Chapter 5 Dmitri

Dmitri POV:

ANNA'S SMARTER THAN I EXPECTED. I DIDN'T THINK SHE WAS ALL LOOKS AND NO BRAINS, BUT SHE'S already bringing fresh ideas to the table. I'm not sure if her roof idea will be profitable or not, but it's

something my brothers and I never explored and our old designer never mentioned.

I wish she would tell me what the situation is with her ex-boyfriend-or tell me for sure he is her ex. My gut is saying she moved to Chicago to get away from him, but I can't be sure until she confirms it.

We get in the car, and she nervously twists her fingers in her lap.

"How old are you?" I ask.

"Thirty-two."

Good. She isn't as young as she looks.

I've dated my fair share of women in their twenties, but after a while, the difference in our maturity levels always shines through. So I made a pact with myself not to date any woman who isn't thirty or older, but I would have had to break it if she told me she was. I'm not sure what her boyfriend situation is, but I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure she dumps him so I get

a fair shot.

"You look younger."

"Hmm," she mutters, as if she doesn't believe me.

"What's that about?"

"Tell that to my wrinkles."

I peer closer at her face, which seems to make her nervous. "Where?"

She scrunches her face and points to several spots.

Everyone has lines when they do that."

"I didn't use to," she says and looks out the window.

I pull her chin back toward me. "You're a beautiful woman. I'm not sure what kind of crap your boyfriend or ex-boyfriend, whatever he is, has said to you, but he's a moron and full of shit."

She blinks hard and turns away again.

What has he done to you, my kotik?

"How old are you?" she murmurs.

"Forty-three."

She gapes at me. "Really?"

"Yep."

"I thought you weren't past thirty-eight."

"It's my lack of gray hair," I tease.

She glances at my head. "Shaved looks good on you."

It's the first time she's mentioned anything that could mean she's attracted to me, so I do a victory pump in my head. She's not told me to stop my advances toward her, but I wish I knew for sure if she

was interested or not.

"How long have you been with your ex?" She hasn't confirmed it, but I'm going to call him that so she can start getting used to the term.

"Five years."

"He's around thirty-five?"

Her eyes widen. "How did you know his age?"

I shrug. "Guessed it. So before him, who did you date? Anyone serious?"

"Not really."

"And they were all close to your age?"

"Yes. Why are you asking?"

I tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear. "I wanted to know if you've been with a real man before. I figured you haven't."

Her face reddens. I've lost track of how many times she's made my dick twitch with her sexy little blush. She quietly asks, "What made you assume that?"

"Because if you had been with a real man, you wouldn't have stayed five years with your ex. And you wouldn't be grappling with whatever it is that is confusing you about him, right now."

She bites on her lip, and her eyes fill with tears. She turns and wipes her face.

What did that piece of shit do to her?

I can't stand not knowing. It's driving me nuts. I saw enough the day I met her about the type of person he is, and I'm sure I only saw a piece of his nastiness. And when he called her ass fat, she was embarrassed but not surprised, which meant it wasn't the first time he degraded her.

Any man who can't appreciate an ass like hers is a fool. If I could make a mold and set it on mycoffee table to stare at, I would.

Time to change subjects so she doesn't get more upset.

"How long have you had your business?" I ask.

"Just a few years. I was starting to make a good name in New York."

And now she's moving here after working so hard to build her reputation. What did that fucker do to her?

"I can see why. You have good ideas."

"I haven't shown you anything yet."

"If the roof pans out to be profitable, I'm increasing your fee."

She tilts her head. "You don't even know my fee."

"Speaking of which, when we get to my place, we need to get your contract drawn up and signed."

She stays silent.

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

"I've not had a client ever push me to sign my contract before."

"Is there something in it I need to be cautious about?" I'll read it before I sign it, but I'd be surprised if it isn't similar to other designer contracts.

"No, of course not."

I put my head next to hers. "From now on, when you get a new client, you have them sign your contract before you give them ideas."

"But you've not seen my work."

"You could have pulled it up online and shown me."

She bites her lip.

"I know a lot of these builders. They will take advantage of you. You give them ideas, they will use them and find the cheapest person to implement them, cutting you out of the picture."

