Victoria shook her head. “No. Maybe it should, but it doesn’t. I have no feelings for Tanner.”
“Didn’t you say last week that although he was the guy your great-grandmother had chosen for you, he didn’t have a clue?”
“That was last week. I have since learned that after Tanner mentioned to Blade that he’d run in to me, Blade gave him a heads-up about him being the man my great-grandmother had chosen for me to marry. I understand that freaked him out and he intends to put as much distance between us as possible. Now I know why Tanner hasn’t made good on that rain check to take me to dinner.”
She took a sip of coffee and said, “He’s operating on the premise that under no circumstances will he marry me. I get that, and I’m truly not surprised with that decision. Nolan behaved the same way with Ivy. That’s why it doesn’t bother me about all the women he’s probably spending time with. What he does before we acknowledge our love for each other is his business. He is free to do whatever he wants.”
Roman nodded slowly, as if pondering her words. “And what about you, Victoria? Is what you do before the two of you acknowledge your love for each other your business, as well? Are you free to do whatever you want?”
Victoria thought about his question. While growing up, it always bothered her that the men in the family operated on the assumption it was okay to have double standards. They had tried monitoring whomever she and her sister Lindsay were dating, but hadn’t given a flip about her brothers or single male cousins. They thought the more women they dated, the better. She didn’t like the idea of double standards then and she didn’t like it now.
“Yes, I’m free to do whatever I want. The way I see it, until I get a ring on my finger, all we have is Mama Laverne’s assumption that we will one day get married and live happily ever after. And another thing—I won’t accept Tanner’s ring until I’ve fallen in love with him. He definitely has his work cut out for that to happen.”
Victoria checked her watch. “As much as I’ve enjoyed breakfast with you, I need to leave for the drive to work. What are your plans for today if you aren’t going fishing?”
“I think I might just stroll around town and do some sightseeing. I understand there’s a Jean Lafitte museum in walking distance of here with some interesting exhibits.”
“There is. I visited there my first month here and liked it. Catalina Cove has some pretty interesting history. It’s probably one of the most diverse places in the United States.”
“You’re going to have to tell me all about it tomorrow night when I see you. When should I expect you?” he asked.
“When do you want me?” Too late, she realized how that question might have sounded. She quickly amended, “When do you want me to show up at your place?”
He met her gaze. “I thought we could do dinner first at one of the restaurants on the pier and then go to my boat afterward. Text me tomorrow for an idea of what you want to eat.”
“That sounds good. The primary color for tomorrow’s fireworks is blue. I can’t wait to see it.”
He smiled at her. “Neither can I.”
* * *
“JOHN? DO YOU have anything for me?” Audria asked the man who’d called.
“Yes. The phone call was made from a coastal town in Louisiana called Catalina Cove. It’s about an hour drive from New Orleans.”
Audria decided that made sense since the last time Roman had been seen in public had been when he’d done that television interview in New Orleans last week. “I want you to send one of your guys there. Let me know if Senator Malone is spending time with someone or by himself. Take pictures.”
“Will do.”
Audria ended the call. If Roman was with someone—a woman—she was determined to find out what woman thought she could replace her. That wouldn’t be happening. When he made it to the White House, she, and no other woman, would be by his side. In time, he would come to see just how much he needed her.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“IT’S BEAUTIFUL, ISN’T IT, Roman?”
Roman shifted his gaze from Victoria to the fireworks. Tilting his head back, he agreed. “Yes, it’s beautiful.” But then he thought she was beautiful, too. Even while wearing a cute baseball cap.
She had texted him earlier that day saying she had a taste for barbecue and he’d met her outside of Bennie’s Rib Shack. The food had been delicious. They had eaten so much that afterward they felt compelled to walk around the marina a few times.
Now they had a front row seat on his yacht, and were drinking wine and looking at the fireworks that were illuminating the sky with the color blue in every shade imaginable. Several onlookers had their boats out watching, as well. It was indeed a beautiful sight.
“So how did your trip to the museum go?” she asked him.
“I thought it was fascinating to learn even more about the history of Catalina Cove. I hadn’t known about the town before Mint suggested I come here.”
“How did he know about it?”
“Not sure. I didn’t ask. As far as my trip to the museum, in addition to seeing a number of artifacts representing Jean Lafitte’s loot, I watched a video about the town’s history. I found it rather interesting that whenever the pirate Lafitte and his team of smugglers returned to the cove, it mainly was for downtime with their women. That’s why several of the streets in the historical district were named after Lafitte’s mistresses.”
“I saw the same film and found that tidbit interesting, as well. Have you decided where we’ll be fishing this time?” she then asked him.
So far he’d only been fishing in the Gulf. “I think this weekend we should find a spot on the Moulden River. I hear it’s full of trout, whiting, shrimp and oysters. I understand a number of the restaurants on the pier will buy your catch of the day.”
“I heard that, as well,” Victoria said. “Just in the short time I’ve been here, I’ve discovered tourists come from miles around to sample the cove’s seafood.”
