by Katie Dowe
Alexei was worn out. His shirt was stuck to his back and he was boiling. Maybe he needed a few more sessions on the treadmill. But he gave Maya a smile.
"I'm good." He lied.
Maya's expression said she didn't believe him.
"We can stop for a bit if you want." She offered. "I've walked New York before but it'll be new for you."
Alexei wanted to say he had been walking around St Petersburg before he could drive but that was ten years ago. He had been so used to driving around that he forgot about the days when he walked three miles to and from work.
Maya pointed to a hot dog stand nearby.
"Let's stop here. We can get drinks and sit down."
Alexei tried not to look relieved. He automatically reached for his wallet but Maya was already bringing her purse out, paying for two sodas and handing one to him before he could object. Her expression said she wasn't going to let him pay for something when she could pay for it herself.
This was also new for Alexei. Mostly women expected him to pay. Rarely did he come across one who was independent.
They sat on a bench facing the courthouse and popped their cans. Alexei took a big gulp before he sat back and crossed his legs. His feet were thanking him for the rest but he was more focused on Maya, who sipped at her drink.
"Tell me about you."
Maya blinked at him.
"What do you want to know?"
"How did you get started? My knowledge on American accents isn't great but you don't sound like you're from the city."
Maya laughed. She really did have a nice laugh.
"Ten years here and I still can't get rid of the accent."
"It's a nice one."
"And it's very nice of you to lie."
Alexei chuckled.
"Where are you from?"
"Little Rock, Arkansas." Maya smirked. "You'll be Googling that when you get home."
"Possibly."
Alexei didn't want to admit that he had no clue where Little Rock was. He had heard of Arkansas but nothing more. He made a mental note to check. Maya sat back, her can held in her lap.
"I wanted to be a model but I'm too short. However I developed a love for photography and decided to strike out on my own once I graduated high school. Everyone wanted me to go to university and study engineering just like my parents but I wanted to do photography." Maya shrugged. "Jenny is a New Yorker and her parents had given her an apartment but she needed a roommate to cover the rent. She chose me on Craigslist and I moved in. We both work in the same industry as photographer and makeup artist so we managed to cover the rent well. I've never looked back but my family is still not speaking to me."
A sad note came into her voice and Alexei guessed this was still painful for Maya. He could understand with his family not talking to him but for different reasons.
And both reasons seemed incredibly petty.
"Have you tried talking to them?"
"Yes. At Thanksgiving." Maya sighed. "But they're still angry."
"Even after all this time?"
"Even then. I'm meant to be an engineer like my family. The fact I chose to follow a dream instead of a career that could offer more stung. But photography pays well, I've got lots of friends, and I enjoy it." Maya grimaced. "Can't say the same about engineering."
Alexei knew there was something he liked about Maya beyond her looks; she knew what she wanted and she wasn't afraid to go after it. Much like him. That was a quality he admired in a woman.
"You should always follow your heart's desires." He said. "That's what I did but I did so after I did Business Management at university. I had no idea what I wanted to do."
Maya arched an eyebrow at him.
"So what made you choose art?"
"I don't know. I guess I saw the money was good and owning things was more profitable than the creative side. Between my friend Ivan and myself we set up our own business. Ten years on it is thriving."
"I saw." Maya sipped her can. "You own a couple of modeling agencies as well. I remembered when I got home that I've shot a few times for your American agency. They're nice people."
"I'm glad." Alexei felt the pride swell up at that. "My head agent mentioned you when I asked about you. Said you were a talent and very professional. She asked if I could ask you to work with us again when you're free."
Maya grinned. And Alexei's heart momentarily stopped. God, she was lovely.
"I might just do that. She can drop me a line. My website details haven't changed. I can put a date down when she's got a campaign."
"All right."
Alexei didn't want to go. He was enjoying himself too much even with the sore feet. But he knew Maya had work to do and he couldn't keep her away; that wasn't fair to anyone. Reluctantly he glanced at his watch.
