by Cates, A. K
“Eve you have secrets, I knew it the moment I first saw you.” She didn’t move, her eyes straying to the furniture in his apartment but she wouldn’t look at him. “You’re more guarded than I imagined. I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Aren’t you always?” she whispered, a bitter laugh leaving her pink tinted lips. “What do you know?” she whispered.
“I think I know enough,” he said.
She flinched back.
For a moment he thought she would run, she was a deer in headlights and he the car.
He didn’t move for the longest time, waiting, hoping she wouldn’t flee.
Eventually, Eve relaxed again, her shoulders slackening in defeat. “You don’t know,” she said. “Or else why would I still be here?”
He didn’t know how to respond to her. He wanted to know more, the way she said it had him wondering, holding back and actually questioning whether he would like it. He shouldn’t care. Yet he wanted to know.
“I need to apologise to you,” he said out of the blue. This took her by surprise too as she blinked back her tears.
“Apologise?”
Roman shuffled his weight beneath her, “I left you in a hospital.”
“You said we shouldn’t be together.”
“We shouldn’t. Being there made me realise it.”
“What?”
“I don’t know anything about you,” it was like he was admitting a fault of his own. He rose stretching out his limbs and walked to the bar pouring a glass of water for her. He handed it to her his fingers grazing hers. The spark was instant. The only thing he could be sure of tonight. Regardless of Eve and her past, they had a connection, a pulling force between them.
“What do you want to know?” Eve blinked through her tears. “I’m an open book.”
No you’re not, he wanted to say, stopped himself. He watched her drink. “At the hospital they asked me questions Eve, none of which I could answer.” Roman sighed running a hand through his hair. “They wanted to know you’re next of kin, who to contact in an emergency. Eve I don’t know anything about you.”
She didn’t answer for the longest time.
“I had to check the database at work. Why was Trigger’s number in your emergency contact?” Eve blanched. “Tell me. Are you two involved?” he ground his jaw.
The thought of another man, especially one he knew, Trigger was one of his closest colleagues, on another level they were even friends. Roman didn’t have many in his life he could call a friend.
“I don’t have a next of kin. Trigger put his name in the file.” She blinked up at him with glassy eyes. “We’re not involved. He was merely,” she turned back down again. “Sympathetic.”
*
Eve hated lying, what else could she say?
She was desperate, she was at her end and despite everything Roman had put her through, her heart still accelerated around him like a hormonal teenager. She was stuck in a sea of emotion. She had to stop showing her weaknesses and start showing her strengths.
And when she’d retrieved Trigger’s handkerchief, the guilt had flooded her instantly. What was she doing with Trigger?
“Can I use your bathroom?” she blinked up and rose from the lounge, her legs leaden.
It was all she could do to get away. She needed to clear her head and stop appearing as the pathetic girl she used to be. She wasn’t little Evee anymore, she was strong, wilful and determined. And ready to get what she needed in life. She needed this.
She blinked back at the mirror, the state she was in.
Deceit and fear made her look so ugly, smudged across her cheeks in dark smears. Her skin was deathly pale and not geisha white as Carra’s had once been.
Carra. Her chest rose. She let the air out. Carra, this is for you. She grabbed the soap and started cleaning up her face. She needed time to be someone else. Ten minutes later she left the bathroom.
Her demeanour had changed. Her eyes had dried. Her hair was tight in a ponytail against her head, so tight there was an acute pain in her skull. Good. It would focus her on the task at hand.
“Roman,” she stalked up to him, the very way she’d dreamt of for so long swaying her hips in her wake. “Rome.” She knew the affect once she said his name in her way, it would change the atmosphere between them, charge it full of potent electricity. It did.
“I’ll do what you want,” she smiled. “But I need you to do something for me.”
65
He changed.
Eve saw it the moment she said she wanted something in exchange. His expression hardened, instantly retreating into his business mode and she couldn’t blame him. She was going to exploit him and the power behind Roman Pierce.
“What are your terms? Perhaps we should have a contract,” Roman sat angled to her on the lounge, crossed legged, one arm draping behind the lounge. His demeanour had also changed when Eve had emerged. He was guarded, colder and more domineering, exactly how she remembered him in the office.
“No. I want the illusion it might be real.”
“Then you’d be deceiving yourself,” his eyes were hot as coals.
“I don’t care.”
“I do.”
Eve watched him, gone were the days when he was the dream of something more, a world beyond the one she existed in. He was the game she had to play; she merely didn’t know how good her poker face was or how far she could push herself.
This was simply another game of cat and mouse between them. This was all part of that showmanship.
“It’s non negotiable,” Eve mirrored his posture and folded her legs, sitting down. Her legs were bare below her knees, her heels slim and understated.
His gaze smouldered catching onto her exposed legs. She wore a knee high skirt, at the time she’d been thinking of the outfits at work he’d liked her in. There had been a brief moment when she hadn’t been crying that she’d been prepared to do the task at hand.
