lights and the laughter of other patrons and the wonderful smells of old-style Russian food, and realised she’d landed in yet another one of her stupid romantic fantasies.
‘Excuse me,’ she said abruptly, shifting to her feet. Serge rose. ‘Powder room,’ she murmured, unable to look at him.
The mirror in the ladies’ reflected back her pale made-up face and she cursed her lavish use of the mascara wand, because those tears prickling in her eyes were going to leave tracks.
She wasn’t sad. She was damn angry. With herself.
How in the hell did she get herself into these situations? Did she have ‘sucker’ tattooed on her forehead?
Two other women joined her at the taps, and Clementine made a show of washing her hands, checking her hair.
She looked up and recognised one of the girls as their waitress—one of the Kaminski daughters.
‘Serge Marinov,’ said the girl, making a sizzle gesture. ‘Lucky you.’
Yes, lucky me. Clementine gave her dress a tug and shook her head at her reflection. She was being an idiot. She had an incredible man sitting out there in that restaurant, waiting for her, and she was hiding in the ladies’ loo because one time some other guy had measured her value as low. It was time to suck it up and get on with her life. She was calling the shots, and if Serge Marinov had some stupid male agenda—well, she had one of her own.
As she approached the table he caught sight of her, and something akin to relief washed over his face.
Clementine almost ground to a halt. Well, fancy that. Guess who was on the hop. Confidence lifted her spine. He stood up as she approached, and she smiled to herself as he seated her.
‘Miss me?’ She couldn’t resist the question.
‘Every minute, kisa.’
‘Are we still eating?’
‘Coffee?’
‘Tea.’
When the samovar came the gypsy entertainment had invaded the restaurant and it became impossible to be heard above the music.
Serge watched Clementine coming under the spell of the performance, finding himself baffled by her. As the restaurant erupted into clapping she joined in, humming along unselfconsciously. When the performers came round to collect gold coins she fumbled in her clutch bag.
He reached across and laid a stilling hand on hers, tossed some money into the skirts of the girl.
Clementine shook a finger at him. ‘I can pay my way, Mr Millionaire.’
‘You’re with me,’ he replied, as if that said everything.
Clementine’s inner princess sighed, but her capable independent outer working girl patted his arm. ‘Come on, rich guy—let’s get out of here and I’ll buy you an ice cream.’
There was a flurry as they left. Clementine had made an impression on the Kaminskis, which was fine, but next time he came in here without her there were going to be questions. She was that sort of girl.
Hell, he had his own questions. Nothing had gone to plan. He should be rushing her across town right now to his place, after a meal spent trading sexual banter. Instead he’d spent the evening watching her enjoy herself—except for that bizarre moment he’d thought she’d got up and left the restaurant.
Walked out on him.
Even now he wanted to take her hand, weld her to his side, but she kept a neat distance between their bodies, held onto her purse with both hands, that classic little pose of hers complementing the sway in her walk.
Although it was after ten the evening was still light. They were so close to the White Nights of June. Serge shrugged off his jacket as they strolled down towards the embankment. The urge to slide an arm around her was very strong but he reined it in. Somehow this had turned into a real date. A first date.
Clementine looked up at him. ‘Thank you for inviting me. All I’ve been doing lately is working. It’s nice to put on a frock and be taken out somewhere fun.’
Bozhe, she was so sincere. And he was buying it. It probably made him a sap, but there was something about her in this moment that made him want to believe her.
‘You’re a very easy woman to please, kisa,’ he said at last, ‘but the evening has hardly begun, no?’
Clementine hid a smile. ‘Maybe for you, Slugger, but I’m beat and I’ve got an early start tomorrow.’
And didn’t that just tie up all his expectations in knots and toss them in the river? Serge rolled his shoulders. ‘Right,’ he said—and everything fell into place.
She’d known all along tonight wasn’t going to end in bed, which meant the little act in the car had been for her own amusement. He remembered the sparkle in her eyes, the invitation to laugh along with her.
He’d missed it because he’d been deep down in lust land.
Which meant tonight was a lost opportunity—for both of them. She was going home on Saturday, leaving him with a decision to make.
Was she worth the pursuit? Or—the better question—should he be messing with her? This nice girl? All sweet and sincere? And didn’t that just get him in the traditional Russian male part of himself that he didn’t make a habit of showing off? Where had he got the idea she wouldn’t need seducing? Why shouldn’t she make him work for it?
Instincts he didn’t have a whole lot of familiarity with told him he needed to handle this delicately. Another, more familiar instinct was telling him to take her in his arms and drive every thought she could possibly have about other men out of her head—at least until tomorrow. It had to be tomorrow. Because she was going back to London on Saturday.
And if he didn’t have her in his arms in one form or another tonight he was going to go crazy.
He reached and caught her hand—something he’d been wanting to do all night. She turned towards him, expression expectant, amused. He closed the space between them and lifted his other hand to hook one of her artfully liberated coils of hair away from her cheek. Her smile faded, her eyes grew a little rounder, her mouth softened.
‘You’re killing me, Clementine,’ he said in Russian, and moved in to put himself out of his misery.
In that moment she made a soft little sound of dismay and to his surprise turned away, slipping her hand free of his with a nervous laugh.
‘I still want to buy you that ice cream,’ she said over her shoulder.
Ice cream. Not sex. Not even a kiss. Not tonight.
She began walking, swaying a little on those silly heels, and he stood there, stock still, gazing after her.
She threw him a backward glance.
‘Coming, Slugger?’
She was going the wrong way. The ice cream vendors were in
