Read Online Her Russian Billionaire by Theodora Taylor - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Theodora Taylor
Tags: interracial romance
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going to be fussing around with dough for hours when I can just throw the boxed kind in a pot and call it a day. That’s good enough for this family.”
“Sorry, sweetness.” Eva tossed him an apologetic look through the computer.
“That’s okay,” Aaron said, even though he looked disappointed.
She felt terrible. This was yet another reason she had grown tired of living with her parents. At first it seemed like a great idea, since the house was so big, and she could use the money she saved in rent for Aaron’s college fund and the vacation they took every year. But for Eva, who had learned to enjoy cooking before she moved back in, the culinary situation had grown untenable. Her mother didn’t welcome anything more adventurous than Chinese takeout at their dinner table. Plus, she ruled the house kitchen with an iron fist, so Eva wouldn’t be able to make fresh pasta herself even if they had the right tools.
She would move out, she decided with sudden conviction. After she was done jumping through Alexei’s hoops, they would move somewhere and make a new start. And she’d make him fresh pasta or whatever his little heart desired at least once a week.
On the other side of the computer screen, Aaron yawned. “We’re leaving to go to Disneyland Paris tomorrow. Uncle Steve said I have go to bed early.”
“That’s very practical of your Uncle Steve,” she said. “But before you go, I just wanted you to know I won’t be able to Skype with you when you get back. I’m going on vacation, and I’m not sure how much computer access I’ll have.”
Aaron sat up, his eyes narrowing in that way that made him look so much like his father. “You, Grandpa, and Grandma are going on vacation somewhere?” He sounded suspicious, as he should, since during the course of his young life, his grandfather had never taken a non-working vacation much less one with Eva in tow.
“Auntie Layla’s husband is really busy right now, so we decided to take a vacation to the Bahamas, just the two of us.” She hated to lie to him, but this was the most plausible excuse she could come up with to explain why she wouldn’t be available by computer for the next two weeks.
The suspicious squint disappeared and he nodded. “Okay, that’s good. I like Auntie Layla.”
“I know you do,” she said, laughing. Layla had been Aaron’s go-to babysitter for those first couple of years before her father had forgiven her enough to let her move back home. And after that, she and Aaron had taken trips to visit Layla in Dallas at least three times a year, before she moved to Pittsburgh.
She looked at Aaron’s sweet face now, trying to memorize every aspect of it, since she wouldn’t be able to see it for two more weeks. “I know you’ll be good for Uncle Steve and Aunt Maria, and I’ll try to text with you as much as I can.”
“Okay. Have fun. Love you, Mama.” One of the nicer side effects of their summer apart was Aaron had become much more affectionate. She supposed it was all well and good to say you didn’t need your mama, until you got to missing her.
“Love you, too, sweetness.”
And then he was gone, leaving Eva to feel torn between her son and the man who didn’t even know he existed.
“I don’t know why you look so sad,” her mother said, appearing in the doorway to the den. “Nearly brought this town to ruin, now you’re going to up and take a vacation with your girlfriend like lah-dee-dah. “
Even though her mother, Truelle St. James, was thirty years older than Eva, someone might have mistaken them for sisters, if everyone in their small town didn’t already know them as mother and daughter. They shared the same dark chocolate complexion and even had the same body type, though her mother did a lot more to keep her curves hidden, preferring to wear unassuming grey or black dresses to the bright colors Eva favored. Other than that, at first glance, anybody could tell they were related.
However, when they
“Sorry, sweetness.” Eva tossed him an apologetic look through the computer.
“That’s okay,” Aaron said, even though he looked disappointed.
She felt terrible. This was yet another reason she had grown tired of living with her parents. At first it seemed like a great idea, since the house was so big, and she could use the money she saved in rent for Aaron’s college fund and the vacation they took every year. But for Eva, who had learned to enjoy cooking before she moved back in, the culinary situation had grown untenable. Her mother didn’t welcome anything more adventurous than Chinese takeout at their dinner table. Plus, she ruled the house kitchen with an iron fist, so Eva wouldn’t be able to make fresh pasta herself even if they had the right tools.
She would move out, she decided with sudden conviction. After she was done jumping through Alexei’s hoops, they would move somewhere and make a new start. And she’d make him fresh pasta or whatever his little heart desired at least once a week.
On the other side of the computer screen, Aaron yawned. “We’re leaving to go to Disneyland Paris tomorrow. Uncle Steve said I have go to bed early.”
“That’s very practical of your Uncle Steve,” she said. “But before you go, I just wanted you to know I won’t be able to Skype with you when you get back. I’m going on vacation, and I’m not sure how much computer access I’ll have.”
Aaron sat up, his eyes narrowing in that way that made him look so much like his father. “You, Grandpa, and Grandma are going on vacation somewhere?” He sounded suspicious, as he should, since during the course of his young life, his grandfather had never taken a non-working vacation much less one with Eva in tow.
“Auntie Layla’s husband is really busy right now, so we decided to take a vacation to the Bahamas, just the two of us.” She hated to lie to him, but this was the most plausible excuse she could come up with to explain why she wouldn’t be available by computer for the next two weeks.
The suspicious squint disappeared and he nodded. “Okay, that’s good. I like Auntie Layla.”
“I know you do,” she said, laughing. Layla had been Aaron’s go-to babysitter for those first couple of years before her father had forgiven her enough to let her move back home. And after that, she and Aaron had taken trips to visit Layla in Dallas at least three times a year, before she moved to Pittsburgh.
She looked at Aaron’s sweet face now, trying to memorize every aspect of it, since she wouldn’t be able to see it for two more weeks. “I know you’ll be good for Uncle Steve and Aunt Maria, and I’ll try to text with you as much as I can.”
“Okay. Have fun. Love you, Mama.” One of the nicer side effects of their summer apart was Aaron had become much more affectionate. She supposed it was all well and good to say you didn’t need your mama, until you got to missing her.
“Love you, too, sweetness.”
And then he was gone, leaving Eva to feel torn between her son and the man who didn’t even know he existed.
“I don’t know why you look so sad,” her mother said, appearing in the doorway to the den. “Nearly brought this town to ruin, now you’re going to up and take a vacation with your girlfriend like lah-dee-dah. “
Even though her mother, Truelle St. James, was thirty years older than Eva, someone might have mistaken them for sisters, if everyone in their small town didn’t already know them as mother and daughter. They shared the same dark chocolate complexion and even had the same body type, though her mother did a lot more to keep her curves hidden, preferring to wear unassuming grey or black dresses to the bright colors Eva favored. Other than that, at first glance, anybody could tell they were related.
However, when they
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