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#1 Rival

Page 27

by Gephart, T


  “Wait a second,” Daniel rolled back from his desk. “The two of you can barely stand each other. Carter and Byrne each have a wager on which one of you was going to defect to either of them.”

  My mouth dropped open. “The partners have been betting on us?”

  He shrugged and gave us a slow smile. “I had ten grand on you guys sticking it out, because both of you are too stubborn to give the other the satisfaction of leaving.”

  “Well, I guess depending on what you say next will determine who wins.” Roman chuckled. “Because we’re still dating, so if that’s going to be a problem, we should talk about it now.”

  “I’m not losing ten grand, Roman.” Daniel leveled him with a look. “You’re both staying with me. But part of the reason your partnership works is because of the healthy competition you seem to have. I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you I was concerned.”

  “Daniel.” It was my turn to speak. “Being a lawyer is important to me, but being an amazing lawyer is paramount. I’m not going to suddenly be someone else because I work with someone I’m in a relationship with. That healthy competition is still going to be there because we both know out of the two of us, I’m the better associate.”

  Roman coughed. “What Harper means to say is.” He looked at me with the same cocky grin he usually wore in our meetings. “She likes to think she is better and sometimes, she definitely brings some worthwhile arguments to the table.” He straightened his tie. “But I am by far superior.”

  “In what universe?” I scoffed. “Showboating isn’t work, Roman.”

  “It’s not showboating if it’s the truth, Harper. Don’t be jealous, I just make it look better than you do.” He shot me a wink.

  Excitement flooded me; this was what it had always been like for us. Right here in that moment, going head to head and not pulling any punches. And I knew that he wasn’t going to expect me to back down. No, he was counting on me doing exactly what we’d always done.

  Daniel clapped, tenting his fingers in front of him. “I hope this display isn’t just for my benefit. The enjoyment I get from watching the two of you debate a case encourages me to overlook other things, especially the stolen scotch out of my desk.”

  “What scotch?” Roman tilted his head looking confused. And had I not been the one to drink it with him I would have totally bought his innocent act. “Not sure what you are talking about. Harper, you know anything about this mystery?”

  I rubbed my chin, deep in thought. “Can’t say that I do.”

  “Great.” Daniel laughed, “Now you guys are teaming up as well as working your solo angles, I don’t know whether to be excited or concerned.” His fingers rapped on the desk. “Keep it professional, give me the level of excellence I expect and we’ll have no problems. But if this goes bad, the both of you are pitching in for the ten grand, and still have to live with the misery of working together.”

  “When are you calling in the bet?” I heard myself ask. “I can’t imagine a bunch of lawyers didn’t draw up terms, least of which is the end date.”

  Daniel turned to me surprised, but looked impressed. “End of your contract date, twelve months from now.”

  “And you only put down ten G’s?” Roman laughed as he shook his head. “You are such a cheap bastard, we’re worth twenty at least.”

  Daniel rolled his eyes, containing his grin. “If I’ve made myself understood, we’re done here.”

  “Then we’re done,” I answered, because there was no way I was giving up Roman or my job.

  “Good, go and I’ll have Stephanie bring you your next assignment.” Daniel rapped his fingers on the desk again. “Jana Cane will be in next week to go over her company’s restructure. And with Anderson’s ITP out of the picture, we’re signing a new tech company.”

  I turned to Roman and shot him a grin. “Hopefully someone who’s COO you don’t have a history with.”

  “Really?” Roman cocked his head as his eyebrow rose. “You’re going to go there? It was one time, Harper.”

  It had meant to be a joke, sort of like when I accused him of screwing all the paralegals except he didn’t smile. Maybe I’d pushed it too far and broken the rule that I’d set from the beginning and made it personal.

  Shit.

  “Oh, so she knows?” Daniel laughed, seeming to enjoy it. “Well, that’s a relief. Awesome. I have a hunch this is all going to work out. Why don’t the two of you go argue about it elsewhere, I have a meeting with a client in thirty minutes.”

  With a wave of his hand, Daniel dismissed us, Roman getting to the door first. “After you.” He held it open waiting for me to pass, his face unreadable as I walked through.

  Deciding it was better to go back to his office and apologize there, I nodded and strode down the hall to his door. My fingers pushed open the door with him filling the space behind me almost immediately as he closed it.

  “Roman, I’m sorry—” I couldn’t finish, his mouth on mine before I could get more words out.

  His firm body pushed against mine until I was a prisoner between the wall of his muscular chest and the drywall that separated our offices. I didn’t resist, allowing him to kiss me as I felt him hard against me.

  “Do not start doubting yourself. Not with me. Not ever.” His mouth moved to my neck. “Just don’t ever talk about my love life in front of a client or in a courtroom.”

  I gasped, loving the feel of his weight against me. “You’re not mad?”

  “Nope.” His kisses moved back to my mouth before he pulled away. His eyes connected with mine as he looked at me so deeply a chill ran down my spine. “I did have history with her. I’m not proud of it, but if we’re going to work together, I don’t want you holding anything back. In here, you can get ugly if you need to, but we leave it here. Always, Lauren. No exceptions. And you can’t bring it home and I won’t either. I made that mistake one time, and I’ll never make it again.”