Roman could believe it. A short while later he regretted the fireworks show was coming to an end. That meant Victoria would be leaving, since tomorrow was a workday for her. He’d thought about what she’d said yesterday when he’d asked about being free to do what she wanted until Tanner was ready to claim her as his.
She had made several statements... Yes, I’m free to do whatever I want... Until I get a ring on my finger... I won’t accept Tanner’s ring until I fall in love with him.
Roman doubted she knew just how pleased he was with those answers. He didn’t know Tanner Jamison and wasn’t one to encroach on another man’s territory. He hadn’t liked what she’d told him about that guy she’d dated in college. Nor did he like how Jamison wasn’t even giving her the time of day. She needed a man in her life she could trust, depend on and fall in love with.
“Well, that’s it,” Victoria said, standing when the sky went dark, signaling the end to the fireworks.
“I’ll walk you to your car,” he said, standing, too.
“Thanks. But you don’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I do.”
He took her hand and led her off his boat.
* * *
VICTORIA WAS AWARE of when Roman took her hand. At first she’d assumed he’d held it to help her off his boat. But they were walking along the pier toward her car and he was still holding it.
She had dreamed about him every night for the last week, and in those dreams they had taken walks in the apple grove and along the pier, and he had held her hand. He’d also kissed her. It had been a real kiss and not the peck on the cheek he’d given her on Sunday. She tried not to let it bother her that he was the man of her dreams and not Tanner. Like she’d told Roman yesterday, she refused to sit and wait for Tanner to decide he was ready to fall in love with her.
“You’re quiet.”
She glanced up at him. “I was just thin
king.”
“About what?”
There was no way she could tell him what she’d really been thinking about, so she said, “How much I enjoyed tonight’s show, and that I can’t wait for the other nights. Tomorrow is the color yellow. I’m anxious to see what they will do. I bet the sky will be lit up so brightly, it will look like sunshine at night.”
“We’ll see,” he said, chuckling.
Victoria knew she sounded excited, but she couldn’t help it. She enjoyed being with Roman. He was someone she could talk to and have fun with. “So what are your plans for tomorrow?” she asked him.
He looked at her. “I’m hoping I could start off my day by having breakfast with you at Witherspoon Café. I went there this morning hoping to see you, but Bryce Witherspoon-Chambray mentioned you’d been there earlier and had gotten your food to go.”
Her heart began fluttering upon hearing he’d dropped by her favorite café hoping to see her. “Yes, I needed to be at work earlier today for a meeting. Had I known you’d wanted to share breakfast with me, I would have gotten out of bed early and dressed and met you there.”
“I would always want to share breakfast with you, Victoria. Needless to say, I got mine to go, as well. So are we on for tomorrow?”
She smiled, feeling somewhat giddy that he wanted to spend even more time with her. “Yes, we are on.”
They had reached her car. “Well, thanks for making sure I got to my car safe, Roman.”
“I couldn’t operate any other way. Remember I have three sisters.”
Victoria wondered if that was his way of letting her know he placed her in the same category as his sisters?
“You’re frowning,” he said.
“Am I?”
“Yes. Everything’s all right?”
“Yes, everything is all right. Good night, Roman.”
“Good night, Victoria.”
Neither made a move. He made no effort to step aside for her to open her car door and she didn’t ask him to. Instead, they stood there and stared at each other. Then when he leaned down, instead of his lips touching her cheek, his fingers did. Her breath wobbled at the feel of the tips of his fingers caressing her skin. His touch was so gentle, it caused her eyes to close.
“Victoria...”
She reopened her eyes and glanced up at him. When she saw the dark heated look in his gaze, she felt a throb in her midsection as desire warmed her to the core. She wanted to touch him like he was touching her, so she slowly glided her hands up his abdomen to his chest, loving the feel of his T-shirt beneath her fingers.
“Say my name, Victoria.”
She wasn’t sure why he was asking her to do that. Not that she cared for the reason. At that moment, in her frame of mind, she would have granted him any request he made. “Roman.”
“Say it again.”
“Roman.” And just in case he wanted to hear it for a third time, she said, “Roman.”
As if three was a charm and that’s what he’d needed to hear, he lowered his mouth to hers.
* * *
ROMAN TOOK VICTORIA’S mouth with all the greed he’d felt over the past week and a half, since that day he’d seen her at the television station. Her lips and mouth had fascinated him then, so he couldn’t help letting himself go, releasing all binds, tasting her as deeply as he pleased, while filling his senses with the essence that was uniquely her.
She was bringing out an intense sexual longing in him—wants, needs and desires that could only be assuaged by her. And she was allowing him to do so by parting her lips and reciprocating his need with her tongue, mingling with his in a way that only fueled the intense primitive need building within him.
He couldn’t deny himself desire, nor could he deny her the same thing. They were caught up in a desperate joining of mouths. He knew at this moment that no matter what she thought, no matter what her great-grandmother assumed, Tanner Jamison was not the man for her. He would figure out how he reached that conclusion later. For now, he just concentrated on this kiss.
