Chapter 1

“Thank you, Maria. Please tell Dimitri I accept his terms and I’d like to proceed with the contract.”

Dimitri Patanoff understood enough English that he was smiling before his translator, Maria Chernov, got it all out. We had a deal. A good deal. A multi multi million-dollar deal, approved by the United States Government as well has his, the Russian Federation. A subsidiary of mine was going to supply his company with drive trains for agricultural tractors. It seems quality was slipping in some areas and they weren’t going to take his name down with them. The tires may fall off the damned things, but the engines would still be running and the transmissions still pushing them when it happened. His company was all about the drive train being guaranteed.

“Maria,” Dimitri spoke quickly to her, in Russian, causing her to smile, and the only words I picked up were happy and dinner.

“Mr. Danner, my employer has asked that I take you to dinner, as he has plans and must meet with family members tonight. It would be an honor, sir, if you will allow it.”

“Of course, Maria. Of course.” We stood, I thanked Mr. Patanoff for his cooperation in our endeavor, and shook his hand before he left.

“You have some fun, Mr. Danner,” he said in very broken English, then started laughing and walked out.

“He knows a little English, but not enough to do business. Enough to maybe get into trouble as the Americans would say, but not enough to get back out. In any case, Mr. Danner, I would like to...”

“Maria, you have already insured I call you Maria. Can you call me Rob? Please? This is our third meeting, and to be honest, I was going to ask you out for dinner last time, but toward the end of the meeting you had the phone call and told us you had to leave. If I’d asked then, would you have gone out with me? On a date?”

“No, I would not have. That phone call you are remembering, though, was an undoing of sorts. I would now, if you were inclined to ask. I’d rather that than take you out at my employer’s behest, actually, Rob.”

“Maria Chernov, will you please be my date tonight for dinner, and maybe some music and a dance, if you can help find us some?”

“That would please me to no end, Robert Danner. I would be more than happy. I will share more on my story, kind sir. If you had asked me last year, after our first meeting, I would have said ‘yes’. I actually hoped you would, as I was, and still am, quite drawn to you. I really wished you had, now, as it would have saved me from a disaster in my life, the likes of which if I experience again, I will only accept dates from girls.” She giggled a cute little giggle. “I promise more on that later, if you desire a funny, but tumultuously heartbreaking story of a young woman being used by a very gay man, very deep in his closet, to hide his relationship with an extremely high-ranking government official.” I looked at her with a frown. She nodded. “Very sad, but very true. Come, Mr. Danner. Rob. Date me.”

She took me to a very fine restaurant that had an ensemble playing light dinner music, then a few musicians joined in afterwards at about nine local time and they played some dancing music, both Russian and American big band and waltzes. There were several songs I’d never heard before, but I really liked. I asked Maria to help me find them later as a personal favor to me if she could. I told her I’d make it worth her while, but she assured me I already had and that she’d be more than happy to help.

She was a really good dancer. I asked her about it, but all I could get out of her was ‘school’. She learned in ‘school’. I dropped the subject and decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. This lady was prettier every time I looked at her. An hour or so into our dancing, she asked me the ultimate question, for her, and possibly for me, but she asked it.

“Rob, when do you think you might be back? I know you do not make the parts. I know you do not fix the parts. Will you be coming back, or is Maria on what you might call a one nighter?”

“Maria, if you want me to come back, for Maria, I will. If you want me to send for you to visit me at my home, I will. If you think this is a one-night stand and I’m going to ply you with vodka, have sex, and run away to safety back home, you are badly, if not sadly, mistaken. As a matter of fact, I’m not going to have sex with you, ever. I don’t do that. At least not any more. I did a couple of times, unknowingly. Maria, you asked when I might be back. Do you want a second date?” She nodded. “Do you have anyone else, Maria?” She shook her head. “You did, though, you thought?” She nodded. “If I leave here with plans for a second date, I won’t see anyone else. Can you say the same?” She nodded and right on cue, she kissed me.

“Yes. You are one-woman man?” she asked. I nodded. “I am one-man woman. This should work out very well. Please tell me you will come back soon, Rob. You ... You see, you were out of reach for me, as the American. The businessman. I thought you would not want to see me. Then I was caught up in the drama of the Foreign Affairs Department. Affairs is right. I should have known, but ... In any case, it was not to be. He was nice, for a while, but ... Anyway, to know you would ask me then, and to know you ask me now, changes things. You are a nice man and I like how you talk to people and treat people.”

“Maria, if I tell you the truth, I’m showing my cards too early. If I say nothing you will think I don’t think you’re special, but may I be honest and still be able to try for your affections?” She nodded. “Maria, you are the most beautiful woman, I think, I’ve ever spoken to. I’m not being dramatic, and I’m not trying to fill you full of fluff. Your gorgeous red hair, your pretty face, your attractive slender neck, your voluptuous figure, your longer than life legs, the way you move when you walk in your high heels, everything womanly about you is wonderful and enticing and more than I’ve ever seen in one place. Do you ever get vacation time off?”

