Comprehension lit his face. “You already have plans with another. Of course you would.” He sounded casual, but his expression tightened.
I had no idea what my holiday would be like. I’d be fresh off the bus. Starting over. Knowing no one.
The thought exhausted me. Maybe I could remain here till the twenty-second, earning more of a safety net? With that money, I could hit the ground running in California.
But to stay with Máxim, I’d need to go home and get some things—without him learning where I lived. Tomorrow night, I’d have to figure out a way to sneak to class.
Unless I skipped. No penance?
He set me away, then stood. “Is a regular client taking you skiing? Or maybe a partner is bringing you home to meet his family?” There was no mistaking his jealousy now.
“I don’t have either,” I said. “I’ll come back tonight, and then we’ll work out a schedule, okay?”
“What do you have to do that’s so important? Another date you don’t want to break? You intend to go from my bed to another’s, then back to me? Unacceptable.”
“That’s not it.”
“Then tell me.”
“I have a private life, Máxim. Even if I don’t book dates—or have a boyfriend—I still have things to do. You just assume I have no life outside of this.”
“How much money will it take for you not to?”
I glared. En serio? “This can’t be taken from my life.” I was almost tempted to tell him about school, but I held off.
For one thing, I didn’t know this guy. Not really. And I’d paid dearly for my lesson never to trust another man. If I broke that rule, then I would’ve paid in vain. Not to mention rule number two; if there was ever a place that linked things in my life, it was my community college.
“Tell me what’s so important—or cancel it.”
Cancel? Maybe I could skip that one measly review period on Friday. It wasn’t even a regular class. As for the exam, I could call Ms. Gillespie and try to reschedule it for after Máxim left. She might let me.
Risk/reward. Risk: my interest in him deepening too much. Vasili snooping around. Reward: money. Again, great sex. After last night, that particular reward was even more pressing.
I didn’t like extending my time in a place where Edward might be, but figured I would be safe here with Máxim. “I have to make a call, then.” I crossed to the dresser and grabbed my phone, unlocking it.
“Smart girl.”
“In private.” When he didn’t budge, I said, “You’ve won this round. You’re getting your way. Please leave.”
“I’ll go. But only because I need to speak with Vasili.”
Once he left, I rang my instructor. “Hi, Ms. Gillespie, I’m so sorry to bother you, but is there any way I could reschedule Monday?”
“I suppose you won’t be there for the review period either?” In a stern tone, she said, “I will make a single exception for you, Cat.” The only time she had available was the afternoon of the thirty-first at two.
I’d be in Miami much longer than I’d anticipated. Máxim would be gone. Still, I agreed. On New Year’s Eve, I’d leave town to the sound of fireworks.
As I disconnected the call, I disbelieved I was postponing the holy grail. I’d have to hit the Russian up for so much dinero, it’d be worth it.
I walked out of the bedroom, saying, “Okay, we’re all settled. Heated negotiation to commence . . .”
He was in the middle of an angry exchange with Vasili. They both turned to me, accusation in their eyes.
“What?” Alarm trickled through me, and I had the impulse to bolt.
Máxim strode toward me. “Are you on birth control?”
I bit my lip. “Why would you ask that?” Was that information in the records they’d e-mailed?
“You have to be on something.”
“I’m going to be.” The doc had told me to wait until after my next period to start, and that wasn’t for a couple of weeks. How long would the pill take to work? “I have a prescription. It’s not a problem.”
He stabbed his fingers through his hair. “Are you telling me you only work three weeks a month?”
What did that have to do with birth control? “Again, it’s not a problem.” Though this should have been a private conversation, Vasili looked on stonily.
“You think to entrap me?”
“Entrap? What are you talking about?”
“You told me to come in you!” He was all but yelling.
I had? My gaze darted. “And you . . . did?”
The arctic blast was back. “Half a dozen times. As if you don’t remember!”
My lungs contracted. He might have knocked me up! Preñada? Pregnant? “I-I don’t remember that!” I remembered pleasure and closeness. But we’d been in the pool so long, and then things had really gotten foggy. “I wouldn’t have told you that!”
“If you think to trap me with a child, you could not be more mistaken.”
The fucking nerve! “Now it’s a problem. I don’t want a kid, much less your kid.”
“Then tell me this isn’t a good time for you to conceive. When was your last period?”
I swallowed, my mouth gone dry. Por Dios, I was about to ovulate. Or I already was.
Sevastyan read my expression. “Blyad´!”
Vasili said something in Russian, but I repeatedly heard a word that sounded like prostitutka.
I considered this situation from their point of view. A hooker, who was ovulating and not on birth control, had gotten Europe’s most eligible bachelor billionaire to come in her.