by Eve, Melody
Heat crawls up my cheeks, and I look away blushing. “Are you blushing, Ms. Savage?”
“I think so.”
“I love it. Blushing suits you.”
Everything suits me to Roman. If I wore a potato sack and made a hat out of an empty gallon of milk, he would say it suits me. I guess what they say is true—love is blind.
“Sit, turn around and cross your legs so I can brush your hair. Can you put a touch of makeup on without a mirror?” he asks.
“Yes, just hand me my makeup bag.” I listen to him rustle around in the bathroom for the bag of makeup Ella put together for me. When he returns, he drops it on the mattress. I work at applying lip gloss and a little mascara while he gently brushes through my hair.
The dress is open in the back down to my waist, and my hair is cold against my skin. “I was going to try something different but how about a French braid?”
“Sure. You really do know a little bit about everything, don’t you?”
“I try to.” His fingers work quickly and carefully until he reaches for a rubber band for the end of the braid. “There you go, ready for another forty-eight hours of bedrest and a dinner party.”
Groaning, I turn around and roll my eyes. “The words forty-eight hours, bedrest, and party should never be used in a sentence again.”
He chuckles. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.”
“Ooo, twice in one day, must be a record.”
He tips his head back to look at the ceiling as if to say a Lord, give me strength. When he looks down, he has his composure back. “All right, I need to set up the table, get under the covers like a good girl and wait for our company.”
“I’m on bedrest not two years old.”
He doesn’t have a slick comeback for that. I watch him maneuver a large round table into the room up against the bed and set up three chairs. He looks at his watch. “Six o’clock on the dot, right on time.”
“We make a pretty good team.” He stops and places his hands on the back of a chair opposite me and tilts his head to the side in thought.
“We do, don’t we?”
“Yes, I think so.” I reach out my hand to him, and he comes to sit next to me on the bed.
“I like the idea of us as a team.” I stiffen next to him, but he slides his arm around my shoulders and pulls me close. “You may as well get it into your head, we are going to be a team one day. A permanent stuck like glue, you and me kind of team. I get it if you’re gun shy right now after what that piece of garbage did to you, but not all men are pigs. Some are actually beautiful, sleek panthers who treat their mates with respect and adoration.”
“You, being the beautiful, sleek panther?”
His eyes widen, and he shrugs. “Who else?”
I can’t hold it back, and I burst out laughing. It’s the wholehearted and hearty no-holds- barred kind of laughing. In fact, I laugh so hard I almost wet the bed.
“Well, it is certainly good to hear laughter in this house again,” Roman’s mother says from the open bedroom door.
“You must have brushed up on your comedy, Mufasa. I never thought you were a very funny guy,” Leeza says coming in after his mom.
I cough and sputter trying to compose myself. When I am successful, I give the ladies a wave. “Sorry, Roman just referred to himself as a…” A hand clamps over my mouth, and Roman whispers in my ear.
“That’s enough, love. If you ever want to see that bathtub again, you’ll stop right there.”
I pull away and frown. “Leeza’s right, you’re not funny.”
“Told ya, big brother.” Leeza plops down on the bed next to Roman.
“This is my house, you know. I can un-invite you to dinner any time I like.”
“Now, now, you two stop it. My word, sometimes I feel like you two are back in elementary school the way you bicker. We are here to cheer Aria up, smile, laugh,” she says coming closer. She places her hands on the table, palms down, and leans toward the three of us. “Be nice,” she says in a low, serious tone directed at Roman and Leeza, not me. Her faces switches from stern to sweet when her eyes move to me. “Tell me, poor dear, how did you injure your head in the first place? We haven’t had time to really chat and get to know each other.”
Roman coughs and clears his throat. With a twinkle in his eye, he stands to help Ella who has just arrived with our dinner. He loves the thought of me explaining how I came to knock myself out drinking in his shower.
“Well, it’s kind of embarrassing actually.”
“Oh well, I don’t want to embarrass you. How did you two meet?”
