Chapter 5
Chapter five
NOELLE
Last night, dinner ended quickly. Everyone went to their rooms since we were all tired. There was a slight awkwardness regarding our sleeping arrangements. In the end, Roman took the sectional, and I took the bed.
And what a bed.
Lying here, I feel like purring. The sheets are soft and silky. The pillows feel cloud-like. When I twist my head to the side, the clouds look like they are hanging low. Light scatters through the falling snowflakes.
I sigh. I couldn’t ask for a more perfect morning.
I hear muffled voices through the walls, and they are moving closer and closer to Roman’s room.
“Let me ask them if they are coming for breakfast.” I hear Elizabeth’s voice clearer. Without thinking, I jump off the bed and tiptoe across the room.
“Did Liam get the jam?” Elizabeth asks. A knock sounds throughout the room. Without thinking, I catapulted myself onto a sleeping Roman.
“Oof.” Roman’s eyes flutter. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
The door opens, and I press my lips to Roman’s. It didn’t take long for him to hold onto my waist.
“Oh, sorry,” Elizabeth says.
I lift my head and let out a small scream, grabbing Roman’s sheet to my body and pressing my face into his bare chest, acting like we have been caught in the act.
Roman licks his lips and eases up on the chair, holding me close to his chest.
“You wanted something, Mother?” Roman says. I can hear the mirth in his voice.
I take a peek from Roman’s chest to see Elizabeth’s back is turned.
“Yes, breakfast is starting. It’s almost 10:00 a.m. I just wanted to know…I will leave you to it.” Elizabeth hurries to the door and closes it behind her.
“We will be down in a bit!” Roman shouts and then laughs.
I slap his chest softly. “Why are you laughing?”
Roman’s chest shakes as he laughs harder. “You almost killing me and my mother thinking she just walked into a porn flick.”
“You don’t know what your mother is thinking,” I counter, moving away from his chest. I can see the soft laugh lines around Roman’s mouth. His teeth are perfect and white.
“This happiness looks good on you,” I reply before I can stop myself.
His brows furrow. “I don’t look happy?”
I pause to answer, enjoying the feel of his thumb drawing small circles on my shoulder.
“You look grumpy most days.”
Roman nods. “The days you met me have all been days of stress. But I smile…”
I tilt my head and stare at him, challenging him silently to spew that lie again.
He chuckles. “Okay, okay. I am not much of a smiling person. But I do smile.”
“And it’s such a nice smile,” I add. See? I did it again. Roman’s face searches mine, and I finally move my hands away from his chest.
His warm, large, sexy chest and his abs—I could just lick them. Yup, it’s time for me to get up.
I roll away from him and jump to my feet. I walk back to the bed and jump back in.
“You got to get up, Noelle,” Roman says.
“It’s snowing outside. This day is meant to stay in bed.” I moan into a pillow.
“Look at me,” Roman says.
I sit up, leaning against the headboard, and look at him.
Roman has to know he is like a hot nerd.
The glasses on his face, the navy-blue pajamas riding low on his hip.
The deep cut of the V below his abs, but it’s like thick abs.
His chest, his arms…I want to scrape my nails over his chest. Dip my tongue in the V to see how deep it is.
“Are you done?” Roman asks with his arms opened.
I shrug. “You are the one that said look at me. And I did. Can you blame a girl?”
He drags his hand down his face. “I need you to focus. Remember the rules. We should be okay for the rest of our time here.”
I salute Roman. “Yes, sir, captain, sir.”
His lips fold. “I am being serious, Noelle.”
“You haven’t set a goal for this time here?” I ask.
“You asked me that question earlier; I don’t understand what you mean.” He folds his arms over his chest.
I nod. “When someone hires an escort, it’s for a reason or a goal. It could be for sex, companionship, to talk to someone.”
Roman’s jaw rocks as he listens.
“What’s your goal?” I ask.
Roman’s mouth twists as he thinks. It’s both cute and adorable. “Truthfully, I just didn’t want to be the loser brother. The one whose girlfriend left him for someone more fun and younger.”
I nod. “I get that, but what do you want to accomplish when this is done?”
Roman exhales and shakes his head. “I honestly don’t know.”
“And that’s okay. But having a goal…it’s focus.”
A pause lingers between us, then Roman turns. “I am going to get ready, and then you can.”
“Yup, go ahead.”
I exhale, watching his ass as he walks into the shower.
The man has no right to be that fine. I almost want to take a picture and send it to my yoga teacher/friend to see.
I slap my face and drop to my side on the cloud of pillows. “Don’t fall for the client, Noelle. Don’t fall for the client.”
