Page 80 of The Arrangement
Someone was poundingon the door, and I had to swallow back a giggle. I needed only one guess to know who it was. I took one last look around the room to make sure that everything was perfect prior to turning on my heel and speeding along the hall. As I hurried, I smoothed my tie and rebuttoned my suit jacket. A peek in the mirror revealed that my hair was behaving, for now.
I unlocked the door and opened it a few inches but immediately braced my foot against it to stop my guest from barging inside.
Rome gave me a pseudo-glare that wasn’t in the least convincing because his lips kept twitching into a grin before he could pull them down again.
“Can you please tell me why I’m forced to knock on my own door?” Rome said in a low, even voice.
“Because you’re not allowed to ruin the surprise.”
“The surprise? What surprise? You’re being weird. Pierce just took me out for a drink, stole my keys, and abandoned me. What the hell is going on?”
I closed my eyes to fight back another laugh. When Pierce had offered to provide a distraction so I could get everythingready, I hadn’t pictured that specific tactic to keep Rome away from the penthouse for an hour.
“Are you ready for our final date?” I inquired as soon as I could speak without chuckling in his face.
“What? No way.” He leaned in close, rubbing his nose along mine. “I plan to date you forever and ever.”
“That still has to be negotiated. We agreed on five dates in exchange for a sizable donation to the natural history museum.”
“I’ve already made the donation. The fifth date isn’t necessary.”
A donation my boss was still singing about and I now had to listen to because I’d generously agreed to return to my old job. While Dr. Case was more than happy to be a pleasant and loving boss, Emily was still milking her “torment” over me being gone. I figured I had at least another week of her complaining before something new distracted her.
I sighed and jutted out my bottom lip. “So, you’re saying that you don’t want to participate in the special date that I have planned for us tonight? Okay, I’ll go get rid of everything…”
“No! No, sweetie! Of course I want everything you have planned. I love your plans! You’re so sexy and brilliant!” Rome pleaded. He tried pushing his way into the penthouse, but the door wasn’t budging. All he could do was sneak a hand in to grab my tie, holding me in place while he attempted to steal kisses. “I’m sorry. Let’s do the date. I want to do the date. All dates are necessary.”
“Awww, honey, you say the nicest things,” I teased, moving my foot away from the door so I could allow him inside. As soon as he could squeeze in the entrance, he grabbed me and wrapped me up, capturing my mouth in a deep, draining kiss.
“This. I love this,” Rome murmured against my lips.
“Kisses?”
“Well, that too.” He stole another kiss before loosening his hold. “But I love coming home and you being here. Move in with me?”
A bright laugh poured out of my mouth, and I hugged him tight. “We’ve been dating for only a few days officially. That’s too fast.”
“How long do I have to wait?”
“At least until my lease is up on my town house.”
“When’s that?”
“May.”
Rome made a pouty face. “That’s too far away. How about you keep some stuff here and live here on weekends?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Maybe.” But we knew that the maybe was really yes. Even if he hadn’t asked, it was pretty obvious that I was going to be spending most of my free time with him, and there were going to be many more sleepovers. Those of the sexy variety. It would just make things more convenient and comfortable if I had a few things here.
Later. Later. Date now.
“We can talk about that later,” I said, giving him a little push to break free of his hold. “Do you want to go on our date now?”
“Of course. Where are we going?”
“Here.” I stuck out my arm, and Rome grinned as he hooked his hand on the inside of my elbow. We strolled together down the hall that was now heavily decorated with twinkling white lights and evergreen swag.
“You decorated this?” Rome asked, trying to sneak peeks into the rooms that we passed.