Brief, the closer she came to the hotel, the more unsteady she got in her nerves. The more irrational her thoughts became.
“Anything else?”
Eve bit her lip, her attention falling to the décor, anywhere but at him. “There is something,” Eve shifted her legs, the handkerchief felt hot in her jacket pocket, even though she wasn’t touching it, she was going against Trigger’s advice.
This was her own plan, her own doing. She needed a way to get ahead of the game and protect herself for once. She needed to have her best interests at heart. She needed closure even if it meant finding out a terrible truth.
“I’m listening,” Roman said. His head tilted to the side like a cat, the same way it used to rouse her, caught her breath un-expectantly.
“You’re powerful, wealthy and you’re probably the only one with the resources to do it,” Eve studied her hands in her lap.
“Eve”-
She pushed back the voices in her head. “There’s a woman. She was my childhood best friend. When I was little she disappeared. I was never able to find out what happened to her. I want you to find her. We were like sisters. I don’t know”-she broke off, she couldn’t say it. I don’t know if she’s even alive. There was a few heartbeats worth of silence between them.
“This is the first I’m hearing of your past,” Roman sat forward, his hands clasping in front of him. “Why do I get the feeling there’s something you’re not telling me?” As expected, Eve didn’t answer. “It’s not the first time you’ve had me questioning your past.”
Eve leaned against him as he trailed a lazy finger over her shoulders. She lay there breathing in the same air. “We’re not a couple, so I can keep secrets from you.”
He went rigid beneath her. This wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear but it was the only one she would give him. “You shouldn’t have secrets and you shouldn’t keep anything from me.”
“I’ll keep secrets from you if I want. If you want more than a mistress”-
“A mistress,” he mused, chuckling to himself.
“Is that a threat?”
“Yes.”
“Fine.”
“Fine?”
“Fine. You can have what you want.” Eve leaned her head back against him and closed her eyes. Oh, if only it were true.
66
Eve rolled over as the harsh light struck her.
Where in the hell was she? It took a moment to remember and bury her head in the sheets. Oh, no, how could she? She vaguely remembered last night. How she’d turned up at Roman’s place in hysterics. How pathetic she’d been and finally shutting out the world after he’d accepted her terms.
She couldn’t remember how she ended up in this bedroom. Had she been sleeping so deeply? Any woman would fall at their knees to have Roman Pierce and yet…her mouth tasted sour with sleep.
She rose not recognising her surroundings. Was this his bedroom? It was a white room with a white king size bed and white drawers. Everything was white, like a blank canvas with subtle hints of colours, the gold trim on the wall, the soft sunset painting. This couldn’t be his room, it couldn’t. This didn’t speak of him.
“Good morning, how do you drink your coffee?” Roman said as she stumbled into the glaring light of the kitchen. She held her hand up to mask the glare.
“What happened last night, did we-” her voice trailed off, she didn’t want to ask though she absolutely had to.
“If you’re asking whether I like my women asleep while I have sex with them you’re mistaken,” Roman sighed as if regarding a child. “There’s no reward in that,” there was a glimmer of the old Roman whispering to the surface.
Eve flinched at his brazen use of the word. “We didn’t have sex.” Her cheeks reddened. “Am I making you uncomfortable?”
“Oh god, stop saying that word,” she said.
“Which word,” Roman stepped around the bar. His arms found her waist. “Do you mean sex?” again she responded with her skin reddening deeper by the second. “Would you rather I said fuck instead?” she couldn’t look at him anymore.
She was red hot beneath his touch and the way he said it so brashly, so outright dirty had her legs jellying.
“Am I,” he leaned into her neck, “making you uncomfortable?” He was pressed firmly against her and she felt exactly what lay between them and only two layers of clothing. “You seemed much more up for it last night when you were stating your terms.”
Eve couldn’t think. His hand was tight against her waist, hot through the fabric of her shirt, his intentions clear beneath his jeans. His scent wafted to her of soap and musk.
He pulled away leaving her cold. “Lucky for you, you have morning breath and I have a line I don’t cross.”
“So you’ll never have sex with me in the morning?”
“I didn’t say that,” he went back into the kitchen and reached up to the cupboard pulling out two mugs. “I’ll fuck you I just won’t want to kiss you.”
Eve sat on a stool. “I suppose kissing is too personal for you anyway.”
He poured coffee into two mugs. “Eve, there are many things I consider personal, kissing is not one of them.”
Eve nestled the mug under her nose. “You’re such a romantic.”
67
“So you don’t want a contract?”
Roman leaned over the counter, both of his elbows touching the marble, giving her a whiff of his musty scent. Eve leaned back on the other end, her head was swimming. A moment ago she’d felt his erection, now he was flirting with her?
A kitchen island between them would not be enough.
“I told you, no.”
“Very well, how about a verbal contract?” Roman sat on the counter.
Eve narrowed her gaze. “At least, I’ll know when I’ve stepped over the line.”
She folded her arms. “Fine, if it’s terms you want. I’m to keep my apartment.”
