by Linda Verji
“It’s not like I had that much for them to steal anyway,” April said. “Besides they’re just things; nothing I can’t live without. It’s not like I’ll die if I don’t have a TV. If they’d stolen my kidney… well, then I’d have a whole lot more to say.”
He stared at her thoughtfully as she spoke, marveling at how blasé she was about the loss of her material possessions. He wished he could be that easygoing about his own stuff, but years of living in poverty had made him extremely protective of the little – or much - he had. Maybe he could learn something from her.
It didn’t take long for them to get to his place.
“We should probably get you one of these,” he said as he punched his code into the electronic lock then swiped his finger over it. “They’re safer than the key locks your building uses.”
“You’re right,” she agreed as the door beeped then opened. “I’ll talk to the superintendant about installing one.”
“Why don’t you just move?” Roman stepped aside to let her into the house first. “Your neighborhood isn’t safe.”
“Ah! But you’re forgetting how low my rent is.” She kicked off her shoes as she added, “If I move to a better neighborhood, I’ll have to pay more.”
He frowned. “Isn’t the extra security worth it?”
That got her thinking. Her brow creased and a thoughtful light glinted in her eyes as she strode into the living room. She stopped in front of the couch and stared at it, almost as if she was measuring it.
Roman came up behind her. “You can take the bedroom. I’ll have the couch.”
“No, you can’t,” she rushed to protest. “I’m the one intruding. I should be the one to sleep on the couch.”
“You’re my guest,” he said. When her lips parted as if she was readying another protest, he lifted a palm. “No arguments. The couch is mine.”
“Are you sure?” Guilt and uncertainty flashed in her beautiful eyes. “It’s kind of short for you.”
“One night on it won’t kill me.” Lifting her bag higher, he said, “I’ll drop this for you in there.” April followed him as he led the way into his bedroom. Setting her bag on the bed, he said, “If you need to take a shower, you know where everything is, right?”
“Mm hmm.” She nodded.
“Are you hungry?” he asked. “I could throw down a quick omelet for you.”
“No, I’m fine.” She shook her head. “Thank you. I think I’ll just take a shower then go to bed.”
While she was in the shower, he set up the couch. Thankfully, he’d had the foresight to buy a couch that could pull out into a bed. Once he was done setting it up, he went back to the bedroom to change out of his suit. He was down to his boxer-briefs when the door to the en-suite opened and April walked out wrapped in just a bath towel. The moment her gaze landed on him, her steps came to an abrupt halt and her eyes widened.
But his full attention was on her body. The fluffy white terry clothe covered her tall slender body from just above her breasts to just a couple of inches below her crotch. A picture of her like this in a catalog would sell a lot of towels. He stared at her, burning the image into his brain, before lifting his gaze to her face. He found her taking him in just as intently.
Her wide-eyed gaze skated down over his chest, inched down his stomach and landed on his crotch. It lingered there – as if trying to see beneath his boxer-briefs, and her lips parted. Roman’s mouth dried as his cock reacted to the unabashed observation and the hooded desire in her eyes. His errant member pressed incessantly against the soft cotton making no bones of the fact that he was turned on.
When she bit her bottom lip, an involuntary groan escaped his throat.“April.”
His voice was enough to drag her out of her slow perusal of his body. Her eyes flew to his face then without a word, she quickly backed back into the en suite. The door slammed after her. Despite his arousal, Roman laughed. It was good to know that she was still physically attracted to him.
Emotional attraction would hopefully follow soon.
By the time he was done changing into his sleepwear, April still wasn’t out of the bathroom. And he didn’t see her again until an hour later when he peeped into the bedroom.
She was lying on her side, one hand beneath her cheek and the covers to her waist as she slept. He stopped by the bed to pull the covers higher up her body, but once he was next to her he couldn’t move. She was so calm in her sleep, so peaceful, so beautiful. Her lush lips were fractionally parted and her long lashes lay, black crescents against her caramel skin. He could smell her scent; fresh and flowery from her shower; it rose from her warmth and tugged him closer.
