Page 77 of Best Man
“No? You’re not?”
“No. I’m flying commercial with Derek and Katya.” He glanced at his watch and frowned. Paulina figured they’d leave in a couple hours, which meant Sasha had another sleepless night ahead of him. “Anyway, the private jet is for Jax and Piper.”
She cocked her head. “Huh?”
“Don’t tell your sister because she doesn’t know yet. But that was my wedding gift.”
“You bought them ajet…?”
He snickered. “No. Not rich enough for that yet. I chartered it. It will fly them to their honeymoon tomorrow morning.”
“Oooh. I get it now.”
Sasha lowered his head. “Yikes. Now I feel cheap.”
“Sorry.” She giggled and rested her head against his strong chest. “I don’t think you’re cheap. That’s a huge gift.”
“Whew. Glad you think so.”
“Piper’s going to love that, though. That’s the kind of luxury she wants, but can’t justify spending on herself.”
“I know. That’s why it was a wedding gift. Special gift for special day.”
“You’re such a sweet guy, Sasha.”
“No one else thinks so. Only you.”
She laughed. Part of her wanted to cry. None of this felt right. And just like that, the song ended, and the crowd made their way outside and began the long walk to the party bus.
Paulina walked with Sasha. She didn’t even notice her hand was still clasped in his. Nor did she notice how tightly she squeezed his hand. While everyone else got in line to file onto the bus, they stood off to the side to say their goodbyes.
“Well …” she said. “I guess this is it.”
He frowned. “I guess so.”
“I think I’m going to miss you, Sasha,” she managed to mutter.
“I will miss you, too.” He scanned their surroundings. “I want to kiss you, Paulina.”
“Better not,” she warned. “There’s a lot of witnesses around.”
He sighed. “Yeah.”
He leaned closer anyway and whispered something in her ear. She heard him clearly, but she almost couldn’t believe it.
“What?” she asked, and already her pulse was thumping in her neck. “What’d you say?”
He leaned in and said it again. The words were exactly the same—she still had a hard time believing it, though. “Come home with me.”
“Home? Russia?” she asked.
“No, not Russia,” he said with a grin. “Maybe I show you Russia someday. I meanhome.”
“Your hotel, you mean?” she asked, figuring he wanted a little more sex before he left forever.
“No, not my hotel,” he said, rolling his eyes as if she were purposely being obstinate. “Home,Paulina. Dallas.”
A minute ago, this wasallshe wanted to hear from Sasha—and though she felt embers of happiness sparking in her heart, she had to tamp those emotions down before she let herself get carried away. Because the fantasy of being with Sasha was one thing—the reality was another thing entirely. Sure, she could follow her heart and go to Dallas on a whim. But what if things didn’t work out? What if they found out they weren’t a good match at all? They barely knew each other.
