Page 25 of Roman and Jules
She wrestled the chopsticks from him and gave it a clumsy try until she pointed at the bowling lane behind him. “Hey, what’s that?”
He turned and she escaped him to get a fork in the kitchen. “Cheater!” he shouted at her back. When she returned, she avoided his laughing eyes and dug into her food to show him how it was done. “You’re no fun,” he accused.
“Yeah? Well, I don’t believe in starving to death.”
“I said I’d feed you.”
She made a face until she took another bite and savored the food he’d made—the flavors serenaded her taste buds. He was really a good cook, and they drifted into silence while they ate, though even impaired with chopsticks, he finished up his food faster and pushed from the table to approach the bowling balls on the side rack.
Picking up a light blue one, he tested the weight of it, one-handed. He glanced back at her. “You can have this one.”
She hid her face with an embarrassed laugh. Was tonight about showing her up? “Why do I have a feeling that you’ve had more practice at this game than I’ve had?”
He straightened to give her a challenging look. “You want to even the odds? I’ll give you four tries to my two.”
She pushed away from the table. “Yeah right—then I’d feel four times worse if you won.” It had been a long time since she’d played, but she hoped that by some miracle she’d improved. This was such a fun setup that she’d play every day if she ended up being any good. He sat down at the table while Jules picked up the ball and approached the lane. She let the bowling ball go and it flew over the side and landed on the wooden floor near the entertainment room. Mercutio came running, yapping loudly at the scare as he scrambled from the entertainment room. She felt her face go hot. “Yeah,” she conceded. “Let’s go with four tries to your two. I’m totally good with that.”
He didn’t move, though his brow shot up. “Should I get out the bumpers first?”
“I need a heavier ball,” she argued against his sarcasm. “Obviously.” She found the heaviest one on the rack and kissed it for luck before she threw it. It was so heavy that it wasn’t going anywhere. It slowly rolled to the pins until it almost came to a stop before bumping a single one over.
“You have just won the prize for the slowest ball,” he remarked from the table.
“I don’t wantthatprize.”
He made a sympathetic sound and stood up to hug her. The warmth behind his strong hold was appreciated, but his pity wasn’t. He stepped back. “You want a lesson on form?” Before she could ask, he was sliding his arms around her waist and guiding her movements as if she held a ball.
She couldn’t stop giggling. “Are you trying to get close to me?”
“My own wife?” he asked. She liked the sound of that and then gave herself a stern lecture—this wasn’t real—but it was too late. Roman Verona was capturing her heart without even trying and she hadn’t seen it coming. “No, no,” he said. “I’d never.”
She covered her mouth and shoved him back, blushing. “Do you use that line on all the girls?”
“Just the ones I fake marry.”
“Okay, then…hubby, let’s see if you’re as good at teaching as you are at lying.” She picked up another ball and let it go, praying she could show him up this time. It rolled much faster than the last one and still kept in the lanes. It crashed into half of the pins, knocking them over.
He instantly took credit for it.
“Not so fast, hot stuff,” she said. “That was just a lucky shot.” She retrieved her bowling ball and took her last turn. And then screamed out when it took out the rest of the pins. She might actually be good at this. Who knew?
“You do your teacher proud,” he said, ruffling her hair and messing it all up. “I’ve got the magic touch.”
She fumed, though happily so. It was his turn, and he picked up the ball and bowled a strike. There was no way she’d win against him. Jules lost no time trash talking—and while she was at it—cheating. She tackled him from behind, holding him back before he could get to the lane for his next shot. She might as well be as clumsy as Mercutio for all the good it did. She held onto him as he dragged her forward, laughing down at her. “You’re such a poor sport,” he said.
“Yeah, yeah, I am!”
Mercutio jumped around them, adding to the chaos. Roman twisted and tickled Jules until she let him go and then he threw his ball. The dog let out a yelp and chased after it. Jules cheered him on, but the gangly puppy wasn’t able to push it off course before Roman got in another strike.
Jules slapped the floor in dismay and Roman reached over and untied her shoe as he passed by. Groaning, she leaned over to retie it while Mercutio bounded around her legs to go after her bowling ball too. Jules was half afraid of letting it go for fear of hitting the dog.
“Oh no, you don’t.” Roman hauled Mercutio back.
Smiling her gratitude, Jules bowled and took out eight pins. She threw her hands up in the air. “Take that, Roman!”
He wasn’t taking that lying down. “Let’s see you do that again, you little braggart.”
Jules made a little gasp, her spine tingling at the fun. What was he up to? She put nothing past him now that she’d cheated herself. She pinned him with stern eyes. No way was she turning her back on him. “I’m on to you, Roman.”
