“Open it,” he urged.
She did and the sight of what was inside made her breath catch.
Even if Julianna hadn’t been in the line of work she was in, she would have recognized the exquisite craftsmanship of the piece of jewelry lying on a bed of silk. The locket was old, early nineteen-hundreds if she had to guess, oval-shaped and made of rose gold. A stylized M was centered in the middle, surrounded by leaves of gold. “It’s lovely, Roman.” Her gaze swept up to his. “Are…why are you giving this to me?”
“Because I want you to have it.” His eyes held her gaze. There were unspoken word playing on his face, things that hit her right in the heart. “Will you take it?”
Some part of her whispered, You’re crazy…this is too soon.
But the rest of her was almost giddy.
“Yes!”
He reached for the box and she turned it over to him, turning around and lifting her hair to bare her neck. “Will you help me?”
In response, he placed the chain around her neck, his fingers brushing against her skin as he fastened it. When he was done, he stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders. Tremors of sensation rocked her and she would have sworn she felt imprints branded into her skin where his hands were. “Turn around,” he whispered against her ear. “Let me see.”
She turned then, looking up at him.
His blue eyes burned as he studied her, lids sweeping low until he watched her with a hooded gaze. “It looks like it was made for you,” he said softly, reaching up to lightly touch the locket.
“I love it,” she said, her voice soft.
He dipped his head and pressed his lips to hers.
She opened for him. Her heart felt so full, she thought it might burst.
When he lifted his head to look down at her, that goofy smile that had been threatening to break free finally appeared and she laughed, throwing her arms around him.
He chuckled, hugging her back. “I give one of my most treasured possessions to a woman and she’s laughing. Thanks, Julianna.”
She caught his face in her hand and tugged it back to hers. “Thank you, Roman.” She kissed him again, a loud, smacking kiss that turned soft and slow and sweet.
As Roman’s arms tightened around her, she leaned into him, delight and happiness curling through her.
18
Roman
Roman woke in his bed to the feel of Julianna’s mouth on his.
“Wake up, sleepyhead.”
After two months together, the intensity of the pleasure she gave him didn’t blindside him as much as it once had. But it could still catch him by surprise and coming awake to feel her hand on his cock was always a delight.
After all, what man wouldn’t want to wake up like that?
“Morning,” he said, reaching down to fold his hand over hers. “Whatever you were up to, darling, keep at it.”
She chuckled and rubbed her mouth over his. “I’d be happy to, but we have to make it quick. I’ve got a breakfast meeting.”
“Hmm…if that’s the case…” He flipped them over in bed and came down between her thighs. “How quick do you want it?”
Her lashes fluttered and she hummed deep in her throat. “I’ve got a few minutes.”
“Good.” He kissed the corner of her mouth, then moved lower, his lips brushing over neck, collarbone and breastbone as he made his way down, down, down.
She gasped when he reached her pubis and he glanced up. “Am I rushing it?”
“Oh…no. You’re just fine. Moving right along.”
He grinned at her before lowering his mouth and nuzzling her through the neat patch of curls. He absolutely loved having sex with her. She was fun and fearless and didn’t mind playing in bed. When he slid his tongue through her folds, she whimpered and reached down, spearing her fingers through his hair. “Roman…”
He loved it when she did that, when she pressed herself eagerly up against his mouth and begged for more.
He gave her more. He was at the point where he’d give her just about anything. And this? This was a pleasure to give. He brought her to a quick orgasm, then moved back up to mount her, slipping inside her and groaning at the wet, hot feel of her. They’d dispersed with condoms a few weeks earlier after she’d told him she was on the pill and they’d had the other discussion.
He’d never gone skin to skin with another woman and the feel of her silken, sweet pussy was a delicious pleasure he never wanted to be without.
She caught his arms, her nails biting into his biceps as he started to thrust inside her. Her head thrashed back and forth on his pillow, her dark brown hair a river of silk.
“Roman!”
The sound of his name on her lips was just one more thing he didn’t want to do without and he dipped his head to kiss her, hard and fast as need and pleasure chased through him.
What had started out as sweet and lazy turned hard and fast and he tucked his hand up under her ass, bringing her up more fully against him, riding her hard.
A weak moan escaped her just before the climax hit her and he swallowed the sound of it down, reveling in each sigh, each moan, each shudder of ecstasy.
Her climax tripped his own and as the milking sensations sent him over, he lowered his weight onto her and clung to her, face buried in her hair.
“I love waking up with you,” Julianna said, giving him a smacking kiss on the lips.
He could have said the same, but she’d already climbed out of the bed. Sitting up, he kicked his legs over the side of the bed, snagging a pair of warm-up pants from the end of the bed. “Have you got time for a cup of coffee before you go?”
She beamed at him. “Why else do you think I woke you up?”
“So you can have your way with me?”
Julianna winked at him. “Well, there’s that.”
She came toward him and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth, humming under her breath in that way she had. It still drove him a little crazy and he didn’t mind that it did. Before he could slide a hand around her neck and deepen the kiss, she pulled away and asked, “Would you mind starting the coffee? I need to shower and get dressed.”
