"You have paint on your cheek," Maxim mentioned. "Want me to get that for you?"
"You were in a relationship with her!" Savannah said incredulously. "That's how she knew you were colorblind! How long did it last between the two of you? Days, months … years?" she arrived at when Maxim's expression gave nothing about the relative timeline away. "Didn't you think this was something I needed to know going into this?"
"I thought you had a file on me," he said. "I assumed there was a page on Rebecca in there. Although what we had might have required more than one page, to be honest."
He was gazing at her with a curious expression, one that Savannah couldn't begin to identify. Hadn't she just been dissecting Rebecca under a mental microscope, certain she could read the other woman like an open book? Then why was it proving so difficult to do the same to this damn Karev? Whatever his look meant, she found herself suddenly wondering if it was in response to something he saw on her own face.
"I thought you didn't do girlfriends," she stated. "That's what you told me in your interrogation."
Maxim's mask finally broke as he raised a dark eyebrow. "What else are they for?"
"If you're immature enough to think that's funny, then forgive me for having a hard time trying to wrap my head around all this," Savannah replied. "Seriously, the fact that you manage to have a working relationship with this girl, not to mention you're best friends with her husband, is just incredible to me."
"Why? Rebecca and I both knew it was over when it was over." Maxim shrugged. "She couldn't handle what I did for a living, and I couldn't handle the possibility of one day dragging her into it. We broke it off mutually. It's what adults do."
"I'm perfectly aware of what adults do," Savannah fired back. A moment later, she raised a hand to brush a few stray strands of hair out of her eyes. She ignored Maxim's beastly, crooked smile as she tried to get her mental cylinders in order.
Why was she even bothering to confront him about it now? It's not like she was jealous of Rebecca. She just … needed to be aware of these things, that was all. Account for all actors and variables. When she pulled her hand back from smoothing her hair into place, Savannah discovered that her fingertips were coated in a wet, sticky substance.
"Now you're just smearing the paint. You should let me help you," Maxim offered.
"No. Save if for when we're back out there. It'll be cute or whatever."
The Russian snorted. "What's incredible is that they actually buy already that we're going steady without ever having heard me mention you before." Maxim turned to look off into the main room. Savannah turned her own eyes away from the sight of his exposed throat, wishing it didn't conjure up images of all the things she could do to it in private. She didn't know if she wanted to kiss or strangle the strikingly-handsome man standing before her, but she definitely wanted to be the one to make him squirm as payback for his domineering attitude all throughout their date.
"Guess it's true that people see what they want to see," Maxim muttered. "They wanted to see me in a relationship bad enough that they're willing to accept any horseshit story that's fed to them. Your file got one thing right about me, Agent Casillero-even if it's missing pertinent information on everything else-I'm not a man to stick by one woman for long."
"Yeah, well, now I'm thinking I've got to quit relying on all that paperwork," Savannah replied. "It pays to go with your instincts. Any good agent can tell you that much. I still had no fucking idea you were colorblind."
"Not a lot of people know. And I prefer to keep it that way."
"You didn't prefer to keep it that way with Rebecca."
"You know, Agent Casillero, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you're a little bit jealous of Becky," Maxim commented.
Savannah decided she wouldn't deign to respond to this. Instead, she reached for the pint he was still carrying and confiscated it, downing it in one aggressive swill.
"So now you know about my romantic history with Mrs. Hammersmith," he continued. "I can promise you it won't compromise our cover. But now I'd like to know a little bit more about yours." Maxim shifted to lean his tall body back against the wall opposite of her. Savannah mirrored him, the empty pint glass dangling limply in her hand. "I assume you haven't lacked lovers in your life. Hell, maybe you're not even single now."