Page 95 of Sweet Somethings

As they reached her car, instead of opening her door for her, Roman pressed her back against it and took his time exploring her mouth with his tongue.

She felt enveloped by his body, by his warmth, feeling both safe and protected and wildly reckless all at the same time. It was the kind of feeling he always drummed up inside of her—like she could take the biggest risk because he'd be there to catch her if she fell.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t protect her from falling for him. Somehow, she was going to have to find a way to save herself.

He stepped back and opened her door for her. "Try to sleep at least a few hours tonight."

"I will. Tomorrow will be crazy. I don't know when I'll come up for air, probably not until the dance. I hope I see you there—maybe you and your grandfather."

He shook his head. "You never quit. Even if I get him there, you don't have time to wrangle Cecelia into going."

"I'll just talk to her when she stops by; that won't take much time."

"No promises, Juliette, but I'll do what I can."

"You'll make it happen; I have confidence in you." She gave him a quick kiss. "I'll see you later."

* * *

Roman got to work early on Saturday. Travis arrived by nine, and they quickly fell into a natural groove. He realized as he worked alongside Travis that they were both quiet by nature. Doug's big personality had always been the center of their trio.

They talked a bit here and there, but mostly it was about the work. Seeing how good Travis was at following directions and working independently gave him hope that he'd finally found another person his grandfather could count on.

With his physical and career decisions looming, he wanted to get some help lined up. He'd interviewed several subs the day before and had some good leads to present to his grandfather. Hopefully, he'd take them.

As he heard his grandfather's big, booming voice, he left Travis in the back bedroom while he went out to greet Vincent. "I'm glad you're here," he said. "I already got one bid on framing out the back end of the house this morning."

"From the guy you talked to yesterday?" Vince asked in surprise.

"Yes, one of his jobs fell through, so he can start next week if you like the price. It seemed good to me." He moved over to the stack of wood where he'd left the estimate. "Here you go."

"I'll take a look. How is Travis working out?"

"Good. He's a hard worker. He's very motivated because he needs to take care of his son and his mother. I think he's just what you need to handle a lot of the easier but more tedious labor."

"I can't believe you boys just kissed and made up," Vince said gruffly.

"We didn't go that far," he said dryly. "But it turns out Chief Winters made a point of turning us against each other to try to get someone to confess to the fire—someone other than his son."

"Well, I knew that. I just didn't know which one of those two did it. I had my money on Doug. He was entitled."

"None of us did it. It was probably the work of an arsonist who started two other fires in the county that year, but I doubt we'll ever know for sure."

"An arsonist, huh? You're confident you can believe Doug and Travis?"

"I am," he said with a firm nod. "Doug went down to the police department and came back with the actual file. I read the interviews and the investigative notes. It's all there."

"Why did Doug do that?"

"I think he was trying to get in front of any problems before his run for mayor."

"Makes sense."

"I did want to say something I should have said a long time ago—thanks for bailing me out back then, standing by me, even though you didn't know if I was innocent or guilty. I always wondered why you didn't ask."

"I knew you were innocent; I didn't have to ask. You were a troublemaker, yes, and you had your problems, but you cared about people. Not many people saw that, but I did. You gave your jacket to a homeless man and told me you lost it. I saw that guy wearing it outside the drugstore, and he said you gave it to him."

He shrugged, feeling awkward about that old incident. "I probably didn't like the jacket."

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