"It's getting to midday. Didn't you say you had to be in Westchester?"
"Yes." Maya sighed. She finished her can and crushed it, dropping it into the trash can beside her as she stood. "I'd better get going."
Alexei jumped up.
"I can drive you there." He offered but Maya shook her head as she zipped up her coat.
"No, it's fine. My stuff's in the car. I just need to drive."
Alexei didn't want this to end. He wanted to see her again. Maya was the first woman in a long time he had felt like he needed her around. That meant taking a big step in terms of relationships and trust but he wanted to see where it would go.
"What time do you finish?"
"No idea." Maya frowned. "Why?"
"I was thinking we could have dinner. Now I'm not a stranger."
Maya stared at him for a moment. Alexei could reach out and touch her if he wanted to. Finally Maya shook her head with a smile.
"I guess not. You might need to make it tomorrow night, though. It'll be near midnight when we're done."
"Not a problem." Alexei held out a hand. "I can text you later."
"Sure."
Maya took his hand and shook it. The warm tingle appeared again and Alexei swallowed. He hoped Maya left soon or he was going to do something that would have Maya running away screaming. He was making progress and he didn't want to blow it.
"It was a pleasure to have your company, Maya." He blurted out.
Maya's breath hitched and she managed to pull her hand away. But not before Alexei saw her eyes dilating.
At least the attraction was both ways.
*****
Alexei couldn't wait to see Maya again. She had texted him at half past eight saying they were wrapping up and she would be back in the city at ten. Alexei suggested having dinner at a nice little Italian restaurant he liked and Maya had agreed.
So here he was at a window table waiting for Maya to turn up. He knew she had to get changed before she got to him and hoped she wouldn't take long to get ready. That was a turn-off for him when women took too long to get ready.
But Maya came into the restaurant barely a minute past the time they had agreed to meet and Alexei was floored. She had changed into a little black dress with spaghetti straps and a dark red wrap. The skirt barely brushed her knees and she was wearing flat sandals with the straps winding up her legs to her knees.
She was stunning. Alexei couldn't stop staring. Then he remembered his manners as the maître d' led Maya to his table and he stood, forcing his body to get under control. The moment he had seen Maya his cock had twitched and was starting to stand to attention. He swallowed and tried not to stare with his mouth open.
"Wow. You look beautiful, Maya."
Maya rolled her eyes.
"You're just saying that."
"I mean it. I don't pay empty compliments."
A slight smile touched Maya's mouth as the maître d' pulled out a chair for her, allowing her to sit down.
"I'm beginning to notice that."
The waiter hovered nearby and Alexei waited as Maya ordered before giving his. Then his attention focused again on Maya as the waiter walked away.
"How was
the shoot?"
"Hard work." Maya grimaced. She rubbed at her eyes. "I had a couple of models sick on set and I mean majorly sick. So I had to send them home and then improvise."
"Did you pull it off?"
"I think so." Maya paused. "I hope so. Fingers crossed it'll look good."
"I'm sure it will."
Alexei was certain Maya would be able to pull it off. He sat back as the waiter brought their drinks, a beer for him and a white wine for Maya. He waited as Maya sipped at her wine before he spoke again.
"What's it like hanging around models?"
"A little hard at times but mostly great. Most of the models I work with are brilliant and if they like me then I get more work and they'll want to work with me." Maya grinned. "Plus I like to order people about rather than get ordered about. Nobody orders me about."
Alexei could well believe that.
"But you don't get involved much, surely? You just point the camera and press a button."
Maya laughed.
"You obviously don't know about photographers. I do fashion shows, photo shoots and commercials, plus a few red-carpet events. I get involved a lot." A twinkle in her eye, Maya picked up her purse, which was smaller and sparkly compared to the bag she had been carrying around earlier, and fished out a picture. She passed it over. "Guess who I found in my millions of snaps."