He reached out a hand to touch her cheek, but just then April moaned and restlessly shifted on the bed. Roman immediately jumped back. He could only imagine what would happen if she woke up to find him hovering over her in the darkness like some weird creep. Fortunately, she only turned to face the other side of the room. With a sigh of relief, he headed back to the living room and lay on his bed.
With April so close, it was hard to go to sleep. He kept imagining himself in bed with her, waking her up, touching her, loving her… Groaning, he turned over onto his stomach and punched his pillow. At this rate, he’d be a zombie tomorrow at work. He closed his eyes and forced himself to count sheep instead of Aprils. Eventually, it worked and he fell asleep.
But it didn’t last for long.
A sudden thud yanked Roman from his sleep. It wasn’t a loud noise but after the breakin at April’s he was more sensitive than usual. Frowning, he sat up and opened his eyes into thin slits. Immediately, he saw the thin strip of light coming from his kitchen’s half-open door. Had someone broken into his house too?
Quickly, he pushed aside the heavy covers, swung his feet to the carpeted floor and stood up. Grabbing the fire-iron, he padded barefoot towards the kitchen. He was careful not to make a sound as he pushed the kitchen door wider then crept in. Only to find that there was no intruder. It was just April.
However, he wasn’t as quiet as he thought because just as he was about to lower the bat April whirled. Her hand flew to her heart and her eyes widened. “Roman?”
“Sorry.” He lowered the bat. “I thought you were breaking in.”
She sucked in a deep breath. “You scared me.”
“Sorry,” he repeated, but this time his tone was more distracted. Most of his attention was on what she was wearing.
On any other woman a sleeveless t-shirt and leggings would’ve been harmless. But on April they were… well, damn. The armholes of her vest were big enough that he had an excellent view of the sides of her breasts, and the leggings clung to every inch of her sexy, long legs. Immediately, her revealed body conjured memories of how good it had felt to have her against him, to have those long legs wrapped around his flanks, to be inside her, to fu-
“Did I wake you?” April cut into his errant thoughts.
“Yeah… No.” Roman wetted his suddenly dry lips as he pulled his gaze from her legs and back to her face. “What… What are you doing up at this time of the night?”
Guilt flashed in her eyes. Her gaze furtively darted to the counter behind her, and he saw the cutting board that was filled with vegetables. April gave him a sheepish look. “I was hungry.”
Roman couldn’t help laughing. “You should’ve taken me up on my offer.”
April wrinkled her nose. “You know me. I only eat when I’m hungry and I wasn’t hungry then.”
Indeed he knew her. He knew about her strange eating habits, how much she loved shoes, how she loved romantic movies even though she always ended up crying her eyes out whenever she watched them, how she spoke quickly when she was lying… he knew all that. And yet it felt like he knew nothing about her. Like he’d been running around blind and was now seeing her for what she truly was. A beautiful, driven woman who had flaws but was loving and generous to a fault.
“What are you making?” he asked, edging closer to her.
�
�As if you don’t know.” She snorted as she shredded some cheese into a plate. “The only things in your fridge are the ingredients for an omelet.”
“You know me.” He shrugged. “I’m not going to waste money buying groceries when I can just eat at Tellers.”
She laughed and shook her head. “Cheap. Cheap. Cheap.”
Usually, her teasing wouldn’t have fazed him at all. He was used to being called cheap. But today it pricked a nerve, reminding him of everything that had happened between them in the last couple of weeks. He stared out the window, at the rain pounding at the glass, and wondered whether the thriftiness he’d always worn as a badge of honor was actually a liability. Was it something that made him judge people even before he got to know them better? Had he become so consumed in protecting the wealth he’d built that he’d forgotten the value of enjoying it with the people he loved? People like April.
He wasn’t the only one lost in his thoughts. April was silent and pensive as she chopped some spinach. To break the silence, he said, “It’s still raining pretty hard outside. I don’t think it’ll stop tonight.”
