Bad Apple (Part 1) Read Online Free

answer seems to surprise him, but he grins and I flinch when the sounds of cheering and high fives reach my ears.
    I swear it’s hard not to snarl at my girls when I turn to see them and Misha’s posse practically doing the happy jig just feet away. Savages.
    “Six, angel.”
    “No, I uh, I only get done by half past six, and then I need to go home and change and—”
    “I will be here at six to get you and not a minute later. Nikita, you will close tonight along with Vadim, yes?”
    And just like that I have a date.
    “Excellent. Now, then, you enjoy baking that pie and I will see you at six sharp. Perhaps you could have something ready for dessert?” he drawls, making me blush even hotter when he winks and waves the other men out with him.
    The three men saunter out, their smiling faces just barely out of view before I am mortified beyond all bearing when The Three Stooges start screaming at the top of their lungs.
    “Yougotadate!” Tat screeches, jumping up and down like a jackrabbit as the other two start dancing and doing what I can only assume is the electric slide.
    My eyes stay wide on them all as it all hits me again.
    “You got a date and you’re gonna lose your virginity finally!’ Tat yells again, making me cringe.
    The door pops open suddenly and that blond head pokes in. He heard every word Tat yelled at the top of her lungs, I can see it in the way he’s fighting laughter and the sparkle in his eyes as they land on me with a hot grin.
    Take me now.
    “I forgot to ask if you’ve got any food allergies or if you’re okay with a lot of meat so I can call Mama and tell her. The meat is non-negotiable, but if you’re not partial to nuts we’ll have to talk,” he drawls, my mouth now officially gaping as the girls giggle.
    “No, I like a lot of nuts…I mean, they’re good. I mean—”
    “She’s okay with it all, hotness,” Liza drawls.
    “Good. See you at six.” His eyes meet mine again before he bites his lip and nods.
    He’s gone before I can gather my scattered wits about me and my friends start yelling and hopping again just as I see the three guys cross the street to the tall building opposite the shop.
    I wait a good sixty seconds before I allow my legs to dump my ass into a chair at the counter and turn to the others, my eyes so wide that I’m afraid they may fall out. I mouth one terrifying word, feeling my pits drench my shirt.
    Mama?
     
     
     
     

Chapter Five
    Irina
    “Ri, heads up, little lady!” Liza yells from her place at the register and I almost break my fool neck rushing from the back to see Misha running out of the building, his face a mask of desperation just before a little dynamo of a woman comes bustling in, takes one look at me, and rushes over to plant a wet kiss right on my mouth.
    A frazzled Misha comes barreling in and physically lifts her and sets her away from me before going off in a spate of Russian that I couldn’t follow if I had a translator beside me.
    “But, Misha…”
    They keep it up, babbling at a furious pace before she knocks him aside and comes at me again like a heat-seeking missile, her fingers pinching my cheeks in a way that totally reminds me of my mamen’ka .
    “You such a pretty girl. You tell Mama what you like and I make,” she coos, though “make” comes out more like “mek.”
    Misha tries once again to waylay his mama, earning himself a slap upside the head before she starts in on me again.
    “I see you good Russian girl with meaty bones. I like. Now you tell Mama what you like so I make good food,” she says, taking my arm and pulling me toward a table.
    All I can do is look back at her son with an open mouth, totally shocked as the little woman keeps pulling me along.
    His shoulders shrug and that grin breaks free again, letting me know I’m on my own as he saunters over to Nik and starts talking softly, his eyes never leaving mine.
    The fool’s eating a croissant as his mother seats me at a table and pinches my