by E. L. Todd
“I can see why.”
I pulled her legs over my lap and felt the smoothness of her skin.
She snuggled in my side and watched TV with me. Her head rested against my shoulder, and her scent came into my nose.
I sighed and relaxed, loving the fact I was doing something so normal with her. I never thought I’d have her in my apartment, but now that dream had come true.
Rome pulled her legs away. “As comfortable as I am, I should go.”
Inexplicable irritation flashed through me. I wanted her to stay. My need couldn’t be explained. “Sleep with me.”
She got to her feet and looked at me. “No sleepovers, remember?”
I growled and kept my retort back. When I slept with her last week, it was one of the best nights of rest I’d gotten.
Rome walked back into my room to change. Then the sound of her clapping heels on the floor announced her return.
I turned off the TV and stood up.
“I’ll see you at work tomorrow, Thomas.”
I walked her to the door and gave her a final kiss.
Her hands moved up and down my chest, feeling the solid concrete underneath. Then she felt the light facial hair of my face.
“Do you like this?” I whispered.
“I think you can pull off anything.” She kissed my cheek then pulled away.
She was slipping through my fingers. “Can I see you tomorrow?”
She gave me a teasing smile. “I think I can squeeze you in…”
I pulled her to my chest and hugged her, loving the feel of her small form against my body. Even in heels, she was much shorter than me. I wanted to hold her like this all night, but unless I tied her up, I couldn’t get her to stick around. “Can I take you home?” I would have offered this before, but I remembered how weird she was about me going to her apartment.
“No, I’ll be fine. Good night, Thomas.” She opened the door and stepped out.
When she was gone, I felt lonelier than I’d ever had.
***
After work, I took her to the movies. I had my arm around her shoulders, and her hand rested on my thigh. When I leaned close to her, I smelled her perfume. Instead of watching the movie, I wished we were doing something else.
Rome picked at her popcorn then turned to me. She held up a piece then eyed my mouth.
I opened it and watched her delicately place the kernel on my tongue. Then I chewed it and swallowed it, watching her face as I did it. My fingers grasped a buttery piece and then I held it to her lips to feed it to her. She parted her lips and allowed me to place it on her tongue. After she chewed it, she gave me a flirty look.
Forgetting about the movie altogether, I leaned in and kissed her hard on the mouth. Her lips moved against mine, and she immediately gave me her tongue. It danced with mine and gave me shivers. She tasted so good that I didn’t care about anything else. I’d rather eat her than a four-course meal at a fancy restaurant.
We made out until the credits started to roll. While I was hard and would love to take her in the bathroom, I was content with just kissing her. Good kissing got me aroused in a way I couldn’t explain. But that didn’t happen with all women. Kissing Rome was different. The chemistry was explosive. I couldn’t control myself, and I found myself becoming more obsessed with her.
When the theatre emptied, I knew it was time to leave. Reluctantly, I ended the embrace then pulled her to her feet. Hand-in-hand, we walked out until we reached the street.
“Like the movie?” she asked with a smirk.
“Best film I’ve ever seen,” I said. “What did we watch again?”
She laughed. “I don’t remember either.”
“Let’s go back to my place so we can pick up where we left off.”
“Sounds good to me.”
When we came back to my place, I moved on top of her and took her slowly on my bed. I wasn’t in a hurry to reach the finish line. I wanted to feel every part of her, to enjoy it as long as I could. I kissed her as I moved, my lips finding hers in desperation.
Rome returned my kisses and touches with equal intensity. She was amazing in bed, sensual and sexy. She wasn’t ashamed of her sexuality or the fact she loved sex. She pulled me harder into her when she wanted it, and when she wanted to take the reigns, she rolled on top of me and rode me like a sexy cowgirl.
When we were finished, I lay beside her and caught my breath. “You’re the best I’ve ever had, Rome.” I’d never said that to any girl I’ve had before. Every experience I had was good and unique in its own way, but with Rome…everything was different.
She turned into my side and rested her hand on my chest.
“Am I yours…?” I hoped she would say yes. I’d never been insecure about my performance before.
“Hands down,” she whispered.
I glowed with pride. I pulled her on top of my chest, loving her light weight on me. It reminded me she was still there when I fell asleep. My hand moved up her smooth back, and I felt the deep dip near her ass.
She held herself on her elbows and looked down at me. “Thanks for taking me to the movies.”
“Of course. Thanks for spending time with me and giving me great orgasms.”
She chuckled. “I’m sure you can do that on your own.”
“Not like you can.” I grabbed her hair and fisted it in my large hand. Her strands were soft.
“You flatter me, Thomas.”
I cupped her face and kissed her before I settled on my pillow.
“Have you spoken to your brother?” she asked casually.
“I saw him a few weeks ago.”
“How’d that go?”
“It was okay, I guess. I was a little mean to him.”
“What did you guys do?”
“We went golfing,” I answered. “We just talked while we played the game.”
“And what did he do when you were mean to him?” she asked.
“Nothing,” I said. “He didn’t say anything.”