ROMAN
Here is the truth: I didn’t care that my mom came in and saw us. When Noelle’s lips pressed against mine, it felt like my wet dream come to life. Now I’m standing under the shower, stroking my cock, imagining her kneeling in front of me.
The things her mouth does to me, the plans I have for it. I want her eyes on me as I hold her head and sink slowly into her mouth and down her throat.
I want her eyes to water, her nails digging into my thighs.
“Shit,” I mutter, squeezing myself harder with a need to cum.
The gagging sound she will make as I hold her close.
“Fuck.” I stroke harder and faster. My back tightens.
How would it feel if I let her ride me? If I let her take control, and just when she thinks she has me, I take over, pounding into that soft pussy. I wonder how she would feel when she cums.
I growl, my back arches, and my cock jerks. Cum shoots out against the shower tiles.
“Hey, are you okay in there?” Noelle asks.
I press the heel of my hand into the socket of my eye. The other presses onto the tile.
Did I cum so hard that my vision blurred? What the hell? I blink, clearing my eyes.
“Roman?”
I should answer.
“I am good,” I reply.
“Oh…okay,” she mutters.
I have become a sex-crazed man. This is not my normal behavior. I need more control. I never succumb to my carnal desires. I should have taken care of this before I left. God forbid I become feral.
After a quick rinse, I jump out of the shower and dry off my body. I throw one towel over my head, and the other is wrapped around my waist.
I stroll out of the bathroom and enter my closet. “You can go ahead.” I don’t bother to look at her as I close the closet door behind me.
The sound of Noelle shuffling and the door closing tells me she is in the bathroom.
What is my goal? That question bugged me. Because she was right. I am not normally impulsive, but it hurt seeing my ex in the arms of another.
I change into a white shirt, a dark green quarter-zip pullover sweater, and a pair of khaki Dockers.
Before I exit the closet, I grab my watch from the island’s drawer.
The scent of mango and something floral fills the room. It smells soft and girly. I should leave her, but instead, I sit on the sectional, take out my phone, and look at the emails I will have to reply to.
“Is this good enough for breakfast?” Noelle comes out in a white silk blouse and dark jeans. Her hair is up in a ponytail, with curls dropping at the side of her face.
She is so beautiful. Her dark brown skin shines under that silk blouse.
“Hello, earth to Roman?” Noelle clicks her fingers in front of my face.
I pull away. “You look fine. Let’s go.”
NOELLE
The scent of bacon makes my mouth water as we near the dining room. Elizabeth was right; we were late.
The side table was laden with everything pertaining to the word breakfast. Tea, coffee, waffles. You name it, it was there.
As we circle the dining table, Roman pulls out a chair for me. “Thank you.”
My smile is huge. “Good morning, everyone. Sorry for being this late.”
Tillie butters her toast. “I mean, I heard you and Rom last night. I would have been late too.”
I stop and watch Roman and then look back at Tillie. She winks at me.
Roman rests a plate of sliced strawberries and pears on the table.
“Thank you, Rom,” I say so casually. The whole table stiffens, and I look around.
“Did I say something wrong?” I ask.
Tessa chuckles and pops a grape in her mouth. “No, it was my special name for Roman when we were kids and dating.”
What the hell do I say to that? Before I could clap back, Roman bends and kisses my forehead as he places a bagel in front of me. I find myself leaning into the kiss.
“‘Rom’ hits different when Elle says it,” Romans replies, and it makes the table go even more quiet. Who is Elle?
Tillie chuckles. “Well, there you have it, folks. It hits different when it’s someone you actually love.”
Roman places his food on the table and sits. “Agreed.”
I take a bite out of my bagel. I don’t know how Roman knows, but I love an everything bagel with a smear of cream cheese. It’s delicious.
Elizabeth looks down at the table. “You know, it’s weird; I hear a slight accent when you speak. Are you American?”
I wipe my mouth. “Am I a citizen? Yes. But I was born in Trinidad and Tobago.”
Elizabeth’s eyes widen. “Really? That is amazing. You are a Caribbean girl.”
She says ‘Caribbean girl’ in that weird-sounding accent that you hear people speak on TV.
“Say something Caribbean. Come on, mon. Trinidad is in Jamaica, right?” Liam shimmies his shoulders.
I fight myself from reaching across the table and slapping the shit out of him.
“Jamaica is a beautiful country on its own. But Trinidad and Tobago is not Jamaica,” I reply. God, I am not in the mood to conduct a whole history class, but I will keep my groan in.
“So do you live in huts with palm branches on the beach?” Tessa asks while slicing into her waffle.
A fucking hut? In the year of our lord 2025?! I exhale and smile. “Trinidad happens to be one of the richest countries in the Caribbean. Our wealth comes mainly from oil and gas.”