Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Chloe

Like with every first day of school, I intend to appear cool, calm, and collected when Nikolai comes home with Ayana, but that is too much to hope for, apparently. Paul started whining thirty minutes after Niko left, giving me those puppy dog eyes that are impossible to ignore.

"Seriously, Paul? You just went out." He puts a paw up on my knee and stares into my soul. I begged for a dog years ago, but Josh said we'd make horrible dog parents since we both worked outside the home. He wasn't wrong, but my heart still yearned for a furry best friend.

I close my laptop, where I was supposed to be working on drills to introduce at my second open house next week, but was mostly thinking about how I slept mere feet away from Nikolai last night. He locked himself in his bedroom, hiding out like my cutoff jean shorts held a spell over him. Whatever his reasons, I barely slept. I heave myself to standing. Paul yips and spins in a circle.

"Whoa, there, Paulie, slow your roll." When he's finally still long enough for me to clip on his leash, I take him outside, letting him tug me down the street while he sniffs every single blade of grass before lifting his leg and taking care of business.

It's on the way back to Nikolai's house that things take a turn. First, the neighbor's sprinklers come on and Paul lunges to get in the spray, pulling me with him. He may still be a puppy, but he's stronger than I gave him credit for. His tongue laps the water from one sprinkler and then he's off to the next one, pulling me through the spray with him. I dig my heels into the grass and hope I'm not destroying someone's lawn as I get control of my dog. We finally make it to the sidewalk outside Niko's house, water is dripping in our eyes and one of us is decidedly happier than the other about it. A horn blares as Nikolai's Land Rover pulls into the long driveway.

Paul barks and takes off again, darting around the mailbox and tangling the leash. The pull forward takes me by surprise and the leash trips me up. I tuck and roll while everything happens in slow motion. The pavement makes as hard of a landing as ice.

"Chloe!" Nikolai's concerned voice has me blinking my eyes open. A gorgeous blond girl hovers over me, right before a long, wet tongue swipes across my face.

"Ayana, take Paul inside," Nikolai barks, reaching my side and scooping me up off the ground like I weigh nothing. Ayana must comply because next thing I see is the back of her head as she cajoles the canine back in the house. Frankly, my brain is too preoccupied with the solid chest and steel band of arms around me.

"Does anything hurt?" Nikolai murmurs, the growl somehow still letting concern shine through.

I take stock of my limbs and realize I feel fine, other than being horribly embarrassed. Pretty sure I must have looked ridiculous, ass in the air as I tumbled. "I'm good, actually. You can put me down. Don't hurt yourself."

Nikolai gives me a look so scathing I snap my mouth shut and simply hold on for dear life as he sweeps me into the house and deposits me on the couch. He squats down by my feet and runs his hands along my legs, one at a time. Tingles of awareness shoot straight to my head, making me feel lightheaded.

"What are you doing?" I ask faintly.

"Did you hit your head?" His hands leave my legs and trail over my arms before he cups my face and tilts me this way and that.

A different kind of awareness hits me, and I look past Nikolai's concerned face to see Ayana looking on like she isn't sure if it's safe to come any closer. I bat Nikolai's hands away and jump to my feet, feeling a little creaky, but otherwise okay.

"Hey! You must be Ayana. Did you like my gymnastics out there?" I shoot her a wry grin, which she instantly mirrors, coming into the room with Paul at her heels.

"You got air before you rolled. You cooked out there."

I laugh, and then laugh harder when Nikolai mutters under his breath. "Cooked? Is this English?"

"Did you have lunch?" I ask Ayana, moving away from the couch and the girl's overprotective father.

"Not yet. Dad wanted me to meet you first."

"I am sorry. Ayana, this is Chloe, your temporary nanny. Chloe, this is my daughter, Ayana." Nikolai waves between us. "And this is the dog that will be enrolled in dog training starting tomorrow."

Paul whines, but sits obediently looking up at us. He's cute, but maybe a little training would be a good idea before he gets even bigger.

I clap my hands. "I'll make us sandwiches. Ayana, will you help me?"

She lights up, eagerly following me into the kitchen where we raid the fridge and make stacked sandwiches with everyone's favorites. Ayana mostly makes a mess, but we get the sandwiches made eventually. I'm cutting them into triangles, Ayana's preferred sandwich shape, when she leans a little closer.

"You know, Mom probably would have made us get rid of Paul if he tripped her." Her voice is so small it makes me want to wrap my arm around her and protect her from the world.

My ribs ache, hearing the hurt in her voice. I don't know much about Nikolai's ex, but my opinion of her gets worse the more I hear. "Mistakes happen and we all deserve second and even third chances. Dogs included."

We plate the sandwiches and head for the dining room, where Nikolai is busy texting on his phone, a furrow to his brow. He glances up when we come in, surprise stealing across his features when he sees we made him a sandwich.

"You did not have to feed me too."

I point to Ayana. "She made it."