Alexei took the picture and found himself staring down at a picture of him. He was dressed in a tuxedo, his hair shorter than it was currently, and he was laughing at something someone had said off-camera.
It was a good picture. Alexei had never seen this side of him and certainly not at black-tie events.
"That's me?"
"Sure is. It didn't click that I'd seen you before until I was getting my shots sorted on my computer."
How had he not noticed that she was there? This picture was at least three months old. Alexei couldn't believe he hadn't noticed Maya wandering around snapping pictures of him.
Maybe they would have been in this situation sooner.
"Maya."
Alexei looked up and saw a young man with blond hair wearing a black suit coming towards them. His eyes were on Maya and Alexei didn't need to be a genius to recognize the look; this guy was focused on Maya.
Maya stiffened. Her expression hardened and her smile disappeared.
"Jonny, what are you doing here?"
So they knew each other. Alexei didn't like this.
"I came to talk to you." Jonny pointedly looked at Alexei before turning back to Maya. "We do need to talk."
"And I have nothing to talk about with you." Maya said calmly but Alexei saw the tension in her shoulders. "You crossed the line so you've brought this down on yourself. Now leave me alone."
But from his body language Jonny was clearly not going to move. So Alexei stood and laid a hand on the guy's shoulder.
"Sir, Miss Featherstone is having dinner. Do you normally interrupt people when they're eating?"
Jonny scowled and pushed his hand away.
"She's not eating, we are friends."
"I highly doubt it." Alexei glanced at Maya, who shook her head. He turned back to Jonny. "Now, would you please leave?"
"No." Jonny squared up to him, hands clenched by his side. "You can't tell me what to do."
He was actually looking for a fight. Alexei wanted to laugh but stopped himself. He took a step closer and felt a rush of satisfaction when Jonny had to step back.
"Maya does not answer to you. Now go before I call for you to be thrown out."
For a moment he thought the boy was going to throw a punch. But Jonny backed down, giving Maya one last look before he walked away. Alexei waved away the maître d' and sat back down. He frowned at Maya.
"Who was that?"
Maya looked down at her hands. She looked embarrassed.
"One of the models my friend Caz has on her payroll."
"Why does he want to talk to you?" Then Alexei felt something akin to jealousy stir. "Is he a boyfriend?"
"Never has been and never will be." Maya glanced at the door and sighed heavily. "Jonny thinks he likes me. He keeps trying to ask me out and he's making me uncomfortable. I notified Caz and she said she would have a word. If it carries on he's getting dropped and losing his contract."
At least she was taking control. Alexei liked playing Alpha male but he also liked it when a woman could take care of things herself.
Maya looked back as him and reached across, putting her soft hand over his.
"Can we just forget that and focus on dinner? I don't want to talk about him."
Alexei could do that. He didn't want to talk about the guy who acted as if Maya belonged to him.
As far as he was concerned, Maya was his for now.
Chapter 4
Maya enjoyed her evening. It was certainly a good way to round off the day she had had. The photo shoot had been tough and with the other models complaining and worrying that they were going to catch something off the two sick models, Maya had been close to snapping at them. They were acting like whining children and they had a job to do.
At least she had seen Alexei. The morning she had spent with him had been better than she expected. Even though he tried to hide the fact he was exhausted from all the walking, Alexei had been good company and hid his discomfort. Maya found herself relaxing around him, which was a novelty for her; being around men in that sort of situation resulted in her knocking their hands away whenever they tried to cop a feel. But Alexei didn't do that. He kept himself a gentleman.
He was a gentleman at dinner as well and conversation with him was widely varied, from school to hobbies, from art to interests to anything at all that seemed complete nonsense. Maya liked those conversations where they weren't focused solely on one thing or one person in particular.
The only blip in the evening was Jonny. Seeing him there had had Maya's heart sinking. She didn't want to be anywhere near him if he was going to act the way he had done in Central Park. And if Jonny did want to go out with her, Maya had no idea how he was going to react when he realized she was on a date with someone else.
