Total Package (19 page)

Finished with her shower, Sidney noted the soft woman in the mirror and sighed. Danya had been very thorough, and her face was still flushed from lovemaking and exhaustion, but there were shadows around her eyes and her body felt relaxed. She wrapped in a large thick towel and when he wasn’t in the bedroom, wandered onto the bedroom’s tiny private deck to find him sitting in a wooden recliner.

Sidney understood immediately that he’d come here to brood while she was gone and she ached to soothe that loneliness now. She eased onto his lap and Danya drew her close,
kissing her forehead. She lay very still, absorbing this new phase, the quiet, good one where no words were needed.

“This is good. I hope I don’t turn into a clinging Fluffy-type woman.”

“Cling all you want. Look,” Danya said, indicating the direction with a nod of his head. There, on a bench in the moonlight, overlooking the ocean, were three familiar shapes. Bulldog sat with an arm around each daughter.

“I’ll miss them.”

“This is their home now, too, you know. I just ask that they don’t try to renovate until they consult me. I’ve got a suspicion that when your sisters decide they are going to change something—they do.”

Danya framed Sidney’s chin with his hand and turned her to look at him. “I meant what I said about taking whatever I could get. That doesn’t mean you’ll be tied down here, if you need to travel.”

“I’m happy here, now with you, honey,” she whispered shyly.

“Uh-huh. But if the time comes, you’ll let me know, won’t you? And by the way, I’m not repeating that offer of marriage.”

She toyed with the fascinating center of his chin, kissing it. “Some offer. You asked my father, and then me. ‘Well, will you?’ you said.”

“I think you can be more romantic—if you feel like it. But only when you feel it is right for you.”

“Well, will you?” Sidney asked slowly, carefully. “Marry me?”

A

In a flurry of his mother’s traditional lace dress and a lacy veil, Sidney came running back to Danya. On her way, she stopped to kiss Bulldog, Viktor and Fadey. She stood on tiptoe to whisper something into Viktor’s ear and tears came to his eyes before he turned to speak Fadey and Bulldog. They looked soft and humbled and Bulldog brushed away a tear. “I wonder what she said,” Alexi murmured.

“She wants boys—three. Their namesakes, and if it’s girls, well, she’ll get inventive.”

Alexi chuckled. “She’s a fast mover. Get prepared, brother.”

“Oh, I am.”

Rosy with excitement, Sidney hurried on to Danya who was standing by his brother. “Alexi, give your brother his bouquet. I’ve just got to get this shot.”

Alexi grinned and handed the huge bouquet of roses to Danya. “Your wedding bouquet, Danya?” he asked in a way that said he wasn’t going to stop teasing Danya for a long time.

Danya only smiled; nothing mattered except the love—and romance—Sidney seemed set upon giving him.

“You looked great carrying it. Oh, wait a minute—” Sidney ordered.

She eased his arms away from his body and stepped in close to smooth his newly embroidered festival shirt that now matched all the other Stepanov males.

His bride was truly romantic, handing him the rose bouquet she’d given him to carry as he walked toward her and their marriage.

Sidney studied him critically, straightened the wide collar, and smiled softly up at him. He’d remember that glowing smile forever, Danya thought, the way her eyes cherished him. With his arms wide-open, he bent to take a long, thorough kiss that would hold him over until they were alone, and Sidney held very still.

Then as if remembering her work, she leaned back, smoothed his hair in a touch that reflected a wife’s pride and possession. She urged his arms down, smoothed the billowing full sleeves of his festival shirt, and arranged his hands and the bouquet for the shot she wanted.

Sidney considered his look, smoothed his face with the hand that wore her new wedding ring, and took a rose bud from the bouquet. She broke the stem and placed it over his ear. She kissed him again, her eyes filling with him and the lifetime of happiness they would have together.

“Now hold that thought,” she whispered softly, and Danya knew she wasn’t talking about the pose….