Page 42 of More Than Nothing
Elenie laughed. “Your family are just—wow.”
“Yeah.” Roman looked pleased. “They are.”
A comfortable silence settled between them all as they drove along the quiet roads that linked his parents’ house to the back of the town.
“What’s the age gap between you and Florence?” Elenie asked.
“Thea and I are six years older. We’re thirty-two and Florence is twenty-six. I think it took my parents that long to catch up on their sleep.” Roman’s phone rang; he tugged it from his jeans pocket and she saw Zena’s name lit up on the screen. His eyebrows pulled together into a frown. “I don’t need to get that.”
He swiped to disconnect the call. Elenie’s fingernails bit into the palm of her hand. She slowly spread her fingers out against the material of her shirt dress, feeling like a bucket of cold water had been tipped over her head.
“You on an early tomorrow, Ro?” Milo asked over his shoulder. They discussed meeting up for a beer later on in the week until, way too soon, the car pulled up in front of Roman’s cabin. Elenie wished the drive had been longer.
Greedy for a final moment of privacy with him, she climbed out of the car once Cait and Milo had said their goodbyes.
“Will you be alright?” she asked.
“I’ll be fine.” He looked like he meant it. Their eyes locked and held. She could have sworn he swayed toward her, but his hands stayed in his pockets.
“Thank you so much for the invitation.Lo pasé bomba.3”
“Yo también, hermosa.4” He shot her a slow, wide smile, which lit his face and cracked the shields around her heart. “You won’t get away without a repeat visit, you know. My sisters are limpets when they like someone. And embarrassing me is what they love to do best.”
His endearment stole her breath. “I’ll look forward to it.”
“See you soon, Elenie.”
“Bye, Roman.”
He watched them drive away, his tall, shadowed outline unbowed and stable again for now.
Something about Roman’s struggle reached out to the parts of Elenie that doubted and feared. She was as stuck in her own nightmare as he was in his. There had to be a way out for them both.
The expansive love of Roman’s family, reflected in the food, the jokes, the casual touches, had shone a spotlight on the irreparable flaws in her own. She’d pushed him to turn to his parents and his sisters for support. Maybe she should use them for motivation.
It was time to stop hanging on for something she’d never find within the walls of the Dax family home.
It was time to let it go.
3 Lo pasé bomba (I had a blast)—Spanish
4 Yo también, hermosa (Me too, beautiful)—Spanish
Chapter 20
Roman
Dumping his keys and phone on the table, Roman leaned against the kitchen counter and took a long, deep breath. He felt contented but keyed up. Wrung out and fucking horny.
Sweetness blanketed the stench of death and squalor that had filled his nostrils for months. He didn’t know if it was shampoo or bodywash, but Elenie’s scent cleansed his brain like waves moving through a rockpool. Just being close to her sent pins and needles through the parts of him that were numb.
No matter how many times he reminded himself that his attraction to Elenie had nowhere to go, his body wasn’t listening.
He’d have given everything for a Pause button during their time on the chestnut tree.
Roman’s eyes narrowed on his cell. Damn Zena for her untimely interruption when he’d wanted to enjoy those last few minutes with Elenie—especially after the shitshow he’d made of the first half of it. What the hell could she want?
With a sigh, he dialed her number.
