Chapter 32 Roman
THIRTY-TWO
ROMAN
Ididn’t fuck her.
Instead, I made her come for me four times before her body was so limp and weak that I had to carry her to bed.
The egg vibrator was a huge success, and I was feeling pretty damn smug about it, especially when she’d clung to me, begging me for my cock even though she could barely keep her eyes open as I tucked her into our bed.
Our Friday was spent together, enjoying every single second of the day.
We slept in until late morning, then had breakfast and coffee in our room.
We ate in our underwear instead of rushing to get ready for the day like we usually would.
The coffee was great, and the food was perfect.
Both of us ate until we couldn’t hold another bite.
We took our time showering and getting dressed for the day.
We wanted to hit the beach, but she wanted to do some shopping first. I’m not much of the shopping type, but I went along to be in public with her.
We went to one of the largest malls I’ve ever seen, where we walked hand-in-hand as we did some window shopping.
Neither of us actually bought anything, but I think it was more about being out of our bubble together.
We shared a cinnamon-sugar pretzel at the food court and talked, teased, and touched as much as we could. Nobody around us was in on our little secret—they didn’t even know there was a secret—but it made me realize how much I’d been missing by living the way I had been.
It was nice getting to be with someone. I remembered how much I enjoyed going out, doing things that didn’t revolve around work or drinking.
Things felt easy for the first time in I didn’t know how long.
I felt lighter, as if I were learning to walk all over again.
Being with Sasha was definitely something I could get used to.
“I like this,” I told her as we lounged on the beach together later in the day.
She looked over at me. “Like what? The beach?” She nodded. “Me too. It’s pretty here.”
“No, I mean, I like getting to be like this again. I forgot how much I enjoyed doing things with someone else.”
She laughed. “You mean, you forgot how much you enjoyed life when you’re not working?”
I took her hand in mine. “This isn’t just enjoying not being at work. For the longest time, all I did was work or get drunk. I was miserable. I forgot how good life can be when you’re happy, when you have someone by your side to enjoy it with. You made me open my eyes.
She smiled. “I’ve enjoyed spending all this time with you, too. It might be hard going home where we have to go back to pretending that we’re not together.”
“I don’t even want to think about it. We’re here. Let’s enjoy it.” I placed my hand beneath her chin, and as I spoke that last sentence, I slowly moved in closer until I could press my mouth against hers.
She kissed me slowly, but it was an intense kiss that told me that what we were doing meant just as much to her as it did to me.
We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging on the beach.
Around dinnertime, we decided to head back to the hotel to freshen up so we could go out for dinner instead of eating another meal in our room.
I had my glass raised mid-way to my mouth when she walked in wearing a light pink dress, causing my entire body to freeze as I watched her move closer to me.
The dress was sleeveless and fitted, with a plunging neckline that dipped below her belly button.
The dress’s skirt was long and flowed around her in layers of sheer fabric.
Her dark hair was curled and pinned into a fancy updo, and her makeup was done with a light hand, enhancing her natural beauty rather than covering it.
If I had to imagine what a real-life princess would look like, it would’ve been her in that moment.
She must have noticed me staring because the pink of her cheeks darkened slightly as she asked, “What do you think?” She held the sheer fabric out at her sides and twisted from side to side.
“Wow,” I breathed, setting my glass on the table as I passed it, walking toward her. “You’re gorgeous.” I shook my head clear. “I mean, you’re always gorgeous, but tonight you’re…” I didn’t know what word to use. “I… I’m speechless.”
She laughed softly. “I’ve never seen you speechless before.”
I chuckled. “I’ve never been speechless before.”
She smiled up at me, making my heart leap to life the second our eyes met. “Is that a good thing?”
“This time, I think it is,” I said, placing my hand under her chin.
She tilted her head back as I leaned toward her, capturing her lips with mine.
After the fun we had in the bathtub early that morning and having her nearly naked all day on the beach, you’d think seeing her fully dressed wouldn’t do anything for me.
But it did. And somehow, I wanted her more than I did watching her rub tanning oil over her half-naked body.
She was quick to break the kiss, letting out a laugh as she swatted me away.
“I’m hungry. Feed me, and then maybe I’ll have the strength to take care of your problem.” Her eyes dropped to the pronounced bulge in my pants.
I couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed. At my age, there wasn’t any reason for being hard just from kissing her, but that’s precisely what she did to me.
“Alright, let’s get some dinner.” I took her hand and led her toward the door.
I called in a favor and managed to get us into one of the best five-star restaurants in town—the kind of place that’s booked months in advance—but since it was a last-minute request, there was no guarantee that we would be seated on time.
“Mr. Quade sends his apologies for the delay. If you want to wait at the bar for your table to clear, drinks are on him,” the hostess told us after we’d been waiting a few minutes.
“Thank you.” I wrapped Sasha’s arm around mine and led her over to the bar.
We were greeted immediately by the bartender, and the two of us ordered a drink to wait with.
My phone began to ring from the inside pocket of my jacket, and when I removed it, I found Monica’s name on the screen.
I looked at Sasha. “It’s Monica. I should get this in case something is going on with Sophia. ”
“Go,” she insisted, nodding me on.
I turned for the exit as I put the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“Hi, Daddy,” Sophia said.
Hearing her sweet voice brought a smile to my face. “Hi, princess. What are you doing?” I asked as I exited the restaurant so I didn’t disturb anyone.
“I’m sorry, Roman. She insisted on calling,” Monica said from somewhere in the background.
