How could a flower be sexy? But it was. Lush and ripe, it just throbbed on the wall. The artist had somehow put the human into biology. It reminded him of that dress she had worn. And then he glanced down and saw the signature.
Alina.
Bright and beautiful, Demyan thought, but, like the pregnancy that had carried her, complicated.
CHAPTER NINE
IT WAS A busy night and terribly hard to smile and be polite and discuss the specials on the menu when your head was locked in a war zone called Demyan.
She ached.
Not just her heart but also her body.
Alina was swollen and sore from their lovemaking, she was tender all over, and now, if she didn’t want to upset Pierre, she had to paint on that smile.
‘Alina!’ Pierre snapped. ‘Quickly to table four. He’s back.’ Then she turned and her heart almost stopped.
There sat Demyan, a lazy smile on his face.
‘How can I help you?’
‘Do you really want me to answer that here?’He said and then saw the shimmer of tears in her eyes.
‘You were right,’ Alina admitted. ‘I’m not up to this.’
‘Meaning?’
‘In a couple of weeks you’ll be gone.’
‘What an amazing couple of weeks we could have,’ Demyan said. ‘I want to get to know you, Alina.’ Even if he had no soul to offer, he could leave her with the gift of herself. ‘I want to know who you’re hiding yourself from.’
‘I’m not hiding.’
‘What’s the bravest thing you have ever done?’ Demyan asked, and he watched as she struggled to answer. ‘I’ll tell you—it was when you came back with me last night. You took a risk, a chance...’
‘It seems terribly foolish now.’
‘You regret it?’
‘No.’
‘Then take another risk,’ he said. ‘Come out with me tonight.’
‘I’ve got to work.’
‘After work,’ Demyan said, but she shook her head. ‘Be with me during the time I have left in Australia.’ Demyan made a scissors sign with his fingers. ‘It’s time to snip that safety net.’
‘If I wanted psychological advice you’re the last person I’d go to,’ she said, but it just made him smile.
‘What’s stopping you, Alina? What’s stopping you from having fun and living as you want to?’
‘Roll up, roll up, Demyan’s in town, but then you’ll be gone and I’ll be left with the muddy field.’
‘You’ve got boots in your car.’
She closed her eyes.