Working Out West - Lila Rose Page 0,7
like my underwear was on fire. I wished this client, Adrik, was more than just company, and that wasn’t good. To busy myself, I went to his bookshelf and took a look at the type of books he liked to read. Only to curse under my breath because they were in Russian. Still, I searched for something I recognized.
“Oooh,” I mumbled to myself. “What do we have here?” I took a book off the shelf, and my mouth dropped open. It was a popular vampire book. A paranormal romance book. One I had read billions of times over. I glanced back to the bookcase, but the one in my hand was the only one I could find. Maybe he hadn’t enjoyed it as much as I had. That would be tragic, because it was in my top five books of all time. Ones I reread when I was down, and they always brought a smile to my face.
“You have read?”
I screamed from the sound of his voice behind me, dropped the book, and clutched my heart like some damsel in distress. Facing him, I quickly cleared my throat, dropped my hands, and picked up his book.
“Um, yes, I’ve read it. I’ve read the whole series; it’s one of my favorites. Have you read them all?”
“Nyet, just that.”
“Did you like it?”
He shrugged. “It was okay.”
I liked this night more than the first because he seemed more talkative. Yet, I still enjoyed being around him when he was silent.
Wait. No, I don’t. He’s quiet, ugly, and horrible.
Turning back to the bookcase, I replaced the book. While I ran a finger down its spine, I told him, “I’m sure you’d love the other ones. They only get better and better.” Stepping back, I smiled at the bookcase. “So many books. Since I’m a lover of reading, of course I checked out a few titles.” I laughed, grinning over my shoulder at him. “I didn’t understand any of them since they are in Russian.”
“Most are. Some are in Spanish.”
Wide-eyed, I spun back to him. “You speak Spanish also?”
“Da, and Chinese.”
“Holy shit, that’s amazing. The only language I know besides English is French, and it’s not much.” I moved over to sit on the floor near the chess game. “I can count to ten.”
“That it?”
Chuckling, I nodded. “Yes. Somehow that stuck with me when I was taught in elementary school.”
Adrik sat opposite me again on the couch. He made the first move and then asked, “You want to know some Russian?”
“Yes,” I cried a little too enthusiastically.
His lips twitched and he nodded. “What?”
Cocking my head to the side in confusion, I asked as I made my move, “What would I want to know? Do you mean what sayings or words?”
“Da.” He nodded, moving his piece.
“Well, I already know da means yes and nyet means no…. Hmm… okay, how do you say, ‘I love chocolate’?” I smiled.
He grinned.
Adrik grinned, and my breath caught in my throat. If I thought he was handsome before, it was nothing when he smiled. Even my stomach tingled at it.
“Ya lyublyu shokolad.”
“Fuck,” I whispered. He sounded like a wet dream.
“Blyad'.”
I slapped a hand over my mouth and laughed. I hadn’t thought Adrik had heard me, but obviously, he had. “Seriously?”
“Da.” He glanced down and moved. Only, the game was forgotten on my part. I just wanted to lie back and listen to him speak his own language over and over.
“You lose,” he stated with a smug smirk an hour later. I wasn’t sure what had happened, but something had changed in Adrik, and I liked it a lot. Especially with him smiling and smirking. His eyes even seemed lighter than usual.
“Wait, what?” I looked down and noticed I’d made terrible moves while he distracted me. “That wasn’t fair. I wasn’t paying attention,” I told him with a mock scowl.
“You always need to pay attention,” he replied lightly.
I sighed. “Fine, I’ll let you have that one. Do we have time for another game?”
His face shut down. The smile vanished. His eyes darkened at the reminder I was there on his money and time. I hated myself for saying anything.
Money was already exchanged before the date even started, so we didn’t have to take cash from the client and make them, or us, feel cheap. But I had a feeling I’d just done it.
He ground his teeth together as he looked down at his watch.
“Nyet,” he clipped.
Had the hour and a half already gone by? It was too soon. I didn’t want to