Page 32 of The Billionaire Benefactor

“Promise. My lawyer will call and let her know that she has no legal grounds to sue you. Maybe threaten a counter-suit.”

Jenny sighed. “I just don’t want to have her make trouble. I don’t want the kids to know. I don’t want to worry if she’s going to keep calling me. It was hard enough dealing with his unfaithfulness. Now it just feels…cruel.”

“You deserve better,” Roman said softly.

When he squeezed her again, she felt his lips on her hair. Not just his breath. He had kissed the side of her head. He froze, as though he hadn’t expected to do it. Jenny didn’t move, afraid he would pull away. Being so close to him threatened to make her come undone, but she didn’t want him to let her go. Everything in her was responding to his touch and to his kindness.

Even more softly, Roman said, “I’m sorry I didn’t call you this week.”

Jenny wanted to say it didn’t matter. She wanted to act like she didn’t care or that he didn’t owe her a phone call. But she didn’t say anything. Her heart beat out an erratic rhythm in her chest.

“I wanted to,” he said. “I thought about it—about you. I just wasn’t sure what the rules are here. More than that, I don’t know what you need. Or even if you’re thinking about me the way I’m thinking about you. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do and I’m afraid of messing it up.”

He was thinking about her.

She needed to say something. But to be honest, Jenny had no answers either. She didn’t know the rules or what she needed or wanted. Roman was on her mind more and more, but she felt like he shouldn’t be. She wished he wasn’t dancing around the subject. How was he thinking about her? What did he want? Everything in his body language told her that he meant romantically, but it was still so hard to believe. She needed the words, clear and out loud. But maybe not yet. It felt like too much, too soon.

Slowly she pulled away. And as though everything was normal and a question wasn’t hanging in the air between them, she said, “I’m going to grab a water. Do you want another?”

He shook his head, looking at the floor. “No, but thanks.”

His shoulders slumped a little. Did he feel like she was rejecting him? She wasn’t ready to put words to her feelings, but she didn’t want him to think that she didn’t care or wasn’t wrestling with the same thing.

She called out from the kitchen. “I was so caught up with the phone call that I forgot to ask why you stopped by.”

“I just wanted to check on you.” He now leaned against the kitchen counter.

Jenny took a sip of water. She wanted to keep the conversation going, but in a different direction. At least until she could compose her thoughts more. “When do things start up again for you?”

He smiled, and his eyes brightened, as though he was excited she was interested in football. “In about a month we’ll start preseason. I train year-round and we have some events right now, so it’s time off, but only kind of. If you need any other help, you better ask while you can.”

“I already told you—you’ve done enough! No more help.”

“And I’ve told you that I want to be a neighbor.” He began to sing softly. “Would you be mine? Could you be mine? Won’t you be my neighbor?”

His voice was slightly off-key, but Jenny giggled, recognizing the song from Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.

Roman made a face. “Maybe don’t ask me to sing. That seems to be more of your department. But anything else you need. I mean it. I’ll bring the guys back out if you need more hands.”

She loved him singing to her, whether he was on or off-key. Just hearing him sing, “Would you be mine?” sent a thrill through her. He wasn’t asking her to be his. Still, she liked the sound of those words coming from him.

“Roman, about what you said earlier…I’m sorry I didn’t respond right away.”

He held up a hand. “Jenny, you don’t need to—”

“Please. Let me finish. I just needed a few minutes to think about how to respond. The truth is that I’m not sure how I feel about anything. I don’t know what I’m doing here. But I have been thinking about you.” She paused, knowing that her cheeks were probably pink already. Roman’s eyes shined with warmth as a slow smile moved over his face. “I think maybe—”

A voice called out, interrupting her, as the front door swung open. “Knock knock! I come bearing gifts. Oh!”

Charles stood in the entry with reusable grocery bags in each hand. He paused when he saw Roman and then continued into the kitchen to set the bags on the counter. Jenny glanced at Roman, trying to read his expression, but Charles wrapped her up in a hug. She felt awkward when he touched her, which he’d been doing more lately. She luxuriated in Roman’s touch, but she couldn’t get out of Charles’ embrace fast enough. She hoped Roman could read that in her body language. This was the second time Charles had shown up while he was here. Hopefully Roman knew nothing was going on between them.

If she was being honest, Charles was starting to make her feel suffocated. Since Hank died, he had been coming by several times a week with food, flowers, or other things he thought she needed. It was odd; he hadn’t been around at all the past year. Maybe because Hank wasn’t either. Jenny had a nagging question she couldn’t bring herself to ask him: had he known about the affair and the divorce?

Jenny pulled away from Charles. “You didn’t need to bring anything.”

“Well, doesn’t look like I’m the only one dropping in to help,” Charles said, holding out his hand to shake Roman’s. “Good to see you again. Where are your buddies?”

“Just me today,” Roman said.

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