“And you’ll stay here some nights.”
“Which nights?”
“I’m leaving it open for the time being,” he mused.
“Which bedroom? I woke up in a bed I’m certain isn’t yours.”
“In my bedroom,” he corrected. “Last night was the exception.”
“So why didn’t I wake up in your bedroom?”
“I didn’t want you to get confused straight away, if ever the lines blur you can sleep in the guest bedroom.”
“I’ll sleep in my apartment.”
“Don’t you want breakfast first?”
Eve’s stomach growled in response.
Roman tossed his jacket over his shoulder. She hadn’t taken her time to look at him, really look at him. He was dressed in dark jeans and a light V top exposing a peek at his chest.
“You look presentable, here,” he handed her a pair of sunglasses.
“Where are we going?”
“Out.” Roman opened the front door before Eve could protest, she still wore last nights’ outfit and was absolutely in need of a shower.
“I’m not wearing any shoes.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Roman pressed the button for the elevator.
The ride down was uncomfortable. He took her hand, the thrill thrumming to her Sex. They stepped through the front doors of the hotel, passing the doorman, a red runner leading them to the walkway.
Roman stopped a moment and turned to Eve. He held her shoulders. “Kiss me,” he said.
“What? Why?”
“Because I said so.” Eve leaned forward and Roman closed the last distance between them.
His lips melded with hers and sent a symphony of nerves shooting through her body. Her hips pressed against his, her hands cupping him closer encircling around his back. She breathed him in and his tongue met hers. It flicked back and he pulled back, exhaling. “Thank you,” he took her hand and led her back into the hotel. He made a left turn before the elevators and steered her towards the breakfast buffet.
They were seated immediately next to the window.
“Why did we go outside if we’re having breakfast here? I thought you don’t kiss girls if they haven’t brushed their teeth.”
“It was worth it.”
The waiter came and Roman ordered coffee and three poached eggs with salmon on the side. Eve ordered the same. She waited ever patiently for him to explain.
Roman clasped his hands together in front of him. They were seated close together in a booth isolated from the rest.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d change your mind,” he said.
Eve sat in silence a while, contemplating.
Then it came to her. “Is there a reporter watching the hotel?”
“I am a billionaire.”
“You played me,” Eve fingered her napkin, the betrayal fresh on her lips.
“I guaranteed the start of a verbal contract,” Roman flicked out his napkin and put it on his lap.
“I’m not sure how to feel.”
“Eve, look at me.” She did. “Let’s begin again, forget what has happened between us and enjoy what’s to come.” She nodded down at the napkin.
Her voice was so small as she said it. “Is there always someone stationed outside the hotel to photograph your conquests?”
He took her hand pulling her gaze into his. “Corina Hilton arrived last night. They’re not here for me. I promise you I never meant to start like this, though you left me no choice. I don’t feel rational around you, which is why I need you to comply.”
“Fine.”
Roman blinked. “Fine?”
“Slowly.” For those few moments Eve let herself believe this was real. She let herself be swept away by Roman and she knew even as she did it,
It would be her downfall.
68
They still held hands.
Eve shuddered a breath, the sensation running all the way down to her toes. Roman Pierce was holding her hand! The elevator dinged open. Roman led her in. It was all too much too soon to compute. It wasn’t so long ago she beli
eved she’d never again see him and now…
“So what do you want to do today?” Roman filled the quiet.
“What can we do?” she countered, her voice caught a higher pitch.
“It’s a Saturday, I’m sure we can think of something,” the twinkle in his eye said as much as he drew her in.
“I’d like to shower first.”
“Together,” her back was to him in the elevator. “I’d like that very much,” he whispered in her ear, his hand trailing up her top curving at the bare flesh.
Her back arched to his body and held her taut against him. How could she say no to him? The elevator dinged open all too soon and they were out and through the entryway of his floor. He led her to his bedroom up a flight of curving stairs.
Eve awed.
It was magnificent. Floor to ceiling glass showing the whole of Manhattan in broad daylight. She was suddenly so on show to the world. Roman pressed a button on the remote and the windows tinted in a flick.
“Exactly like your office,” Eve breathed.
He tugged her to him and trailed kisses down her neck.
“That brings back memories.” His hands worked at her blouse untying the silk and flicking open buttons.
Her neck arched to him.
He spun her round. “There’s a toothbrush in the first drawer. Go.”
“Or what?” she whispered.
His pupils dilated. “Don’t tempt me.”
“I’m a temp, it’s what I do.” Eve skipped to the bathroom and stole into the first drawer under the sink. She took a long hard look in the mirror. Her face was fuller than she remembered, her pink cheeks pinker and more rounded. The colour in her irises had never been so intense. She smoothed her hair back throwing it over one shoulder discarding the hair band.
The butterflies fluttered in her stomach and moved in synapses all the way down her toes and fingers. She was thrumming alive with what was about to happen and her heart beat in gentle staccato trying to break free. Like a butterfly she was trapped in a cocoon. This was her moment. This was it.