Page 54 of Against the Clock

We got back to his apartment shortly after nine, and I knew that Mike was suspicious when he was there waiting for us at my mom’s house.We both lied so quickly that neither of us could get our stories straight as to why we were late.My mom was more concerned about why I had been crying, which helped pull Mike’s attention away from the fact that Roman had a small hickey on his neck where I had let my desire get the best of me before he took me from behind on the weight bench.

Rosie stayed asleep the entire time as Mike carried her to Roman’s apartment, refusing to let him help.We got her settled in, and I spent most of the night watching over her to make sure her fever didn’t spike again.I cuddled her close to me and let her soft snores help me drift off to sleep around two in the morning.

Roman had offered to sleep on the floor again, but Mike quickly squashed that idea—as if there was any real threat to having him in the same room with me if Rosie was there.I might have been head over heels obsessed with Roman right now, but I wasn’t about to throw my panties at him with my daughter in the same room.Instead, they both slept in the living room and compromised on who would sleep on the floor in the sleeping bag that Mike had brought from my mom’s house.

I stretched and rolled out of bed, making sure I didn’t disturb Rosie.She had gotten up around five this morning, throwing up again, so I gave her some more Tylenol for her fever and got her back to bed.I snuck down the hall, closing the door behind me, and stopped when I realized that I couldn’t go to the living room to call the school without waking Mike and Roman up.

Instead, I snuck into the bathroom and quietly closed the door behind me.I called the school and left a voicemail to let them know that Rosie was sick and wouldn’t be in today.Then I sent my mom a quick text message with an update on how she was feeling.I didn’t want to miss work, but I was so exhausted and worn down that I decided it was better to be home to take care of Rosie.

Once I had taken care of calling in, I opened the bathroom door and jumped back in surprise when I found Roman on the other side.I held my phone to my chest and tried to get my heart to stop racing.

“Sorry,” he said quietly.“Someday, I’m going to get a bigger place with two bathrooms.”He grinned, showing me his beautiful dimples.

“I promise we won’t be here that much longer.”

It was an odd feeling to promise something that I didn’t know if it was true.

“You can stay as long as you’d like.”

His voice was smooth like honey, and the way he was looking at me had the heat between my thighs starting again.

“Thank you,” I said quietly, looking down as my face blushed.“I’m sure you’d like to have your space back and have some privacy again.”

“I don’t need privacy.”

“Oh?”My voice hitched in my throat, the words getting lodged there.

He shook his head and licked his lips.

Before I could say anything more, I heard footsteps right as a hand reached out and clamped down on Roman’s shoulder.

“What’s going on?”he asked, looking between us.

“I was asking Quinn how Rosie was feeling,” Roman answered without missing a beat, his eyes still locked on mine.

I looked away, not trusting myself to look at him while my brother was standing there, looking ready to murder him.

“She’s still sick and had a restless night.Her fever wasn’t as high this morning, but she’s still running one.I called the school and told them that she wouldn’t be there today.”

“I can miss work to stay with her,” Mike offered.

“That’s okay, I already called in.I have some PTO that I can use.”

“I can stay with her too,” Roman said simultaneously, causing Mike to look between us.

“What’s going on between you two?”he asked, pointing a finger.

“Nothing,” I lied.

I didn’t want to lie, but the last thing I needed right now was to deal with my brother and risk a falling out between him and Roman.

Roman rubbed a hand across the back of his neck and looked away.

“Bullshit.”

I swallowed hard.This was not how I wanted him to find out.

“Are you two fucki—”

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