Having nipped that in the bud, she presented the younger man with her back. But she waited until he’d moved away to say, “Actually, I’m glad that guy brought me my coat because I left my business card holder in it.” She took out the flat metal case and handed Husik one of the small cards tucked inside. “If you think your niece is in trouble, give her my card. It doesn’t have anything but my name and number on it, so even if her boyfriend finds it, it shouldn’t cause her any problems. Sometimes just having my card at the right time is enough to get someone out of a bad situation.”
Husik took her card with the hand that wasn’t holding a tray of appetizers, his eyes running over her name, “Ms. Sam McKinley,” before he pocketed it.
“Thanks, but…” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I can’t believe you just turned down Nikolai Rustanov!”
“Why not?” she asked.
“Because he’s Mount Nik!” The man seemed genuinely perplexed.
Sam resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. So yeah, the hockey player with the hyperbolic nickname was probably a big deal in Husik’s mind. And obviously the representative he’d sent over wasn’t used to women turning down his boss’s balcony invitations. But Sam wasn’t here to meet up with hockey players on balconies. She was here to start making contacts, like she promised her partner, Josie, she would. And in her experience, athletes preferred to sponsor splashy causes like cancer and homelessness. Domestic violence, not so much.
Husik was still babbling on. “I mean, he dominates at a face off, and he gets to rebounds faster than anyone you’ve ever seen. Plus, he leads the league in shots on goal. But you turned him down!”
Sam really had no idea what any of that meant, and she was a little dismayed Husik seemed more concerned that she’d rejected some hockey player’s advances than he was about his niece’s relationship, which he’d been telling her he suspected had turned violent before they’d been interrupted.
But keeping judgment on a minimum setting was part of her job, so instead of chastising him, she smiled tightly and replied, “Yes, well, I’m just not interested, even if he’s really good at hitting balls with his stick.”
“Pucks,” a deep, heavily accented voice said behind her. “I’m very good at hitting pucks with my stick.”
This time when she turned she had to look up, then up some more, to find a pair of cool, green eyes staring down at her from under heavy lids. And suddenly, she understood why the young man he’d sent over had been confused about her response. Nikolai Rustanov was insanely, outrageously gorgeous, with a face and jaw that looked like it had been hand carved by someone with a high appreciation for asymmetry and a body so large, she knew immediately it was muscle and not padding filling out the shoulders of his tuxedo. Suddenly, the nickname “Mount Nik” didn’t seem quite so hyperbolic anymore.
And yes, she admitted to herself, any woman would be happy to receive a balcony invitation from a man who looked like this. At least at first glance. But she wasn’t like most women, and quickly zeroed in on his faults. His eyes, she noticed, where a total blank, and his lips had a hard twist to them, like they we’re in permanent prep mode for sneering.
Cruel. The word appeared inside her mind like a poisonous warning label. He had icy eyes and cruel lips. And even though his hair was light brown, falling in tousled strands past his ears—not military short and bleach blond like the only Russian she remembered from her childhood movie days—the Rocky IV theme song totally went off inside her head
2
NIKOLAI stared down at the woman who—much to his cousin, Alexei’s, amusement—had spurned his balcony invitation. She was even more beautiful up close than she’d been from across the room where he’d been standing when he first spotted her, dressed in an ethereal, deep green evening gown and talking to one of the cater-waiters. Her hair—which he could see now consisted neither of dreadlocks nor braids but some kind of long twists—was pulled back into a large bun, giving her face perfect visibility. Wide set eyes, shining with good humor, flawless dark brown skin that seemed to glow as if she were lit from the inside, dimpled cheeks, and—his eyes drifted downward—lush curves, very lush curves that were making the dress work hard to keep her contained.
The dimples were a little much, he thought, now that he could see her up close. His usual conquests, who tended to have sharper cheekbones and more skillfully applied makeup, didn’t usually sport indents in their cheeks. But in this case she’d sparked his curiosity enough to overlook them. Also, he wanted to see what was underneath that dress. In fact, he decided then and there, he wanted her. In his bed. Tonight.
