" Andriy Mykolayovych, here are the reports you requested," a petite woman with a short light bob, smiling friendly with a twinkle in her eyes, walks over to the table and places several folders she’s holding on the table next to me.
" Yes, thank you, Anna, " he replies with a smile over his shoulder, without turning away from the window.
I know exactly why. The firm reason was his pressing against my thigh just a minute ago. I bite my lip from desires that have inopportunely stirred, and take one of the folders into my hands. Meanwhile, Anna leaves. As the door closes behind her, Andriy walks over and sits at his desk, picking up another folder. Both of us are silent. All the words he spoke just minutes ago still hang between us in the air, like mist or a promising hope of a future together.
Damn! And I want that future. With him. I realize that I have definitely passed the stage where a man is just attractive, where I just want relationships, and in general just... I have fallen completely and irrevocably. In love... The appearance of Bianka with her claims about him only helped me to open my eyes and take the blinders off. Now I see everything clearly and well understand that it won't be easy. For as long as we don't figure out everything we came for, I definitely won't be able to feel free and speak aloud about my feelings.
I glance over at Andriy. He's already absorbed in his work. For some reason, my heart tightens. He didn't speak about his feelings, only about how he wants to build a relationship with me, and no longer sees Bianka in his life. But does he still have tender feelings towards her?
I frown slightly because even in my thoughts, it's hard to articulate the annoying idea swirling in my head: "Does he still love her?" I force myself to switch to work, since the faster we check everything, the quicker we can get out of here. Away from Bianka.
At the end of the day, we are entirely absorbed in work. Finally, the craziness is over.
" Andriy, shall we take the documents with us? Continue in the room?" I lift my head and meet his blue eyes full of silent anticipation.
He shakes his head no:
" No. I have other plans for the evening, and they don't include documents," he says, his gaze greedily sliding over me, making my cheeks flush as it's not hard to guess what those plans might involve.
" Polyansky," I say sensually, "Keep yourself in check. We still need to get out of here."
Andriy appreciates my tease and starts laughing.
" Little devil. Teasing? Be careful, or you'll tease too much and I might stop holding back.
" Oh, these self-assured promises," I manage to say when there's a short knock on the door and it immediately opens.
I'm sitting with my back towards the door and can't see who it is. But it's easy to guess, as probably no other person would dare to enter without his permission.
" Are you done yet? A melodic voice sounds behind me, and a troop of cold shivers marches unhappily down my spine. I only straighten up in the chair and slowly turn around to face hazel eyes.
"Yes, dear, I'm here too," I say to her in my mind.
" Yes, we were just about to leave, " I hear Andriy behind me and watch with a bit of gloating satisfaction as a shadow of annoyance flits across Bianka's beautiful face, her gaze shifting from Andriy to me.
But I couldn't care less about her looks. I've decided for myself that I'll make every effort to ignore the jealous monster still scratching at my chest. And if Andriy says it's over between them, then so be it.
" Oh," she hesitates for a moment. Then clearly changes her plans because she continues: " I've arranged for Milana's desk. They will set it up tomorrow."
" Great, thank you, Bi." Oh, that "Bi" will annoy me for a long time, but for now, I just silently rise from my chair and grab my case with documents.
Andriy has already taken his and approached the door, hovering over Bianka. I don't linger either and immediately follow him.
" You're welcome," I hear dryly, and the three of us step out into the corridor.
" See you tomorrow, " Andriy says calmly and turns his head towards me, "Milana, let's go."
" Yes," I nod, and from the corner of my eye, I catch how the hazel eyes flash jealousy at this statement.
She doesn't ask anything further. Only sparingly smiles in response:
" Yes, see you tomorrow.
Andriy's deputy turns around and leaves. I fully understand her state, because if I saw him with another woman and there was no doubt they were leaving together, I'd definitely be fuming.
We exit the building and get into the car.
" Andriy, you think she won't suspect there's something between us? " I decided to clarify, as the cover story is completely different.
