19. Florence
CHAPTER NINETEEN
florence
“ A re you trying to read my book?” I raise my brows as I stare at him over my shoulder. There is no way he would be able to read the pages from the distance he is standing. I don’t take my eyes off him as he slowly crosses the room, the air thickens as he closes the gap between us.
Rome crosses his arms over his chest, mirth glittering in his jade-green eyes. “And if I was?”
My heart thunders in my chest. Rome didn’t go out with the others, and now he’s in my room, reading my smutty book over my shoulder? Surely there is a better reason behind this.
“I didn’t think you would be interested in a spicy romance book.”
“Oh, lollipop, you learn A LOT of things from romance books…especially the spicy ones.” His large strides eating up the remaining short distance coming to rest on the other side of the bed. My eyes slowly tracking his movements, I swallow, trying to quench my dry mouth.
My brain is unable to think of a witty reply. “How did you know I was here, or have you been randomly sneaking into our room all day?”
“I always know when you’re near, Flo.” His voice is barely above a whisper.
My eyes widen. Surely, I heard him wrong. “You know, to the wrong person, that could sound…creepy.”
“Is that why you always say you love morally gray men?” He stops at the empty side of the bed.
Clicking the Off button on my Kindle I let it fall from my weak fingertips. “Why are you here?” I repeat, my gaze holding his. The soft glow from the bedside light illuminates his silhouette. My eyes focus on the knot of the robe tied around this middle, it’s absurdly short on him, and I suppress the urge to snort.
“I came to talk.”
I stare at him, eyebrows raised, waiting for him to continue. Those four words could mean a myriad of conversations. The heavy silence hangs in the air. “About…” I prompt him to continue.
“About that little stunt you pulled.”
“Oh, yeah, that.” My cheeks heat.
“You’ve really complicated things.” He tsks. And here I was thinking I was uncomplicating things.
“I’m sorry.” I slide farther down in bed. Me and my big mouth.
“I’m not going to lie; you’ve really thrown a spanner in the works. But not all is lost, the whole girlfriend facade seems to have helped our situation.” He rubs his thumb along his bottom lip.
“I’m glad.” I try not to stare at his thumb as it moves. It’s not the first time I’ve had to step in as the unofficial Venuccio fake girlfriend—and it probably won’t be the last. “I’m just glad I was there to help.”
“Great. So you agree then?”
“I do.” I shiver goes down my spine. At least I think I do.
“I’m so glad to hear that.” He pulls at the string of his robe untying the knot and letting it fall open, revealing his tight black boxers underneath. “Sleeping in the room next door isn’t going to work. Not now that you have to be my girlfriend until the deal with Deeter Group goes through. We almost got caught by Nora a couple of hours after we told her dad we’re in a relationship, we can’t let that happen again.”
Wait? I rear back like I’d just been slapped. What, what did he just say? My sluggish brain struggles to process his meaning.
“So you…want to sleep here? Tonight?” I point to my duvet-covered thighs, wanting to make sure I understood correctly. This whole fake girlfriend business isn’t just for a day or a night; it’s for the foreseeable future?! We’ve clearly blown past “spanner in the works” and thrown the whole freaking toolbox.
“Yes.” He nods.
“With me?” I ask really slowly so neither of us misses anything.
Rome’s eyebrows slam down as his lips tighten. “Don’t sound so shocked, Flo. It’s not like we haven’t gone on vacations and slept in the same room in the past, and we’ve shared a bed before.”
“Yeah, but we were like twelve.”
“You were seventeen actually,” he replies.
“Actually Mr. Smart Guy, I was sixteen. A certain Charlotte Croft was into that guy who had a summer job as a lifeguard. He asked her out on a date, and she wanted our room to be ‘vacant,’” I air quote the word, remembering Lottie’s exact phrasing, “for when the dinner portion of the date was over, and everyone else was already sharing except you. That was the last time we shared a bed together.” I give him a smug smile and cross my arms.
An easy smile plasters itself across Rome’s lips, like he is recalling the memory. Unfortunately for Lottie, the date fizzled out and she went home to an empty bed, but Rome and I had a lot of fun; we played a hefty round of pillow fight, seeing who could knock the other off the bed more—spoiler, I fell flat on my ass more times than I wanted too. We got room service popcorn, which then resulted in a popcorn fight and watched the scariest movie, which, in hindsight, probably wasn’t the greatest idea. I was so scared I spent the rest of the night clinging to Rome like he was a buoy in the middle of an ocean in order to go to sleep. The memory immediately floats through my brain.
“That was one of many, lollipop, but that wasn’t the last time.” Rome finally breaks the silence and my memory evaporates like a cloud.
“What do you mean?”
“Does the name Ryan Sargino ring any bells?”
My eyes widen. That motherfucker, I haven’t heard that name in a long time.
“Now she remembers the piece of shit.”
He was my first high school boyfriend, right up until I found out he’d been cheating on me with Kaitlyn, because she was so good, she spelled her name with a K —or so she told everyone. Safe to say I dumped Ryan’s ass after she broadcasted the fact she was blowing him in the locker rooms after gym class. I guess it was just an awful coincidence that he was videoing it and only for a person to anonymously send it to the school board and both of them were expelled. I was so devastated Rome, Luca, and Dante took turns sleeping in my bed for over a month to help me get through the betrayal.