“I think you woke me up so I could make the coffee,” he said, rolling his eyes, but he headed out of the bedroom, unconcerned. Making coffee for her in the morning was an easy enough thing if he could to enjoy watching her drink it, and it was an enjoyment. She moaned after the first sip in a way that reminded him of sex.
He dealt with the routine task of brewing the coffee as she showered. While his hands were busy, his mind ran through the day he had ahead of him. There was nothing particularly pressing, just a routine day. If Julianna didn’t have anything that might keep her late, maybe she’d like to go out to eat. He had a yen for Italian lately.
She joined him in the kitchen just as the first cup was ready and he turned it over to her with a smile.
“You are a darling,” she said, sighing with gusto as she accepted it.
He pointed toward the table. Even though she’d said she had a breakfast meeting, he’d heated her up a croissant. She had a fondness for them.
“Oh, yummy.” She picked it up and nipped off a bite before taking another sip of coffee.
“What sort of day do you have ahead of you, aside from the breakfast meeting?”
She shrugged. “Typical day. Why?”
“I was thinking maybe we could go out for dinner. Italian?”
“Sounds like a plan.” She devoured half the croissant and drank a few more sips of coffee. “Text me details later?”
She dashed into the bathroom after dropping a kiss on Roman’s forehead and he sat there, smiling at nothing as he sipped at his coffee. The past several weeks had been the best of his life.
He hadn’t thought it was possible to be happy like this.
“What are you smiling about?” Julianna asked as she strode back into the kitchen a couple of moments later.
He got up to kiss her. She tasted like toothpaste. He ling
ered over the kiss until she pushed him back. “Keep that up and I’ll be late,” she advised him.
“Is that so bad?”
“Well, I wouldn’t think so, but I was already late for a meeting this month, and if it happens again, I’m going to have a hard time brushing it off.” She winked at him as she grabbed her purse. “You never did tell me what you were smiling about.”
“You,” he said simply.
She stopped mid-motion, staring at him. Then she started to blink rapidly. “Damn you. You go saying things like that and you make me want to be late.”
He leered playfully at her, but she laughed. He took a step toward her and she held up a staying hand. “You…stay over there. I’ve got to go.”
“I’ll walk you out.” He escorted her out to the private elevator and dropped a sedate kiss onto her cheek. “I’ll text you about dinner, okay?”
She smiled in response and stepped onto the elevator. The doors closed on the sight of her blowing a kiss at him.
Roman retreated back inside his condo and sat down at the table. Her plate still sat across from him, most of the croissant gone. He took the corner she hadn’t eaten and popped it in his mouth as he debated on whether or not he wanted to make himself some breakfast or grab a bagel on the way into the office.
As he rose to pour himself another cup of coffee, there was a knock at the door.
He frowned.
It was awful early for it to be much of anybody. Only a few people had the code for his private elevator and most of them weren’t exactly the type to make early morning calls.
Opening the door, wondering if Julianna had forgotten her keys, he fixed a smile on his face, ready to tease her.
It almost died at the sight of his father.
Oh, fuck.
“Hello, Roman.” Michael Montrose nodded at him. “I was in the area. I thought we could grab a cup of coffee and drive into the office together.”
At his father’s expectant look, he dutifully stepped aside.
Had he seen Julianna on his way out?
Michael came inside and went to hang up his coat, pausing there by the closet a brief moment before turning to look at his son.
“What brings you to the area?” Roman asked, struggling to keep his voice neutral. He studied his father’s face. Everything looked…normal. That meant Michael probably hadn’t seen Julianna. Even though his apathy seemed far less when it came to her, he still didn’t like her—she was a Castle. If he’d seen her, especially this early in the day, he’d show some sign.
They had probably just missed each other.
As Michael explained he’d been meeting a friend for coffee, Roman struggled not to breathe out a sigh of relief.
“Care to get me a cup of coffee?” Michael asked.
“Your doctor will get after you for having more than cup a day,” Roman reminded him.
“I had decaf earlier. It doesn’t count.” Michael waved the comment off and started for the kitchen. In the doorway, he paused, head cocked.
Roman didn’t have to ask what it was that caught his attention. The table was clearly set for two. But he said nothing, moving over to the cabinet and taking a cup down. As he poured his father a cup, Michael moved deeper into the room.
“I’m hearing a rumor that Edgar Templeton will be back in New York within the week,” Michael said.
Roman turned over the cup of coffee and added a little more to his own cup to warm it up before he faced his father. “Is that so?”
“From what I’m hearing.” Michael shrugged, non-committal. “I want to be ready with a new offer, one that will knock his socks off. We’re going to get those mines and that prototype, son. Have you put any more thought into the bid?”
“Some,” Roman hedged. Not much. He’d honestly been more focused on Julianna the past few months, rather than some prototype, the tech of which he didn’t fully understand. Julianna likely did, but the two of them had agreed that business was off-limits.
“We should get together for dinner, put our heads together and see what we come up with,” Michael said.
