Page 96 of Twisted Prince
My heart skips a beat as I enter Gleb’s personal space for the first time. It feels strangely intimate to be here, though he came to the house I shared with the girls on a regular basis. It’s a nice place, open and spacious, with a clean-cut, modern feel and elegant but spartan decor that somehow fits Gleb perfectly.
The temperature, just on the cool side, is somehow soothing, and Gleb’s masculine scent of leather and smoky pine lingers subtly in the air. It makes a shiver of anticipation run down my spine.
“Your room will be the first door on your right down the hallway.” Gleb gestures in the direction he’s talking about as he drops his keys into a metal bowl on the entry side table. The door clicks softly closed behind us, followed by the shck of Gleb sliding the bolt home.
My room?
A knot forms in my throat, though I know that, logically, he wouldn’t intend for me to sleep with him. I shouldn’t be intending to sleep with him. Right?
So, what’s with the feeling of rejection?
“Great. Thanks.” I lead the way, hugging Gabby close as she snoozes softly against my shoulder.
Following just behind, Gleb flicks on lights to help me see the way, and though I know I’m supposed to be here, I can’t shake the feeling that I’m intruding on his personal space. A space he never would have invited me into if it weren’t out of necessity.
“Will this do for tonight?” he asks, stopping behind me as I pause in the doorway of his guest bedroom.
A queen-size bed sits in the center, the clean sheets and comforter look so soft and inviting. A dresser stands opposite the bed, a nightstand on either side, with a closet to my right.
“This is perfect.”
“I can get you a second bed for Gabby if that would make you both more comfortable.”
“No, that’s—” I swallow hard. “You really don’t need to. This is more than enough space. We’ve shared much smaller beds than this before.”
Gleb gives a curt nod.
Stepping inside the room, I lay Gabby gently on top of the sheets to get her ready for bed. Gleb follows me in, and for a second, my stomach quivers at his proximity—no longer necessary now that we’re out of the car and elevator.
Then he sets down the bag of clothes Silvia lent us, and I kick myself for getting my hopes up, even momentarily.
“I’ll leave you to it,” he says definitively and turns noiselessly to stalk toward the door.
“Gleb, wait,” I insist, straightening quickly to follow him into the hallway.
Pulling the door shut behind me so we don’t wake Gabby, I’m grateful to find that he actually did stop. As he turns toward me, we’re suddenly in very close proximity, my back pressed against the guest-room door, my fingers still wrapped around the handle.
Seeming surprised to find me so close, Gleb takes a step back, and even as he gives me the space I usually crave so desperately, I feel as though the distance is a knife to the gut. Because it’s not me he’s creating that space for this time.
It’s him.
He needs to be farther away from me.
God, it hurts an astonishing amount, and I wonder if this might not be what it felt like to Gleb when I fled New York three years ago.
No wonder he’s ready to be done with me.
Swallowing down my emotions, I fight to contain the tremble in my voice that gives me away. “I just… wanted to say thank you for coming to get me again. It feels like you keep having to come save me, and…” I shake my head, my eyes dropping to my feet as the emotion trickles into my tone, overtaking it.
“It’s fine, Mel. Really. You just… have impressively bad luck, I would say,” Gleb says.
Is it me, or did he just actually go for a joke?
I lift my gaze, and my heart stutters when I find the corners of his lips curling into a subtle smile. Releasing a breathy laugh, I nod. “Combined with terrible judgment,” I add, thinking about my choice to run from New York and seek refuge with the Kellys.
The hint of a smile slowly slides from his face, making me wonder if I’d imagined it in the first place. And when I search Gleb’s eyes for an answer, all I find is frustration and pain. It makes my stomach knot painfully.
“I’m sorry I keep asking for your help. I know this marriage is less than ideal, but I appreciate your willingness to… go with it for Gabby’s sake—and mine.”