“Yes, Rob. Of course. What are you asking?”

“Would you come home with me? Visit with me and stay at my ranch and see if we enjoy spending time together? Get to know each other? I’ll bring you back in a week or two, depending on your vacation time, and maybe stay a few days and we can talk about it.”

“Diving in quickly and deeply, are we not?”

“It’s the easiest way to get used to the water. Think about it, please. I’ll stay for a couple more days if you like. That will give you a chance to think it over and please, if you think it’s too early, say so. Say ‘later’. Say anything, but say something. Something besides, ‘no’, please. Your voice is also one of those things I admire. Belay that. Maria, I’ll be honest. Your voice is one of your many attributes I’m enchanted with.”

“Come, Rob. I will take you to your hotel. I have a bit of work to do tomorrow, but I will take off early after I talk with Dimitri. He knows I like you. He does, too, by the way. He told me you mentioned something after the last meeting. ‘A shame she got that call’, he told me later he heard you say. I had to decipher it as he got a couple of words wrong, but just the same, he knows.” As we drove through the city, she asked me, “Do you have any questions about me, Rob. Anything you need to know before we have the dating process?”

“Yes. Many things. I will assume you are a girl.” She grinned, then giggled, and nodded. “Parents?”

She shook her head. “I lost them when I was young. They were in the wrong place at a bad time in the south and were caught in an explosion. They were at a conference in a school and did not make it out of a terrorist attack. Chechen rebels.”

“Siblings?”

“Sister. Twin. Fraternal. She does not have like me the red hair of my mother, but instead the blonde hair of my father. We look a bit similar, but she is different, too.”

“Where is she?”

“She serves in the Russian Navy. St. Petersburg.”

“Are you two close?”

“Mostly. As much as sisters can be? We have different lives, and different views, but we love each other. I love her anyway. She is all I have left of our family. I hope she feels the same.” We pulled up to the hotel. She was going to get out, to help me out, as would be customary if she was the employee providing transportation. In this case, I reached out and held her arm.

“No need, princess. Stay there.” I got out, went around to her side, opened the door and with my hand on her neck, pulled her to me for a kiss. A kiss full of lightning and vibration and color, the likes of which I do not remember feeling ... Ever.

“Rob? Oh, my God. What was that?” She pulled me back to her by my lapels. The second kiss was similar, without the vibration. “I will go with you. Please be careful with me, Rob, but I will tell Dimitri I need to go with you for my vacation. Can we go somewhere and do something fun, or are we going to sit on your ranch and watch the cows grow?”

“We’ll have fun, princess. We’ll have fun. Call me tomorrow. You have all of my information.” The third kiss was just a short peck, but it was still more than I ever remembered there being in a kiss. Robert Danner was in love.

I woke to the sound of my phone ringing. “Danner.”

“This is your new girlfriend, if you will have me. Good morning, Rob. I have talked with Dimitri and he has given me leave to be absent until I come back. It is not open ended, but he set no specific date. He has no pending deals, either American or from the United Kingdom, inclusive, but asked that I be available by phone if he needs me.”

“Wow. He must like you, Maria. Would you be ready to travel tomorrow? We can leave mid-morning and arrive at a reasonable hour for me to take you to dinner at my favorite place back home.”

“Yes, I could. I need to know what to bring.”

“The weather here is just a bit cooler than at home in the spring, so keep that in mind, but if you will take the minimum necessary, I’ll turn you loose to get whatever you need, or want, when we get there. Riding clothes, cocktail dresses, an evening gown, golf and swimming attire, shorts and tops to run around in. All of that. I can take care of all of that. Pack lightly like you were off with Dimitri translating somewhere, and I’ll take care of everything else. Then, when you decide I’m not worth your trouble...”

She interrupted me with a laugh. “I highly doubt that is going to happen after you buy me all those clothes, boyfriend.”

“OK. Granted, but in any case, I’ll ship your new clothes home with you or bring you back with all of them when I return you back here.”

“You said golf, swimming, and did I hear correctly, riding?”

“Yes. I warned you that it was a ranch. And it is, of sorts. Horses and cattle. Not many, and I have people take care of it for me, but I like the outdoors and being in the open, so I live in the country. Not too far, but far enough.”

“I can not wait. Rob, have you eaten yet?”

“No, girlfriend, I haven’t even woken up yet. I was without benefit of alarm and enjoying it immensely. Would you join me for a late breakfast here at the hotel?”

“More like an early lunch at this point, boyfriend, but that sounds like fun, then we can get me ready to go. Are you busy today?”

“No, Maria. You’re my only concern, barring any work-related calls, until we get back home. Come for me. I’ll get myself cleaned up and if you’ll come get me, we’ll just take care of Maria today. After you find me some breakfast, and you some lunch, that is.” She giggled and signed off promising to be at the room shortly.