“Don’t worry about it,” I told her. “What’s going on, Soph?”
“I miss you,” she whined. “I miss you and Sasha.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, angel, but we’ll both be home soon. I thought you would have fun with Monica this weekend.”
“I’ve been trying. She’s hard to please,” Monica said, making me laugh.
“All women are,” I joked.
Sophia and I talked on the phone for a couple of minutes before Monica, and I finally talked her into hanging up so I could get back inside. I was only gone for a few minutes, but in that time, Sasha had already picked up an admirer.
He was a man who looked younger than I, dressed in an expensive suit, with tanned skin and jet-black hair.
He was leaning against the bar beside her, smiling as she replied to whatever he asked her.
As she talked, his eyes roamed every inch: her face, her breasts, down her legs, and back up.
I never thought of myself as a jealous guy, but as I approached, that’s all I could feel.
It burned my throat and caused it to feel thick like something was stuck there.
The back of Sasha’s dress dipped just as low in the back as it did the front, so when I came to a stop beside her and put my hand on the small of her back, it was skin on skin, and she responded immediately, but looking over at me with relief pouring out of her green eyes.
“Did I miss anything?” I asked her, looking only at him.
His brows lifted, and the smile fell from his lips because he knew he’d been wasting his time by talking up a woman who was already taken.
“Nothing at all,” Sasha replied. “Roman, this is Beck. He’s waiting for a table too.”
“Beckett Tucker,” he said, holding out his hand. “You’ve probably heard of me from my company, BT Technologies Unlimited.”
I had heard of him and his company, but he was still new and wasn’t worth shit. Not in my eyes anyway. I didn’t bother shaking his hand. Instead, I turned my attention to Sasha. “Why don’t you go and check on that table?”
She gave me a small smile as she nodded, and she turned away.
Once she was out of earshot, I picked up my untouched glass of bourbon and threw it back, swallowing the contents in one gulp.
“Small tip,” I said, turning my attention to him. “Before you settle in beside a woman you’re planning on hitting on, make sure she isn’t taken first.”
He scoffed. “I saw you walk in with her. I just figured I could take her from you. At least, if she’s standing by me, she won’t look like she’s standing next to a guy who could benefit from a night of sleep and maybe a job.”
My back straightened, and he squared his shoulders. He was preparing for me to start a fight, but that wasn’t how I fought anymore.
“Who did you say you were again?” I rubbed my jaw.
“Beckett Tucker, CEO of—”
“BT Technologies Unlimited, that’s right,” I said, cutting him off. “You have a big meeting in the morning, right? You’re about to acquire a large company from China. Well, large to you. Mid-size to the rest of us,” I corrected myself.
He furrowed his brows as he studied me. “How’d you know that?”
“See, if you’re going to run in this circle and play stupid games, it’s important that you know who all the players are.” I held up my hand and flagged down the bartender.
“Yes, sir?”
“I want to buy my new friend here a drink.”
“What can I get you?” she asked him.
“Give me the entire bottle of your most expensive tequila.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but I turned to him and said, “You may as well party like the frat boy you are tonight because your meeting tomorrow morning has been cancelled. In fact, you may want to make sure your college roommate hasn’t rented out your room yet because you’re going to need to go back to school for a new degree.
Nobody in the tech world will ever work with you after I’ve talked with them.
” I started toward the hostess booth, where Sasha was waiting for me.
I smiled as I made a mental note to make some calls after dinner.
“You’re smiling,” she said, taking my hand as I stepped up to her side. “And I thought you were mad.”
We started following the hostess to our table. “Why would you think that?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder to see a frat boy staring me down, a phone to his ear. He was probably checking in with whoever was supposed to be babysitting him.
“I saw that look on your face after I introduced you to Beckett.”
“Here’s your table,” the hostess said, pulling out a chair for Sasha.
Sash took a step toward a seat, but I held her back.
When her eyes met mine, I leaned in close and said, “I wasn’t mad.
I was jealous, and you might want to take a hard look at what that looks like because I don’t see myself ever liking the fact that other men will approach you the second I have my back turned. ”
The corner of her mouth lifted slightly. “As long as you know that I’ll never be with anyone but you, I think I can deal.”
I smiled and leaned in, pressing my mouth to hers for only a second.
When I pulled away, the hostess was still holding the chair for Sasha, but she was making it evident that she was trying not to pry on our moment.
I followed Sasha over and took the chair from the hostess, pushing her in once she was seated.
The hostess set our menus on the table and promised to send over our waiter, without either of us acknowledging her.
After that, our dinner went smoothly. The wine was rich, and the food was terrific.
The frat boy left a moment later, and I never saw him again.
As far as I know, the phone calls I made did precisely as I promised, and the poor kid learned a valuable lesson on not pissing off people he doesn’t know.
Over the years, I liked to imagine him flipping burgers and telling all his coworkers how close he was to being rich, while I juggled my multi-billion-dollar tech companies.
Some lessons can only be learned the hard way, and if you’re too big of a dick to know them by watching and listening to others, then you get what you deserve.
While he probably spent the rest of his night calling in every favor he could, knowing it wouldn’t do him any good, I spent the evening with the woman I was quickly falling head over heels in love with. Although the second that word crossed my mind, something inside of me started to come undone.
I felt like a ticking time bomb, and I knew that something was about to blow. I didn’t know what. I didn’t know when. But I could feel it. The end was quickly approaching. As much as I wanted to enjoy the ride, all I could think about was the wreck at the end of the tracks.