Page 111 of Sinful Promises

“You’re amazing.” He leaned in and planted his lips on mine.

“Hey.” Donatella aimed a long red fingernail at us from across the table. “We’ll have none of that.” Despite her words, her smile confirmed that she approved of us.

That alone was enough to have my heart swelling.

Every minute of Christmas Day was spectacular. The people were happy and cheerful. Lots of jokes and funny jibes were tossed around. The food was overflowing as was the wine. Everybody got on. There was not a single fight or delicate moment.

It was almost too perfect to be real.

That night when we finally retired to Roman’s room, I had to undo the zipper of my jeans just to sit on his bed. I was going to explode. The moon was high and cast a white stripe through the middle of the watery expanse. Cool ocean breezes whistled from the ocean, and the windows gave a slight rattle against the buffering wind.

Roman sat beside me and curled my hair from my face. “Thank you.”

Smiling, I turned to him, angling so I could see him better. “For what?”

“For everything. For being here. For being you.”

“Well, it’s not like I can be anybody else.”

“You’d be surprised how many people try.”

Nodding, I huffed out a long, slow sigh. That was me. Before I met Roman, I was miserable and lonely, and yet I acted like I was just fine. I will never do that again.

A tiny smile curled on the side of his lips. “I have something for you.”

I cocked my head. “You do?”

He strode to his desk and came back with a card.

“Oh, Roman, you’re mean. I thought we weren’t doing Christmas presents.”

He sat again and the serious expression on his face had my heart thumping way too fast. Roman rarely did serious. When he sighed and blinked at me, I could tell he was nervous, and that had my heart pounding even harder.

Whatever it was, he was working out how to break it to me, and it was something I wouldn’t want to hear.

Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.

I’d known this moment would come. When I’d flown from Sydney to London in my quest to somehow find Roman, I’d known that even if I did find him, our time together would be short-lived. Yet at the same time, just one more day with him would’ve been worth it.

I should consider myself lucky that we’d had twenty days together.

My heart clenched as I prepared to hear the inevitable.

Don’t cry. Don’t cry.

Roman glided his fingers along my thigh. “I didn’t want to have this discussion until I had a full plan.”

I cocked my head. “What plan?”

“I know what you’re going to say, so just hear me out. Okay?”

My chest squeezed even tighter. “Okay.”

“I’ve been looking at tour-guide jobs, and there are a few opportunities for both driver and guide.”

“But I can’t work in Europe, Roman. I have to leave.”

“I’m not talking about Europe. I’m talking about South Africa, or New Zealand, or Asia.”

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