Page 89 of Forbidden Games

Especially since Roman’s solution would undoubtedly be to try to convince her to sell the business and let it become someone else’s problem.

For the first time, she was actually tempted. She’d been shouldering the burden alone for so long. It was no one’s fault but her own that both the shelter and gym were in danger of going under. Running either of them was a full-time job and Allie was trying to do both by herself. If she’d just been willing to find a business partner she could trust...

At twenty-two, she’d been sure that the only person she could trust was herself. She’d needed some way to work through her grief over her mother passing, and this seemed like the best option. Shewasdoing good; it just wasn’t working like the well-oiled machine she’d anticipated.There has to be a better way.She just didn’t know what it was.

Frustrated, she headed out. The evening classes were already covered, so there was nothing holding her there except a strange sort of guilt. There had to be somethingmoreshe could be doing, but hell if she knew what it was. Maybe if she scrambled, she could throw together a fund-raiser or two this month, before it was too late. It would mean relying on her girls to run the gym while she devoted herself to event planning, which had never been her strong suit. Making cold calls to the few donors who’d helped her get the shelter off the ground was the next step, but it had always made her feel awkward and shameful—like she was begging for charity. As it was, her presence at the gym was totally and completely unnecessary at that moment, and all she’d accomplish by staying was working herself further into a spiral of worry.

Allie went upstairs to her apartment. She took her time showering and getting ready, battling nerves that told her this date was a giant waste of time and would only end in heartbreak for her. Roman had his eye on the prize—and the prize wasn’t her. It was her gym and the investor interested in it.

Knowing that didn’t douse the slow excitement building in her stomach at the thought of seeing him again. It hadn’t even been forty-eight hours and she already longed for his touch.Dangerous.

She checked the time and decided that being a little early wasn’t a bad thing. Nerves were in danger of getting the best of her as she made her way to the restaurant, but she knew Roman well enough at this point to know that he’d find a way to get ahold of her if she no-showed him. What was more, he wouldn’t make the same offer twice. This was her chance to get what she wanted—freedom.

Too bad the thought of that didn’t fill her with the expected relief. Free meant she wouldn’t be seeing Roman again. How could she when he represented such a different set of priorities than she had? Even if she was willing to give it a shot, their respective schedules would mean dates were few and far in between. If things didn’t fall apart because of their differences, they’d fall apart because neither one of them could come up with the time to make it work.

Wow. Talk about being fatalistic.

No, I’m being realistic.

She walked into the restaurant Roman had chosen. It wasn’t one she was familiar with, and she stopped just inside the door to take it all in. Everything was very modern and minimalist, which was a far cry from the shabby beach chic clutter of West Island. Nothing about the choice screamed Roman to her, but that could very well be because she didn’t know him nearly as well as she would have liked to pretend.You’re seesawing all over the place. Get ahold of yourself.

She told the waitress she was meeting Roman Bassani and was led back to a little booth tucked into the side wall facing the street. The windows weren’t big, but they offered plenty of fodder for people watching. Or they would if she could look anywhere but at Roman’s perfect face. He rose to meet her, and she couldn’t help comparing this man with the one she’d felt so connected to on the island.HerRoman was there, beneath the expensive suit and the perfectly styled hair. She could see a hint of him in those hazel eyes, but even the way he held his shoulders was different here. Harsher.

“Hey.” She wrapped her arms around herself, wishing she’d worn something fancier. But that wasn’t Allie any more than the relaxed guy in the cargo shorts was Roman. Her wrap dress was nice, but if she didn’t miss her guess, he could pay her rent for several months with that suit.

“Hey.” He took her hand and pulled her gently closer. The quick kiss he dropped on her lips made her heart ache because it was different, too. Cursory. Distracted. Lacking the heat she’d grown used to that was present in even the smallest of touches between them before.

She disengaged her hand, forced a smile and slid into her seat. “You look nice.”

“You’re stealing my line.” His lips quirked up as he sat across from her. “How was your day?”

Horrible. I can’t pay my bills. I’m realizing I care about you a whole lot more than I expected, and the writing is on the wall that both this budding relationship and my ownership of my gym will end awfully. I’m in a funk I don’t know that I’ll ever get out of.She tried to smile. “It was okay.”

Roman’s brows slanted down. “What’s the truth, Aphrodite? Because that’s not it.”

She tensed. “Let it go. Please.” The last thing Allie wanted to do was rip herself open for him. She didn’t do that foranyone. She was the strong one. The one who got through things that would break other people and came out the other side swinging with everything she had. It couldn’t be clearer that this dinner was the end. Roman wanted things she couldn’t give him—and she wasn’t talking about her gym and the shelter. He wanted parts ofher.

No way.

She gritted her teeth and resolved to get to the end of this date so she could secure Roman’s promise to leave her business the hell alone. Then she’d walk. Better to end things here and now instead of letting them drag on and enact any one of the horrible scenarios she’d tortured herself with earlier.

The waitress appeared to take their drink order, and Allie was pathetically grateful for the distraction. She ordered a white wine and Roman had whiskey. Then the woman was gone and there was nothing to stand between them. She took a steadying breath. “I’m ready for your pitch.”

16

Roman stared at Allie across the table from him, feeling like he wason a boat headed for a storm, watching the receding shore of paradise and knowing he’d never see it again. Regardless of what she’d told him when she’d agreed to this date, it was clear she’d already made up her mind about both his proposal and him. It made him want to shake her, to force her to see that good things were within reach if she’d just lower the barriers the slightest bit.

If she’d let him in.

He sat back. Might as well get this over with, because he could already see that she wouldn’t let him get anywhere near anything personal until they’d both fulfilled their part of the bargain connected to her beloved gym. “I don’t have to tell you about the stats of women who feel harassed in their gyms, let alone their daily lives. With Transcend you’ve created a unique hook that my investor thinks will go over well as a small franchise. Something exclusive to a handful of big cities at first—LA, San Antonio, Seattle, Atlanta, Chicago. Boutique gyms are in right now, but this has the potential to last longer than the fad does, especially if there’s some kind of health plan and smoothie bar that goes hand in hand with it.”

“That’s not what Transcend is about.”

“That’s exactly what Transcend is about. You are a bastion of safety for women. They flock to that gym because it’s one of the few places they can let their guard down a little.Youare the reason they feel safe, and the little community you’ve created.” He leaned forward and braced his forearms on the table. “Don’t women outside this city deserve that feeling, too?”

She met his gaze directly. “There are other women-only gyms out there. Mine is far from unique.”

“But yours is the only one connected with a shelter for battered women.” This was it. He’d lose her or have her based on this last part. “My investor is interested in continuing and expanding the work you do with the shelter.” The hope in her eyes killed him, so he spoke quickly. “With the caveat that you sign over the nonprofit entirely.”

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