  My hands moved up his chest. “So you want me to call you a whore like I used to do?”

  “Maybe lay off the whore part since you’re going to have first-hand knowledge that it’s no longer true.” He grinned. “But you know fighting with you turns me on, so I’m hoping we’ll still play.”

  I pushed roughly against his chest, my effort not even moving him an inch. “Promise me, Roman. Promise me, right here and now that things won’t change in the office. Because if we both can’t do that then maybe one of us should go and work for the other partners.”

  “Not a chance I am letting you leave me, Harper.” Roman laughed as he shook his head. “Not after all the time I had to wait to finally get you.” He laid my flat palm against his chest, the thump-thump vibrating under my fingers. “You have my heart, Lauren. And I’ll promise you whatever you want because I would never ask you to change. I love you for who you are and what you do. You make me a better lawyer, and you sure as hell make me a better man.”

  My hand might have been on his heart, but he had mine. “I love you, I love you so much.”

  I pulled him closer, my mouth finding his as he mumbled against my lips. “Now, let me screw you up against my desk. Then we can go tell Miriam we’re together.”

  “Miriam?” I pulled back slightly confused why we’d tell someone from accounts we barely spoke to that we were now dating.

  Roman’s eyebrow rose as he grinned. “She’s the office gossip, we tell her and everyone else will know. Means I get to spend time on important things.”

  “Like?” I bit my lip, excited about what his other things might be.

  He placed his hands against the wall, the one that had separated our offices for twelve months. A wall I had glared at, hoping the power of my displeasure would penetrate it and sear him in the next room.

  Now, I’d do anything to knock it down.

  “Like . . .” He bent his head, his nose grazing against mine. “Planning the rest of my life with you.”

  And that was a plan there would be no argument over.

&
nbsp; I didn’t know if we’d always work together, or if our careers would eventually dictate we work elsewhere. But it no longer mattered because I knew two things with absolute certainty.

  One. I loved Roman Pierce.

  And two, he loved me back.

  Twelve Months Later

  THE CAR ROCKED AS WE pulled up to the venue. My hands had smoothed down the front of my beautiful dress at least a million times as my stomach churned uncomfortably.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Roman asked me, looking a little nervous himself. He didn’t get rattled easily which had me on edge, the energy buzzing around us.

  I gazed at him, his clear blue eyes looking so amazing against his white shirt and black tux. I could barely believe we’d made it out of our apartment.

  Ours.

  Even all these months later it still felt weird saying it.

  And while I desperately missed living with Morgan, we saw her all the time. I think secretly she liked having the apartment all to herself, especially now since she’d started dating a surgeon from the hospital she worked at.

  I looked out of the blackened limo window, the crowd waiting for us to exit the vehicle. “No, I said we were doing this and we’re doing this. It’s not like anyone knows who we are.”

  Roman lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed my knuckles. “Exactly, besides they aren’t here for us.”

  I nodded, giving him the okay to push the door open; a flurry of flashes and noise assaulting us as we stepped onto the red carpet.

  “Don’t step on your dress,” he whispered in my ear as he lifted the hem of the amazing Valentino gown I was wearing. “And if I haven’t told you tonight, you look beautiful.”

  My lips spread into a grin, ignoring the crowd who was quickly losing interest when they didn’t recognize us. “You have, but I like hearing it.” His arm moved around my waist as we slowly walked the red carpet.

  “Now who’s got the big ego?” He laughed, guiding me through the mayhem to the quieter foyer of the theatre.

  He was definitely a little off, wanting to be away from the crowd even though we both knew what we were getting into.

  I turned, the privacy we were now afforded allowing me to speak more freely. “Well, if what the critics say is true, I think it’s going to be your brother who has the big ego. The words Academy Award have been tossed around more than just a few times.”

  Roman grinned. “If anyone deserves it, he does. But if you repeat that, Harper, I will deny it.” He showed our tickets to an usher. “Someone needs to keep him grounded.”

  We were led to our seats, the theatre still largely empty, and sat down. Almost everyone was still outside. They were either waiting for the stars of the latest blockbuster to show up or hoping to get noticed, which was why we preferred to be away from the noise, happy to just be here to support Eric.

  After his wedding to Tia and a short honeymoon, Eric had spent three months training and then a further four months shooting in the remote Canadian wilderness. He played an explorer abandoned by his expedition crew in Antarctica. Who not only survived the harsh wilderness with almost no supplies, but also managed to stay alive long enough until the next crew arrived and rescued him.

  I didn’t have to see it to know it was going to be good.

  Naturally, Eric wanted all his family to be there on opening night, even Roman who up until this point had safely flown under the radar.

  And as we arrived, no one suspected a thing. Choosing to ignore what was a startling resemblance to the main star, to focus on one of the smaller costars who’d arrived around the same time.

  It was still pretty cool to be at the premiere of huge movie, even if I did feel slightly out of my depth. I was glad Roman had wanted to get off the carpet sooner than later. I think deep down he might have been worried the longer we were out there, the greater the chance of someone making the connection.

