Page 18 of Roman and Jules
Jules sucked in her breath. Was that a glimmer of hope she saw in those eyes? He was mostly teasing, right? He’d better be. She backed away with a muttered apology. “Yeah, we’ll find that phone tomorrow.”
She closed the door and tried to scoop up the oversized Mercutio to take to the bed as a type of security blanket. The puppy was as heavy as lead and easily wriggled out of her hands until he figured out that she was taking him to the coveted position next to her and hopped up on the bed himself.
This had been a very stupid idea. She was now married to that man out there—that man who had kissed her twice and who she barely knew. She tried to think of everything that she’d heard about him, and all she got was the “Bad Boy of Verona.” Stupid. And still his kisses replayed through her mind. Ty had never kissed her like that.
She switched off the light next to the bed and fell asleep in a guilt-ridden daze.
Chapter 8
She had stolen his dog. That was Roman’s first thought that morning as he wrestled through his nest of blankets and studied the closed door where hiswifeslept. What madness had overtaken them last night? Uneasiness wormed its way through him when he hashed over everything that had happened. But instead of wanting to take it all back, the more he thought about it, the more it made him grin.
Roman was delighted with his wicked plan—a perfectlyjustifiedwicked plan. Ty didn’t want Jules when he had her, but if there was one thing that Roman knew about his cousin, it was that he hadn’t been ready to give her up yet. He’d seen it on Tyson’s face when he’d been confronted by Rosalyn. Even better, a narcissist like him hated it when the object of his desire let him go too fast. Jules marrying another man the night they’d broken up would definitely count as too fast.
It wouldn’t be long before Tyson broke, especially when he saw how ridiculously happy Roman planned to be with the girl that he’d stolen from him. Finding his selfie with his arm around Jules at the Chapel del Frate, Roman squinted with malicious delight and sent the picture to Ty.
Immediately he got a reply back from his cousin, instead of the usual silence.“Is this a joke? Where are you?”
Oh, Roman was really going to enjoy this. He texted back:“On my honeymoon. Leave me alone.”
Roman set his phone screen face down on the pillows next to him, snickering. That would really enrage Ty. He fully expected his cousin to blow up his phone today. Even better, Jules didn’t have hers with her. She couldn’t give in and answer Ty’s plaintive texts if she wanted to. Yeah, he and Jules wouldn’t have to carry on this sham marriage for long… and when Ty tried to hunt him down, Roman would have to make sure that he recorded it all for Aunt Priscilla. He’d just have to make sure not to fight back for once.
Pressing his hands behind him on the couch, Roman pushed himself out of the soft depths and headed for the kitchen to make breakfast. He’d call in sick at work this morning—he wasn’t ready to tell his father that he was married yet. He tiptoed past where hiswife slept, not ready to rouse her either. He’d want her to be in a good mood that morning. He knew one way to do that.
He dug through his shelves and found a frying pan, and took out the ingredients for his prize-winning garden vegetable and goat cheese omelet. It was just another little something he’d kept back from his wife last night. Culinary arts were one of his favorite pastimes, along with pastry baking. Hardly anyone knew that about him.
He got lost in the savory aroma of his cooking and the colors of the bright vegetables sautéing in the pan. The sizzling made it so he didn’t hear Jules come out from the back. Mercutio barked next to her legs. Roman turned. The sight of this gorgeous Southern girl in his kitchen with her blonde hair a mess around her shoulders took his breath away.
“You!” she said. “You’re the one behind this food?”
Roman flushed. Now that she’d entered his lair, he could no longer keep back from her his deepest, darkest secret—he loved a good meal, sure, but even more than that? He loved to cook it, though that was far from the bad boy image he cultivated. He shrugged at her.
Mercutio yapped at Roman like he’d turned into the big bad wolf overnight. Roman made a face at the puppy. “Good morning to you, too, little grump.”
Jules ran a hand over Mercutio’s soft head, shifting in her bare feet. His basketball shorts hung over her knees, covering too much of those beautiful legs as she stared around the kitchen like she was seeing it for the first time. He knew that look—her face was a picture of regret. She wasn’t the only one, though he was sure he was more used to it than she was.
What did he know about Jules Bassett anyway? She was Ty’s beautiful ex. She had a contagious laugh, smile, voice. She sang like an angel… and she was… beautiful.That’s all I know.He grimaced. What was done was done. No matter how much they shouldn’t have given in to their need for revenge, he had the advantage of knowing that this ruse would probably only last a day before they were all free.
He forced a smile. “Cheer up, Mrs. Verona. This is your honeymoon.”
She paled, and he guessed she wasn’t ready for that yet. Jules stayed nervously silent. He was running out of things to say, though Mercutio was loud enough for the both of them.
Welcoming the distraction, Roman came for his puppy. “Hey, don’t you remember me anymore, little guy?” He rubbed the dog’s knobby head while the dog curled around her legs. It felt oddly intimate.
Her eyes flitted over his bare chest then she quickly looked up to his face with a blush. She did that a lot. If he didn’t know better, he’d think she actually was attracted to him. Mercutio nipped at his fingers, and he chuckled. “What did you say about me, Jules? He’s furious. Aren’t you, Mercutio?” He reached for his dog, scooting the lively animal closer to him while untangling Mercutio from her side, his hands practically going around her to do so.
Roman held the soft dog to his cheek, laughing as Mercutio panted into his ear, wriggling around like a worm. “You’re protective of the new girl, huh? We’re still buddies, right?”
Mercutio’s tail wagged and Roman noticed Jules watching him like she was spooked, though she pretended not to. She cleared her throat. “I don’t usually…”
Uh oh.He knew she’d try to get out of this and he’d have to stop that kind of talk before it ruined his revenge against Tyson. “I get it,” he said. “You’re not used to us yet. How about an omelet and then we’ll talk?”
He just needed today. Ty would be after him—a glance at his phone told him that—and Roman was beginning to suspect the depth of his cousin’s feelings the longer he spent with Jules. She was a catch. For now the trick was to make her feel absolutely secure with him.
Leaving Mercutio with her, Roman slid the omelet from the pan and onto her plate, arranging it so it was appealing to her eyes as well as her palate. He pushed it on the kitchen island in front of her and she stared at it. She glanced over at the cake on the stand. “You made that, didn’t you?”
“It depends…” he cracked a smile, “if you like it or not.”
That was enough to make her smile. “It looks too good to eat.”
