She did her lips in a rose-petal red and then allowed her hair to fall in its usual mass of wild curls and waves down her back and around her face. She didn’t like that she couldn’t see the earrings when they were so beautiful, so she pulled the sides of her hair up and fixed them in a fancy twist. She thought that might complement the dress and show off the beautiful earrings.

For the first time in her life, she thought she looked beautiful. Even sexy. More than anything, she wanted to go to dinner with Andrii. That would mean she would have to pay him back for the dress and shoes. She could give the jewelry back to him unless it was costume jewelry—in that case she was going to keep it, even if it was on the expensive side. It would be wonderful just knowing she had the dress and shoes in her closet.

How was she going to get to the coffee shop? She didn’t want to chance riding the bus in the dress. She’d probably get robbed. She could wear a long coat and her tennis shoes and change. She picked up the note and read it again. He had a definite masculine scrawl. He’d signed it with a single letter. Not A, but M. What did that mean?

The last line told her he’d come for her at her apartment building. It probably hadn’t been the best idea to text him her address. She knew better than to trust any man with her safety, but somehow her need to see Andrii again superseded common sense. She glanced at the clock. He would be arriving soon. She didn’t really have the time to tell him not to come, that she wasn’t going after all.

She searched through her closet for a decent coat or sweater to wear with the dress. She had nothing. A puffy jacket and vest. That wasn’t going to go with the outfit. She didn’t want to ruin the look. She stared at herself for a long time debating and, in the end, decided she would go without a coat. It was San Francisco at night, which meant it would be cold, but she was willing to hope the inside of the restaurant was warm enough.

She picked up the little glittery bag that contained her ID, credit card and emergency cash. She was smart enough to know if things didn’t work out, she might need to find her own way home. No matter how attractive she found him, Andrii was a stranger. She had already broken enough of her rules just agreeing to go out with him.

Azelie texted him that she would be waiting downstairs. She didn’t want him coming up to her apartment. For one thing, he was obviously far wealthier than she was. She didn’t want him seeing her tiny space. And she didn’t want to forever picture him there. Or smell his cologne. Maybe it wasn’t cologne—maybe it was his natural scent. Whatever it was, she found Andrii Federoff intoxicating.

She tried not to obsess over the man as she took the elevator down to the first floor. She couldn’t help trying to dissect why she was so enamored with him when she wasn’t attracted to other men. When she was with him, she felt like she was under a spell. His voice mesmerized her. Sadness lurked in his eyes, and it felt very genuine to her. She found herself wanting to do whatever it would take to make him happy.

He was plainspoken, telling her exactly his feelings and what he found attractive about her sexually. She heard honesty in his voice. He might have sounded crude, but she had the feeling he did that deliberately to see if she would be offended. She had considered, for one brief moment, pretending to be. But if he was being honest with her, she wanted to be just as honest with him. She admitted to herself that the things he said to her sent heat waves through her body.

She reached the first floor to wait by the door for a car. She should have texted him to find out what he was driving. It was difficult to find parking in San Francisco. She had a space in the lot at the apartment building where she could park a car if she owned one, but she preferred the bus system so she wouldn’t have to try to find parking everywhere she traveled. She’d been using buses and the BART system for so long she knew the various connections and stops without looking at maps.

She hadn’t been waiting more than three minutes when a BMW pulled up to the front of her building and Andrii stepped out of the car. Instantly, Azelie couldn’t breathe. He was incredibly gorgeous in a dark suit. The jacket emphasized his wide shoulders and deep chest. When he moved up the walkway toward the building, his gait was so smooth he appeared to be gliding—or prowling like a great jungle cat.

Azelie had no idea why she was so susceptible to him, but she couldn’t take her eyes off him. Draped over one arm appeared to be a full-length coat that clearly was too small for him. Her heart accelerated and a million butterflies took flight in her stomach. He was too thoughtful for words. She didn’t think men like him really existed. In her world, they never had.

She stepped out the door of the building just before he reached it, watching his face, needing to see if her appearance pleased him. Andrii’s eyes softened and his mouth curved into a smile. Not only was there approval in his eyes, but the way his gaze drifted over her body and returned to her face filled her with a strange pride. His eyes had darkened with intense sensual desire. For her. All for her. She wasn’t used to a man’s entire focus or admiration, and she felt color sweeping up her neck into her face.

“You look beautiful.”

His voice, that compelling velvet voice, played over her skin like the touch of fingers. Goose bumps rose. Her sex clenched. She even went damp. She found herself blinking up at him, unable to speak.

He cupped her chin and tilted her face up toward his. “Solnyshkuh, when I give you a very sincere compliment because you are truly the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, it would be nice if you acknowledged it.”

His thumb slid along her chin, featherlight, sending flickering heat streaking through her veins. He was truly deadly when it came to seduction.

Azelie swallowed the tight knot in her throat. “Thank you, Andrii.”

Immediately, she got a warm look of approval that added a hard knot of desire to the emotions already roiling inside her. She decided honesty was the best policy, even if it was embarrassing.

“When I look at you, or you speak to me in that voice you have, sometimes I find it difficult to breathe, let alone speak.” She made the admission in a low tone, but she kept her gaze fixed on his. It was important to see his reaction to her honesty. If he looked amused, she would turn and go straight back to her apartment.

His eyes went from gray to liquid mercury. His expression softened even more. Her heart stuttered at the look of complete approval and desire in his eyes. She had made him happy with her admission.

