Page 30 of Forbidden Romeo

I go to sit on the edge of the pool, only to be rewarded with a shake of Jack’s hair.

“Hey!” I whine half-heartedly as the splatter of droplets hits me.

He simply wades over, encircling me with his arms, and I lean into the embrace happily. For all my shouting, I wasn’t all that offended—not really. Besides, it’s not like I gave him anything else to work with.

“Can you forgive me?” he says softly.

I offer him a sweet smile. “Yes.”

“Can you tell me just a little about yourself?”

I kiss him, letting my lips linger there a moment before resting my forehead against his. “I’m a very private person.”

“I figured that much,” Jack replies quietly.

There’s this stupid, irrational part of me that wants to lay myself bare before this man and let him see every single thing I’ve ever done, ever been through. It’s such a shocking revelation that the impact knocks the breath out of me. The Aimee from a month ago—hell, the Aimee fromyesterday—would wring my neck for thinking something like that.

But there’s just something about Jack. The way he’s so gentle and yet so firm with me, the way his desires are written all over his face, makes me want to trust him. He’s exactly the kind of man I could let fall in love with me because I can see a world where I fall head over heels for him too.

But to do any of that, you need to be able to let the other person in. And right now, I know I can’t do that. I can’t risk Roisin’s safety or my sanity.

The problem is, Iwantto trust him. Desperately. Despite how reckless that would be.

“I…” I begin, then pause. “Things are kinda complicated for me right now.”

I can feel him emotionally withdraw as the words leave my mouth.

“No, wait. I’m not saying this right.” I lay a hand on his chest. “I wasn’t expectingthisto happen.”

Jack’s hand tilts my chin up, and my eyes meet with him. “For what it’s worth, me neither.”

“And I really like…this,” I whisper.

“Then keep liking it.”

I smile at his sincerity. “I’d like to trust you. Very much.”

“You don’t trust me?” he replies with mock outrage.

“I wouldn’t take it personally,” I say, rolling my eyes. “I don’t trust anyone.”

He nods at this. “I suppose I can accept that. We did meet yesterday.”

“Exactly.”

Jack leans in and kisses me again. “I’m not asking for your life story. I just want to know something real about you so that when you disappear, I can find a way to makethismake sense.”

His words pierce my icy heart like a knife.

“Who the fuck do you think are you, Jack?” I whisper against his lips before kissing him again. “Coming into my life and saying stuff like that to me.”

He kisses me back vigorously. “I can be romantic when I need to be.”

We stay like that for a moment. Our tongues dance together as the pool ripples around us. My bare chest pressed up against his, his hands tangling themselves in my hair.

When he pulls away, I’m entirely breathless, and my lips feel swollen.

“Come on,” Jack says, pulling me fully into the water. “I want to show you this view.”

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