Chapter 22 Smitten Mittens
Roman
When Cash and Harlow first got together, he sort of, maybe a little, kinda kidnapped her. It was for her own protection after the Bratva had shot up the Den, and technically she was free to leave. There were no chains or locked doors.
There was, however, Alfie and me stationed in the hallway outside his penthouse, armed and ready to stop her by any means necessary, but still not technically kidnapping, right?
Look, all I’m saying is the good doctor better not show his face anytime soon because I certainly won’t hesitate to follow through on the promises I made him this morning.
So when Ren tells me she is meeting up with her old coworker, I’m tempted to whisk her away and throw away the key. Instead, I do the rational thing and give her the brass knuckles from my key ring.
She laughs and takes a sip of her coffee. We’re sitting at June Bug’s outdoor tables. “We’re just going Christmas shopping, then having lunch.”
“You never know,” I warn jokingly. “People can get awfully desperate when they wait until the last minute to buy gifts, and desperate people do crazy things.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll let everyone know my boyfriend could kick their ass.”
My hand in my lap flexes, then balls into a fist as I try to play it cool. “Boyfriend, huh?”
She lifts her hair off the back of her neck and shrugs nonchalantly. “At least for the next forty-eight hours.”
I trace my back my molars and nod with a smirk before posing, “But I won’t be with you.”
Her lip quirks. “I’ll tell them you go to a different school.”
“You got it all figured out.” I chuckle. “I’ve been meaning to ask, what are you doing for Christmas? Going to the ranch?”
She looks away briefly and begins twirling a lock of hair. “Uh, no. I’m just gonna stay in.” Her casual tone is forced.
“Stay in?” That’s more what people say about New Year’s.
“Yeah, my parents were gonna come visit, but then Popeye went missing, and, well . . .” She waves her hand in the air.
“Popeye?”
“One of the barn cats.” She partially rolls her eyes.
“Then you’ll spend Christmas with me and the Foxes,” I say like it’s already decided, because it is.
“Oh no, I’m not going to crash your Christmas. Plus, five days will be up.” The look she gives me makes me think her last sentence might be more of a question.
Question or not, I know my answer. “Then give me five more.”
“Okay.” She bites her lip—her tell when she’s fighting a smile.
She wraps her hands around her vanilla iced latte as if it’s a hot mug that will warm her up. Instead, she shivers a little.
I can’t help but laugh. “You know lattes come hot too, right?”
She laughs. “It’s not the same.”
“We can sit inside,” I offer, but she shakes her head.
“I’m not cold, really.” She tries to convince me with a long, pointed sip.
I take a pair of gloves from my jacket pocket and insist, “Will you at least wear these?”
“If it will make you feel better,” she teases.
“It does,” I say as she slides them onto her hands.
And then we just smile at each other like a couple of lovesick fools.
I’m not expecting to see Ren until later this evening, so when she walks into the Den a couple hours later, I feel like a boy in the schoolyard seeing my crush. My stomach swoops and my heart races. Butterflies. Is she here for me?
“So I take it things are going well?” Cash asks with a chuckle, making me realize I stopped talking mid-sentence the moment she walked in.
Ren gives me a small wave and smile as the hostess seats her and her friend somewhere behind me.
Harlow giggles on the other side of him at the bar and teasingly singsongs, “Aww, Roman is in love.”
Before I can respond, Cash says, “Don’t try denying it, buddy.”
The corner of my mouth tilts up. “I wasn’t going to.”
Harlow squeals and claps her hand, then gasps. “Oh my god, can I officiate the wedding? Cash has done, like, five already.”
“Two,” Cash corrects dryly. “And be my guest. Maybe Roman will pay better than my stingy-ass, ungrateful, freeloading brothers.”
“Oh, big bad boss,” Harlow mocks. “Like we haven’t all seen the certificate of ordination hanging in your office.”
“That’s for legal reasons,” he tries.
I can’t resist chiming in. “Oh, was the three-thousand-dollar Buccellati frame also for legal reasons?”