But Alexei had taken it in his stride, virtually tossing Jonny out on his ear. He didn't seem to outwardly appear to care about this but Maya could tell he was annoyed. His body was tense and it didn't seem to relax much even when she reduced him to laughter.
Man, that guy had a nice laugh. It had Maya squeezing her thighs together as the blood went between her legs and started to throb.
Now they were walking back to Maya's apartment. It was only two blocks and Maya didn't want to finish the evening in a car. She wanted to have an excuse to hold on to Alexei a little longer. Alexei didn't object when she suggested walking, telling his driver to meet him at Maya's building. He had taken her hand and it had felt like the most natural thing in the world. Maya hadn't felt so comfortable with a man in a long time.
But she could still feel the tension in his body as they walked. Maya had a feeling it was about Jonny. She nudged him as they walked along.
"Is there something bothering you?"
"Huh?" Alexei had been looking off into the distance. He started and looked down at her. "No. Why do you ask?"
"Because I can feel the tension." Maya prodded his shoulder. "What's wrong, Alexei?"
For a moment she thought she wouldn't get an answer. Then Alexei sighed and stopped, turning to her.
"It's with that model that came to our table." He admitted. "I didn't like that he was there."
"Neither did I but we dealt with it." Maya raised an eyebrow. "Are you jealous?"
"What if I am?"
Maya stared. He really was jealous. Why did that make her feel like punching the air that a man was actually jealous for her?
"You are! It's only a date we're on, we've not made a lifelong commitment. And Jonny is just a kid. There's nothing to be jealous about."
"You say that but he's a handsome kid."
"Exactly. A kid." Maya gave him a p
ointed look. "I prefer men to be older than me, at least."
Alexei sighed and rubbed a hand over his face.
"What do you expect for me? I wanted a dinner with a beautiful woman and then I get another male butting in wanting your attention. If I wasn't jealous there would be something wrong with me."
He thought she was beautiful? Maya had thought the comment was a one-off earlier. But now it seemed he really did think she was beautiful.
"It would be wrong if we were exclusive." She pointed out. "It was only one date."
"Really?"
Maya opened her mouth and stopped when she saw the darkening look on Alexei's face. Desire passed across his eyes and Maya's breath caught in her throat. Her pussy clenched and heat traveled up through her belly to her breasts, which began to feel the weight. She could only stand there as Alexei stepped closer, slipping his arms around her, and brought his head down.
The first brush of his lips over hers was enough to make Maya's legs go weak. She clutched at his arms in an effort to keep herself upright. Alexei's arms tightened around her and deepened the kiss, nipping and licking at her mouth in ways that Maya found herself trembling. She leaned into him and let herself go in the moment.
Wow, this man could really kiss.
Finally Alexei raised his head and Maya opened her eyes. He was looking at her the way a man would look at a woman he wanted. And the evidence of his desire prodding her in the stomach told her he wanted her badly.
Maya gulped.
"Can I see you again?" Alexei asked. His voice was hoarse as if he was struggling to hold himself together.
Maya tried to get her senses together. Should she see him again? She knew exactly what she wanted but did she know what Alexei wanted? If he didn't want family and children like she did then there was no point in going further.
But he was a good kisser and Maya wasn't about to let him walk away now. She swallowed and nodded.
"Yes."
*****
Maya had a quick look around the apartment, making sure that the place was clean and she had hoovered everywhere. There were no items of laundry hanging anywhere and the pots had been washed and put away. Everything was in place.
Jenny had gone to spend the night with her parents in the Upper East Side. They had arranged to meet at John F Kennedy airport in the morning. Before Jenny left she told Maya if there was a chance to have sex with the sexy Russian then she should go for it, even if it was only once they would do it. Maya had sent her out the door with cheeks flaming, embarrassed that all Jenny could think of was her best friend getting well and truly fucked.