“Telling me that must have been difficult for you,” Andrii said. His voice was always low, even when he sounded commanding, creating an intimacy between them. “Thank you for being so honest with me. When you don’t answer me, I’ll be more cognizant of giving you time.”

He held up the black coat. It was full-length, slim, long-sleeved, straight cut with a tailored neckline. The coat was double breasted with two slanted in-seam pockets. The front closure was enhanced with a wide tone-on-tone belt with a large gold buckle and gold eyelets. The adjustable cuff tabs were gold buckles matching the large one on the belt.

“You aren’t allergic to wool or cashmere, are you?” he asked. “I should have asked before I brought this coat. It was just so perfect for you, and I worried you might get cold.”

Azelie knew that coat had to cost the earth. It was from that same famous designer, Label 287, which she could never afford in a million years, but then she couldn’t afford the dress or shoes. Now she worried that the earrings and necklace might be real.

“I’m not allergic to anything but bug bites,” she admitted. She struggled with herself to tell him she couldn’t accept the coat, but he was already holding it out for her to put her arms in. She wanted that coat even more than the dress and heels. It was one of the most exquisite items of clothing she’d ever seen.

Andrii wrapped her in the coat and then stood in front of her, cinching the belt. He pulled her long hair from the back of the coat so it flowed down nearly to her waist. He stood regarding her with an approving eye. “That coat was made just for you.”

“It’s beautiful.” She managed to find enough air to get the declaration out, when her lungs felt raw and burning. “I can’t thank you enough for the clothes and jewelry. I didn’t have anything suitable in my closet and would never have been able to go with you.”

Andrii wrapped his arm around her waist and began to walk with her toward the car. Just having his arm around her made her feel safe. Walking with him felt right. He was taller than she was by quite a bit and made her feel almost delicate when she’d always felt awkward. He opened the passenger door for her and handed her in carefully.

The car was pure luxury and warm. Maybe it was the coat. She wasn’t certain she’d ever want to take the Label 287 coat off. It made her feel so different, like she had stepped into an alternative world. A fairy tale. Girls like her didn’t get happy ever after, and they didn’t meet men like Andrii Federoff. She made up her mind to enjoy every single second with him. She wasn’t going to waste time on worrying that he might find a way into her closely guarded heart. Just for this one night, she was going to be that fairy-tale princess.

He drove the way he talked and walked. In complete command. Soft music played, a surprising mix of older songs by Frank Sinatra and Perry Como. She didn’t think anyone else listened to them. She had a passion for singers from the past.

“I love the music.” She managed to tell him without stuttering.

“I play the piano, the guitar and a few other instruments,” Andrii disclosed. “I’ll admit I particularly love older music, all kinds. This mix is a favorite when I’m driving.”

She hugged the information to herself, feeling as if he had bestowed a gift on her. She sensed that he didn’t talk about himself much. He had concentrated on her, asking questions when they’d been in the coffee shop, but she didn’t know anything about him.

“Do you play in a band?”

“I have three brothers—more like foster brothers; we were raised together. We all play instruments, and we get together and gig sometimes in bars. I go to piano bars and play. Music is soothing to me.”

“If you only play occasionally, that clearly isn’t your regular job. You said you worked security. Is that what you do full-time?”

She felt very brave asking. He wasn’t a man who would want anyone prying into his business. She must have sounded hesitant because he glanced at her, sending a reassuring smile.

“Solnyshkuh, we’re getting to know one another. I’ll let you know if I would prefer not to answer a question. You have every right to do the same. I’m very interested in pursuing a relationship. We can’t do that if we don’t know each other.”

She sent him a tentative smile. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable with questions.”

His eyes warmed, going from that piercing, intense silvery color to a softer gray. Her answer, as sincere as it was, meant something to him.

“I own a construction company along with those three brothers. I enjoy working with my hands. Sometimes I design furniture just because the wood speaks to me.”

“I’d love to see something you created,” she said. “Music and designing furniture. You have the soul of an artist. Security must be your fill-in work.”

She’d made that a statement, so he didn’t correct her. In any case, finding human traffickers was more on Code. The rest of them just went on the rescue missions.

“Are you concerned about asking me questions because you don’t like to answer them?”

Azelie frowned, thinking it over. Eventually, she shook her head. “It isn’t that, although I don’t tell very many people my business.” She hesitated, but he shot her a look that told her he knew she was hedging. “I don’t talk to anyone about my business,” she admitted. “After my family was killed, there were so many reporters and cops coming around. I’d been shot multiple times and was in the hospital. I couldn’t get away from them. I just kept my mouth shut, hoping they would eventually give up and go away.”

“You didn’t have anyone to protect you?”

His voice had dropped another octave, sending a shiver of awareness down her spine. He wasn’t happy that she’d been alone, and no one had watched over her. His voice hadn’t really changed, just seemed more intimate, more intense. She wasn’t even certain how he did it, but she knew with absolute certainty that her simple explanation had sent a wave of anger through him.

“No. I have no other family. Janine and the children were everything to me.” She twisted her fingers together in her lap to keep her hands from shaking. She didn’t like thinking about that time in her life, let alone talking about it.

“I can understand why you wouldn’t want to disclose your past to just anyone. It must hurt to talk about it.” He dropped one large hand over her hands, stilling them. “Do you have nightmares?”