Ayana's head snaps in my direction and her cheeks turn pink as she gives me a little smile. We sit down together and eat, Ayana keeping us entertained with her constant chatter. All too soon, Nikolai scrapes his chair back and announces he has to get to training.

"And you have dance tonight, right?" I ask Ayana, knowing the answer before she nods her head. I memorized her schedule immediately after Nikolai forwarded it to me. "Just enough time for us to go shopping for that birthday gift and then we'll head to dance. And then..." I give her an exaggerated eyebrow waggle. "It's pizza night. Have you ever tossed a pizza crust like a born and bred Italian?"

Ayana giggles. "No. I'm Kazakhstani, not Italian."

Nikolai hovers in the doorway, his gaze flicking back and forth between us before he finally leaves, a smile softening his face.

My third graders acted older and older each year, but even so, Ayana seems far older than her years. Which isn't necessarily a good thing. I'm a firm believer kids should have time to be kids before they have to take on the responsibilities and stress of the adult world. During her dance class, if she made even the tiniest of mistakes, she would glance out the window toward the hallway where the parents sat watching their kids. I gave her a smile and thumbs up, but that glance kept happening, as if she was expecting reprimand. Makes me wonder what kind of parenting has been going on under her mother's roof.

But at the end of the day, I have no control over that. I only have this limited time with her, and I intend to make the most of it. We head home and have the pizza dough ready to toss when Nikolai returns. Paul scrambles through the house, his nails tick, tick, ticking against the wood floor while he barks his head off.

"Hallo, zajushka ." Nikolai sticks his head into the kitchen and smiles at Ayana.

She squeaks and runs to him, jumping into his waiting arms. The scene is adorable. Clearly these two love each other and Ayana feels safe with her dad.

"Chloe took me to this place that's all jewelry and we bought this whole set for MacKenzie that she'll love. And then at dance she made Mr. Strabuski laugh, which is, like, impossible, and his laugh sounds like a honking goose. You should have heard it, Dad."

"Whoa, that sounds like a good day," Nikolai answers, looking around Ayana to me. I can feel his gaze like an actual caress, which is so inappropriate with Ayana in the room. I focus back on my lump of dough.

"Who's ready to toss some pizza?"

"Me!" Ayana shrieks, kicking her legs until Nikolai lets her down. "Dad, you have to do it too!"

"Wash your hands!" I shout when Nikolai reaches for a lump of dough on the counter. He grumbles but does it, returning to follow my directions with Ayana. Before you know it, we all have our pizza crust in the air, though Ayana drops hers several times. Thankfully, we made enough dough to not have to eat hers.

I nudge Nikolai as we put our crusts down and start adding toppings. "You make a fine Italian, Mr. Drugov."

His head lifts and his eyes heat as he looks at me. "I think maybe you should always call me Mr. Drugov."

My face heats, absolutely knowing he's thinking of me naked while I'm saying it. Damn this man and his incredible imagination. My phone pings from the counter by the sink. I step back and let the two of them finish topping the pizzas before I combust. I wash the dough off my hands and grab my phone.

Unknown Number: Hey, Chloe, this is Tanner Gumphrey. Your mother gave me your number. She insists we'd make gorgeous grandbabies, though I'll be honest, not sure I'm in the market for kids. I am, however, in the market for a nice dinner and conversation. Are you free Saturday?

"Who the fuck is Tanner Gumphrey and why is he talking about babies?" Nikolai barks from over my shoulder. I jump, not realizing he came up behind me.

"Dad! Language!"

I pull the phone to my chest and turn to face a very pissed off Nikolai. "That was a private message."

His huge hands go to his hips. "Tell him no."

My jaw drops. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Tell him no. Remember our rules, Chloe?"

I lean in, a bit pissed off that he's trying to tell me what to do, but also knowing Ayana doesn't need to hear all this. "You said no men in the house. This is just dinner out. On my night off."

His eyes narrow and his nostrils flare, but he relents. He steps back and lets me slide the pizzas into the oven.

"Ayana, go take Paul in the backyard before dinner."

"Okay!" Ayana is all too happy to take care of her puppy, talking to him like an actual friend. We listen to her chatter trail off as she finally gets him outside.

I huff my irritation with Nikolai and move to leave the kitchen too, but he snags his arm around my waist and pulls my back into his chest. His scent surrounds me and makes my heart beat double time. I feel his head dip and his breath as it fans across my neck.

"You will not like this Tanner. He does not make you blush like I do." And as if to prove his words, he drops his lips to my neck, a quick kiss followed by the scrape of his teeth and the velvet caress of his tongue. My knees buckle and his arm is the only thing holding me up and we both know it. His soft chuckle brings me back to reality.

My elbow finds its way into his gut and he releases me with an "oof!"

"I do what I want, Mr. Drugov."

And I leave him to get the pizzas out of the oven while I try to get my shit together before dinner.