“You have something else you should be doing,” he informed the cater-waiter without taking his eyes off the woman.
“Yes, sorry,” the cater-waiter mumbled. “Big fan by the way!”
Nikolai didn’t answer, just waited for the smaller man to go away so he could make his next move on the woman in the green dress. She looked slightly disconcerted as she watched the cater-waiter leave. Like she didn’t know quite what to do with Nikolai. Or herself.
Good, Nikolai thought. It served her right for turning down his balcony invitation. Apparently, even though she was at a hockey fundraiser, she didn’t know enough about the sport to distinguish a ball from a puck. Or him from any of the average, anonymous suitors she might have encountered before.
“Hello,” he said now that he had the woman’s full attention. “I am Nikolai Rustanov, and you are very beautiful.”
He waited for her to preen, but his words only seemed to fluster her more.
“Thanks! So are you… I guess.” She had a soft lilt to her voice that made her words sound almost overly cheery.
“Beautiful?” he said after a moment of confusion. Even after nearly two decades in the States, his English was still not the best. Maybe he was misunderstanding her. “You think I am beautiful?”
“Yes, really beautiful,” she answered with a nod. “Good job on that front!”
Nikolai faltered a bit. Had she just congratulated him on being beautiful? Like a woman? He reset.
“I’m glad you think so. You and I have—how you say—mutual admiration.”
“Oh, well, kind of, but I mean… maybe not really,” she answered. She now looked around the room as if she were desperately searching for someone else to talk to. Anybody other than him. “I’m not really into that kind of stuff.”
English was his second language, true, but every single thing that came out of this woman’s mouth so far had only served to confuse him, making him wonder if it wasn’t her first language either.
“Beauty—you don’t like it? You are not ‘into’ it?” he posed the question very slowly just in case, like him, she was still having trouble with the English language.
She shrugged. “I mean beauty can come in handy. Like when I’m arguing with a man and he’s all hyped up and security’s not available, sometimes he won’t act as much of a fool because I’m pretty, I guess. But a few times it’s made things more difficult. Like sometimes men underestimate me because of it, and that’s no good.”
Her answer brought up so many more questions that Nikolai’s mind temporarily stalled out. Why was she arguing with so many men to the point that she had to call security? And why did she care if anyone underestimated her?
She glanced up at him. “Do you feel like that too, sometimes? Like being all hot and hunky gets in your way?”
“No,” he answered truthfully. “It only helps. Especially with women.”
“Woooow! That must be so nice for you!”
She gave him an impressed look, but it felt to Nikolai like she was laughing at him. He did not like this feeling.
“It is,” he replied. Usually, he added silently with grim annoyance.
“Your calendar’s stuffed with dates I bet. How great!”
He regarded her coolly for a second, trying to figure out if he was really supposed to respond to that. But Black Americans, he knew, could be different. His cousi
n, Alexei, was married to one who insisted on calling him Nikki and conversations with her were often confusing like the one he was having with this woman now.
“I do not go on dates,” he informed her, deciding to indulge the conversation topic, more out of curiosity than anything else. The woman was strange but she was engaging, and Nikolai found himself wanting to stay in her company despite the many bizarre things that had come out of her mouth over the course of their short conversation.
“Seriously?” she asked. “Why not?”
“Dates are not necessary. They are silly custom. If a woman wants one, I say to her, we are both adults, why waste time with silly custom?”
She looked enrapt now, like she was hanging on every word he was saying. “And what do they say?”
“They agree of course, and then we have very pleasurable time together.”
The look she gave him now was the opposite of impressed. In fact, he could have sworn he saw pity in her eyes.
