Page 61 of More Than Nothing
Craig swayed in front of them. “Night, Chief. Take care getting home now.”
Roman gave him a tight smile. Zena offered her cheek to the Brit, who kissed it with a flourish like the jerk he was.
“Nice to meet you, Zena. Goodbye, Chief Martinez.” Elenie directed the words to the second button down on his shirt. Her smoky gray eyes smoldered as she took in the faint creases she’d left there when she’d crumpled it in her fist.
Roman’s pulse thumped in reaction, his throat tightening. A wordless chin lift was all he could manage but it looked suitably dismissive.
They were stopped multiple times on their way to the door. Local residents, all of whom he now knew and recognized, wished him goodnight. Their interest in the woman on his arm grated and he stubbornly refused to introduce her. From beneath heavy brows, he eyed the sagging promotional banner that hung across the foyer. Roman’s mouth twitched. The Pine Springs “Local Event of the Year” had been more memorable than he’d expected.
Desperate to be on his own, he managed to brush Zena off with a quick goodnight by the elevator in the lobby. The price he paid was agreeing to meet for a coffee in the morning before she headed back out of town.
Thea gave him grief on the way home. He answered her mainly in grunts, relieved beyond measure to drop her and Luke off at their house.
He hated leaving Elenie with Perry at the hotel; even the peace of his cabin couldn’t soothe the raw jealousy in his chest. It was impossible to close a lid on the memory of their kiss. He tried to rebuild the smashed and shattered boundaries but failed completely.
Roman stripped off his suit and crawled into bed, the touch and taste of her torturing his thoughts, scorching his airway. His skin burned like a furnace.
Aching to have her next to him, under him, surrounding him, Roman slid his hand into his shorts. Muscles clenched, sheets rumpled beneath him, he got himself off to the memory of Elenie’s scent and the feel of her body against his. He came hard in his hand, on his stomach, chest heaving, and couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so out of control.
Showered, composed, but irritable, Roman slumped at a table in Mocha Magic. So far, his precious day off was a bomb. He’d done nothing from the moment his eyes opened but rerun the events of the gala dinner.
“Sorry to keep you. Checking out took forever. Apparently preparing a bill for one solitary hotel guest is a challenging concept.” Zena draped her jacket over a chair and parked a neat travel bag beside the table leg.
“Coffee?” Roman asked.
“Please. My usual.”
There was no line and he returned with her espresso and a mug of tea for himself within minutes.
“So, last night was interesting.” Zena gave him a sideways look.
“Right from when you introduced yourself as my fiancée,” Roman agreed.
She smiled and shrugged. “I miss wearing the ring. It looked good with my dress.”
“The ring is yours. Do what you want with it, but don’t tell people we’re engaged when we’re not.”
“You’re not even tempted to give us another go?” She seemed curious, rather than upset.
“I don’t want to go back to how things were. I’m trying to move forward.” He stirred some sugar into his tea.
“Yes, I can tell that.”
Roman wasn’t biting. His eyes swept the almost empty café. “I don’t have long this morning. I’ve got things to do.”
Zena sighed and her demeanor changed. “OK, cards-on-the-table time.” She set her cup down. “I’m in a spot of bother at work.”
Roman raised an eyebrow. This was unexpected.
“Remember Ben Barrett? I’ve been seeing him for a while and his wife has heard rumors. Not ideal, as I’m sure you can imagine.”
He found himself completely lost for words.
Zena plowed on. “I’ve told her that you and I are still an item, totally committed, even though you’ve taken this post for a year. I said we’re fine with the whole long-distance thing as it has an end date.” Her cool eyes searched his face for a reaction. “I need you to come back for a few work functions to convince her.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Roman said eventually.
“I’m not,” she assured him.
