ELEVEN - ROMAN
If there was one thing Jameson was good at, it was running. Running from emotions she didn’t want to confront, running away when she was uncomfortable, running when she was sad, or hurt, or angry.
Not anymore.
Because if there was one thing I was even better at, it was catching up with someone on the run.
I quickly stood up and went after her before she reached the door.
I didn’t have the chance to grab her before she stopped on a dime, spun around, and caused me to run full force into her.
In an effort to keep us both from falling over, I wrapped my arm around her waist, steadying her on her feet.
Every muscle in her body stiffened in my hold.
Then, as if she were putty in my hands, her entire body relaxed.
“Sorry, I—”
“Don’t be,” I whispered. “You have nothing to be sorry for. You never have.”
Her respirations steadied, and every deep breath she pulled in caused her pert breasts to press into my chest. As if right on cue, and at the most inopportune moment, my cock went full-on traitor mode, growing rock solid in the span of 0.5 seconds.
Fucker.
I locked in on her gaze. “Jameson, please stop doing this. Stop running from me. I’m not the bad guy here. Not to you, anyways. But you have to quit running.”
If there was one thing that I did love about myself, it was how I could read anyone like a book—Jameson was no different. Whether it was because I’d known her for nearly a decade, or she was just an easy read, her body language never let me down.
Except in this one small moment, her eyes were ablaze with fiery passion, not leave me alone. Everything about her screamed touch me, make a move, do something. She’d fought hard to hold back.
It was in this moment that I no longer gave a shit about her stupid fucking rules or the new NDA. She could have me sign every NDA from here to Europe, and it wouldn’t stop me from doing what I was about to do.
I leaned down and placed my mouth close to her.
“Try as you might,” I whispered, my lips barely brushing against the shell of her ear, “to deny that there’s anything between us, and you can tell yourself and everyone you know that you don’t give a shit about me or us, but we both know that’s a damned lie because I know, and you know, you feel it, too. ”
My cock was so fucking hard there was no way she didn’t at least feel that pressed against her stomach.
I pulled back and studied her face—every line and crease, every emotion she’d kept bottled up, trying hard not to let her feelings show.
Her eyes fluttered closed. “I do—I feel it. I want it.”
I tightened my hold around her waist and pressed my lips to hers. Restraint was never my strong suit.
She sucked in as if she were caught off guard by my advance. Then, within a matter of seconds, we’d gone from quarreling coworkers to one of the hottest make-out sessions I’d ever had…even with her.
Eventually, our kiss slowed until we pulled apart. I threaded my fingers into her hair, pulling a handful into my grip and forcing her to look up at me.
“Holy shit,” she breathed out as my tongue slowly invaded her mouth. Yup. She felt it.
Cautiously, I slid my hand down her backside and cupped her ass through her tight pencil skirt.
She moaned into my mouth, and I almost came on the spot.
My heart pounded at a rate that probably shouldn’t have been sustainable with life.
Kissing Jameson like this again launched me into another galaxy.
Then, as if the universe knew we were doing something we’d both regret, her fucking office phone rang, causing us both to jump.
She quickly pulled back and shoved me away.
“I—I have to get that,” she mumbled. She wiped off her mouth and answered the unsuspecting caller, trying to maintain composure.
A few minutes later, she ended the call with a very punctual “We’ll meet you there.”
And just like that, our fun was over…for now.
“We need to go meet with head of security.”
“Leon?”
“The one and only.”
Leon was one of the longest-running security guards on Elliott’s employee list. He was tall and built like a brick wall.
Despite having a few years on him now, I’d still never take my chances with him in a fight.
Back in his younger days, he ran with one of Memphis’s well-known street gangs.
Elliott found him and took him under his wing. Leon never looked back.
“Is everything okay?” I hated not knowing what the hell was going on at any given moment.
Don’t get me wrong, there wasn’t a position within these operations I’d rather have than the one at the front lines of keeping Jameson alive, but damn, not having any inside connections anymore was going to be the death of me—hopefully, only figuratively.
“Yeah, everything’s fine. He said Hector’s got your security clearance.”
“That’s it? Just my security clearance?”
“Um-hmm. What were you expecting?”
“Not that with the way you answered the phone.”
“It’s just business, Roman. Remember that.”
I had a strong feeling that statement had dual meaning, one I might address later. For now, I wanted to stay in James’s good graces if it meant getting something more than a gun and a phone in my possession.
We made our way to the security dungeon—a closed-off section on the back side of the newly relocated business office area. We breezed by Chris’s office without so much as a pause or a glance. Well, not by James. I gave his office door a mental middle finger.
At the end of the hallway, we made a right, down to another dead end. Hanging on the outside of the door was a black door with a gold plate on it that said SECURITY in black lettering.
James badged us inside.
The room looked the exact same—obnoxiously dim lighting, wall-to-wall high-definition CCTVs, and at least a row of men sitting in chairs, all staring at the screens in front of them, each assigned to a different area of the property. I didn’t know any of them, never did.
Hector appeared from a closed office door. “James! How you doing?”
She plopped down on an empty chair across from the wall of TVs. “I’d be better if we quit letting Kane’s idiots get on our property.” She waved her hand dismissively toward me with an invisible eye roll. “You remember Roman, I’m assuming?”
He stretched his arm out in a friendly gesture, unlike some people. I shook his hand. “Of course I do. What the hell are you doing back? I thought they killed you?” he laughed, but we all knew he was serious.
“It’s all one and the same anymore.”
“Ain’t that the truth. So where you been, then? We missed having you comin’ around here.”
