he’d discovered early on she was right.
Leaving Russia and her disapproving relatives for a new start in America had not included Natalya giving up her tendency to line her nest with the golden straw of cleverly chosen bed partners of defined duration.
The transience of the men in his mother’s life had taught him one thing. There was no such thing as forever and anyone who believed in it was a fool.
They’d only come close one time. One man had made Natalya glow with something besides satisfaction in a well-chosen partner. The man had also taken a paternal interest in Maxwell as none of his mother’s other affairs ever had or been allowed to.
For three years, Maxwell had a father figure show up at his activities, someone as interested in teaching him what it was to be a boy raised in America as his mother and those at the cultural center had been in exposing him to bits of his Russian heritage, someone besides a neighbor the school could call when Maxwell needed to go home early with the flu.
Then Carlyle’s estranged wife had returned, along with his real son and daughter, and Maxwell never saw the man again. Natalya lost her glow, but not her determination to give Maxwell every chance life in America had to offer.
“Madison said she thought something about Perry’s claims intrigued you.” Romi frowned, her gaze searching.
Broken out of the unexpected reverie, Maxwell took a moment to catch up. Then he said, “You know I like control in bed.”
“I figured.”
Yes, he hadn’t hidden his preferences during their kisses and the touching. “I had no desire to take her to bed, therefore it follows my preference for control wasn’t my reason for intrigue.”
“Oh.” Romi’s frown turned to puzzlement. “Then why?”
“I found it interesting that Perry made the claims he did.”
“The more salacious the story, the more money they would pay for it.” The lovely heiress’s tone dripped cynicism.
Maxwell’s was a bit more derisive when he said, “Perry Timwater isn’t capable of upholding a more dominant role in sex.”
“How would you know?”
“I’ve met him.” And what Maxwell had seen of the other man had neither impressed, nor inspired a desire to further their association. “He has neither the confidence, nor the attention to the needs of others to succeed in that role.”
“I’m sure he’s a selfish lover,” Romi said with her customary direct honesty. “He was a very selfish friend.”
“You are probably right.” Maxwell felt his lips quirking as they often did in her presence.
Romi Grayson always entertained him, even when she didn’t mean to. She intrigued him as much because of the attraction he felt for her as the fact she was so unlike him. He didn’t understand her.
That was not something Maxwell was used to.
Understanding what motivated people was what made him so good in the business world. He knew how to identify a need and exploit it, without compromising his own sense of honor.
It might not be as shiny and uncomplicated as Viktor’s, but Maxwell did have one.
Romi’s mercurial nature made her an enigma. He’d been sure she would go for his offer of monogamy of limited duration, but she hadn’t. Even more inexplicably, her reaction had told him the offer had hurt her in some way, which he hadn’t expected and found he did not like.
“So, why were you intrigued?”
“Why do you think?” he prodded, wondering how much she’d really learned about him during their brief time of dating.
She paused and thought, which wasn’t something anyone else would have expected from her. She came off as passionate and impetuous, but he’d learned that as much as she might appear to act without thought, Romi rarely ever did.
Finally, she said, “You’ve got more curiosity than any man I’ve ever met. The situation didn’t make sense to you, something you aren’t really on a first-name basis with. So you wanted to understand it.”
He nodded, not really surprised she guessed his reaction so easily. He’d learned that she studied him with as much attention as he had any business rival in his career.
“The stories themselves were a puzzle,” Maxwell agreed. “Despite both you and Madison Archer’s penchant for making it into the media spotlight, neither of you are known for sexual exploits.”
Something he should have paid closer attention to before making his offer to her. He should have realized that the reason her sex life was never speculated on in the media was because she didn’t have one.
That innocence wasn’t going to leave her open to the kind of liaison Maxwell was used to negotiating with his lovers.
Which meant that if he wanted Romi, and the year apart had shown him that at present no one else would suffice, he would have to figure out a different arrangement.
One they could both live with.
If his plans included a measure of what he thought might well be irresistible persuasion, well, his honor didn’t require a level playing field.
Winning was key. Full stop.
“AND YOU FOUND that intriguing?” Romi demanded.
Max was amused by the fact she and Madison weren’t known for their sexual promiscuity, no doubt following that particular line of reasoning to its correct conclusion. They weren’t known for it because they’d never been sexually promiscuous.
The most experience Romi had in that regard had been with Max himself.
“Not so much, no.” Max actually managed to look more or less abashed. “It brought to light some home truths. That’s all.”
“What do you mean?” Like she didn’t know.
He had worked it out. If there had been anything to write about her or Madison’s sex life, media vultures would have done it. Therefore there was nothing to write about.
Max’s gorgeous features twisted with a cynical smile. “Do you really want me to spell it out for you?”
“Maybe not.” Romi stifled a sigh, the certainty that she spent a little too much of her life avoiding those home truths he was talking about pricking at her until it drew blood.
She wanted to talk about the reason her nonexistent lovers were never discussed in the media even less than she wanted to discuss her father’s deteriorating condition. Even with Maddie. If Romi pretended everything was okay, maybe it would be.
The fact that she spent a great deal of her waking hours trying to right injustices and excesses of the world she lived in, but could not