"I'm not the best at the pricing side of things. I just want to do the design part. I can run the numbers to stay within the budget, but I'm bad at charging. My brother, Chase, he's the one in the family with the business brain."

I hold her face next to mine. "There's nothing wrong with your brain. I will teach you."

"Teach me?"

"Yeah. How to deal with these builders in this city and not get ripped off."

"Are they that bad?"

"Some of them, yes. If you want a list of who you can trust and who to handle with caution, I'll give that to you as well."

She glances at my lips with her blue doe eyes.

She hasn't confirmed he's her ex yet.

One thing I won't be is any woman's piece on the side. I force myself to move away from her face.

The car stops, and I glance out.

"We're here." I grab her bag and laptop.

"I can carry those," she says.

"No, my little kotik." I step out and reach for her hand. We stop at security, they give her a pass, and we get in the elevator.

"Are you from Russia, or do you only know how to speak the language?"

"My family immigrated when I was eight."

"Was that rough?"

"A bit. But I was a child. It was easier for my brothers and me than my parents."

"How many brothers do you have?"

The elevator dings and opens up into the penthouse.

Her eyes open wide. "Wow! Great view!"

The entire front of my house is glass, overlooking Lake Michigan and parts of Chicago. It's a windy day, and the white caps have picked up. The trees have changed colors and are vibrant red,

orange, and yellow. It's still fairly light out, but it'll be getting dark soon.

"Thanks."

"So, how many brothers do you have?"

"Three. Maksim, Boris, and Sergey, in that order. I'm the second oldest."

"No sisters?"

"Nope. Is it just you and Chase?"

She shakes her head. "I have another brother, Nick, in New York. He's the oldest."

"No sisters?"

"No." She crosses her arms and taps her biceps, looking nervous again.

I pull out a chair at the table. "Have a seat."

She sits.

I set her laptop in front of her then take the chair next to hers. "First things first. Write up my contract."

She furrows her brows. "Umm..." She stares at the waves and fidgets.

"Anna, why aren't you tapping numbers on your computer?"

She puts her hands over her face. I remove them.

"I'm not sure how to charge you. I've not done anything this big before. I've done a lot of individual projects but not an entire building. If you don't want to work with me, I understand. I should have told you earlier."

I point to her computer. "Pull your contract up. Let me see it."

She does, and I read through it. "You have a good contract."

Totally undercharging her services.

"Chase made me get it when he found out I wasn't using one."

I try not to shake my head so she doesn't feel belittled, but I'm glad her brother watched out for her. "Hold on a minute." I go into my office, pull out the contract I had with Lada, and hand it to her.

"What's this?"

"How Lada, the other designer, billed us."

She reads it and opens her mouth. "Wow. She charges a lot!"

"You're worth not a penny less."

She shakes her head. "You don't know that. You've still not seen my work."

"Sure, I do." I push her computer back to her. Change your rates to hers."

She hesitates.

I tease, "Do I need to fill your contract in for you?"

"No."

I tap the laptop. "Get typing, kotik. I'm going to pull the blueprints out while you finish."

"Ummm...are you sure-"

"Yep. Now, all I want to hear is your fingers hitting those keys. The sooner we get done, the closer we get to dinner."

And I get to see what you brought to wear on your sexy little body.

I take the blueprints out of the office then unroll them across the table. "You done?"

She nods.

"Email it to me." I pull my card out of my wallet. "Here."

She sends it, I pull it up on my phone, scan it over, sign, then send it back to her.

We spend the next few hours going through the blueprints. She makes a long list of items for tomorrow, and I shut the laptop. "Okay, what did you bring to wear for dinner?"

Her face turns red. "Vivian told me to bring a dress, but I also brought a skirt and top, depending on where we're going?"

"Put your dress on, kotik. I'm hungry, are you hungry?"

She scans my face and stares at my lips again. "Yeah."

"Good. I'm going to take a shower. Let me show you where you can get ready."

"How much time do I have?"

"As much as you want."

She tilts her head, as if she doesn't believe me, which makes me think her ex was always making her rush to get ready.

I lean into her ear. "Take all the time you want. I've got all night. And I'll probably still be hungry after dinner."