" She might think so. Then she'll remember what I said, that I've booked rooms for both of us in the same hotel, so it's nothing unusual that I'm giving you a lift. You know," they say the best lie is the one closest to the truth."
I thoughtfully shrug my shoulders, and Polyansky, meanwhile, starts the car, and we drive off.
Soon, we enter our hotel room and I finally relax. But not for long. No. Because in a moment, I find myself wrapped in these sturdy, reliable arms, and a hungry gaze sticks to my lips.
Mmm... at the memory of what happened next, my skin rolls with euphoria mixed with a slight tremor. Because now I want him again: to touch his firm muscles, to run slender fingers everywhere, to feel his masculine warm palms on my tender skin, passionate touches of lips, so desired and overwhelming... That night, Andriy was especially gentle, no less passionate than before, but all his touches, looks, and words conveyed an unusual tenderness, from which my heart melted and sank. As if he wanted to prove to me that all the words he said in that office"were true.
" Milana, are you okay? " Andriy's voice brings me out of my reverie, and I turn my head towards him.
I blink and see that we've already arrived at the office. Andriy has turned off the car and is now looking at me intently, as if worried that I might have fallen ill. I chuckle to myself, finding his concern annoyingly pleasant. I cough awkwardly and smile: " Everything's fine. Just lost in thought a bit.
" About what? " he raises an eyebrow.
" Just about work, " I say evasively. Of course, I lie, but his ego is big enough as it is. No need to feed it with the fact that I can't get over what happened last night.
" Sure," he responds with such understanding that my cheeks probably take on an even brighter pink shade. "Who would have thought that working with documents makes your eyes burn with such passion, as your whole appearance begs for a repeat of last night's marathon.
His ironic tone and these blunt hints make me clench my fists tighter, so as not to slap those impudent male fingers that, in addition to the confident words, have already landed on my knee and are slowly crawling under today's dress hem.
I bite my lip and close my eyes. I take a deep breath.
" Polyansky, we're next to the office. We can be seen. " I hissed.
" Does that bother you? he purrs hoarsely. " Or does it turn you on?
" You're unbearable," I gasp, a laugh escaping from my lips.
I unbuckle my seatbelt and grab the door handle, quickly get out of the car, and take a deep breath. In a minute, my boss comes out as well. I returned his look of understanding, because I wasn't the only one trying to quench my desires just now.
But this scoundrel just smirks complacently, locks the car, and we head up to the office. He goes straight to the office where we spent several hours yesterday, while I unenthusiastically head to the reception.
Bianka is already in place. Her secretary informs me. I nod, thanking her for the information, and sit down at my new workspace, set up just yesterday. I decided that today I will check as much information as I can handle. Because the desire to get out of here is simply overwhelming.
And then the day drags on unbearably long. Bianka behaves dryly and strictly formally with me, or more precisely, Looks at me as if I were a piece of furniture, ignoring my presence as much as possible.
I just puff. What, dear, decided not to hide your true face when Andriy is not around? Even better. I won't bother with the torments of conscience when I turn over every nook and cranny in this damn office.
But by the end of the day, I bit my lip in disappointment. Because there's nothing. It seems alright. At first glance. But intuition is just screaming in the subconscious that something is wrong.
With tired eyes, I review the data again and again to understand. What exactly is wrong? What seemed strange to me?
"Come on, Milana. It's somewhere close. I feel it," I encourage myself. I decided to regroup in the search. It makes no sense to check everything randomly. I remember what Polyansky said.
He only recently discovered the forgeries. And suspects that the fakes started when he moved to Lviv. That's since January. I think. They couldn't have been so careless immediately. Obvious mistakes started when he loosened oversight. So, likely in February, not earlier.
Well. I sigh, but new guesses add motivation, and I start sorting out the document packets again. Finally, I set aside six that seem strange to me.
" Milana, are you finished? " I suddenly hear Andriy's voice and turn my gaze from the documents.