Page 19 of Roman and Jules
“There’s no such thing.” He cut into it, the white frosting and chocolate cake sticking to the knife. He slid the slice onto a plate next to her omelet. Taking a deep breath, she eased onto the barstool. It was a small victory. And then when she bit into the omelet and closed her eyes, it was an even bigger one. “Wow, Roman, this is really good.”
Roman smirked and crossed his arms. This would buy him a few hours at least. She finished off the egg and then went for the cake. She must be a sucker for sweets because she enjoyed that even more. Her eyes cleared of their earlier anxiety and turned bright. “I’m going to gain weight here; I can tell.”
He relaxed with her smile. She was talking about the future now. A very good sign.
Her chin lifted when her attention veered to his phone. “Someone’strying to get a hold of you.”
Roman snatched up his cell before she could see who it was. Ty was trying to call him now, and he rejected the call. A quick glance told him that Tyson’s texts had also turned more threatening. Another good sign.
“Who’s that?” she asked.
“No one,” Roman said. “Hey, um, I’m going to see if I can’t find your phone. I’ll check… everywhere we went yesterday, and um…” What could he say to keep her there? “Can you walk the dog while I’m gone?”
“Yeah, but weren’t we going to talk?”
“We will. Tonight we’ll do a night in.” Her eyes widened and he realized how intimate that sounded. Roman was messing up the work he’d done to calm her down, but this was the first time he’d been married to anyone, and he didn’t know how to act yet. He still wasn’t fully confident that she’d be there when he returned. “Let’s also get you a ring that fits. A real one.”
“No!” she exclaimed. “No, that isnotpart of the deal. You’re not spending money on me—you’re not buying me a new phone and you’re not…” Her eyes rested on sweet little Mercutio, who’d managed to scramble as close to her as he could, resting his nose on her foot. “Well,” she mused. “You just might lose a dog to this, but I’m not taking anything else from you.”
Roman couldn’t keep his eyes off her now. Even with her ratty hair and drowning in his workout clothes, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, inside and out. He usually didn’t fall this fast. Her refusal to take his money had woven a spell over him, and it reminded him of what had happened to him when she’d sung to him in the rain. It ripped his brain right out of his head. He liked her. Where did Ty find this woman anyway?
He licked his lips. “Yeah, I meant I’d get you arealfake one. The cheapest one out there.” He glanced down at his texts and stilled when he read the last one from Ty:
“Roman, meet me at the Chapel del Frate. I’m guessing that’s where you did this thing. I’ve got Jules’s phone. I’m not leaving until you get here. You touch her and I rearrange your face.”
He might not have to worry about Jules being home when he got back. Making Ty jealous was working too well, and Roman’s teeth clenched. He should feel elated that he could drive his cousin to his disinheritance, but Roman only felt his knuckles itching to get at his cousin. The guy really thought he could get away with anything, even an affair with Rosalyn. Roman took a steadying breath. “You know,” he said through tight lips. “I have a feeling that you might get your man back really soon.”
Her mouth split into a happy smile, and he felt his stomach drop like she’d innocently led him off a cliff, even though he knew he’d said the perfect thing to convince her to stay. Her cobalt blue eyes went to his phone, and Roman casually hid it behind his back. He didn’t want to think about it anymore. Things were going exactly how he wanted them to go, and that should be enough. He rushed to his room to get dressed before his emotions got even more tangled up in this mess.
He’d face Ty and get this over with. If things didn’t go the way Jules wanted, he’d make it up to her.Somehow.But if it did? He’d stop that from happening, too. Jules was too good for that cheater. Maybe there could be a way to make them both come out as winners… though probably not.
Chapter 9
Jules normally sang her heart out in the mornings. It was one of the more embarrassing things that she did, but she wasn’t even tempted now, which was crazy because these high cathedral ceilings would be perfect for it.
She took a shower to get the smell of last night off of her—the party where she’d heard about Rosalyn especially. Jules might not be in the mood for singing, but she wasn’t above sampling all the shampoos and shower gels in Roman’s fancy glass shower stall. They were high-end, and her hair sighed in happiness when she lathered them in.
Wrapping the soft terrycloth towel around her, she stepped out of the shower and realized that she’d have to put on her dress from the night before. It smelled of the restaurant and the rain and the Chapel del Frate, but she had no choice. It was either that or run around in Roman’s workout clothes all day. She definitely needed to get home and… She hesitated at the choices before her. Would she pack her clothes and other supplies or bail on this whole thing?
As soon as Roman left, her doubts returned, and they didn’t go away as she gathered Mercutio’s harness to take him walking. If she kept up this masquerade—as impossible as it sounded—then how many people should she tell? Her band members might feel betrayed if she kept this a secret. Her friends would try to hold an intervention. And what would her parents say? Jules’s heart raced. She was officially reentering freak-out stage.
Morning brought the great reckoning from the madness of the night before. Roman’s luxurious apartment that had seemed so clever and creative when she’d first come inside was now an obstacle as she realized the power and privilege that it represented. A man with these means would also have access to a lot of lawyers. Getting out unscathed might be harder than getting into this marriage.
She wanted to trust him, but he was already hiding things from her. She’d seen that Ty was blowing up his phone, and Roman hadn’t fessed up to it, even when she’d brought it to his attention. She wondered if he was meeting Ty now.
Mercutio pawed at the door where Roman had left, and Jules sighed. Worrying would get her nowhere. Leaning over the one soul with nothing to hide, she slipped the harness over Mercutio’s head and clipped on his leash. He barked in excitement and escaped from her to rush around the room before returning to her side. Wrapping the leash around her hand for a better grip this time, she went out.
The classically refined Grecian surroundings became background scenery as she made her way down the elevator and through the foyer. A huge crowd milled outside, and she huffed out in frustration. That would make it almost impossible to get Mercutio through. She found a side door and slipped outside into the warm morning. The palm trees provided little shade, and she longed for the secluded pathways she’d find in Henderson, not the crowded streets of the cement city.
“Hey! There she is!”
She ignored the voice as part of the noise of the big city until she realized that it was directed at her. The huge gathering at the front of the building came at her like a dark cloud. This was the paparazzi. Were they actually after her again? She backed away with Mercutio, hoping that they’d pass her by, but no such luck. She was their target.
Who had tipped them off? It wasn’t rocket science. Her mind immediately went to the officiator at the Chapel del Frate. Now everyone would know what she’d done—her band members, her friends, her parents, complete strangers! She’d never been more embarrassed. Microphones pressed into her face and she tried to fight them off while reporters jostled her from side to side. She had nowhere to go.
“Where’s Roman?” one asked.
“Are you Jules Bassett?”