“I’ve been…” I glanced down at James, who was staring a hole in my head, waiting for me to give him an answer. “Unavailable.”
Hector grinned. “I get that. Well, it’s great to see you. Let me get you some things Miss James has requested. I’ll be right back.” He stepped back into his office, the door swinging shut behind him.
“Unavailable,” James mumbled as if to mock me.
I didn’t acknowledge her. I just stared ahead, hands on my hips, gazing over as many of the screens as I could. Where in the hell is her office? Maybe I overlooked it, but I didn’t see the entire floor where James’s office was located—not the hallway, not the elevator lobby. None of it.
Hector emerged before I could ask. “Okay,” he said.
“I’ve got you all set up on here.” He handed me a laptop with a power cord.
“James will know the password. You should have access to certain requested files and even the camera feed. The archives are there, too. They’re all clearly labeled on the home screen. ”
“A laptop?”
“Yup,” he breathed heavily, as if he were hesitant to hand any of it over, “per her request.”
I smirked at James. “Perfect. Thank you.”
“I’m also giving you a key card that’ll get you into any door on the property that requires badge entry. Even here.”
I took the card and pocketed it. “Thanks, man. I appreciate this. A lot.”
“You’re welcome,” James said with a snide tone.
Hector just shook his head.
“I already know,” I said to him. “Thanks again.”
I reached down to help James up. “Ready?”
She pushed herself up with the armrests of the chair. “Thank you, Hector. I’m sure we’ll be seeing you again soon.”
“Welcome. Let me know if I can get either of y’all anything else.”
“There. That should tide you over for a while. Why don’t you head back up to your suite. I’ll text you the password so you can start looking over things. I’ll come check in with you shortly.”
“Wait. What? Who’s staying with you?’ Roman asked.
“Nobody. I’ll be fine.”
“You know I can’t leave you alone.”
“I said I’ll be fine.”
“Not happening. Where are you going?”
“Give me a break. I need to go check in on my folks, make my rounds through a few departments. It won’t take long.” She looked at her watch. “Maybe less than an hour.”
No fucking way I was letting her go anywhere without me. “I don’t care if you want to be gone for one minute or one hour, I’m not letting you out of my sight. We clear?”
“This is ridiculous.”
“Call it what you want, but we’ve already had this discussion. Besides, you won’t even know I’m there.”
“Come on, Roman. You can’t be serious?”
“Dead. I’m not here to hang out in a penthouse while you carry on like your life isn’t in danger. Either I go with you, or you just don’t check in on your people. I’m sure they’ll be just fine without you.”
She huffed. “Fine. Follow me, but not too close. I’ve gotta make my daily rounds. When I’m done, we’ll head upstairs together and call it a day. How’s that sound?”
“Like we finally agree on something. I just need to drop this laptop off first.”
Less than ten minutes later, my laptop was secure in the safe in my suite, and as promised, I followed a few steps behind Jameson, staying out of her way as much as possible.
Don’t get me wrong, as much as I loathed being dragged around like a dog on a leash while she performed the most mundane tasks, I had zero complaints about the view of her from behind.
I’d followed Jameson around for damned near two more hours as she made her rounds.
Elliott would never have done all of this bullshit administrative work; he had someone else do it for him.
But I guess James felt some kind of moral obligation to do everything herself…
that and an innate trait to do every-fucking-thing herself.
We were just about to head up when a woman’s voice called out for her.
“Oh, hey, James. There you are.”
She stopped and turned toward the voice. “Kelly. Everything okay?”
“Yeah, good.” Kelly Sterling approached us, eyeing me up and down. Kelly had always been a looker, but she never did anything for me. Not in the way Jameson had. From what I’d always heard about Kelly, she did a lot for everyone else.
“You remember Roman?” Jameson asked as she reached over and gripped onto my upper arm. Getting a little territorial, are we?
Kelly smiled. “How could I forget? Long time, no see.”
I nodded. “Kelly. Good to see you again.”
I didn’t see much of Kelly when I did work around here. Mostly because she was mid-level management, always with her head in her clipboard. I’d always been just outside hired help.
“Did you need me for something? We were just wrapping things up down here. We’re about to head up and call the day done.”
Kelly took her focus off me and put it back on James. “Uh, yeah. No biggie. Just wanted to give you a few quick updates on this weekend, but it can wait.”
“You sure?”
“Positive. Just go. It sounds like y’all are busy.”
We’re not, was what I wanted to tell her. I didn’t define any of this as busy. It was downright boring.
“Uh, sorta. But it sounds like you have everything under control, then.”
“I sure as hell try.” She shifted her attention toward me. “So what brings you back to town? I thought I’d never see you again.”
I caught a glimpse of James, who eyed Kelly suspiciously. “Just work. I’m only here for a couple of days.”
“Awe. That’s too bad,” she pouted. “We miss seeing you around here.”
I highly doubted Kelly, or anyone else for that matter, had missed me. I’d barely been around when I was here, and even then, I could probably count the number of times I’d ever laid eyes on Kelly on one hand. She and I weren’t exactly best buds.
Jameson dug her fingers into my arm, giving Kelly a shut the fuck up look. “We really should get going,” she said to Kelly. “Got lots to do.”
“Yeah, sure. Looking forward to seeing you two around. I’ll be in touch if anything changes,” Kelly said. “Oh, James. One more thing. Chris was looking for you.” She cleared her throat. “He said text him when you aren’t busy and get a free minute.”
“She’s always busy,” I affirmed. “It was good seeing you, Kelly.” I bent down and whispered in James’s ear, pulling her along with me as I started walking away. “You will not be texting Chris. Whatever he needs from you can wait.”
Forever.