Oh great, one embarrassing story to the next. “I was at the resort, and Roman overheard me telling the desk clerk that I was traveling alone. He struck up a conversation, and here we are, not very exciting, I’m afraid.”
“Oh come now, it wasn’t quite like that.” Roman is spreading a tablecloth on the table listening to my altered version of our story. “Tell her the truth, Mom will understand.”
Julia’s eyebrows pop up intrigued to hear the truth.
I grip the sheets at my sides and dive in thinking of how many ways I can torture Roman from this bed later on for pushing me into this uncomfortable position.
“Well, I was on my honeymoon. Alone. My ex-fiancé was on the phone at the front desk, and the clerk came to my room to encourage me to answer his call. He was worried David, that’s my ex, would come to the resort and cause a scene if I didn’t. Roman happened by and,” I pause suddenly wondering if Roman had actually happened by at all. “Wait, did you know David was on the phone? Were you following that clerk to my room?” I ask Roman who is now wearing a sly grin.
“I followed you to Mexico. I knew what room you were in, and yes, I knew it was David on the phone. There was no way I was going to let him disturb you, but it was the perfect way to come to your rescue, don’t you think?”
This is why he wanted me to tell our story, to point out that our meeting wasn’t an accident after all.
“Nice. Now I have to think of our meeting as a setup instead of fate. I guess I should have realized after you told me you’d been watching me like a creepy stalker for six years.”
“Oh, she got you there, Mufasa,” Leeza taunts grinning.
Roman straightens up and points at his sister. “Shut up, Leeza.” Then he switches his focus to me. “I’ll have you know I was not stalking you. Think of me as your guardian angel. I was merely keeping my eye on you to make sure you were safe.”
“I’m an intelligent, educated, grown woman. I didn’t nor do I now need a guardian angel watching over me to make sure I’m safe.” My words are delivered with a smidge more venom than I had intended, but he gets the point. I’m irritated, back off.
“Touché, Ms. Savage, touché.” He rounds the table and leans over his mother to kiss me ever so gently on the mouth. An apology of sorts, the only kind of apology Roman gives, I imagine.
Julia sighs like a love-sick teenager swooning over a rock star. “I like the two of you together. You don’t put up with my son’s overbearing ways, and he has learned how to say ‘I’m sorry’ with a kiss.”
“I know how to apologize, Mother. And that was not an apology kiss, it was a let’s call it even kiss for your information.” He looks at me, and I know he’s full of shit. He may not admit it, but he just said I’m sorry.
“Whatever. Let’s eat and talk about Aria,” Leeza says popping the tension in the room like a giant soap bubble.
“Me? Why me? Let’s talk about you instead. Talking about me will put you to sleep.”
“I doubt that,” Julia says rubbing my knee. She stands and takes the seat across from me. Roman sits down and scoots his chair close to me, and Leeza is to his left.
“Whatever that is smells delicious, Ella,” I say when she pushes the rolling cart to the table which has been set to look like a formal dinner is happening here in the bedroom—china, stemware, silverware tapering from big to small next to the plates and linen napkin
s. There is even an arrangement of fresh-cut roses in a low vase with small tealight candles on either side.
“Steak with wine sauce and potato gratin, and for the missus, salmon with roasted potatoes,” Ella says pouring wine into Julia’s glass.
“I don’t eat red meat, my doctor says I’m a heart attack risk,” Julia says apologetically and shrugs.
“Mr. Forrest wanted steak for you, ma’am,” Ella says.
“Oh, well, I could have had fish with you. You didn’t have to make two meals, Ella.”
“Yes, she did. I wanted steak,” Roman says snapping his napkin open and placing it in his lap before handing me mine. I roll my eyes and scoot closer to the edge of the bed.
“I could have sat in a chair like everyone else, too.”
“You’re on bedrest, Aria. Lord help me if this ever happens again. I don’t think I can endure it.”
“You? What about me? I’m the one stuck in the bed. I’m surprised you haven’t handcuffed me to the post.” The words are no more out of my mouth when I regret them. One corner of his mouth curves up, and the look on his face says, what a delightful idea!
