Page 12 of Roman and Jules
“Deal.”
She hadn’t realized that he’d give in so easily. He leaned closer to her so that his forehead rested against hers while he worked the ring off his pinky. The rain made it too slick, and it slipped from his hands and hit a puddle and sank. She shrieked and went after it. He landed on his knees on the other side and they thrashed through the water until his hand found hers. He kept her in place while he waited for the water to settle and then found the ring again. He didn’t let her go until he folded her fingers over the obsidian band.
“Sing,” he said.
She was caught, and she lifted her head to stare at him. His long lashes sparkled with rain like tears, but the look in his eyes wasn’t sad—far from it—only amused. He was clearly getting her back for making him sing in the club. Though they were both soaked, the rain felt refreshing. It sizzled against the hot pavement. Settling the sopping lace of her skirt around her legs, she pressed her fists into the drenched sidewalk and grounded herself, taking in the rhythm of the rain pelting against the puddles around her, against the lids of dumpsters and the soft padding over the umbrellas at the tables. A haunting wind sped through the buildings and casinos that towered oppressively over them while the thunder bellowed out threats.
Taking a deep breath, she started out with a simple lullaby. It was low and matched with the steady fall of rain, like a heartbeat, but as the storm grew in intensity, so did her voice until she closed her eyes and imagined she stood on a stage in front of an enraptured audience. She played with the sounds of the wind and rain and the speeding cars, the echoes in the distance from loudspeakers, matching her voice with the noise until her soft melody carried over the humming world, clear like a summer day, and then she stopped, letting her voice echo into silence before she opened her eyes.
Roman knelt across from her in the rain, staring at her like she was the water sprite that Rosalyn had called her. He didn’t move. His eyes didn’t look amused anymore, almost like he was in awe of her. It had been a long time since anyone had looked at her that way, even Ty.
Her mouth opened, but she couldn’t find the words to bridge the silence. His brows sketched upwards, but he said nothing, as if reluctant to break the spell of their song… because it wastheirsong. She wasn’t sure why, but she just hoped she could remember the melody again.
He reached across the water-drenched cement and picked her up out of the flood, shielding her from the elements in his protective embrace. Her heart was against his as the rain slid down their skin. Jules was sure he could feel her racing pulse, like she could feel his. She was very aware of him and the sound of his breaths, the way his heavy-lidded eyes drew to hers and then dropped to study her lips.
She felt the strength behind his grip just before his hands tightened against her back, and with a mischievous look, he dipped her to the final strains of their song that were no longer there, but that their bodies still remembered.
Her arms fell behind her, her fingertips scraping through the water. Everything in her felt as light as he made her feel, and she burst into a smile, just trusting him to hold her.
Roman was going to kiss her. He’d watched her in much the same way at the pool, and this time she hoped that he would. His chest was warm as he leaned over her and nudged her lips with his until hers parted. The kiss he’d brushed against her cheek had been nothing to this. A current of electricity exploded through her every sense like the flashing lightning above them.
He didn’t feel like a stranger anymore. Her hands found his neck and he pulled her tightly to him like he was a WWII sailor grabbing the nearest nurse on Times Square. And oh! He knew what he was doing. Bad boy was right. She couldn’t get enough of him. It was like he’d stolen the last tattered shreds of her caution and trampled them beneath his feet.
It was a good night. The best night.
And that wasn’t right. Only hours ago she’d said she loved his cousin. Had she so little loyalty? And just like that, she caught sight of the Chapel del Frate across the street. Was it actually the one she’d used to tease Ty? It was.She recognized the red lettering and hearts on the front door. Her stomach wrenched in pain, and she clutched to Roman more desperately. He could make her forget everything, but this couldn’t last. She was only using him to numb her hurt. He was the forbidden—something she’d always want, but couldn’t have. Strangely enough, Ty was the more sensible choice, even if he didn’t want her.
She tried to murmur out a protest that got lost somewhere between her brain and her throat as her conscience wrestled with her rushing heartbeat. Roman’s strong arms felt so good around her. The bad boy was winning.
Jules grasped onto anything that would make her see reason. She had no business getting lost in Roman’s kisses when she hadn’t given herself any time to get over her last heartbreak… or… or to even try to work things out. Would she toss everything she had for his cousin so carelessly away?
She drew back.
Her emotions were knotted into pretzels as she took two steps away from Roman. He let her go, his hands as gentle as his eyes. This wasn’t fair to him, either, not when she’d been Ty’s only hours ago. She was only proving how faithless she was, how changeable… and that wasn’t who she was. Still she couldn’t speak; she was completely arrested by the way Roman watched her—like he was haunted by her very presence. And she shivered at the thought of trying to keep her distance from him.
Well, she’d try.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
Chapter 6
Roman wanted to stop what Jules was about to say. He knew it wasn’t good by the way she tilted her head to the side and bit her lip. That same lip that had been so soft on his. He just got caught up in her. It was hard to tell when that had happened—between the laughter, the dancing, the singing… the kissing.
“I’m not sure… we’re a good idea,” she whispered. She twisted her skirt with clenched fists. The rainwater from it dripped over her already soaked legs. She seemed even more of a water sprite than before. “This is going too fast. And what if… what if Tyson…? I don’t want to make things more confusing.”
He belatedly realized what she was saying. It sounded like she was going to let Tyson back into her life—and after what he’d done? Disappointment flooded through him and rubbed into his gut. Suddenly Roman knew how Tyson could goad him into a fight that would lose him his inheritance. Roman had to get a grip on himself and shrug off this girl’s power over him before he completely lost his mind. “What happened to forgetting abouthim?” he asked.
She shrugged, looking away. Her eyes were on that tawdry Chapel del Frate across the street. The florescent lights flickered brokenly. “You don’t understand.” Her lowered voice turned soft and sultry with that Southern accent. “We were talking marriage. I just want to be sure about everything. And I can’t just go with the first guy that makes me feel…” She circled back to him. “I’m sorry, Roman.” Hearing his name come out of her mouth made his heart flutter for a split second. She attempted a trembling smile. “See that Chapel del Frate over there?”
“The one advertising Friar Lawrence’s sale on rings?” Roman couldn’t keep back the hard edge from his voice.
“Pretty pathetic right?” Her cobalt blue eyes were bright with sadness. “I teased Ty about swinging by after the party. You should’ve seen his face—it looked like yours right now. He said that we’d get diseases just stepping inside.”
Jules shouldn’t have compared Roman to his cousin—now Roman would do anything to show that he was nothing like him. She had no idea who she was dealing with. “Is that so?” Roman asked. “How about we find out?”
He caught her hand and headed for the Chapel del Frate. She picked up her skirt to keep up, her boots thudding against the watery ground. “What are you doing? We can’t just walk in there.”
“We can’t? Why? The diseases?”