  “Wow, they’re just letting anyone into these things.” Nick took the seat next to Roman. “I guess now that you have a beautiful woman on your arm, they just let you go where you want.” He treated me to the famous Larsson charm as he flashed me a grin. “Lauren, always a pleasure. Let me know when you’re ready to upgrade to a better model.”

  “Stop hitting on my girlfriend, asshole.” Roman discreetly flipped off his brother, his usual grin missing in action. “Have some class.”

  “Who doesn’t have class?” We were joined by Dave, who flashed his own sexy Larsson grin as he took the seat next to me. “Lauren, you’re looking beautiful. You could do so much better than Roman.” His arm playfully draped along the back of my chair.

  “Tell me, Dave.” Roman leaned forward, his voice surprisingly calm considering the tightness of his jaw. “Is there a lot of work for armless actors these days? I’d hate for you to be unemployed.”

  “Relax.” His brother grinned as he moved his hands away from me and into his lap. “I’m just yanking your chain, and you make it way too easy.”

  Roman gave them both a stern look before interlocking his fingers with mine. “Our parents should have stopped at two children.”

  Even though our relationship was no longer new, the Larsson men took great joy in giving Roman hell. It was all in good fun, and for the most part he took it all in stride. But every once in a while it made me nervous. The memory of Eric’s wedding, and the things they had probably said to him in jest, still not distant enough.

  “I love you.” I squeezed Roman’s hand tightly as I leaned in and kissed him. “Help me find a bathroom.”

  He nodded, lifting out of his chair then holding out his hand to help me out of mine. I smiled as I stood, my fingers curling around his arm as he led me away from his brothers in the direction of the bathrooms.

  “I didn’t really need to go.” I pulled him into a quiet corner. “I just wanted a minute with you before it gets crazy. As soon as Eric shows up it’s going to be a circus. And you know I love Dave and Nick, but their joking around . . . you just seem tense tonight.” He looked a little confused as I ran my hands along the front of his lapels. “I just needed to tell you how much I love you, how amazing my life is with you and how lucky I am to have you in my life.”

  The words didn’t seem enough, didn’t seem to do justice to how blessed I felt. But I wanted to tell him anyway, even though we were in the middle of the Dolby Theater waiting for a bunch of famous people who we mostly didn’t know.

  “You were worried about me?” He tilted his head, his lips twitching at the edges. “Because of Dave and Nick? Lauren, nothing those losers say tonight is going to change the way I feel.”

  Shit, maybe I had read it wrong? “I just thought . . . you seemed . . .” I couldn’t put my finger on it.

  In the car I had assumed it had only been nervous energy but it was more than that. “Roman, please tell me there’s nothing wrong.”

  “Nothing’s wrong.” He brushed his lips against my forehead. “This just isn’t my scene.”

  He sounded convincing, and if I hadn’t seen him work a courtroom like a virtuoso so many times I’d lost count, I might have believed him.

  But crowds had never bothered him, and while he wasn’t crazy about hanging with famous people, he’d never been uncomfortable with it.

  I’d been the one who had found the adjustment to having a boyfriend with a famous brother a little awkward at the start, not the other way around. So, I was either imagining the weird vibe between us or there was something he wasn’t telling me. And after a year of no more secrets, there was no way I was going back to that.

  “Please, just tell me.” I took a deep breath, the churning in my gut getting worse. “I know there is something you aren’t telling me.”

  His hand raked through his hair roughly, the way he did when he was nervous or upset. And now I knew there was something wrong as he looked at me. “Jesus, Lauren. It’s not what you think.”

  I hated those words.

  “Then tell me, because what I’m thinking
isn’t good.” I wasn’t even pretending I wasn’t worried, because I was.

  He looked around, his eyes darting around at the people in the distance. We had maybe ten minutes before the space was filled with an audience and we’d be directed back to our seats. And if I was going to find out what was bothering him, I needed it to be now.

  “I promise you, I will not freak out. You can tell me anything.” I tried to reason even though I was basically promising something I had no idea I was going to be able to keep.

  He’d had a private meeting with Daniel on Friday that he said was about some new account, but what if he’d decided to resign? Our contracts were up next week so anything was possible.

  His head tilted to the side, watching me with interest. “You have no idea, do you?”

  My eyes widened as the uneasy feeling started to grow. “No idea about what?”

  “It wasn’t supposed to be here. I was going to do it later tonight when it was just the two of us.” He took a deep breath. “I should have just done it before we left.”

  “Roman, now I’m starting to freak out.”

  He cupped my chin in his hands and kissed me, gently brushing my lips with his. “I have a ring in my pocket, Lauren. I’m going to ask you to marry me.”

  “What?” I said a little too loudly, the socialite in the tight red body stocking turning around to look at us with judgment. “You were going to propose? We haven’t even talked about marriage. You said it wasn’t your thing, that you hated it.”

  Or at least that’s what I thought he’d said, my memory was foggy thinking back to his stance on marriage. It hadn’t been favorable, I did remember that. Of all the things I thought he was going to suggest, marriage was the last thing I’d have picked. And I was okay with that, just happy to have what we had. I didn’t need a piece of paper if he didn’t want it.

 

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