It was a warm spring day, and to be honest, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I opened the door to my suite. Maria was a beautiful creature in her work clothes, usually a business suit with a mid-thigh pencil skirt and high heels. Put her in short shorts, a tight T-top, and high heeled sandals, and it changed everything. Now, she was an attraction. I literally had to pull her into my arms to keep from staring at her. At that point, with her in my arms, I was pretty sure this was it, and it was all over. As long as I’d known her, and as many times as we’d spoken, probably thirty or more, never once did I get a negative vibe from her.

Now, with her against me, I gathered myself and said to her, “I told you last night what I thought of you. That was in business clothes. You are amazingly attractive in that sexy little outfit. You are a doll, Maria. I’m so happy we’re trying this. Wow. Just wow.” I finally separated from her, held her shoulders and kissed her. “Striking. Simply and utterly striking.”

“Thank you, Rob. You know, you are not less than handsome yourself. I have always thought that, but first you do not ask, then I cannot say yes, then, well now, all is well, and the handsome businessman has asked the little Russian girl out to breakfast. Do you really think your new girlfriend is pretty?”

“No need to ask. I wasn’t kidding. You are the prettiest woman I’ve ever talked to, let alone kissed, or held in my arms close to me. Come on, before we get mushy. I’m hungry?”

“Mushy?”

“So sweetly romantic it reeks of paperback love stories. Cheap romance novels.”

“Oh, we do not want to reek of mushy. That would not do for us. The romance novel thing, perhaps. That does sound much more interesting. Come, I will feed my new boyfriend.” She laughed, I chuckled, and we joined hands as off we went for the elevator.

After we ate, she drove me to her house where she made me a drink and sat me in her living room, watching her pack. It was a small place. With her bedroom door open I was only ten feet from her as she folded her things and packed them carefully into a medium sized suitcase.

“Really? Only what I need for a couple of days? Casual clothes?” I nodded. “I think maybe dress to shop in. Easy in, easy out, for when I try on other things. Short sun dress I wear with heels and keep my new boyfriend close.”

“That sounds like a plan. Maria, you’re playing with fire.”

“No, Rob, I am not. I am playing grownup games with grownup man who has said more nice things to this grown up girl than she has ever heard. Ever. And he said them all in one day. Over a year, Rob. We have known each other. You know I believe you, or I would not go with you to America to visit. It is not normal for a woman to be taken so much with a man or a man to be taken so hard and so quickly by a woman. This did not happen yesterday, Mr. Danner. It happened in our minds and our lives over the last year. If I ask you a question, will you answer your Maria ... Wait. I want to tell you something and ask you for a big promise for our lives. For our relationship. Forever. Can you promise never to lie to me? To always tell me the truth and never hide from me that which would hurt me if I knew you were hiding it. Honesty always?”

“Yes, and I assume by asking that, you are making the same promise, the same charter, if you will?”

“I am. I know of no secrets that would benefit you. I know no secrets, come to think of it. Maybe about Dimitri’s girlfriend, but you probably do not care.”

“I care, for a couple of reasons, but I won’t do anything with the information. First, if his wife kills him, our deal may fall through, and second, I don’t like cheaters, but who knows. Maybe ... Their lives are their lives. I won’t lie to you, and I won’t have an affair behind your back. Wait. If I ever lie to you, there will be a gift or something involved, but that’s not the kind of lying you are talking about is it?”

“Certainly not.”

“Then what is the question my Maria would like the answer to?”

“Two, actually. Do you believe in love at first sight, and if you make love is it forever for you?”

“Yes.”

“To which?”

“Both. I told you I wouldn’t have sex with you. I was hoping, if the Goddess is kind and generous to an old man who tries to do the right thing, that some day you would make love to me. With me.”

“I feel a mushy romance story coming on. Rob, I am not a little girl, even though I am a little girl. I know of what a relationship with you will consist. High heels and intimacy, at a minimum.” She giggled. “We are fine, you and I.”

“Good. Are you packed? I want you to spend the night with me in my suite. We will proceed at your level, Maria, and at your speed. I will do nothing to offend or scare you away, but I’d like to be together.”

She closed her bag, set it on the floor and reached out for me. Holding my face in her hands, she urged me down for a soft kiss. Another electrical connection. “It will be fine, Rob. Really. Let me tell my building manager on the way out that I will be back in a few weeks. He is a nice old man and will keep my mail for me and watch my place.” I picked up her bag and after she locked her door, I followed her downstairs, down the hallway, and to the first door by the entrance to the building. I watched her closely. Very closely. There was nothing about this woman I wasn’t taken with. Any axiom you can imagine about watching a woman walk was true about me watching her. She spoke to the old man, him smiling and looking at me a bit, evidently approving, and they bid their farewells. I put my hand on the lowest part of the small of her back and felt a vibration run through me that couldn’t be denied. My hand was resting on the lower spine of my future. She turned and smiled. “I enjoy your touch, Rob. I really do.”