“Are we going to bicker like this all night?” Julia asks.
“No, I’m sorry. I just don’t want to be an imposition. I didn’t mean to get sassy.”
“Yes, you did, and it’s good to be sassy. If you lay down and let men walk all over you, you’ll be a dirty doormat. Nobody wants a dirty doormat,” Leeza says grabbing her wine glass the second Ella fills it.
“Everything looks beautiful, Ella. Thank you for bringing everything upstairs tonight. We appreciate it very much,” Julia says making a blatant and obvious change in conversation.
“You’re welcome, it’s my pleasure,” Ella says.
“You two are looking tan. Have you been to the beach recently?” I ask following her lead.
“No, we spent the day at the pool. Mother doesn’t like sand in her swimsuit,” Leeza says opening the domed dinner plate Ella has just placed in front of her. “Mmm, Ella, damn, you have outdone yourself.”
“Language, Leeza,” Julia says, ever the mother. Leeza rolls her eyes and finishes her first glass of wine. That girl knows how to put away some alcohol.
“And take it easy on the wine,” Roman says.
Leeza defiantly raises her glass for Ella to fill it and takes another drink. “It’s a dinner party, Mufasa, emphasis on party.”
“How about you put the emphasis on dinner instead?”
Wow, these two aren’t about to sit through this meal without nitpicking each other to death. Looks like Julia and I have our work cut out for us.
“You have a pool? You never mentioned that,” I say to Roman.
“I apologize, I must have forgotten. We have two actually, an indoor lap pool in the basement and the outdoor pool.” He drags out the word apologize and eyes Leeza when he says it just to prove he knows how to do it.
“I can’t wait until Monday to have a tour of the house. It sounds amazing,” I say.
Roman’s face darkens. “I do get a tour, don’t I?”
“Yes, if you’d like.”
“Why wouldn’t I like?”
“I didn’t say you wouldn’t.”
“You didn’t say it, but your face did. What’s wrong, are you remodeling? Don’t want me to see the mess?” I’m teasing, razzing him, but he’s not taking it that way.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have no qualms about showing you around my home. I am not remodeling, everything is fine.”
He cuts into his steak while Leeza, Julia, and I take turns glancing at one another in confusion. Whatever is going on with him, he isn’t going to share. I’ll have to ask him later when we are alone.
“Great, I can’t wait.”
“Me either, you’ll have to come and have a spa and pool day with us one day,” Leeza says.
“That would be lovely,” Julia adds.
“That sounds nice. I’ll have to check my schedule, though. I’ve been gone so long I’m worried the bookstore might not be standing when I go back next week.”
“The bookstore is fine, profits are up, and your new security system has been installed,” Roman says.
“Security system? I never authorized a security system.”
“I know, but, Aria, the windows upstairs didn’t even lock. One was broken, vermin and birds could get in if they wanted. I know someone with a security company, and he was more than happy to install it, and he even did it at a discount. I paid for it, though, so you’re not out a dime, and your store is safer than ever.”
I don’t like people meddling in my business. He knows this, yet he continues to do it. I’m not going to let this ruin our dinner, though. There’s been enough arguing tonight.
“We can talk about it later,” I say taking a sip of wine. I’m not supposed to have alcohol with my pain meds, but I haven’t needed one this afternoon, so I go ahead.
“Anyway, tell me about you, Aria,” Julia says. “Did you grow up in Chicago? Where did you go to college? What do your parents do for a living?”
We spend most of the evening talking about me. Every time I tried to steer the conversation toward something else, Julia or Leeza managed to U-turn it right back to me. I don’t know why they did it, my life is boring. Born and raised in Chicago, a straight ‘A’ student, went to college at the University of Chicago—Go Phoenix!—worked at a major bookstore out of college, met a star player of the Chicago Cubs, bought my own bookstore, almost married a douche, went to Mexico, and met Roman. End of.
Dessert is served—strawberry shortcake—my favorite. That’s Roman for you, always thinking of me.