Finally, when he knew continuing could lead to a risk he wasn’t willing to take yet, for either of them, he pulled his mouth from hers, ending their kiss. But that didn’t stop his tongue from licking around her mouth, from one corner to another.
Then he knew he had to stop, so he pulled her into his arms and rested his chin on the top of her baseball cap while drawing in a deep breath. He heard her draw in a deep breath a few times, too.
“Please don’t ask me to apologize, Victoria,” he said almost breathlessly. “But I needed to do that.”
“And I needed you to do that, Roman,” she answered softly.
He released another deep breath, this one of relief. He wished he could ask her to go back to his place, spend the night and sleep naked in his arms, but he knew he couldn’t do that. At least not tonight. However, whether she knew it or not, this kiss—and her easy acceptance of it—gave him hope. He was beginning to feel emotions for Victoria that he had never felt for any woman. Maybe it was time to act on those emotions. Unlike Tanner Jamison, he had no problem claiming her as someone he wanted in his life.
“It’s time for me to let you leave here, while I have a mind to do so,” he said, dropping his arms to his sides and taking a step back.
She nodded and when he opened the car door for her, she quickly got inside. “We’re still on for breakfast in the morning?” he asked her, hoping their kiss wouldn’t scare her off.
“Yes, we’re still on for breakfast. Good night, Roman.”
“Pleasant dreams, Victoria.”
As she drove off, he stood rooted in place until her vehicle was no longer in sight.
* * *
VICTORIA LICKED HER lips all the way home, certain she could still taste Roman on them. That had been some kiss and she had enjoyed every single moment of it. He’d said it had been something he’d wanted to do, and she’d been honest by letting him know it was something she had wanted him to do, as well.
A short while later she arrived home and was getting ready for bed. All types of emotions began taking over. Had that kiss meant anything? Where would it lead? Did she want it to lead anywhere? It hadn’t bothered her that she’d shared a hot kiss with Roman and not Tanner.
As she slid between the sheets, she was still thinking about the kiss. It had been everything she’d dreamed it would be and then some. Now the major question was how they would handle the morning after, when they met at the café. She hoped she’d made it clear that she didn’t regret tonight. If she needed to make it clear again, she would.
CHAPTER TWELVE
EARLY FRIDAY MORNING, Tanner walked through the doors of Evans’s Gym with his duffel bag in hand and glanced around. Over the last two days he had done his research, and now concluded the gym located in downtown New Orleans was owned by Lyric Evans’s parents, Jack and Leigh Ann Evans. And thanks to a rather chatty blonde he’d met when he had dropped by the NOFD yesterday to file the compliance paperwork, he learned that as a code enforcement inspector Lyric Evans worked out in the field ten hours a day, four days a week, and was off every Friday. He took a chance that he would find her here.
“Welcome to Evans’s Gym,” a smiling older woman said at the front desk. Her name tag said she was Leigh Ann. So this was Lyric’s mother. He could see the resemblance around the eyes. “Are you a member or do you want to sign up for a membership?”
What he really wanted was to see her daughter, but, of course, he wouldn’t tell her that. “A membership would be nice.”
The woman’s smile broadened. “Long or short term?”
“How short is short?” he asked. There was no need to come here any longer than he had to. Lyric Evans had rubbed him the wrong way and he didn’t like it one bit.
“We have a three-month membership package.”
“I’ll take it,” he said, whipping
his credit card out of his wallet. “And by the way, I want a personal trainer. I prefer a female and the only days I can come are Friday or the weekends.” That’s something he’d learned from his research. Lyric Evans helped out her parents as a personal trainer on her off days.
“Okay, let me see who I have available,” she said, checking a file.
To save her time, he said, “Someone I know mentioned there was a Lyric who worked well with him, so if she’s still around, I’ll take her.” He doubted the woman had any idea how badly he wanted to take her...in more ways than one.
“Let me check Lyric’s schedule. She’s usually full on Friday mornings.”
He bit back from telling her that no one else would do when she said, “I do have a Friday morning slot from eight to nine with Lyric and a Saturday afternoon slot at three to four.”
“I’ll take the Friday morning. Starting today.”
“All right. That will be an extra fifty dollars each week for Lyric. But I’ll tell you now she’s good so be prepared for a good workout each time.”
He smiled. “I’m counting on it.” It was on the tip of his tongue to tell the woman her daughter had a bad attitude, and it was about time someone put her in check.
* * *
WHEN VICTORIA WALKED into the Witherspoon Café, Roman was already there, seated at a booth. She smiled when she saw him. When she reached the table, he stood, leaned in and brushed his lips across hers. “Good morning, Victoria.”
“Good morning, Roman,” she said, sliding into the booth seat across from him. “How long have you been here?”
“Not long. I told Bryce I’d wait to place my order until you got here. Did you sleep well last night?”
She smiled, thinking it had been the best sleep she’d gotten in a long time. It was amazing what a kiss could do. “Yes, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.”
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