She shrugged and said, “I guess we don’t have much in common then. When I’m working late, I’m always like, wouldn’t it be cool to be one of those people who goes on dates? Seriously, how nice would that be? To like, you know, go to dinner and a movie. But here you are with plenty of women to date, and you don’t even take advantage of all your opportunities.” She shook her head. “What a waste.”
Nikolai narrowed his eyes at her, not knowing whether to be confused or insulted or both. “You are…” he informed her, “strange. Very strange.”
“Yes, I know,” she answered with that odd lilt of hers. “But it sounds like you’ve got a little strange going on yourself. Like, is that seriously all you do? Not go on dates with the women you invite out to your balcony? How does that work out for you love wise?”
“I do not love,” he answered. “Love is another silly custom. I don’t—how you say—believe in it.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Love? Love is a silly custom you don’t believe in? You seriously just said that? How can you not believe in love?!?!”
Nikolai inwardly grunted, happy he only wanted this woman for a one-night stand. She was obviously a romantic. One who would be much more trouble than she was worth if he were the sort who took women out on dates.
He stepped closer to her and said, “Trust me, you do not have to believe in silly customs to give woman much pleasure. Come upstairs. I will show you.”
His words must have had some affect on her, because she waved a hand in front of her face, like she was trying to cool herself down.
“Okay, you spit amazing game. Well played, Mount Nik. You’re like an expert in getting women all hot and bothered, I can tell.”
“Thank you,” he said carefully, because he had no idea how else to respond to that seeming compliment.
She slightly turned away from him, her eyes scanning the party.
“Hold on, I have someone I want you to meet.”
“You have someone you want me to meet,” he repeated. “Who?”
“I’m not sure yet,” she answered, her eyes still surveying the room. But then her face lit up. “No, no, no, I take that back. I see her. She’s definitely the one.”
She waved enthusiastically at a tall, beautiful brunette in a black evening dress who was standing with a couple of blondes also wearing black evening dresses. When she got the brunette’s attention, she motioned for her to join them like they were long, lost buddies.
Nikolai’s curiosity was fully piqued at this point. The truth was, the brunette, with her high cheekbones and classic features, was much more his usual type, but why would the woman in the green dress be calling her over? Perhaps for a threesome?
“Hi! Hi! Hi!” the minx in the green dress said when the brunette reached them. “What’s your name?”
“Katrina,” the brunette answered, smiling cautiously as if she weren’t sure if the woman who’d called her over was just friendly or insane.
Nikolai was beginning to wonder the same thing.
“Katrina. That’s a beautiful name,” the woman whose name he still didn’t know said. She looked up at Nikolai. “That’s Russian, right? Like you?”
“Yes, but I’m American,” Katrina answered, throwing Nikolai a flirty smile.
“Well, Katrina, let me introduce you to Nikolai Rustanov. He’s a fan of private conversations on balconies, and pleasurable times with ladies, and, and…” She looked up at him, her face and tone completely serious. “What else?”
“Hockey,” Nikolai answered, wondering what she was getting at.
The woman in the green dress snapped her fingers, like he’d just given her the perfect answer. “And hockey! Do you like hockey, Katrina?”
“I love hockey,” Katrina answered. She turned fully toward Nikolai now. “I have season passes for the Indiana Polar, and you’re actually one of my favorite players.”
“That’s awesome,” the woman said, patting Katrina on the shoulder. “I’ll just leave you two to it, then.”
“Oh, okay,” Katrina answered with a wave, seeming more than happy to be alone with him.
“So is that a friend of yours? Someone who works for you?” she whisper-asked Nikolai when the woman in the green dress was out of earshot.
Nikolai didn’t answer, just watched the strange woman walk away with a scowl on his face.
“Excuse me,” he began to say, preparing to go after her, but then his cousin Alexei appeared and got in front of him.
Alexei was a businessman, not a hockey player, but his face was a match to Nikolai’s in that moment. Same Rustanov bone structure, same green eyes, and for some reason, the same grim look.
