Bad Nerd Rising (13 page)

“It’s refreshing to know
there are people like you still,” Emma said with a sweet smile
Aleksi couldn’t take as anything other than support.

“Thank you,” he replied
with a regal tilt of his head.

“
You’re
welcome.”

Anything else she might
have added was lost when a shout went up. Startled, her heart
beating a hasty retreat, Tia turned scared eyes on
Aleksi.

He didn’t appear daunted though and instead,
his lips curled to the side and he warned them with a, “Brace
yourselves.”

“What is that?”

“That would be my best
friend’s son, Hubert.” Aleksi turned in his seat and opened his
arms to a little whirlwind who launched into them with a bright cry
of welcome.

“Uncle ‘Leski,” the little
boy said, holding something she couldn’t identify in his arms,
“look!” And when he held the item aloft, Tia, having much
experience with little boys and their interests, labeled the item a
toy rocket. The kind that could be launched.

Hubert didn’t appear to be
more than five or six years old, which made Tia wonder about the
wisdom of providing him with a rocket but then an attractive,
harried looking woman trotted into the room holding another child
in her arms, one who looked exactly like her. The little girl wore
the cutest little white dress with black polka dots. It matched the
black with white polka dots the mother wore.

That lady bent to kiss
Aleksi before she frowned at her son. “Remember what daddy told you
at breakfast?” Her hair was red with golden strands intermingled
and her eyes a laughing brown.

The little boy adopted that
I-forget look kids perfected easily by this boy’s age. “No,” he
said and shoved the rocket near Aleksi’s nose. This didn’t daunt
the man in the least. She saw instead that he appeared as
interested in the rocket as the boy. For that matter, when her eyes
slid to her uncle, Rich looked fascinated as well.

Tia darted a look at Emma
who rolled her eyes, smiled serenely, and squeezed her husband’s
hand. He apparently appreciated the gesture, but didn’t seem
inclined to take his eyes off the small tube in Hubert’s
hand.

“Hello, I’m Sara
Wellington, and this is Toni,” Hubert’s mother said, holding out a
sticky hand. Yep, she was a mom. Tia accepted the invitation with
enthusiasm.

Sara reminded her strongly
of her cousin Ben’s wife, Treeny. “I’m Tia Morrison, and this is my
aunt, Emma O’Riley. Her husband, Rich, is as interested in your
son’s rocket as the other males.”

“Yes, I was afraid of
that. My husband, Maks, is due to arrive any moment, so I imagine
the males will all have to see what they can do about that rocket.
I still think he’s too young, but Maks assured me it was okay with
parental supervision.” Sara laughed then she sighed. “The only
problem with that theory is when it comes to toys like that
I’m
the only parent
around.”

Tia laughed. “My
sister-in-law says the same thing. I have a nephew who’s fascinated
by anything with claws, venom, fangs, and poison. Unfortunately, we
believe he inherited that tendency from my brother, so she has to
be the voice of reason.”

“Does she have gray hair
yet?”

“Not yet. But she tells us
it’s only a matter of time,” Emma answered with a smile. She
reached out to flap Toni’s hand, and the little girl giggled and
hid her face in her mother’s arm.

“How cute are you?” Emma asked and as was
the custom, the little girl immediately warmed to Emma and even
consented to let her hold her.

“My aunt has the best way with kids,” Tia
said, shaking her head.

“Does she have a bunch of her own?”

“She has a daughter, but
mainly her experience comes from all the Morrison offspring. There
are a lot of us.”

“You come from a big family?”

“Oh yes.”

“And you’re American, I
take it?” Sara’s voice held hope.

“We are. And you seem to
have a bit of a Boston accent?”

“Yes, I grew up near
Boston. Cambridge, actually. My dad is a professor at
Harvard.”

“I thought so. Do you miss
America?”

“I miss my family,
especially now that I have children, but I do love Rurikstan and my
husband.” She glanced at Toni, and smiled. “And our
children.”