“So?” Rome asks, after a few beats of silence. He indicates his head toward the empty side of the bed.
My eyes flick up to meet his. “Huh?” I ask, my brain in a heavy arousal fog. “I never understood why Ryan would incriminate himself with that video, but I really want to thank the person who sent it to the school. It was the most epic payback. I wish we knew who it was.”
“I guess there are some things we’ll never know. But at least they both got what they deserved. It’s karmic justice if you ask me.” Rome pulls the covers back and rests a knee on the mattress, making a large indent. I almost guessed it was Rome; for a long time I thought it was, but he’s never admitted to it. I let the conversation of shitty high school boyfriends slide.
“What about Lottie?” I ask. The last thing I need is for her to waltz into the room and find me and Rome in bed together. She might get the wrong idea. Although, I’m not sure what the right idea is at this point.
“I messaged her already; she’s going to sleep in my room.” Rome drops his fluffy robe from his shoulders, putting all his beautiful tattoos on display. AND of course, he sleeps in boxers. But I guess it’s better than him sleeping naked…right?!
WRONG.
So very, very wrong. He slides into the bed next to me. I suddenly feel all too hot. I may be sworn off love, but I’m not fucking blind.
I’m surprised Lottie isn’t blowing up my phone with questions. I can only imagine her mind is whirling with scenarios—mine sure as hell is.
“So I guess this means I’m your fake girlfriend then.” My throat burns with my swallow. “Huh?”
“Are you all right with this?” His shoulders tense. “The little twist of your brows is saying otherwise.”
“Yeah, of course, I mean, it’s for Ven Industries, right? I’m just thinking about the mountain of questions I know Lottie is going to ask.”
Rome snorts. His whole entire body relaxes as he leans back against the pillows. “Don’t worry about her, she is probably not going to be sleeping in her bed tonight anyway.” He flicks the dial turning it back up.
“What?!” Well, that just leaves me with more questions than answers.
“What do you mean Charlotte Croft is not sleeping in the bed next door?”
“She’s going to bunk with Kendall, because we all know Ryder will not have Livvy sleep anywhere but next to him.”
Bummer, not the kind of juicy gossip I was hoping for. Rome dims the lights again. As he lies back, getting comfortable he turns his head to look at me. My whole body is aware of him. Yes, Rome’s right; we may have slept in the same bed in the past, but we were teenagers, things were different back then.
“What?” I ask, suddenly feeling self-conscious with all the attention.
“Don’t you want to finish that page off?”
As if I could continue reading. “It was getting boring anyway.” I rest my Kindle on the bedside table and snuggle back into the pillow, pulling the starchy covers up and tucking my chin on top. I don’t think sleep will be my friend tonight.
“We’re going to have to look like a couple in all ways if we’re going to pull this off,” he mumbles.
“We hold hands in public, and I’m pretty sure you kissed me today,” I sass, eliciting a chuckle from Rome.
“Nora isn’t buying our dating facade, did you notice?”
You’d have to be blind to not notice. I find it creepy that she was lurking outside my room, almost like she was hoping to catch me out in a lie.
“I noticed. If you didn’t show up when you did, this conversation might be going in a different direction.” Less How do we sell this? and more Oh shit, what do we do now ?
“I think we need to have a plan.”
“Yes, a plan is good.” This is a lot more complex than just the Hey, this girl who I’m not interested in won’t take the hint, can you hold my hand when we go to the café fake dating shit I’ve done for the Venuccio brothers in the past. We need to really make Brian believe in our relationship. The acquisition rests on this.
“I’m thinking I’ll switch with Lottie for the rest of the weekend and sleep here.”
“Probably a good idea. What if Lottie is leaving the room with me and Nora catches us? I think it’s way too early in the relationship to be talking about inviting other guests in the bedroom.” I shiver. Yeah, explaining that one is going to be fun.
“I think maybe we should practice a bit of PDA, to make sure we’re both comfortable with it?”
“Like kissing?” My heart starts hammering in my chest.
“It could make for a great start.”
My mouth falls open, and I stare at him. Even in the darkness I can make out the stubble along his jaw. My eyes practically bulge out of their sockets. “Do you think now is the best time to practice? In the dark, in bed? I mean, I can barely see you.”
“I thought maybe it would make you more comfortable, it’s just me and you here, no one watching us. We can just relax.”
I release a deep breath. He’s right, it’s probably better for us to work out the kinks now, in the darkness so that when we’re out in public it will look more natural. Fourteen-year-old me would be freaking the fuck out. Heck, January me would be freaking the fuck out. Right now me is freaking the fuck out. “I-I,” I clear my throat, “could use the practice I suppose.” It’s been a while since I kissed someone, but it’s like riding a bike, right? You never forget. And my kiss with Rome this morning was a good refresher, but I could definitely use the practice without anyone watching.
“Me too.”
My tongue darts out and wets my bottom lip. Is this really happening? Am I about to kiss Rome Venuccio?