ARIANA
I snapped my head up from my phone.
Drea burst into laughter. "That got her attention. Is someone possessive?"
I rose to my feet, stuffing my phone into my pocket.
"He's in the reception area," Ava told me with a megawatt smile as I brushed past her.
I skidded to a halt when I saw a group of my workers gathered just around the corner, watching Aleksei, who stood in the reception area with his hands behind his back, staring down at Cheryl, who looked up at him with lovesick eyes as she spoke.
What the hell was going on?
Apparently, I was the only one who didn't know my new husband was popular amongst my staff. I cleared my throat to get their attention, and they all turned to face me with wide eyes, embarrassed that they'd been caught.
"Sorry, ma'am," they chorused before quickly dispersing from the scene.
Aleksei looked at me over Cheryl's shoulder the moment I stepped into the reception area. His lips curved up in a charming smile. As I watched him, I wondered how many people had fallen for that carefully laid mask he put on.
"There you are," he said, walking around Cheryl to stand in front of me. "Did I interrupt any important work?" He asked, placing a large hand on my shoulder.
No, you just made my workers thirst over you like dogs in heat, I thought to myself, mentally curling my lips up in disgust. He wasn't even that good-looking.
Don't lie to yourself.
I pushed the thoughts away, pretending not to notice the way heat seeped into my skin from the contact.
He turned to address Cheryl over his shoulder. "This is my wife I was talking about. Now you can tell I wasn't lying when I told you she's way out of my league," he said, having the effrontery to throw her a wink at the end of the sentence.
My hands balled into fists at my sides at how easy it was for him to fool people and make them believe he was this easygoing man.
Cheryl chuckled awkwardly. "Uh, yeah... I'll..."
She darted past us, leaving just Aleksei and me in the reception area.
"So, this is where you work. It's amazing," he said looking around the space.
I arched a brow at him. I felt like he had more to say, but he was purposely not saying it.
He chuckled. "That's all I was going to say, Ariana. Don't think yourself to death."
I opened and closed my mouth in shock. How did he find it easy to know what I was thinking?
I didn't have time to ponder on that because he held out a large gift bag to me. I shifted my gaze from the bag to him. What was up with him and buying me presents?
"Stop staring at the bag like it's a ticking time bomb," he said dryly, pushing the bag into my chest, and forcing me to take it from his grasp. "Think of it as a wedding gift. I didn't give you one before, so here you go."
It started with the tablet, then he gave me his card, and now this? I didn't have to open the bag to know what was inside was expensive. Aleksei didn't do half-assed things. Our wedding reception was proof of that.
"I know it's a last-minute decision, but I'm leaving for Russia today. Something came up. Peter fried my phone when he was charging it in the car, and he's off to get me a new one. I wouldn't be here otherwise. Plus, it was on the way to the airport. I didn't want to leave without telling you."
I stared at him blankly. What was I supposed to do in a situation like this? Ask him when he'd come back? Wish he had a safe flight?
I shook my head internally. That sounded like something a desperate housewife or a love interest would ask. I was neither of those, so I remained unmoving, waiting for him to make the next move.
Gah, I wasn't good with relationships and feelings.
He tilted his head to the side, silently studying me with his wickedly good poker face. My knees threatened to give out under his scrutiny. I brought my hand up to my face to brush away a flyaway.
Did I have something stuck on my face? Why was he staring so hard? And why was he staring at me like that?
Like he was imagining me without clothes on.
Like his gaze was piercing through all my layers of clothing and stripping me naked.
I hated it. I hated him.
"Do me a favor," he said after our long minute of silence, his voice significantly lower than before.
He drew me closer to him with a gentle tug on my waist before placing one hand on my hip. I could feel his touch imprinting itself on my skin even through the layers of clothing. His other hand cupped the back of my neck, rubbing slow circles on my neck until I melted like butter in his arms.
My body grew lax against his. Every breath I took smelled like his heady cologne, reminding me of why I shouldn't be this close to him, at all.
"Do you think they bought it?" He whispered.
I arched a brow at him in question. Bought what?
"Your staff," he explained. "You think they bought the show? They're eavesdropping and watching us. We can't be anything less than a loving couple to the public eye."
I stiffened in his arms. His affection made sense now after the mini-argument we had this morning.
All of a sudden, the warmth of his hands on my body didn't matter anymore. All I wanted was to get the hell away from him and his stupid intoxicating smell.
I'd dropped my guard just by a fraction only to be hit by the news that he was acting to placate the public and paint a nonexistent image.
Now that I was aware of his plan, I wasn't ever going to fall for it.
I wiggled out of his embrace, putting some space between us. Partly for my sanity, and partly because I couldn't bear to be around him and inhale his heady scent.
"Keep an eye on Mikhail for me while I'm gone, will you?" He asked with a charming smile I now knew was all for show. "He's wild, that one."
I nodded stiffly before turning on my heels and going down the way I just came.
Rumors be damned.
He could find his way out himself.