With the statement, the
doors whisked open and a tall, handsome man with obvious European
ancestry strolled through the doors. He and Aleksi might have been
brothers, so close was their bone structure and bearing.

Maks could have stepped
from any of the portraits of royalty scattered all over the palace.
Tia realized he very well might be sired from them. He wasn’t the
least bit intimidated by Aleksi’s position in the country either
because when he sauntered past the prince, Maks swatted him. Aleksi
grinned and beetled his brows at his friend. “We’re planning to
launch this rocket, but I think we should do so without your
father,” he stated to Hubert.

“But shouldn’t Daddy be there?” Hubert asked
with a frown and concern etched on his little face.

“No, I think he’s going to end up in the
dungeons.”

“Mommy tells him that all the time,” Hubert
confided in a loud whisper.

Sara smothered her laughter
with a hand. Aleksi exchanged a speaking look with her. “Your mommy
is very smart, Hubert.” Aleksi introduced them.

“Daddy says...” But before Hubert could
divulge more secrets, Daddy managed to clamp a large hand over his
son’s mouth.

“Let’s not go there,” Maks
said in deep tones. He had a very nice voice and reminded her of
someone besides Aleksi but she couldn’t place him.

Hubert giggled and squirmed but when he
nearly dropped the rocket the men in the room all returned their
attention to the tube.

“I don’t know what it is about men and
rockets...” Emma said with a sigh.

“Me either,” Sara returned and glanced at
her husband and son.

Tia lost interest as
another question popped into her mind. “Does your family get to
visit much?”

“Yes. My mother comes for a
month at a time. Aleksi is wonderful about sending a plane for her
whenever we need her or she wants to visit. Same for my sisters,
but they’re all busy with their own lives.”

“I understand that.” Tia
nodded. Nick’s household was one of the busiest she’d ever seen.
Before Macy, Tia knew there were whole weekends she couldn’t
remember, they’d been so hectic.

“Maks’ family must be
here?”

“Yes. Graham and Maria are
his parents,” Sara said.

Of
course
. “That’s who Maks reminds me of.
Graham.”

“Yes. His sisters look and
act like Maria, but he’s all Graham.”

The men rose and with
Hubert skipping between them, left the room with barely a wave.
“Action time, I take it,” Emma drawled as she watched her husband
leave the room with the others.

“No one is likely to get
hurt are they?” Tia asked, feeling a niggling of worry. Rockets
could cause injuries. She knew this because she’d been the
unwilling recipient of many.

“No, I don’t think so.
Aleksi and Maks wouldn’t let anything happen to Hubert,” Sara said,
but she had a pleat between her eyebrows.

“What about anything
happening to Aleksi and Maks?” Tia asked.

“Well, that’s probably more
cause for concern.” Sara exchanged a worried glance with
her.

Tia bit her lip. “That’s
what I thought.”

“Not to worry, ladies,” Emma said briskly.
She set her napkin aside.

“Why not?”

“Rich is with them. He can
operate the Space Shuttle, so surely he can engineer how to set off
a cardboard toy rocket safely.”

True, but would the other
two men listen to Navy SEAL Rich, especially since he was an
admiral, and not on active duty? They all exchanged worried
glances. “On that note, maybe we should supervise,” Tia put forth
briskly.

“Good idea,” Sara and Emma seconded and the
ladies beat a hasty retreat from the room.

Chapter
10

“I can’t believe you didn’t trust us,”
Aleksi complained as Tia finished wrapping the bandage around his
finger.

She raised a brow at him as
she straightened. “You were the first rocket casualty,” she
reminded him as she neatly tucked the heavy metal first aid kit
back into the fifteenth century armoire where it lived. He enjoyed
watching her brisk, efficient movements.

“I cut my finger on the
wing.” He glanced at his “war wound” as he stood and was pleased at
her concern. Aleksi was hard pressed to say a bandage was
necessary. His finger had barely bled.

