Page 21 of Roman and Jules
“You misunderstood that,” Ty blurted. “You and I aren’t exclusive.”
She gulped, turning silent at his words. Roman could see that her eyes were bright with intelligence. She knew how casually Ty treated her. Who wouldn’t? No one with self-respect would accept a man who thought so little of her, but this was… different… right? It was so easy for a sweet girl to get attached so that there was no wrestling a bad man from her. Usually that worked to Roman’s advantage. Not today.
“I assumed a lot,” she conceded, “but… you know what? I want a man who cares and I meanreallycares about me. If you had, then you’d have fit me in to your ‘busy schedule.’ You’d never even think about seeing other women. You make me feel like a burden most of the time.”
Roman groaned inwardly, and the reporters pushed forward. They became a blur of noise as he studied his cousin. Ty would lie his way out of this mess, especially in front of this crowd. He could easily turn this around now, plead ignorance, apologize, make all sorts of promises that he’d never keep, but to Roman’s surprise, Ty’s eyes simmered with stubbornness, and they ran over Jules with unspoken resentment. “So this is your ultimatum? If I don’t bend to your will, you run off with my cousin? You after his money, Jules? He won’t have it for long. Then you’ll be desperate to get away from him.”
That did it. Ty had turned this on Jules like she was a fortune hunter. The reporters pressed up against them, demanding answers to questions they had no right to ask. Clearly, Ty cared nothing about Jules. Not really. This had deteriorated into a power struggle.
Roman moved protectively in front of Jules, giving Ty his laziest look—cold as ice and meant to cut his cousin down. Ty normally took that as a challenge and it would end in fists, but this time he stopped short. Their aunt’s threat loomed over them both.
Ty peered around him, working his manipulative skills on Jules instead, and whispered to her, “As soon as you figure out what a big mistake you’re making, come back to me. I might forgive you.” He took her cellphone out of his pocket and pressed it into her hands. “You left it at the pool.”
And with the cameras still on him, he pushed around them both and made his escape in his limo. Jules pressed her hand over Mercutio’s head and watched Ty go with somber eyes. She didn’t say anything, and Roman knew they’d already revealed too much. Somehow Ty had turned the reporters to his side and they charged Roman and Jules again, barking out their questions.
“Did you steal her from your cousin?”
“Jules? Do you know about Roman’s reputation? What do you think about him being the bad boy of Vegas?”
“Roman—you love her or are you just playing?”
Roman gathered Jules to his side. This was too much. He just needed to get her out of there. She leaned into him and he felt himself melt at her softness, like she’d chosen him, but he knew that wasn’t true; still, she looked grateful all the same.
Mercutio pawed at their legs and ran between them as they went for the door. Roman ducked behind the security guards, who kept back the crowds. As soon as they entered the foyer, she peered up at him. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have dragged you into this. It wasn’t your problem. You almost got into another fight.” She pushed her hair from her face, so that it brushed against his neck. “We should end this.”
Almost without thinking, he ran his hand down her smooth arm and took her fingers. “How about we figure it out tonight?”
Ty hadn’t broken under the pressure, but he’d given Jules back her phone. That meant his cousin would stay in contact with her, and Roman was sure hearing about how well things were going between Roman and the missus would drive Ty crazy. Of course, time would tell, and for some reason, Roman had no problem spending that with her. He wasn’t sure if that was inviting trouble, but it was worth it. Besides the discomfort of the media attention, he was enjoying what he was doing to his cousin, and maybe even being with her. He’d show Jules what a man was really like, so that by the time Ty was ready to fight for her, he wouldn’t stand a chance.
He guessed by her sudden smirk that she sensed his motives weren’t entirely altruistic. “You’re so sure you can talk me into this?” she asked. “That seems a little cocky.”
“I’ve got a reputation to keep up.”
She gave him a probing look before untangling her legs from Mercutio’s leash. “You’re not the bad boy everyone thinks you are.”
“Is that so?” He stopped short in front of the gift shop and pressed his hand into one of the Greek pillars behind her. “Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me then.”
She blushed. “That wasn’t a challenge, Roman, that was a compliment.” She laughed nervously.
It only made him feel more playful, and turning, he caught sight of a rack of swimming suits in the boutique. He went for it and pulled out a cute, ruffled number. “What size are you?”
“No!” She took it from him and returned it to the rack.
He slipped out another. It was lacy and white and much skimpier than the last one, with hardly anything left to the imagination. “If you don’t pick out the right size then you’re stuck withthisone. I need to try out my jacuzzi.”
She quickly pulled out a sporty, striped orange-and-navy blue suit and shoved it at him while slipping the white one out of his reach. Her brow rose. “You’ve never gone in your jacuzzi before?”
“No, I’m just saying I need to try it out,” he tried with little success to suppress a chuckle. “With you.” She looked surprised and then laughed. He almost felt sorry for Ty now. His cousin would be stewing at a bar somewhere clutching at his tattered pride while Roman had all the fun.
“Fine,” she said, “but don’t you dare try to live up to your reputation with me.”
He smiled at her, but he didn’t make any promises, which luckily, she didn’t notice. They bought the suit and took Mercutio to Roman’s rooftop suite. Jules dropped into silence on their way up, her face clouding. It was probably Ty again. Roman knew how to cheer her up, and it wouldn’t be food this time.
They walked into his kitchen and Mercutio scrambled over the slick tile to get to his bowl of water. She sighed and pulled up a barstool. “Roman?” she ventured.
He knew she’d bring up ending things again, and so he pointed to the bathroom to the side of them. “You can change in there.”
Her lips tipped up, but instead of arguing, she went. He headed for his bedroom and threw on his swimming trunks, but not before taking out the wedding ring from his pocket. After seeing that Ty had stood him up at the Chapel del Frate, he’d stopped by his father’s place and found the ring that had belonged to his mother. She’d given it to him before she’d passed away. Roman had always thought that he’d give it to Bella, but that kind of sentimental nonsense wasn’t important anymore. He slid it over his pinky and it stopped at the first joint. He smirked. Yeah, it would fit Jules.
