by Alexis Gold
She looked over her shoulder at her mother, who was still shooting daggers at Roman, and then she turned her eyes back to him. "It'll just be the two of us. Let's go." she walked beside him as they made it back to his room downstairs and he climbed into bed with a sigh.
He got comfortable and looked up at her. "What is it?" he asked in a tired voice.
Denise shifted uncomfortably and then sat on his bed beside him and laid her hand on his leg. "I found out about your kid," she said quietly.
Roman nodded. "I know. I heard about it when I woke up at the hospital."
She leaned forward, moving closer to him. "I'm sorry I didn't come see you, but I just couldn't stand that place, or stand being around that woman you were with. It was just too hard for me, and I knew that if anything bad happened, then they'd call me and of course, I would have come to you, but I knew that as long as I didn't hear anything, then you were okay, and I didn't have to worry about you.
“I knew you were being taken care of and that was all that mattered to me. I just wanted to know you were alright without having to get into any weird fights or arguments with that woman."
Roman could understand her point, but he still felt like he had been deserted. He felt like she should have been there, no matter what.
Denise inched even closer to him, sliding her hand up his leg a bit further. "I had some time to think about it while I was waiting for you to come home, and I wanted you to know that I've accepted what you did, and we've both made mistakes, and I still want us to work on things together. I still want to try to fix our marriage. I'm going to be a step-mom to that kid, and I will do my best to try to be a nice one."
Roman was shocked. "You are willing to take on the role of a step-mother? You're ready for that?"
She shrugged and leaned close to him, just over his chest. "It's what I have to do to keep you and help fix our marriage, so yeah, I can give it a try. I don't want anyone thinking that I'm trash because I let you down. If I become the kid's stepmother, then everyone will think I'm a saint for taking in your bastard child, and it will look better for me, and it will help our relationship because then we can stay together as a... a family."
She almost stuttered over the word family. He stared at her. "My child is no such thing, and if you do want to stay in this house, you will never refer to her as that again. Her name is Emma. You may call her Emma, and that is all you may call her, other than my daughter."
Denise shrugged and nodded her head. "Sure, no problem. I can do that. I'll call her Emma. Let's just try to work this out together. Let's fix everything together," she said, smiling at him and leaning down so that her face was close to his.
Roman couldn't remember the last time she had been that close to him. Her hand slid from his leg over to his groin and she began to massage him. His eyes widened in surprise as she lowered her head to his and kissed his mouth softly.
"See? We can work this out." She kissed him again and he just looked at her for a long moment as she brought her lips to his again and opened his mouth with her tongue, moving her hand more firmly along the length of him that was growing stiff with arousal. She smiled sensually and whispered against his mouth, "There we go... isn't that nice? Isn't that what it's supposed to be like for us, my husband?"
She opened his robe and slid his shorts off of him as he laid there and looked at her with uncertainty and a growing ache in his loins. Denise kissed him softly from his mouth down his chest to his stomach, and then looked up at him playfully from his thighs.
"I'll have you feeling better in no time. You'll see," she said with a sultry voice. She kissed the tip of his erection and worked her lips down the shaft of it, flicking her tongue over it until she opened her mouth wide and enveloped him in it, sucking at him softly at first, and then with more voracity as she got more excited.
Pleasure burned through him and he closed his eyes, letting it wash over him. Roman tentatively lowered his hands to her head and slipped his fingers into her red curls, feeling their silkiness and bending his fingers in their thickness. She worked away at him, making his breath grow short as he began to gasp and pant, his eyes closed and his heart pounding wildly against his chest. Just before he could climax, she pulled her lips from him and straddled him there in the bed, plunging him into the depths of her and riding him hard as he grasped her hips and held her tightly to him.
"I've missed you," she whispered as she leaned over him and kissed him firmly, crushing her lips against his. He opened his eyes and looked at her for a moment, and she took his hands and lifted them to her voluptuous breasts.
The feel of her flesh beneath his hands had once been as familiar to him as breathing, but now it seemed foreign, it seemed strange, and as she rocked her hips over his, his mind turned to the one who he wished was with him in his bed, one who had felt better in his arms and connected to his body than anyone had ever felt to him, and his pleasure skyrocketed.
He pushed himself into her over and over, his hands clasped tightly to her breasts, listening to her moan and cry out in pleasure, and all the while, his eyes were closed and his mind had taken him back to the night on the yacht with another woman, a dark skinned woman who had loved him as he had never been loved. His body tensed and arced as his orgasm rushed at him full force and he came like an explosion inside her body... inside..."Cami... my Cami..." he cried out in his powerful release.
Denise stopped short and looked down at him with wide eyes.
"What did you say?" she asked in horror.
He opened his eyes in realization and looked back at her. "I'm sorry... I.... it must be the medication I don't know what I was thinking." He almost whispered it.