“It sounds like he’s really trying.”
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Are you going to see him again?”
“I don’t know…I wasn’t planning on it.”
“I’m sure he’ll come back and ask to see you again. What will you say?”
“No,” I said. “But he’ll bother me until I give him the answer he wants.”
She smiled. “He sounds sincere to me.”
“Well, it’s hard to forgive someone for torturing you for fifteen years. It doesn’t happen overnight.”
“I understand,” she said quietly.
“I’m not a cold person, honestly. People have done things to me before and I’ve let it go. But…this is different.”
“It affected you deeply. Things like that can’t be erased without leaving a scar.”
“Yeah…”
“But I think the fact you’re giving him a chance, no matter how small, is admirable.”
“Well, someone did a good job convincing me…”
She smiled. “Just trying to help.”
“Who’s crossed you?” I asked. It seemed like she had experience in this area.
She flinched noticeably and her playful attitude was gone. “That’s neither here nor there…”
That was a weird response. “You can tell me. I’m not going to judge you or anything.”
She looked down at her hands then moved off my chest. “I should probably go.”
Wait, what? “Sorry?”
“It’s getting late. I should get home.”
I sat up and watched her dress. “Rome?”
“Hmm?” She pulled her dress on then slipped on her heels.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. But please don’t run from me.”
She stopped and gave me a sad look. “I’m not running from you. I just really need to go.”
I remembered the phone call she received when we were in San Diego. The conversation left her in tears and she refuse
d to tell me what was said. Sometimes I felt like she was hiding another life from me, a second identity that was classified.
“I had a great time tonight,” she said.
“Can I see you on Saturday?”
“Uh, the weekend won’t work. I have a friend coming down to visit from Vermont. How about Wednesday?”
I noticed she only wanted to see me on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. It was the same schedule every single week. It was odd, and I wanted to ask why her routine was so regular, but I had a strong suspicion she wouldn’t tell me anything. If she were any other girl, I wouldn’t care. But her odd behavior drove me crazy. “Okay.”
I walked her to the front door, and painfully, said goodbye.
“See you on Monday.” She gave me a long kiss before she pulled away.
Feeling her slip from my grasp was painful. I wanted her to stay, to have breakfast with me in the morning while she wore one of my t-shirts. I wanted to spend the weekend with her, taking her somewhere nice where we could have dinner on a beach. Knowing she was in the same city but out of reach but was irritating. I hid my annoyance and gave her a pleasant look. “See you then.”
***
I loved working with Rome because I got to see her every day, but I also hated it because I couldn’t touch her the way I wanted. I didn’t want my colleagues to know I was sleeping with Rome. My professionalism would be gone, and I would be on the same level as the rest of them, even if I weren’t married. So, I had to pretend that she was meaningless. I kept my glances hidden when other people were around.
Rome took her lunch earlier, and I knew she headed to the break room because she didn’t have time to go out. I stayed in my office so I wouldn’t be stuck in the break room with her. I had no idea how to talk to her and be around her in the presence of others. Touching her and kissing her was all I knew.
When my stomach growled, I decided to grab something from the break room and take it back to my office. I walked inside and saw a few guys there. Sandwiches and salad were on trays, and I was grateful there were vegetarian options. I purposely didn’t look at Rome, not wanting to make it obvious to everyone in the room I was obsessed with her.
Rome grabbed a bottle of water from the counter, and Matt watched her, his eyes honing in on her ass.
I wanted to snap his neck but I tamed the beast inside me. Not only was I angry by the obvious disrespect, but also I was extremely jealous and territorial. No one looked at her ass but me.
When Rome leaned over to grab a napkin, Matt leaned closer to her ear then grabbed her ass.
I was stunned for a moment, unsure if I really saw that happen. Did my imagination pull a trick on me? Was I conjuring a reason to kill him? Or did he really grab my girl’s ass?
When Rome slapped him hard across the face, I knew it really happened.
I dropped my plate on the table and rushed to him, seeing red.
Matt saw me coming, and he looked terrified.
I grabbed him by the throat then punched him hard in the face, immediately spilling blood from his nose. He fell back to the ground at the force of the impact. “Fucking asshole.”
The guys stared at us with wide eyes.
Rome grabbed my arm and pulled me back before I could do further damage. “Thomas, stop. Let it go.”
Only she could tame me. If it were someone else, I would twist out of their grasp then break Matt’s neck. “I’m filing a complaint with Mr. Norwalk. You can kiss your job goodbye, jackass.”
Matt sat up then wiped the blood away. “I’m sorry. I got carried away…”
“Oh, that’s supposed to make it better?” I asked incredulously.
Matt turned to Rome. “I’m sorry. I was out of line. I’m sorry…”
Rome turned to me. “Just let it go.”
“No,” I snapped. “He doesn’t grab your ass and get away with it.”
“You’re just going to cause more drama by taking it up with corporate,” Rome said. “Just let it go. It doesn’t seem like he’ll do it again. Plus, you punched him at work. You’ll probably get in trouble.”
