Page 9 of Disgraced (Russian Sinners 3)

He wore a dark suit, although a different one from this morning. It, too, appeared custom tailored to him, accenting his broad shoulders. He didn’t have a tie with the crisp, white shirt underneath his suit jacket. In a way he looked dark, dangerous, and beautiful. Although why dark came to mind, I had no idea. His hair was blonde and cut short. My fingers itched to push through it, to feel him.

I’d have to stand on my tiptoes to be able to reach his scalp. I was so short compared to him, my eyes were level with his chin. And what a chin it was. I got the strangest urge to lean into him and nibble on it.

Yeah, not on a first date.

Tilting my head, I met those deep brown eyes, and it was as if he was peering all the way down to my soul. His cologne invaded all my senses in the best way possible and a delightful shiver ran down my body. This attraction I felt towards him was something different, exciting.

“Hi.” I couldn’t think of anything better to say. Seriously?

He didn’t seem to mind at all as he smiled with those sinful lips. “Hi.”

We stood there watching each other, and I swore I felt attraction sizzling within me. My body never responded like this before. Olivia and Anastasia assumed I held onto my virginity because I had been promised to someone since I was seventeen. That was only a small part of the reason, the other part was that I never felt a true attraction to a man before.

The silence lingered and I cleared my throat, slightly uncomfortable, which was a novelty for me.

“Um, I usually don’t do this,” I muttered, caring he didn’t think I was flighty and jumping into dates with strangers.

“What exactly?” God, his voice was so damn sexy.

“Meet strangers,” I responded, fidgeting with my hands. “Or boys I don’t know the name of.”

He chuckled softly. I stared at his throat and found even that part of him sexy. I had never considered a throat sexy, but oh my, I wanted to trace my lips over his and lick it. This guy made my toes curl.

“That’s good to know,” he replied in his accent and even that was sexy as fuck. “Although I’d like to think I don’t fall into the category of boys.”

He certainly did not. He was not a boy at all.

“I’m Sergei,” he added. Even his name sounded sexy. Foreign and exotic. Ok, I was definitely swooning; there might even be some drooling going on.

“Hi Sergei,” I tested his name on my lips. Yes, I loved it. “I’m Scarlett O’Brady.”

“Irish?” he raised his eyebrow.

“Not really.” My family is Irish, but with the exception of this summer vacation, I never set foot in Ireland. I was American through and through. “Or only in the last name. I’m guessing you are Russian?”

It was an obvious question but you never knew.

“Yes.”

I smiled. “You don’t want to give me your last name?” I teased him.

A shadow crossed his face and I wondered what it was. Did I offend by asking for a last name?

“Volkovsky,” he replied. “Sergei Volkovsky.”

“Yes, definitely sounds Russian,” I retorted with a smile.

He smiled back but it didn’t quite reach his brown eyes, and I wondered if somehow, I said something wrong without realizing it.

“Are you ready for dinner, or would you like me to show you some of the city?”

I groaned. “God, please don’t tell me you want to take me sightseeing.”

Now he laughed and the sound was warm, transforming his face.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he claimed. “I’m trying to impress you on our first date, not chase you away.”

I could feel my cheeks heat up at his comment. At this rate, he wouldn’t have to work really hard at it.

“In that case, I could wait a bit before eating,” I told him, wondering what he had in mind when he offered to show me some of the city.

“Ready then?” He offered me his hand and my eyes lowered to it. Such a simple gesture and darn so sweet. I took it without thinking too much into it, and we walked out of the hotel lobby hand in hand.

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