Denise yanked her body from his and climbed off the bed, pulling her clothes back on. "I know what you were thinking, and it's something you can't ever think of again. That's what it means when we say we are going to fix our marriage. It's just you and me and no one else."
With that, she turned and stomped out of the room and Roman closed his eyes, wondering what on earth he had been doing, thinking about Cami at a moment like that. Cami was his friend... she had been a lover once, and he admitted to himself that things had gotten hot with her when he had kissed her at the hotel, but he had to stay focused.
She was his friend and nothing more. He was married, and he could not use Cami or try to make her his mistress. That wasn't the life he wanted for himself or anyone else, including Cami and Emma. They all deserved better.
He mentally chastised himself for his carelessness and swore to himself that it wouldn't happen again. His tiredness overtook him and he fell asleep, but in his dreams, she came to him again. In his dreams they were on the boat and they made love and laughed together, shared each other's company, danced and held each other beneath the stars, and loved each other.
When he awoke the next day, he had breakfast with Denise in the kitchen and he realized that she was watching him like a hawk as she moved around the room. She seemed nervous and ill at ease as she sat with him, almost like she was twitching.
"Roman, I was thinking... after last night," a disgruntled look crossed her face, "I think we should go away together for a little trip, when you're feeling better, and spend some time alone. What do you think?"
He realized then, as he looked at her, that Cami had completely unsettled her, and his calling Cami's name out the night before had undone her. She was absolutely insecure about it and about her relationship with him.
"Listen, Denise, if this is about last night, then you don't need to worry about anything. I'm sorry about my mistake, and it was indeed a mistake, she and I aren't anything more than friends, and it was probably just all the medicine that the doctors have me on right now. I don't want you to worry about anything, alright? Try to let that go as much as you can." He felt badly about it, but there was no way to undo it.
She blinked at him a few times and then scooted her chair closer to him. "Well, we have to start working on fixing things between us, so I want to lay some ground rul
es down. I understand that you want to see your kid-"
He shot her a serious look and spoke in a strong voice, "Emma, her name is Emma. Use her name."
Denise shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Alright, then, Emma. I understand you'll be wanting to see her, so I was thinking that she could come over here when you want to see her, and then you don't have to go to... her place to see her. That way you don't have to be around her." She smiled brightly at him.
"You and I can set up a room for Emma here, and she can spend time with us here. Her mother can drop her off and pick her up at our door, and then you don't need to be at her place and be around her. That's what I want to do about it." She looked as if the matter was finished.
Roman thought carefully about what she was saying. He knew she was trying her best to keep him away from Cami as much as possible, and he could understand why, but he could not understand the ache in his heart at the idea of not seeing Cami. He felt like Denise was stealing away his opportunity at a friendship with her, and it hurt him.
He also knew that there would probably be better times to discuss it, and better ways to handle it, than to argue with her over breakfast when he had called out Cami's name during their intimacy just the night before.
"We'll have to figure it out as we go along, but for now, I guess that will work." He sighed. He was meeting Cami later to see her new home, and he would talk with her then.
Chapter 7
Cami and Cicely decided to go out to an early dinner when they left the hospital. They loaded Emma into the backseat and in no time they were traversing the lofty hills of San Francisco.
Cami hadn't asked what her Mama thought of Roman. She had been waiting quietly, and almost impatiently, to find out, but Cicely was taking her time and hadn't said a word about him at that point.
They were near the restaurant when Cami finally broke down and asked.
"Well, Mama?" she asked as a nervous smile touched the corners of her mouth.
Cicely looked out the window. "Well, what?"
Cami laughed and scolded her. "Mama! What did you think of Roman?"
Her Mama smiled a little and looked over at her casually. "I need to spend more time with him to tell you what I really think, but he seems like a nice man. He seems like a good man, and I like what I know of him so far.
“That's all I can say to you about him for now. Janine is quite a character, though. That lady isn't afraid to say what she thinks! Not at all. I like women like that. Ladies that speak their mind with no filter or hesitation. It saves me the trouble of having to get past all their games and just know them."
Cami nodded. "I knew you'd like her. She's really been so good to us since we got here. She's looked out for us just as much as Roman has. She's the one who helped me find a home here. I think our move would have been so much harder without her helping us."
Cicely looked at Cami then and said, "I will say one thing about Roman. He really does care about you a great deal. I could see that as plain as day on his face when he looks at you.
“He watches you with love. I don't think he knows it yet, but it's obvious. If you two think you're going to be able to raise my little Emma as just friends and not have any sort of romantic feelings for each other, you've got a challenge ahead of you.