“What is it?” he asked, immediately knowing something must be wrong. The Alexei he knew would have teased him mercilessly about getting turned down in such a ridiculous fashion by the minx in the green dress.
“Fedya is here,” Alexei answered, his voice low. “Your assistant came to me since you were… otherwise engaged.”
Nikolai inwardly cursed as he watched the beautiful woman disappear into the crowd. No, he wouldn’t be going after her right away as planned.
He’d have to deal with his brother first.
3
SAY what you want about the crazy palatial design scheme of Nikolai’s Rustanov’s house—and its owner, Sam thought, but at least it had lots of nooks and crannies for hiding.
She knew this, because she was currently nestled in a little laundry alcove just off the kitchen. From what she’d seen of the house, it might be the only “normal” room in the place, with straight ahead white clapboard cabinets and the same kind of front loading washer and dryer sets that could be bought at any major appliance store in America.
The regular room with its ungilded anything brought back some measure of the inner peace she’d lost during her conversation with Nikolai Rustanov. Also, it was just far enough away to be out of earshot from the catering staff, and hidden enough that no one would bother to look for her here, including the house’s hulking owner—well, not unless he just really, really felt the need to do some laundry in the middle of his party. But mostly it was perfect for a secluded phone conversation with her best friend, Josie.
“You did WHAT?” Josie yelled on the other end of the phone.
“Josie, Josie, it made total sense. He was coming on way too strong, right? So I thought, why not set him up with someone else, and you know… run? Like, really fast.”
“Sam…” she could almost see her friend rubbing her temple in exasperation. “We’ve talked about this. If someone at one of these parties starts flirting with you because you’re wonderful and gorgeous, what are you supposed to do?”
“Hit him up for a donation,” Sam answered glumly. “But this wasn’t some old money millionaire! The guy is fry your brain hot. And huge. Seriously, the locals call him Mount Nik! It was hard to even look at him. Matter of fact, I’m surprised I was able to talk to him as long as I did, because all my alarm bells were going off.”
“Alarm bells,
like you think he might be abusive?” Josie asked, sounding worried.
“No, not abusive… just scary… you know… alarm bells scary.”
Josie let out an audible sigh. “Okay, I know you don’t get out much, which makes me wonder about this cop you’ve been seeing…”
“It’s not his fault,” Sam quickly said, defending the local beat cop she’d eaten takeout with three times over the past month. “It’s early days and Marco is really respectful of my schedule. Plus, it’s not like we don’t see each other every day when he’s doing his rounds. He always makes sure to text me, so I can come out and say hi.”
“And do you?” Josie asked.
Ugh, her bestie was so good at asking the questions Sam didn’t want her to ask. “When I’m not too busy, I do.”
“So that would be like, what? Once a week?”
“Sometimes twice,” Sam said. “And more over the next few weeks, since the shelter’s empty and I’ll just be catching up on paperwork. My point is you shouldn’t blame Marco for not taking me out. I’m sure he would if I wasn’t so busy.”
“And my point is when someone sets off alarm bells inside of you—not because they’re abusive or about to punch you out for harboring their wife—then that usually means you like the guy.”
“Really?” Sam asked.
“Yes, Sam, really,” Josie answered, like she was talking to an idiot. “I still get all goosey inside if I let myself look at Beau too long.”
“Yeah, me, too. No rando, but your husband’s crazy hot.”
Josie laughed. “See, why can’t you be like that with this guy?”
“I told him he was beautiful!”
“And then you told him being attractive wasn’t all that great.”
Sam screwed up her mouth. “Yeah, I guess I did say that.”
She sighed into the phone, a wave of homesickness washing over her. “I’m just no good at this, at flirting or fundraising. Can I just come home to Alabama now? The shelter’s already open and doing great. And Nyla is doing a terrific job. She could easily take over as director.” She could hear the slight hysteria in her voice now, but kept on going. “Plus, I’ll be such a good play auntie to that baby you have on the way. I’ll babysit whenever you want, just please let me come home?”
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