’m a little out of breath and now his presence is making it worse.

He’s dressed in his gym gear as well and looks pleased to see me in here.

His eyes trace over my body and I realize just how tight my outfit is. Feeling self-conscious, I pick up my sweat towel and hold it casually in front of me.

“Pink looks good on you,” he comments on the neon brightness of my gym set.

“Um. Thanks.” I take a step backward and bump into the weights rack.

“Ow,” I mutter, annoyed with myself.

“Are you done?” he asks, stepping close. I have nowhere to go.

My skin feels hot and it tingles at the sight of him. My entire body is suddenly begging for him again and I am afraid he will be able to tell just by looking at me.

“Yes, I’m done. I’m going to hop into the shower now. I hope you enjoy your workout.” I have to side step around him to get past the weights and the machine as he leans towards me and breathes in as I press by him.

His smile is dark and full of mischief.

Once I am around him, I don’t turn back.

I know my cheeks are bright red and all I want to do is get out of here.

I wish I knew how long he had been watching me for and what he was thinking.

I hurry through the gym doors, then curiosity gets the better of me and I peak over my shoulder.

He is still watching me.

“Enjoy your shower, princess,” he chuckles.

I blush deeper shades of red and rush away.

What am I going to do about my body's reaction to him every time I get close to him?

I know it’s not just my body, either. He has some kind of weird control over my thoughts, too. Dammit. All he has to do is glance over me in a suggestive way and I want to throw myself at the man.

How did it go from thinking I was repulsed and annoyed by him—to this ?

In my own private bathroom, I strip out of my sweaty gym gear and toss it into the wash basket.

The hot water from the shower quickly steams up the mirrors and glass doors.

Climbing inside, I can’t help thinking about what it would be like to work out with him—and then shower with him after.

I giggle to myself. I would love to watch those muscles flex when he lifts weights.

Oh my word, Anya, what is wrong with you? What has gotten into you?

I scrub my hair and body, condition, and then rinse it all off with the hope that my thoughts will be as clean as I feel by the time I get out and head to dinner.

I want to try and deny that I did it on purpose—but I can’t. I choose the tightest jeans I own and a little crop top that shows off the slight tone of my stomach muscles and I wear that to dinner.

I guess if I am going to embarrass myself by perving him—I may as well make it just as awkward for him.

To my enjoyment—it works. When I walk into the dining room Rodion’s eyes are already hungrily roaming over my body. I watch as his jaw clenches and his fist tightens around his phone which he was reading.

“You look nice,” he says tightly, as though he is trying to hold himself back from something.

“Thank you,” I reply cheerfully, taking a seat opposite him.

He pretends to return his focus back onto his phone, but I can see his eyes on me. I pretend not to notice, though and this silly game goes on throughout the whole of dinner.