He stood, walked around the desk, then leaned against the front of it. Obviously he was waiting for my answer, but he didn’t make it any easier to speak when he towered over me that way.
I dared a glance at him, felt my face warm, played with the silver chain Dad had given me for my sixteenth birthday. When he gave a impatient sigh, I finally managed to speak. “Dinner, oh, that would be fine, great, yes.” I nodded like a bobblehead. “Certainly, Mr. Nich—I mean, Dmitri, I’d love to have dinner with you.”
My stomach clenched tight with anxiety as he offered his hand. “Wonderful,” he said, as I took it and he tugged me to my feet before I could stand. “Will you need a ride home tomorrow to freshen up? I can have my car take you there then return for you at eight. Would that suffice?”
I bit my lip, wondering briefly if he was playing with me, but then just nodded my response. My throat felt too tight to attempt words.
Then he made the anxiety all the worse as he yanked me close. I stumbled and fell against his massive barrel chest. He took my chin between his thumb and index finger, tipping it up so I had to meet his stare.
“Are you frightened of me, Charlotte?” Was that a smirk? I thought, as he spoke. “You shouldn’t be. I thought we were friends. I’d just like to get to know you even better, that’s all.”
Before I could respond, his mouth descended on mine lightning quick. His tongue slithered over my lips, demanding they part and give him entry. Surprised by his kiss, and the dormant sensations it stirred in me, I whimpered as his tongue teased mine into submission.
Large, strong hands roamed down the back of my blazer (bought on a discount rack at E-Mart). His wide palms cupped my butt through my skirt. He reached for the clip that held the curls away from my face, and soon a curtain of hair tumbled to my shoulders.
The stimuli invading me felt like tiny electric shocks going off throughout my body. My brain swam in a flood of sensation. I hadn’t been kissed like this—so passionately, so ravenously—since Doug, my last boyfriend, who’d passed away over three years ago.
His strong fingers cradled the back of my head and I moaned into his mouth. His other hand tugged up the hem of my skirt, then slid up my cheap nylons, edging closer to my loins. A fire started deep in my belly and surged lower. He tore his mouth from mine and nibbled a path to my ear.
“Charlotte, I—” Before he could speak another word, the shrill ring of his desk phone cut him off. He took his arms away, giving me a disappointed look. “Excuse me, I have to see who that is.”
I pressed my palms to my cheeks. They were positively burning. My lips tingled from the roughness of his kiss. My body ached all over to be back in his arms. But I shook my head, found my hair comb, and gathered my senses, while he chatted away to whoever interrupted our interlude.
He covered the mouthpiece with one beefy paw. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to be a while. It’s Mildred, and she needs to confer with me about this patient.”
“Oh, oh, of course.” I gave a shaky smile, tried not to trip over the chair as I backed away. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Mildred was the other therapist who had an office on the same floor as us. She was right next door, and she specialized in abnormal psychology. She and Dmitri had been good friends for ages, apparently, and when I’d started at the office, she’d instantly struck up a conversation with me. I didn’t know what to make of her kindness at first. I’d been exposed to a clique of passive aggressive girls in high school, and college, who’d made me the target of their frequent bullying. Because of this, I’d come to expect that type of treatment from most women I met, even though I knew my expectation wasn’t accurate. But Mildred spoke honestly, directly, and you always knew where you stood with Millie, as she told me to call her. She was a leggy, blonde bombshell with a brain as big as her heart.
As I went to my desk to gather my purse and coat, I couldn’t help feeling I’d been casually dismissed, and that, after a passionate kiss and an inquiry of dinner, made me all the more befuddled. What was going on here? Dmitri had, so far, been one of the kindest and most personable bosses I’d had. He actually talked to me in the office—asked about my dad, our situation, seemed to take a genuine interest. But he couldn’t be interested in me romantically, could he? Not a powerful man like that. My fear of being set up for a fall grew.
Dad could obviously see the worry on my face when I came home. “What happened, kiddo? You’ve got that white line around your mouth that you get when you worry.”