“Yes,” he says stubbornly, then picks up his empty glass before setting it back down, annoyed, looking around for the bartender. “Where’s Bri? I need a refill.”
“Oh, hi, Ren!” Harlow waves, and I look over my shoulder.
I get up and give her a hug, whispering into her hair, “Hey, baby.” She squeezes me a little tighter before letting go.
“Roman didn’t tell us you were coming, or we would have gotten a bigger table for all of us,” Harlow says.
“That’s ‘cause he didn’t know. I was talking him up so much that my friend insisted on meeting him.” She laughs, then adds, a tinged embarrassed, “Especially after she asked if he had any brothers . . .”
“I don’t have any brothers,” I state, a little confused. I told her as much as a few days ago.
“I know.” She grimaces playfully and glances at Cash, who chuckles.
Apparently catching on before me, he finishes for her. “But I have three.”
“Ooh.” Harlow nods exaggeratedly, then frowns. “Unfortunately, all taken. But probably for the best.” She covers her mouth from one side and whispers, “The Fox brothers are kinda crazy.”
“Duly noted.” She laughs. “I’ll let her know she’s not missing out.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that,” Harlow says coyly, giving Cash the same smile Ren gave me while putting on my gloves.
Cash grabs his wife’s ass. “Damn straight, a chuisle.”
She half-heartedly swats his hand away, and I give Ren a we’ve been here before look. She fights a smile and offers, “C’mon, let me introduce you to Eliana.”
I’m used to blending into the background.
My job is all about the small surrounding details that keep the center of attention safe.
So when Ren and her friend spend the next hour unabashedly looking my way, sometimes even as they converse and giggle—presumably about me—it’s a new experience . . . one I don’t altogether hate.
If you’d asked me before today if I liked being the topic of discussion, I would have given a quick and unequivocal no. I prefer to go unnoticed. But that was before I felt what it was like to be noticed by Serenity Calloway.
Her attention is like a slow-burning flame. The knowledge that I’m on her mind warms me to my soul.
In fact, it’s almost all I can focus on. So much so that I suggest Cash and I continue our conversation in his office because I’m only really hearing every other word out of his mouth, too busy wondering what’s coming out of hers.
When we’re done, I head to the bathroom. It’s occupied, so I wait, fighting the urge to peek into the dining room to see if Ren is still here. When the door opens, I’m about to step aside for the person exiting, but then without thinking, I’m pushing them right back in.
“Roman.” Ren gasps as I pull her tightly to me, locking the door behind us.
“I’m sorry, sweet girl. I just need a taste.” My fingers delve into her hair, and I bring my mouth down on hers.
She moans hungrily, rolling her hips against me as I crush our bodies together. The next thing I know, my hand is in her pants and she’s arching her back into me.
“You make me so fucking crazy.” I groan hoarsely, dragging my lips up and down her neck.
“Same,” she pants. “I want you all the time.”
Her back slams into the wall, and she lifts one leg to better grind into my palm, her arousal coating my fingers. “Have you been soaking your panties all lunch?”
“By all the time, I meant all. The. Time—oh fuck,” she curses, then bites down hard on her lip as I plunge two fingers inside her.
The way her pussy grips them makes my cock strain in my pants. Fuck, I could take her right here. I’m dying to take her right here. So god knows what compels me to slowly withdraw my fingers and gently spread her wetness in soft circles around her clit before withdrawing them fully from her jeans.
She mewls, and I chuckle smugly. “What a needy little thing. Too bad you’ve signed on for five more days.
” I clasp her chin with one hand while pulling out my keys with the other.
“You’re gonna go back out there unsatisfied and desperate for more.
I want you dripping in your panties for the rest of the day, and every time you feel how wet you are, you’re gonna remember who owns your pleasure.
And when you’re ready . . .” I press a key for my apartment into her palm.
“You’re going to come to my place and wait like a good girl for me to give it to you. ”
Her eyes, which widened when I removed my hand, drop to half-mast. Her tongue slowly glides across her lip. “Yes, sir.”
1. Play "Starving"—Hailee Steinfeld, Grey, Zedd until end of chapter