Roman nodded, although he wasn’t keen on the idea. What would happen if his family won the bid? If it was indeed a game changer, would it upset the Castle family business enough to cause problems for Julianna? He didn’t want that. On the flipside, he wanted his family business secure.
He bit back a scowl, trying not to let his father see any of his internal conflict. As long as that prototype was in play between their two families, there was going to be a winner and a loser, he realized. He didn’t want either of them to win or lose.
There had to be another alternative, but what in the hell could it be?
“So…when are you going to introduce us to this new lady?”
Roman jerked his head up, looking at his father. “Pardon?”
“Oh, come on.” Michael gestured at the table with the incriminating evidence of two coffee cups and the basket of croissants he had yet to put away. “I also caught the scent of perfume on the elevator as I came up. And unless you’ve started wearing ladies’ shoes, you’ve got a lady friend who’s been staying over from time to time.” Michael grinned at him. “I saw the shoes by the door.”
Roman was quiet.
“Come on. You can’t fool me. Whoever this woman is, she’s made you rather happy lately. Your mother and I both noticed the difference. When do we get to meet her?”
Roman offered a vague shrug.
“Do I know her?” Michael pressed.
“You do.” His mind racing, Roman searched for a way to distract his father, at least for a little while. “I really don’t have time to talk about this though. I’ve got a meeting with a West Coast buyer coming up. We’ve been trying to nail this guy down for months and I can’t afford to be late.”
As expected, greed lit Michael’s eyes. “Is that Gibson from Omega?”
“It is.”
Michael clapped his hands together. “Hot damn. Yes, you go on.” He waved a hand at him. “Get ready. And seal that deal for us, Roman.”
Once his father was gone, Roman collapsed back against the door and breathed out a sigh of relief. The meeting with Gibson actually wasn’t for another two hours so he had time.
But it had served to distract his father for a little while.
Pushing off the door, he moved to stand in the kitchen doorway, staring at that second, incriminating coffee cup.
What was he going to do, though?
Today had pretty much cut his time short. At some point in the near future, he was going to have to come clean to his folks about the relationship he was in. He and Julianna were involved.
They were a thing.
But it wouldn’t have mattered to his father how happy Julianna made him.
All Michael Montrose would see was that Roman was sleeping with the enemy.
19
Julianna
“I almost died.” Moira’s eyes danced with laughter as she finished recounting her tale.
Julianna pressed her lips together to keep from bursting out into giggles but after a moment, it became too hard to hold them back and she pressed a napkin to her mouth to stifle the sound.
The quiet, elegant French restaurant they’d chosen for lunch might not have been the best choice for a midday meal for them, considering they hadn’t seen each other in a couple of months and even then, it had just been for a few minutes the night of the charity gala.
At first Moira gave Julianna an affronted look, but after a few seconds, she started to laugh as well.
Once it faded, Julianna reached over and brushed her fingers down Moira’s hand. “We have got to stay in touch better than this. I always have so much fun talking with you.”
“Tell me.” Moira turned her hand over and they clasped their palms together for a quick moment. “Listen, I’ve been wanting to ask…how interested is your father in Dad’s sale?”
Uneasy now, Julianna drew her hand back. “We’ve got a meeting set up to
talk to Edgar in a few days. We’ll see what happens.”
“Come on…give me an idea.” Moira leaned forward in her chair, her voice lowering. “I’ve got good insider info that there’s a London hedge fund group that’s making noises about offering for the whole package. I hear they’re going to offer about what Dad wants, too. But I know it’s not just the money that he’s looking for.”
Julianna wanted to clap her hands over her ears and started humming, anything to cut off the flow of information coming from Moira, but…well, that would look silly.
“We’ll just see what happens, okay?” She summoned up a determined smile and Moira opened her mouth once more, but Julianna shook her head. “I’ll talk to my father, but I don’t want to discuss it. It doesn’t seem fair.”
Moira’s gaze turned speculative and she looked like she wanted to press.
“Julianna! Moira!”
At the sound of her mother’s voice, Julianna turned. Seeing Janice Castle, she rose and went to hug the woman. She spied Abigail Mendoza as well. The two of them worked together on a breast cancer awareness campaign and usually had lunch together several times a month. After giving her mother a hug, she hugged Abby as well then introduced her to Moira.
Abigail, always eager to find possible new donors, beamed at Moira and started to chat her up. As they spoke, Julianna smiled at her mother. “How are you? You weren’t there when I came by this weekend.”
“Spa day.” Janice smiled, a good humor showing in her eyes. “If I’d known you were coming by…well, I wouldn’t have canceled, but I would have invited you along.”
“Oh…I could use a spa day.” Julianna sighed in envy, trying to remember the last time she’d completely pampered herself. It had been a while, that was certain. She couldn’t even remember the last time.
“We’ll have to do one together soon,” Janice told her, catching her daughter’s hands and squeezing.
Julianna nodded. “That sounds lovely.”
Janice went to say something, but her face froze. A few seconds later, she blinked and shook her head. She spoke, but her voice sounded stifled. “I’ll…we’ll get in a touch and work something out, okay?”
Hate On: An Enemies to Lovers Romance Page 11