“Mm… you’re probably right.’ she answered distractedly. A moment later and without pausing in her chopping, she asked, “Can I ask you something?”
He leaned back against the counter and nodded. “Shoot!”
“Do I-” She paused, then took a deep breath. “Do I really come off as a gold-digger?”
Roman instantly stiffened.
CHAPTER 22
Remember those times when fathers tell their boys that it’s better to just shut up? This was one of those times. Roman didn’t want to answer April’s question because he knew that there was every chance he’d put his foot in his mouth and screw up their relationship again.
“Do I really come off as gold-digger?” April repeated her question. There was no anger in her gaze but who knew what emotions were circling beneath her blasé surface.
“No… um… of course not.” Roman rubbed the nape of his neck.
As if she could read his mind, she said, “I won’t get mad. I just want to know if I really come off as gold-digger.”
Her getting angry wasn’t the problem. He was more afraid that he’d hurt her again. Roman sucked in a deep breath then said, “You don’t come off as a gold-digger. When I told Javier that… that you were a… you know… I was just mouthing off. I just didn’t want him pursuing you.”
“But it must have come from somewhere.” April poured the cut up spinach into a bowl. “Maybe there’s something I’m doing that makes it seem like I’m after guys for their money.”
“There’s nothing you’re doing,” he said. When she threw him a disbelieving look, he insisted, “Really.”
April didn’t say anything to that. She walked to the fridge, opened it and took out a carton of eggs. She held them up. “Can I make enough for you?”
She was offering to make him a meal; that meant she wasn’t angry at him, right? Right? So why did it feel like a hand was squeezing his lungs and why were all his muscles pulled so tight? He shook his head. “No, I’m good. Thanks.”
“Sure?”
“I’m sure.”
She took two eggs from the carton then put the rest back into the fridge. When she was back next to him, she cracked the eggs into a bowl, threw the vegetables then efficiently beat up the mixture. She was so quiet and intent on her task that he began to think that she’d dropped the subject and the knot in the pit of his stomach began to unravel.
Then she asked, “Is it because I spend money badly?”
Immediately, he tensed again.
There was something about her soft tone and the way she was avoiding looking at him that told him she wasn’t quite as unemotional as she was pretending, and it sent a stab of pain through him. He’d done this… made her doubt herself and what people thought of her. Without conscious thought, he edged closer to her and set his arm around her waist. Her gaze immediately flew to his face, and in her eyes he saw a painful vulnerability that pulled at his heart.
“None of those things I said were true. They were stupid. I was stupid.” He squeezed her waist. “You didn’t do anything to deserve it.”
But his words seemed to fall on deaf ears because she said, “I mean I get why you would assume that I’m a gold-digger or a groupie or whatever.” She pulled away from his hold to move towards the cupboards. “I kept chasing after you – a celebrity – and technically I was your groupie. Then to make matters worse, I have spending problems….”
It almost seemed like she was talking to herself as she hunkered down to grab a pan from the cupboard. “… it’s no wonder you got the wrong impression.”
“I got the wrong impression because I’ve got my own issues,” he protested, “not because of something you did.”
Blaming him for the rift in their relationship was okay – it was his fault. Blaming herself – that wasn’t okay.
Studying her as she moved from the cupboard to the stove, he said, “I admit, that I worry about how you spend your money sometimes-”
“Doesn’t everybody.” She smiled but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. “My dad won’t shut up about it.”
“But that doesn’t give me the right to judge you.” He moved closer to her and when she reached for the pan, he reached for it too. His fingers closed over hers. Locking his gaze with hers, he said, “Like you said, you’ve never tried to get anyone to fund your spending habits. Not even me – when you’ve had more opportunity than any other woman in my life to do so. I was a fool for not seeing that before.”
April bit her index finger in that sexy way that always made him think of replacing her finger with his mouth. Hesitantly, she asked, “You mean that?”
