Page 63 of Owning Emma

Chapter 29

EMMA

Roman hadn’t liedwhen he said he had plans for me that evening. The moment I was about to slink away to my bedroom, his arm reached out and banded around my waist like unbendable steel, preventing me from leaving.

“I hope you haven’t forgotten the direction of my bedroom.” He raised an eyebrow in challenge.

“I was just . . .”

“You were just going to your bedroom instead of mine.” I was, but I didn’t want to admit that to him. I felt nervous all over again, nervous in the most delicious way possible.

“I just thought that with Shaw downstairs still, that you might not have wanted me in your bedroom tonight,” I admitted.

“I’ve wanted you in my bed longer than I should admit, longer than I even admitted to myself. Do you think now that I had you once, I would let you go that easily?” he confessed, his arm still not loosening on my waist.

“It’s just right over there, it’s not like I’m heading to a different continent,” I teased him.

“Five minutes. Then I will come, search you out and drag you back to my room if I have to. Bring all your girl crap with you, too,” he instructed.

“Girl crap?” This time it was my turn to raise a brow.

He sighed like I was the one being exasperating. “Yes, girl, crap. You know, all that stuff you guys insist on having that isn’t even necessary. Twenty bottles of body wash, five different scents of lotion, eye paste, hair ties.”

Eye paste? I chuckled. “Isn’t that a bit soon? Is Shaw moving into your room too?”

His eyes heated at Shaw’s name, and I couldn’t help remember dinner, when they could hardly look at each other without blushing. “Shaw has no issue using whatever I have in there, but I doubt you would get by on the three-in-one body wash, shampoo and conditioner very long.” He had a point, I swear my hair felt like a dry tangled mess after just one use of his shower supplies. His arm loosened its hold. “Five minutes.”

I was back to his room in four and a half, not disappointed when I walked to a shirtless man brushing his teeth. How on earth was the act of brushing his teeth even sexy? His eyes locked on mine and they sparkled like he knew my thoughts. He finished brushing and rinsed his mouth before telling me, “Put whatever you want in the shower. The rest of your stuff can go on these shelves or in the cabinets.”

I followed his instructions, noting not for the first time that his bathroom’s grandness mirrored my own. “Do all your rooms have such large bathrooms?”

He grinned. “Well, Shaw’s doesn’t.” I tilted my head in question and he explained further, “I kicked him out of his room when he decided to invite you into the mix. I figured it was a good punishment to give him the smaller room with a small bathroom.” He crowded into my space, his lips at my throat as he said, “Joke’s on me though, I think he likes that room better.”

“Uhmm.” I hummed in my throat, completely distraught.

“Yep.” He backed me up into the bedroom, his lips not leaving my skin. Then there were no words uttered between us as he made good on his promise from earlier, completely using my body until my limbs were weak and my voice was hoarse.

Hours later,my alarm began to beep and the body next to mine reached over, turned it off, then put it in front of my breasts as he snaked an arm around my bare middle. I nestled deep into the touch, aligning my back against a hard set of arms and allowing myself to drift off again.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The man behind me growled and a smile curved my lips. Shaw. I hadn’t known when he came to bed, but here he was, spending what little sleep he had allowed himself to get snuggling close to me. I turned off my alarm and turned in his arms, burying my face in his chest. Roman’s body followed my movement, sandwiching me between them.

“Do we have to get up?” I mumbled into his skin.

“You can call in,” he suggested with a bit of hopefulness in his voice.

God, how I would love to call in, but the guilt of knowing I put my father in an unfavorable spot, lacking the additional help, prevented me from dialing his number. I knew what the boys next to me would say, reminding me that not that long ago my father skipped town leaving me to run the bakery on my own. But I was much younger than him. I could handle the additional stress, and whether my father knew it or not, I had the help of Roman and Shaw.

“I can’t,” I finally admitted.

He groaned and pulled away, rolled off the bed and stood. He was naked, like both Roman and I, and Shaw in the nude was a glorious sight. His hard muscles were covered by perfectly sun-tanned skin and from this angle, his height stretched on for miles. His eyes caught mine. “See something you like, Cardigan?”

Hell, I saw something I loved, and that thought made me squirm a bit. Did I love Shaw? It was most definitely too soon to even think about loving these men. But I most certainly enjoyed the sight of Shaw’s well-formed body, his grin, his shabby, dark blond hair, and those eyes that seemed to know way more about the world he quietly absorbed and brushed off through humor.

“What’s not to like?”

Roman kissed my shoulder. “If you two don’t get going soon, you are going to be late. I will make you late.”

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