Innocent in the Ivory Tower by Lucy Ellis Page B

her, putting a lie to that ‘entertainment’ crack. Yet she couldn’t ignore it. He had made it for a reason.
    She sensed that, as much as he wanted her, his instinct was to push her away. Strange as the thought was, it was as if he had a wall around him. She’d felt it back at Lantern Square—how untouchable he seemed. Something had changed in the park yesterday. She’d seen the real man behind that wall when he’d hunkered down to Kostya’s level to reassure him. That same sweetness had been in the way he had removed her shoes last night. In these moments he had been reachable, human, vulnerable.
    But she sensed these glimpses were involuntary. He didn’t want the closeness she sought. Even as he had kept her snugin his arms, she had instinctively known this was as much as he was offering.
    She needed to be very careful. She needed to guard her heart.
    Kostya was pleased to see Maisy. He got up and toddled across the terrace to throw up his arms for his morning cuddle.
    Alexei noted approvingly that a cuddle was all he required and then he was struggling to be put down. He ran back to his pedal car. Observing the child this morning, he had been aware of what Maisy had said to him last night about Leo’s absence and Anais’s inability to cope. But Kostya appeared to be a well-adjusted little boy—no signs of clinginess or insecurity. Her claims just didn’t add up. A huge part of him was relieved, but it worried him that she had lied. It didn’t align with the girl he was beginning to know.
    Alexei remained where he was, with a pile of newspapers from around the world, his smart phone and a strong espresso. It was a morning like any other when he wasn’t working—except for Maisy. She had pulled up her hair into a ponytail and wore jeans and a V-necked T-shirt. He didn’t want clingy—he didn’t
do
clingy—but Maisy had taken it
way
in the opposite direction. Clearly they were pretending not to know one another. Interesting. He decided not to react to her, waiting for her to come to him.
    Sipping his espresso, he idly thumbed through his schedule, lining up his phone appointments for the day.
    Maisy poured herself a glass of orange juice from the buffet and approached the table uneasily, waiting for Alexei to look up, to speak, with half of her attention attuned to Maria—who must
know
. He’d turned up yesterday and this morning she was bouncing out of his bed. It was one thing to be a sexually independent woman. It was another thing to have an audience—a traditional Italian audience.
    Before she sat down he half rose from his chair, his manners clearly so ingrained that even when he was ignoring herhe behaved like a gentleman. Maisy settled herself, still waiting to be spoken to. Nothing. She looked around. Maria was clearing the buffet. Steadying her nerve, she watched Kostya for a while. She was constantly aware of Alexei, typing into his phone, stabbing with his thumb, and Maisy experienced his uninterest like a well-placed kick to her fledgling sexual self-confidence. It was exactly like the aftermath of her sleeping with Dan. She had dressed in the cold whilst he had answered emails, his back to her. Except this was worse—because as she had buttoned herself up she had known she didn’t care for Dan and had no intention of repeating the experience.
    This time she wanted to climb into Alexei’s lap. Her insides seemed to light up when she had his attention. Even now, as he fiddled with that stupid device, she couldn’t strip her eyes off him, was wishing he would just look up and acknowledge her. But she knew he wouldn’t. It was the equivalent of dressing in the cold.
    All of her insecurities came rushing back. Maybe he had changed his mind. She might have been able to attract him but she couldn’t hold him. Her mind went helplessly back over events, trying to find the flaws in their lovemaking. Had she done something he didn’t like? Had she not been responsive enough? He had wanted her