“He cares for you and he cares for Emma, and that is only going to grow stronger over time. If his wife thinks she can hold on to him, she better hold on tight. You're a grown woman and you can do what you want, but I'm going to tell you right now, Cami, you be careful around him, and you keep your wits and senses about you, because I don't think it would be too difficult at all for you to fall right into love with him and end up with a broken heart."
Cami was silent as she listened to her mother. She knew that what Cicely was saying was true. She had seen it and felt it at the hospital, and before then, at his office and in her hotel room when they kissed.
There was something very strong and hot between them; like a gravitational force that pulled at them, drawing them together like a yin and yang. Though their friendship was indeed growing stronger all the time, she could not deny that there was much more than friendship bubbling just beneath the surface.
"Well, Mama, he's married, and we are both making that a priority, as well as Emma's future and best interests, so even if we do have some feelings for each other, they are going to remain feelings of friendship, and that's all."
Cicely gave her daughter a sidelong look and nodded slightly. "Mhmm. Well, we'll see what happens."
They got out of the car and headed into the restaurant. Cami made it a point to pay extra attention to Emma as they were seated, hoping to change the subject before her Mama took it any further. Cami knew her Mama wasn't wrong, but she didn't want to talk any more about it.
They spent the next three days getting Cami settled into her new home. It was a sweet little condo with a private garden and it had a sweeping view of the city and the bay. Cicely was really impressed with it, and Cami was excited to be moving into her own place. Roman had purchased it for her and Emma, but the deed was in her name, and she owned it free and clear, and that felt incredible to Cami.
Janine helped them with furniture and extras, and Mama and Cami did all the shopping to get the place all settled. There were three bedrooms; one for Cami, a nursery for Emma, and a guest room where Cicely stayed. By the end of the week, it looked perfect, and Cami was excited to have Janine and Roman come over to visit and see it.
Janine picked him up and the two of them showed up for lunch. They loved the home right away and Roman hugged Cami tightly when he came in. He held her for a long moment before letting her go, saying softly to her, "I'm so glad that the two of you are in such a nice place.
“This is lovely, and it seems ideal for you both. It's a safe neighborhood, it's got good restaurants and shops around it, and a park nearby; this will be a good place for Emma and you to be." He looked relieved and happy, and Cami hugged him again.
"Thank you, Roman," she said. "I'm so grateful to you for giving this to us."
He nodded to her and they went out to the patio to enjoy lunch with Cicely and Janine.
It was a good visit, and the conversation flowed lightly between Cami's new place and her art, and Roman's recovery. They talked about Cicely in Seattle and Janine's adept handling of the business, but no one brought up Denise until Cicely and Janine insisted on clearing away the lunch dishes and Roman and Cami were left alone
.
She looked at him and saw that he seemed more relaxed than he was when he and Janine first came to the door.
"How are things going for you at home?" she asked, reaching out and holding his hand in hers for a moment.
The feel of her fingers on his skin was like a balm to him; soothing and comforting, warm and tender. He drew in his breath deeply and sighed, looking at her.
"It's alright. Denise is trying like crazy to fix our marriage. She is getting to a point where she has accepted that we have a daughter and she has begun to refer to herself as Emma's step-mother. She has some misgivings about you, and that's really my fault. I'm sorry about it. I hope this isn't difficult for you, but she wants you to bring Emma to us for visits, and leave her with us. Then, when the visit is over, you could pick her up from us again," he said miserably.
Cami bit her lip thoughtfully. "That's clever of her. It takes me out of the picture entirely when it comes to you. Every interaction we have is supervised by her, and she has some semblance of control." She frowned a little. "How do you think she'll be with Emma?"
Roman looked right at her. "She's not going to be alone with Emma, ever. Emma is my daughter, not hers, and if she happens to be around, then that's fine, but anytime Emma comes to see me, it will be to spend time with just me, and Denise wouldn't be much more than an observer on the sidelines. She'll be good to Emma, or she will have hell to pay."
Cami's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Well, that takes care of that!" She gave a little laugh. Then she
tilted her head a bit and reached for his hand again, this time holding it and not letting it go.
"That doesn't give us much time to spend together as parents for Emma, and it doesn't give us any time to be around each other as friends." Disappointment colored her expression and she felt bad. "I'll miss you," she said quietly.
He rubbed his fingers softly over hers. "I'll miss you, too. Maybe I can talk to her and have you over with Emma sometimes, so that we seem more like co-parents to our girl, rather than single units."
Cami shrugged. "That doesn't seem like much."
He nodded. "I know. I'll see what I can do. I'm trying to maintain a delicate balance at the house right now. Things are... not what they should be."
Cami looked at him with concern. "Are you alright? Is she being decent to you?"
Roman shrugged. "I guess so. I can see that she's trying, but something in me doesn't trust it, and I don't know why, but it feels like she is being nice to me because of something she wants, not because she genuinely cares about me, but I can't quite tell."