Page 77 of More Than Nothing
Elenie laughed. Her face shone. “You’re just saying that because you got lucky.”
He knew without a shadow of a doubt she’d never been told how lovely she was. It broke his heart more than a little. Roman swore to himself that he would tell her at every opportunity until she was forced to believe him.
“I certainly did.” Unable to resist, he leaned in to taste her lips again. “I consider myself to be the luckiest bastard in Pine Springs right now.” Elenie quivered under his touch and he made himself pull away, even as he felt the familiar tug in his groin which he was powerless to control. “I would love nothing better than to curl up with you all afternoon. But maybe, if we’re planning to visit my parents, we should go sooner rather than later. What do you think?” He hated to see the cloud that drifted across her face. “Honestly, I don’t want you to worry. This will be fine—you’ll see.” Standing up, he held out a hand to pull her up from the bed. “Would you like a quick shower?” His length twitched at the words, drawing Elenie’s eyes. Roman stifled a moan. Grabbing his shorts from the floor, he held them in front of himself like a shield. “Ignore that,” he instructed her, fiercely. “My cock isn’t running this show and, justbecause I’m picturing you in my shower, doesn’t mean I’m going to jump on you again like a hot and horny teenager.”
Elenie giggled. She paused in the doorway of the bathroom and looked over her shoulder. Roman’s eyes devoured her gentle curves. “How disappointing. I was kind of hoping you would.”
He felt the smile on his lips grow until it spread across his face. With a growl, he threw his shorts to one side and followed her into the bathroom.
They took the back roads to his parents’ house, and it was late afternoon by the time they pulled up on the roadside. Elenie paled at the two extra cars parked on the driveway.
“It’s just Florence, Thea, and Luke. And Thea and Luke know the score already.” He jumped down from his truck, walking around to the passenger side when she didn’t move. “Come on, tiger.”
She lifted her chin, squared her shoulders, and still managed to look as if she was heading for the gallows. Her fingers had a death-grip on the cake in her hands. His mother answered the ring on the doorbell. Her face lit up when she saw it was him and fell when she noticed Elenie behind him. They were back to square one again.
“Roman. Elenie.”
“Hey, Ma.” He leaned down to give her a kiss. “You plan to let us in?”
Ava stepped back and held the door open. “Of course.”
They followed her into the kitchen, where Florence was making coffee. Everyone else sat around the table.
“I thought you were working today!” Florence’s smile disappeared like the lights snapping off in a power outage. “OK, so this is awkward—”
“No, it’s not. There are a few things we need to tell you.” Roman pushed Elenie gently in front of him toward the table.
“I brought you a lemon pound cake,” she said and set it down on a counter.
“My favorite. I’ll grab a knife!” Warm and friendly, his dad sounded just like he always did. Ava, on the other hand, was assessing them carefully and Florence’s face was stormy. Luke pulled out the chair next to him in invitation. Elenie shot him a grateful look and slid into it without saying anything more. Thea gave her a sympathetic smile.
Roman took hold of Elenie’s hand, deliberately placing it on top of the table, despite her tug of resistance. The gesture wasn’t missed by anyone. “I know you saw Elenie in Kalamazoo last night. She told me first thing this morning.”
“Craig Perry? What are you even thinking!” Florence thumped two cups of coffee down in front of them. Elenie’s fingers flinched in his grip.
“You know him?” Roman’s voice was sharp.
“Not really, but he comes into the salon to get his hair cut. Jordan usually does it.” Florence wrinkled her nose.
“You don’t like him?”
His sister gave him a look. “Hairdressers tend to prefer it if you don’t grope them when they bend down to plug in the blow dryer. Sexy English accent or not. Pretty sure he chooses the salon over the barbershop because we all have breasts.”
His mother looked furious, his father horrified. Elenie shrank a little further into her seat.
“None of this is how it looks,” Roman said firmly. “It’s complicated and, when I’ve explained, I want you to keep what I tell you to yourselves.”
He explained Frank’s reaction to them being seen at the town fair, the public breakup to convince him their relationship wasover, and how Elenie was fake-dating Perry to secure her safety. He left out any mention of her CI role. Beside him, Elenie’s shoulders curved inward when he described the violence she’d met with at home. He hated that she was embarrassed by something she had no control over. She kept her eyes pinned on his face, muted stress pulsing from the pores of her skin.
“Milo and Cait are in on this. So are Dougie and Summer. Thea and Luke knew already because they came to the gala dinner. And now you three know as well. But that is it and we need it to stay that way.” He looked from his mother to his father to Florence. “Elenie’s position is vulnerable and we’re working on a longer-term solution. But it needs to be handled sensitively at the moment. OK?”
“Fuck.” Florence blinked.
“Yes.” Roman gave a tight smile. “Fuck.”
There was a brief silence.
“My dear.” His dad stood up from the table. “I’m so sorry you’re dealing with all of that.” Unruffled and accepting, he squeezed Elenie’s shoulder with a large hand and picked up her mug. “Let me heat up your coffee.”
