Page 90 of Burning Daylight
“Icare!” I exclaim. “You have no idea how off-limits you just became.”
His nostrils flare, his arms tensing. I ignore the heat sparking off his body, blanketing me, and honestly, it’s the worst form of torture to have him be so close physically, yet the farthest away he’s ever been.
“Idoknow,” he whispers.
“Do you?” I stare at him. “You’re aMontgomery, Trouble.If my dad saw you here with me, or worse, if my cousin Tyler did?—”
“They’d what?” Roman cuts me off, moving in closer, his torso brushing against mine.
My mind flashes to Tyler’s gun. “You knowwhat.”
“Whatever it is, it’d be worth it, as long as I got some time with you.”
I grit my teeth, turning my head to the side and staring at the pool.
“I didn’t choose my parents any more than you did, Juliette.”
The way he says my name sends a shiver down my spine.
“And I didn’t take you as the type to just bow down and do everything your family says, but maybe I was wrong,” he continues.
Fire rages through me at his words, because as much as I want to rail against what he’s saying, I can’t.
It’s true: I’ve never gone against my parents’ wishes.
I’ve been slowly boiling in a pot of water, not even realizing I’m being burned alive.
I turn back to face him, hating the way my stomach flips and my chest cinches tight when our eyes meet. “Tell me why you were here tonight, then. Convince me it’s nothing more thanour parents.”
His chin lifts, his Adam’s apple bobbing on a swallow.
But he stays silent.
I nod, resignation filling me up like sand in an hourglass. “Then we’re enemies.”
He moves so suddenly I don’t have time to avoid it. One of his hands grips my waist, and the other cups the back of my head.
His forehead presses against mine.
I gasp, my skin sizzling wherever he touches.
“You willneverbe my enemy.” He states it as an absolute.
My lashes flutter, hope—as ridiculous as it is in this situation—flaring to life in my chest. “Even if we have to pretend we are?”
His expression shifts, flickering with something sharp.
A door slams in the distance, and my stomach folds in on itself.
I push against his hold, but he only grips me tighter. “You have to go.”
“Meet me somewhere.”
“Roman,please. Just leave. Before my family finds you here.”
He shakes his head. “Not until you say yes.”
Frustrated, I sink into his hold, my hands falling against the hard muscle of his chest. “Fine, meet me tomorrow at the cliff.”
