“Romi, dorogaya, I am the one who blackmailed you. Remember?” He tugged until she was straddling his lap.
She pressed close. “I like it when you call me that, not just in the bedroom.”
“I will remember as you should how you came to be wearing my ring and it was not some great feminine plot that I’m going to wiggle out of soon.”
“Right.” Because they’d already signed the prenup and applied for the license.
Only she was getting almost everything she’d ever dreamed of. She was marrying the man of her dreams. They were planning a family together. Her dad was on his way to healthy. It was all so good, she was terrified everything was going to fall apart.
“You are mine, dorogaya. I am not letting you go.”
She wanted to believe that. So much. “I thought we were just waiting to get married until my dad was out of treatment.” At the courthouse. No fanfare.
Fanfare. A church wedding. That all just made it real. And real things could be destroyed or lost.
“We are.”
“But you want a big wedding.”
“Yes.”
“At the church.”
“Naturally.”
“So, we have to set a date.” She knew that only a significant donation to the restoration fund had gotten Maddie and Viktor their wedding date.
“Yes.”
“Your mother wants to help plan the wedding.”
“I am her only child.”
“I haven’t had a mother in six years.” And her dad was in no condition to plan a wedding.
Though she very much wanted him to give her away.
Max cocked his head to one side. “I thought Jenna died when you were three.”
“She did, but Madison’s mom took over. Helene Archer was my mother like Maddie is my sister.”
“By choice.”
“Yes. She loved me.”
“Mama will adore you as well.”
“Chance would be a fine thing.” It was another thing her friend Kim from the U.K. said.
Sometimes those Britishisms were more fitting than anything else she could think to say.
He laughed. The jerk. Was still laughing.
“Stop. It’s not funny.”
“This panic? Is hilarious. My mother will adore you. Madison will be thrilled for you. We will be married.”
“Oh.” She blinked up at him, biting her lower lip. “Maybe you could say it again.”
“We will be married in exactly five weeks, three days.”
“What? You said we were waiting for my dad.”
“He’ll get a day pass and we’ll have a dry reception.”
“You would do that for him?”
Max rolled his eyes. “Where is all this coming from?”
“I don’t know.” The knowledge she was falling deeper and deeper in love every day and he was just as committed today as he’d been a year ago to keeping that emotion out of his repertoire?
Max tugged her into his lap and tilted her face up toward his with a hand under chin. “You are mine, Ramona Grayson. You can’t take that promise back. We will marry in the cathedral and proclaim this truth before our friends and family.”
“Doesn’t sound much like a business arrangement.”
“I am at heart still a Russian man.”
“So, you have a soul even if you are a corporate shark.”
“I thought tsar?” he teased.
“That, too. Maybe they’re the same.”
“Could be. Some of the tsars were known for their bloodthirsty ruthlessness.”
“You are ruthless.” And why that didn’t scare her when the happiness within her grasp did was one of life’s little mysteries.
“But you are in my circle of protection.”
“So, I have nothing to fear from you.”
“No.”
If only that were true. “I love you, Max.”
Sometimes, she just had to say it out loud. Though, come to think of it, this might be the first time she’d said those three little words to him.
The way he stopped moving and talking and just stared at her indicated that might actually be the case. She said, “I do, you know.”
“You did say you couldn’t imagine your life without me in it.”
Which was as good as an admission. “Yes, I did.”
“I will treasure your love.”
“Will you?” How could he if he thought it was a weak emotion.
“It is a gift I will not take for granted.”
“Even if you can’t return it.”
He winced. “Yes.”
“Okay.”
“So, tell your SBC.”
“I will.”
“Good.”
He sealed her promise with his lips.
She returned the kiss with enthusiasm, helping him when nimble masculine fingers began unbuttoning the oversized tie-dyed men’s-style dress shirt worn with her leggings.