“Your hair looks beautiful tonight, Aria. I love the braid,” Leeza says finishing her fourth glass of wine.
“Thank you. Roman did it for me.” You would have thought I said Roman braided my hair with his cock the way the women stopped and stared at me.
“What?” Julia says.
I reach up and pat my now almost dry braid. “Roman, he braided my hair for me.”
Leeza’s face breaks out in a massive grin. “Mufasa knows how to braid hair? Where did you learn to do that, big brother? Are you taking undercover macramé classes? Or maybe you were dating a hair stylist before Aria?”
Leeza yelps jumping in her chair, and I glance at Julia who is giving her the evil eye. I think she just kicked her daughter under the table.
“I think it’s lovely that he knows how to French braid a woman’s hair, however he learned to do it. What a tender thing to do for the woman you care for.” Julia pats Roman’s hand, and he smiles at me.
I think I love this woman. She’s the mother everyone wishes for growing up. Fun, loving, strict when she needs to be, and adoring. She loves her children with her whole heart.
“I can see where Roman gets his kind heart,” I say to Julia.
“Oh, I see how this is going to go. Mean ‘ol Leeza gets pushed to the side when the consummate offspring does something sweet. I thought we were friends, Aria. How can you turn your back on me like this?” Leeza says in a teasing voice that says she’s kidding, or half kidding, anyway.
“I’ll always love you more, Leeza, not to worry.”
Roman’s head jerks back, and he frowns. “You’ll always love her more? I’m sure I must have heard you wrong.”
I scoot to my left and lean over sliding my hand around the back of his neck to pull him close, so I can kiss him. I’m not one for public displays of affection, but right now this man needs to know he is loved.
He looks surprised when I cover his mouth with mine and kiss him like we are alone in bed instead of having dinner with his family. When I pull away to end the moment of proof, I say quietly, “There are different kinds of love, you know.”
“Woo-hoo! Yeah, I see why you waited so long for her. She’s got you wrapped around her pinky finger, big brother. You’re a goner, whipped, slayed by the savage!” Leeza says a little too loudly. She’s well on her wa
y to being drunk, but it’s all in good fun.
“Slayed by the savage I am. I don’t even mind admitting it,” he says smiling at me and pulling me into his lap.
“Hey, what happened to strict bedrest?”
“Don’t worry, you’re going back into that bed after that kiss.”
“And I believe that is our cue to leave,” Julia says standing up. “Thank you for sharing about yourself, dear. It was wonderful to get to know you better.”
“Thank you for bringing such a beautiful dinner to me when I’m not supposed to be out of bed.” I give Roman a side glance, and he chuckles. “The bedrest thing seems to be only important when he deems it so,” I whisper to Julia.
“As are many things with my son.” She leans over to kiss my cheek. “Come, Leeza. Let’s go downstairs to the bar and finish liquoring you up so you can go to bed.”
“Mom, you make me sound like an alcoholic!”
“Well, if you are going to act like one, I’m going to treat you like one. I need a martini anyway.”
“If you’re gonna join me, then I’m in.” She hops up and uses her chair to steady herself before kissing me on my other cheek and linking arms with her mother. “Next time, you can join us.”
“I’d love to, have fun.” I wave as they walk down the hall. Ella is there to clear away the dinner. She offers to help with the table, but Roman tells her to leave it for tomorrow, she’s worked hard enough. I like that he treats her with kindness, almost like family.
When everyone is gone, he closes the door, pushes the table away from the bed, and climbs in to spoon behind me. “Let’s watch TV and veg,” he says nibbling on my ear.
“I believe it’s called Netflix and chill nowadays.”
“That implies we will be having sex and watching Netflix. Game of Thrones is on DVD, and we are not having any more sex.”
“Wait, why do you get to decide if we’re having sex or not?” I’m way too tired for sex, but I don’t like the idea of being cut off.
“Are you saying this afternoon wasn’t enough?”
“No.”
“Then I don’t see the problem here.”