In fact, he couldn’t feel
even a bit of pain. Of course, this gave him a perfect excuse for
Tia to touch him, which was the only reason why he let her wrap the
strip around his finger. So he was a rounder for taking advantage
of the situation. He’d like to see any other man give up such an
excellent opportunity.

“Yes, you did. We were worried you three
would do worse damage, but there’s still time.”

“Worse damage? Your uncle
alone could launch that rocket without a problem.” Aleksi felt
compelled to defend his own.

She looked skeptical and as
cute as Toni when she slept. He wanted to lean over and kiss Tia
like he did Toni while she napped. Both were irresistible, only in
different ways.

Looking to the left and
right showed Aleksi something he hadn’t noticed. For the first time
since Tia had arrived in his home, they were alone. She’d whisked
him into the palace to the first aid kit in the downstairs bathtub
chamber. And now no one was about.

Like any man could resist
kissing Tia Morrison under such circumstances. He tucked a hand
around her head to hold her close and leaned forward. Tia gasped
but her eyes fluttered shut when his lips touched hers.

A shudder passed through
her, or maybe through him, and he held her that much tighter. Her
arms entwined around his neck and she turned her head and gave him
improved access to her lips and mouth.

Aleksi didn’t wait for
another invitation. He marauded and stamped his claim, wanting to
imprint himself on her so no other man would satisfy. She moaned as
his tongue slid along hers and he wanted to roar with manly pride
and accomplishment.

Only, if he did that, he
needed to stop kissing her, and there was no way he was interested
in doing that. She tasted like the finest wine and juiciest steak
he had ever consumed. Only much better. There was a feminine spice
that intrigued and enticed him, one he thought he might never get
enough of.

It would not be difficult
to make his heir with this woman. The curves of her body fit his
planes and slopes like she had been meant to be squeezed against
him. She shuddered again and Aleksi realized if he didn’t breathe
soon, he’d pass out at her feet.

Not the best impression for a prince to
make.

Especially if he wanted her to be his
princess.

He reluctantly separated
their mouths, and he liked how she seemed as averse to breathing as
him. Aleksi stared down at her, wanting to kiss her again. At least
a few more hundred times today. Maybe that would ease the ache a
little.

Her eyes fluttered open and
she stared up at him through hazy eyes. “Why did you do that?” Her
voice was husky, sensual, a little unnerving even.

He shrugged. “I had
to.”

Those gorgeous blue-green
orbs popped wide open. “You
had
to?” she echoed, and her brow furrowed. “You
wanted to kiss me?”

What?
“Of course I wanted to kiss you.”

She frowned at him, and
looked nonplussed. “But you didn’t have the time of day for me in
college.”

It was his turn to stare at
her in confusion. “I certainly had time for you. You didn’t know I
existed.”

“
What?
”

Aleksi noticed she still
stood in the circle of his arms, and her arms were still looped
around his neck. He edged her a little closer, not wanting to let
go yet. Tia smelled like all women should. Sweet, sexy, and utterly
feminine.

“I knew you existed. You
were the most beautiful girl on campus, but you didn’t have time
for anything other than your studies. I could admire that,” he said
gruffly.

“I had...” she trailed off and stared at
him. “I had a crush on you.”

That was news to him. He
blinked. “You did? I didn’t believe you even knew my
name.”

“Aleksi, everyone knew your
name. People who didn’t care knew your name. People who partied
until they were sick knew your name. The janitors knew your name.”
She cocked a brow at him, as though daring him to refute her
statement.

He smiled and tugged her
tighter. “So long as you know my name, I don’t care,” he decided.
And bent his head to kiss her again. She had siren’s
lips.

A man could lose himself in
her perfection, and the fact that she’d had a crush on him during
school seemed fitting. It was only fair, since he had experienced a
similar malady.