“I mean that.” He urged her to set the pan on the stove. They both released it and he set his hands on her waist and turned her to face him. “I’m sorry about what I said, April.”
She didn’t say anything, just stared at him. But her gaze was soft, like she was weakening.
He pulled her even closer to him, and she set her hands on his shoulders. This time they were close enough that he could feel every inch of her soft curves pressing into the hard length of his body. His whole body lit up in immediate awareness and heat, but he ignored it.
Studying her, he pleaded, “Why don’t you let me off the hook this time?” When she didn’t answer, he said, “Just this one time. I won’t make you regret it. I won’t let you down again.”
She still didn’t say anything but he could tell that she was thinking about forgiving him. It was in the way she looked at him, the way she didn’t move away from him, the way her hands clung to his shoulder. His first instinct was to lower his head and kiss her, but he didn’t want to push her into anything she wasn’t ready for. Last time he’d done that, it’d ended in disaster and he couldn’t bear another second of them being at odds.
Instead, he tightened his arms around her waist and lowered his face to the crook of her neck. He inhaled her fresh womanly scent as he embraced her, absorbed her. It felt so good to have her back in his arms, and when her body melted against his, relief like he’d never felt before bubbled inside him. When her hand moved from his shoulders to cup his nape, he pushed out a long breath and hugged her tight.
It felt like he was finally back home.
*
SOMETIME BEFORE FOUR a.m., April and Roman wandered back to their respective beds. As soon as April settled between the covers, she fell asleep. She must’ve been more tired than she thought because her slumber was as dreamless and as deep as could be. When she next opened her eyes, it was to find a fully dressed Roman setting a note on her bedside table.
“What’s that?” she asked groggily, as she watched him through hooded eyes.
Obviously startled, Roman turned his head in her direction. “You’re awake.”
“Mm.” She pulled in a deep breath and stretched like a cat. “What time is it?”
“Some minutes past nine.” He stra
ightened to standing position. “I was just about-”
“What? Past nine?” She cut him off mid-sentence. Panic threading through her, she sat up. “Why didn’t you wake me?” She shoved the covers away, swung her legs to the carpeted floor and stood. “Eish! I’m going to be so late for work.”
“Relax, you’re with the boss h…” His words drifted into silence as his gaze moved from her face and down her body. It was only when that intent gaze settled on her legs that she realized that she wasn’t wearing any pants.
To get comfortable during the night, she’d chucked her leggings before getting into bed. The look in Roman’s eyes told her that that had been mistake. The desire that shadowed his eyes was enough to send a shiver racing through her. Abruptly, she sat down and yanked the covers back over her legs as embarrassment flooded her. When Roman’s eyes met hers again, the desire had been replaced by amusement.
“You don’t need to be shy around me.” He grinned. “I’ve seen it all.”
His words were enough to conjure memories of that time when he’d ‘seen it all’. Heat raced up her body to replace the embarrassment and an ache started in her lower body. Eager to banish those errant memories, she changed the subject. “Were you leaving for work without me?”
Roman nodded. “After what happened last night, I thought you might need a break from work-”
“I’m fine.” She cut him off mid-sentence. “I don’t need a break.”
He frowned. “Are you sure? It’s okay for you to miss one day of work.”
“I know, but work distracts me,” she explained. “If I stay home, all I’ll do is keep thinking about the breakin and freak myself out. I need to work.”
His frown eased. “It’s late though. Maybe-”
“Then I’ll dress in a hurry.” She gave him her best puppy-dog eyes. “Wait for me, please!”
He studied her for a moment then nodded. “Fine, but hurry.”
Once he was out of the room, she padded to the en-suite and rushed through her shower. Within twenty minutes, she was dressed and ready for the day. She grabbed her luggage bag and purse as she exited the bedroom. Roman was seated on the couch watching the morning news. As soon as he noted her entrance, his laser-sharp gaze zeroed in on her luggage bag.