Page 15 of The Arrangement
I made a show of gasping and pressing my hand to my chest. “What? You didn’t appreciate the chance to get all these kids excited about the museum? How many junior scientists do you think you nurtured today? Not to mention, you could be winning over new patrons. Many of these kids could rush home tonight and demand that their parents bring them back to the museum. I thought you’d appreciate that.”
Liam stared at me as though he wanted to rip my eyeballs out and bounce them off the walls of the museum. “We need to talk. Are you almost done here? Do you have to leave on the bus with the kids?”
“This group was the last one to go through the dinosaur exhibit. And no, I don’t have to leave on the bus. I drove separately.”
“Good.” Liam grabbed my wrist, the heat of his hand burning through the thin cashmere to scorch my flesh as he pulled me through the exhibit. He paused at a secured door and waved his badge in front of it, unlocking it.
Finally, we were going to get to the heart of the matter.
6
LIAM ROSE
My fingers tightenedon Rome’s wrist as I pulled him through the museum. I contemplated all the ways I could dispose of his body so that it wouldn’t be discovered until the bones had been fossilized and dug up by future paleontologists. Not only had Rome ruined my childhood, but now it seemed he would ruin my adult life as well.
As I led him along the winding white corridor, away from the eyes of the many museum patrons, I tried to ignore the fact that I was touching him. I hadn’t touched Rome since that horrible day. When we were kids, it had been normal to touch him. We had pushed, shoved, and leaned on each other all the time.
But last time, the brush of his soft lips against mine…
The old memory stirred like autumn leaves caught up in a breeze, leaving my mouth tingling as if that ghost had kissed me a second time.
No.
Absolutely not.
I refused to think about that. It was gone. Past. A horrendous mistake, and we would never talk about it.
After walking deep into the back rooms of the museum, I stopped in a little bend in the corridor away from the labs andoffices. I released Rome and crossed my arms over my chest, tucking the hand that had been holding him in my armpit, where it could forget the heat of his body.
“What are you doing?” I demanded.
Rome smirked as he leaned a shoulder on the wall and crossed his left leg in front of his right in such a fucking cocky stance. God, I hated that this man somehow had remained taller than me. It had to be lifts in his shoes, or maybe they had a heel to them. Just enough to give him an extra inch to lord over me.Fucking asshole.
“I think that’s my question,” Rome replied.
“What?” The single word came out as a very undignified squawk, and it wasn’t fair. Why was our every encounter a disaster that left me looking like an idiot? I had a goddamn PhD in paleontology. My peers regarded me as an expert in my field of study. I’d had articles published in several esteemed magazines that were read around the world. Yet, each time I was in Rome’s presence, I was once again that awkward kid.
“Clearly, you wanted to talk to me at the library.”
“I-I…you’re crazy.” I barely stopped myself from outright lying. My entire plan for going to the library had been to talk to him, but I’d turned into a bumbling stalker who made a giant mess of the books. How could I possibly admit that I’d been there for him after that mess? Was there really no way for me to save face when it was Rome, who’d destroyed so much of my life?
Rome raised his eyebrows, his smirk shifting into a full-blown smile. “Since you obviously did some research about me, I thought it was only fair that I do the same for you. I know for a fact that youdon’tlive in Boone County. You live on this side of the river in Ohio. Upon entering the library, you didn’t stop to ask any of the librarians to help you locate a book or a computeror even a person. In short, you had no business being in there other than to see me.”
A ragged gasp ripped from my throat. “You hired a private detective to discover where I live?”
The bastard rolled his eyes. “It was a five-second search on the internet. You’re not attempting to hide yourself in the slightest. Do you not know anything about protecting your privacy?”
Actually, I didn’t. But then, I’d never considered myself important enough to be the target of anyone nefarious. After Rome and I had gone our separate ways, I’d been sure I would never see him again and that he would have zero interest in locating me.
“Besides,” Rome continued with an annoying sigh, “I don’t recall your home address, and I didn’t write it down. I only peeked at it long enough to prove that you had no reason to be in that library. As one of the guest lecturers at the University of Cincinnati, you would think that you have full access to their library.”
Fuck Rome. And fuck the internet for making it so easy for him to find information about me.Emily and her girlfriend hadn’t dug up anything half as interesting about Rome during their internet search.
I sucked in a deep breath through my nose, my nostrils flaring as I ground my teeth together. “Whatever. Fine. So, you decided that the best way to confront me was to drag along an entire grade school and request that I give a lecture to every one of them, talking to the point of becoming hoarse. There have been so many of them, I’ve barely had a chance to get a sip of water. It was pure luck that I ate a granola bar at seven this morning as I drove in to work. And it’s now…” I pulled my left hand free to glance at my watch. “It’s now almost two.” Whichwould explain at least part of the reason my head was pounding, and I was slightly lightheaded.
“Ah, that would explain why you’re so grumpy. You’re hungry.” Rome nodded and then paused. He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Is this your way of asking me out for lunch?”
“What?” There was the squawk again, but I didn’t give a shit. “Absolutely not! I don’t want to be within five miles of you, let alone share a damn meal.”
