gave them the same talk I’m giving you.” His eyes were serious. “Two people in this relationship.”
“Then—yes.” I replied. “The door is closed. If I had been honest with myself, I would have accepted it had been closed even before that whole incident. I just—we’re being completely honest here, right?”
He nodded but glanced down to Six then back at me.
“I want you.” I placed myself in the open as we began walking away from the park. “Only you. You’re my second chance, Hermes and I’m not stupid enough to just let you walk away. When you suggested I opened my own store, no one else even thought to mention that to me. It’s like you believed I can do it even though I don’t believe in myself. For years, fear has stopped me from growing. And one word from you and I find myself thinking of the possibilities.”
“It’s not that big of a deal. I think you can do great things. That’s normal, right?”
I smiled. “Not as normal as you’d think. Some men break their women down when they think she can accomplish more than they ever will.”
‘Some men are stupid.”
“All I’m saying.” I chuckled. “Is that I know by looking in your eyes that I could leave you here and go searching a million miles away and still not find a man who looks at me like you do. I wouldn’t find another man who believes in me like you—who touches me like you do. And I definitely wouldn’t find a man who loves me like you do.”
“Love?”
“Yes, Hermes. You love me.” My heart soared. “You don’t have to admit it now. I’ll wait.”
He licked his lips. “What about you?”
“I’m not afraid to tell you I’ve fallen for you.” I winked at him over my shoulder as I hunched down to caress the top of Six’s head then kissed him between the eyes. “You just have to be open to receiving it.”
I walked off ahead of him, swaying my hips a little more than I normally would. When I glanced back, he hadn’t moved.
His eyes were glued to my ass.
I giggled.
Yes, Maksim “Hermes” Demidov, you are mine and when we get a chance alone, I’ll show you what’s yours.
Epilogue
Maksim Demidov
The soft scratches of pencil over paper caught my attention. It was familiar sound to wake up to. Over the past few weeks, Tianna had gone back to work. She’d put on one major show so far in Toronto where Tammy was her lead model.
So much for Tammy going back to nursing.
With that show, Tianna had spent a lot of time early in the mornings before I woke, sketching.
Though I knew she was probably in her usual spot, I moaned and reached across the bed. My hand hit empty bed and I opened one eye. When I pushed to sit up, Tianna was sitting at the edge of the bed, with her new sketchpad open while she mercilessly wielded a pencil.
“You had a long night.” My voice cracked. “Why are you not in bed?”
“You looked so good sleeping.” Tianna didn’t even look up. “I wanted to do this before you woke up.”
I pushed upward, using one hand to drag two of the pillows up to rest behind my back. When I said nothing, she looked up then turned the sketchpad to show me what she’d been working on. It was a picture of me.
“Uh…”
“Why do you look so shocked?” She asked. “I told you I found you sexy.”
“Is that how you see me?” I asked.
Tianna turned the picture back to look down at it. It seemed like an eternity passed before she moved or breathed. I allowed her the silence—sometimes a person needed quiet to dig through the riddles in their heads.
When her shoulders fell, I extended a hand to her. “Put the sketchpad down, Anna. Come back to bed.”
For a moment I thought she would decline. Then I smiled at her and as she melted for me, Tianna closed the book and set it along with her pencil on the floor. She uncurled herself to place the sketchpad on the chair by the window then walked across the room toward me.
She looked so damned good in red.
I exhaled, licked my lips and kept my eyes on the way the soft material flowed over her body as she crawled into bed with me. She cuddled against me, one leg tossed over my thigh as she rested her ear over my heart.
“Sometimes I wake up, scared you’re a dream.” She shifted