Perfect Opposite (37 page)
Authors: Zoya Tessi
“That delinquent beast of yours bit through my wires again. That’s the third time this week. I have only one phone charger left!”
I sighed, leaned up on my elbows and looked at Alex, who was standing at the bottom of the bed with some wilting, frayed wires in his hand and frowning deeply.
“Dixie’s not a beast,
baby. She just wants a little attention.”
”Attention?
I’ll pay her bloody attention...”
His jaw rigid, he turned
around to the Pekingese on the floor, pointing at a length of rubber between its teeth. As usual, the puppy seemed oblivious to all the fuss and went on gnawing its prize.
I put one hand over my mouth to hide my amusement, since Alex was clearly pretty angry. He surely regretted comparing me to a bleached Pekingese all those weeks ago. He should have known a comment like that would cost him dear. The look on his face when I’d turned up with little Dixie had been priceless.
“Maybe we could send her back to the shop? I mean, look at her! She’s obviously mentally defective. We’d get our money back for sure.”
“Alex. You wouldn’t like it if I took you back to the shop.”
“OK, OK, I won’t mention it again.” he raised his hands to surrender, “but I really want to know, what would have happened if I’d said you reminded me of a goat instead of a Pekingese? How would you have punished me then?”
“Well, if things had gone that way, I guess we’d have had plenty of fresh milk and cheese for breakfast.”
“That’s what I was afraid of. I guess in the end I came off pretty well.” he mumbled to himself and shook his head as he left the room.
I quickly got up and brushed my teeth, put on one of Alex’s old
T-shirts, then followed the smell of fresh coffee through to the kitchen. Moving quietly, I leaned against the bar and smiled as I watched Alex prepare breakfast.
I’d tried calling him Oleg, but it just didn't work for me. False name or not, he was Alex and always will be for me.
“Are you planning to move that sweet little ass of yours, or do I have to do everything?” he tossed over his shoulder.
There couldn’t be a sexier image than Alex getting the foam right on my cappuccino, dressed in faded jeans and nothing else. My eyes lingered over the patterns on his body before coming to rest on simple red writing at the small of his back, next to the still fresh, round scar.
“Carry on. You’re doing a great job and I’m enjoying the view.” I waved my hand.
“Is that so?”
In one leap he was right in front of me, spreading his arms wide to embrace me. In no time his lips were against mine and we were locked in a passionate kiss neither of us wanted to break.
“I really like you in my t-shirt.”
“And I like you without it.” I whispered and bit his ear playfully.
“Don’t you have any mercy, tempting me like this when you know I have to be at work in half an hour?”
I pouted seductively, wriggled free from his arms and took my coffee from the counter, landing one more peck on his cheek for good measure before sitting down at the table where the newspaper was already open. Looking up from the headlines, I watched him put on socks and boots in a hurry, then run around in search of the keys to his bike. When it looked like he was almost ready to go, I tossed him the clean shirt off the back of my chair.
“I’ll call you later,” he said, putting his arms through the sleeves.
He blew me a kiss and I did the same, happier than I’ve ever been.
As
he turned, moving to tuck his shirt into his jeans, there it was again - the single red tattoo at the small of his back - Princess.
#
The End #
While writing “Perfect Opposite” was a most exciting and fulfilling experience for me, it was a death sentence for people around. I’d like to thank all those who had to put up with me during my MIA period, for understanding and forgiveness when it came to missed meetings, occasional hysterical episodes, and those calls that were interrupted by flashes of inspiration that simply had to be written down right then and there. And thanks most of all to Martin, for constantly replenishing my stash of junk food. I’d probably have starved to death if it hadn’t been for your good grace.
I would like to thank my chief editor
Mariana for all the passion and dedication she poured in publishing “Perfect Opposite”. You are the best and I would’ve been lost without you! I’m sorry for hanging up on you so many times; I hope you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me. Many thanks also go to Yelena and Jonathan for their editorial contributions as we finalized the book.
To my beta
readers : Anna, Christine, Maria, Maya, Philip, Susana, Tamara & Tamara - you have my eternal love! Thank you.
And, above all, thank you Dee for encouraging me to publish “Perfect Opposite”. You’re the best sister in the whole world.
A teenager in an adult’s body. A rebel in the guise of an ordinary citizen. A lady with very unladylike language. A dreamer with a rational mind. A woman born into the wrong era, she still believes that chivalry’s a feat to define the perfect man.
Zoya spent years doing volunteering work all across Europe, from cleaning school basements in Northern Russia to excavating Stone Age artifacts in Euskadi (the Basque country) and renovating castles from the middle ages in Southern France. She always dreamed of working with ‘Doctors without borders’ somewhere out in Africa, but ended up doing an ‘ordinary job’ in one of the smaller European countries.
Her greatest passion is devouring each and every book that comes within her reach.
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