“You think I care?”
“Let’s just forget about it.” Rome gave me a firm look. “If Matt does it again, we’ll revisit this conversation. For now, drop it.”
I bottled my anger and forced myself to let it go. But I kneeled down and grabbed Matt by the throat. “Come near her again and I’ll kill you. I’m not joking.”
He nodded and wiped his nose again.
No longer hungry, I left the break room, blood dripping from my hand.
***
Theo called me a few times but I didn’t take his calls. I didn’t want to talk to him. I was having a bad day, and having to put up with him didn’t sound exactly fun. But when I didn’t answer, he came to my door.
“Why do you always drop by unannounced?” I hissed.
“Because you don’t answer your phone.”
“Maybe I don’t want to talk to you.”
“You probably don’t. But you’re going to.”
I rubbed the back of my neck in irritation. “What do you want?”
“I think I found the building for the studio. You want to see it?”
At least it was work related. “I guess.”
“Cool.”
I grabbed my jacket from the coat rack then walked with him.
“It’s just down the road.”
“Whatever.”
Theo eyed me as he walked beside me. “Having a bad day…?”
“You could say that.”
“Want to talk about it?” he asked quietly.
“With you? I’ll pass.”
“Well, I’d like to know.”
“Wouldn’t you?” I sneered.
Theo never retaliated to my hostile behavior. It must be difficult to let it go, and he somehow managed it. “Talk to me.”
“Some guy at work grabbed Rome’s ass.”
He sighed. “What a loser.”
“Perfect description.”
“Did you kill him?” Theo asked.
“I punched him but Rome asked me to stop.”
“If someone grabbed Alex’s ass, their body would be in a dumpster.”
“I wish I didn’t work with this guy,” I said. “It makes everything more complicated.”
“Yeah… So, did anything happen with Rome?”
I hadn’t told him about San Diego or the fact she and I were humping like bunnies. “She and I are casually seeing each other.”
He smirked then nudged me in the side. “You dog.”
“We’re having a good time together.”
“But it’s casual?”
“Yeah. She said it’s just a fling, and when we’re sick of each other, we’ll go our separate ways.”
“Hmm…”
“What?” I asked.
“I’ve just never heard a girl be so…rigid about that.”
I shrugged. “I thought it was weird too. She said we can’t do sleepovers and we stay out of each other’s personal lives. She said it’s just a relationship of convenience, and when the heat burns out, we’ll go our separate ways.”
He put his hands in his pockets. “A relationship of convenience?”
“Yeah.”
“But I can tell you don’t want that.” The statement hung in the air for a long time. It wasn’t a question, but it wasn’t really a statement either.
Judging my behavior and neediness that was true. “I don’t.”
He nodded then kept walking. “Does she know this?”
“No. She seems determined to have a meaningless relationship with me. I ask her to sleep over but she never budges. She never talks about her private life to me. She sticks to certain topics. But it’s hard for me to believe because we’re so good together. Every other girl falls in love with me, but Rome acts like I really don’t mean anything to her. But then, she looks at me like I mean something to her. She touches me like she can’t live without me. She talks to me like I’m the
only person that matters. It’s confusing…”
“Maybe she does want you in the same way but she keeps her distance so she won’t get hurt,” Theo reasoned.
“But, why would she be scared? When we first talked about us being together, I wanted to be in a relationship. She turned that option down.”
“Maybe because she knows you don’t do relationships?”
“But I told her I was willing to try.”
“No girl wants to be an experiment,” Theo said.
“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “I guess I’m hoping she’ll change her mind the longer we’re together. She’ll quit her job and he won’t have to worry about our professionalism.”
“Yeah, maybe she will.” He stopped when he reached an empty building. “What do you think?”
I examined it then walked around it. It was right on the strip and it wasn’t near any other gyms or karate studios. It had lots of windows and looked spacious. There was a second story, and when I peered inside, the hardwood floors looked new and the mirrors looked pristine. Judging its appearance, it was only a few years old. “It’s a good spot.”
“It’s expensive but I think location is more important than price.”
I nodded in agreement.
“I already showed Conrad and Uncle Mike. They seemed to like it.”
“I’m in agreement.”
“So, we have a unanimous vote?” Theo asked.
“It looks like it.”
“Sweet,” he said. “I’ll put the bid in and we’ll get this ball rolling.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Just don’t run it to the ground. I want my money back.”
“I won’t let you down, brother.”
I turned to him and gave him a hard look. I didn’t like it when he called me that. “It’s Thomas.” I turned up the street and headed back to my apartment.
Theo didn’t chase me. Instead, he walked the opposite way.
Chapter Ten
Skye
I was working in my office when there was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” I said without looking away from my computer.
Dad stepped inside. “Have a moment, Ms. Preston?”
I refrained from rolling my eyes. Everyone knew I was his daughter, so it was stupid to be so formal all the time. It was borderline annoying. I admit it was unprofessional for me to call him Dad but he should be able to address me by my first name. “Yes. Do you need something?”