Page 58 of Prelude To You

He laughed. “You have such a way with words.” After a few pensive moments, he put my hand to his mouth and grazed the back with his lips. “This… This right here, right now, makes me happy.”

Not what I’d expected him to say, but I sponged up the words, the ardor in his voice sending a flutter of tremors through me. Whether he knew the effect that had on me wasn’t clear, but it was obvious that he wasn’t extremely comfortable expressing that thought.

He raked a hand through his hair and took a deep breath.Was it really such a major revelation for him?He found his composure in a heartbeat and granted me the most charming smile. “Where were we last? Oh yes, on our way to address your desperate state of dehydration.”

I stifled a smile and followed his lead.

“What are you smiling about?” he asked.

“Just wondering when exactly you’re going to lay down those rules you mentioned.” I didn’t have to look at him to know he was grinning.

“Somehow I think the idea exhilarates you… Me laying down the rules.”

“Perhaps I’m more interested in what you’ll do if I should break the rules.”

“Says littleMissI-can’t-believe-I-just-did-this.”

“Oh shut up, Roman.”

He laughed. “Rule number one: You can never tell me to shut up.”

“Or else you’ll drag me off to another secret hallway and force another orgasm on me, is that it?”

As we entered the wine bar, Roman stopped in his tracks and pulled me into him, his hand cradling the nape of my neck and his lips brushing my ear as he whispered. “No, or else I’ll drag you to the penthouse suite and fuck you until you beg me to stop, Isabel.”

I drew in a sharp breath. My lower belly responded with a whirling sensation of desire that settled assertively between my thighs. I was suddenly very aware of a few heads in the wine bar turning our way.

Roman didn’t seem to notice or care who was watching. He placed a finger under my chin and tilted my face to his, his voice fire and smoke. “Then again, you can abide by the rules and you’ll be safe. It’s entirely up to you.”

Safe?Like I was even remotely considering the option to be safe. I promptly ignored the warning voice going ballistic inside me. “Let’s get a drink, Mister. Then let’s discuss those rules.”

Roman’s mouth was pursed, and the glint in his eyes became a smolder. “Yes, let’s.”

When he turned back toward the wine bar, his manner changed. Suddenly he was Roman again, this tall compelling figure in complete control, his distinguished elegance commanding attention from everyone in the room. He merely nodded at someone, and we were escorted to a private wine-tasting room.

It was simple and luxurious, with dark red walls and a narrow wooden table that could seat six. And that was it. The only purpose it served was for wealthy people to taste expensive wines and pretend they knew the difference between one Bordeaux vineyard and the next.

Roman pulled out a chair, graciously waited for me to sit down, and took a seat facing me. Then he continued to look at me as if I were the Eighth Wonder of the World. I had to hand it to him, for a man who was emotionally unavailable when it cameto romance, he didn’t shy away from making me the center of his attentions.

I could only imagine that his bedside manner was equally attentive, and the mere thought made me cross my legs to alleviate the pesky ache between my thighs. It all left me wondering where this night was taking me, and if the hallway was just the enticing beginning of things to come.

17

ROMAN

One thing had become clear; coming here tonight was a big mistake. At first my new intention made sense: to find something that would prove Isabel boring and, God willing, shallow. An empty shell with an exquisite façade.

She was smart, I had to remind myself.And even worse, she was witty. Why did she have to be witty too?

Most importantly I needed to discover the imperfection that would revoke this relentless greed I had for her, and apparently only her. The hallway did nothing to quell that greediness. In fact, it only intensified it.

Since meeting her at the end of the lawn, I’d had plenty of time to find the one thing about her that would discourage my continued enthrallment with her.

Taking drugs was a weakness I considered a less-than-attractive trait in any person, let alone the woman occupying my thoughts for the last twenty-four hours. I wanted it to be the flaw that forced me to successfully eliminate her from my mind, to cut her from a life that had been so painstakingly forged to ward off any temptation that might conflict with what was expected of me.

The details behind her taking the drugs were amusing. I was desperate to believe the worst, but the whole scenario endeared her to me more, if such a thing were possible.

So far I found everything she did, said and breathed to be endearing. It was beginning to wear me down. I was no doubt viewing her through rose-tinted glasses, because no one could be this magical and charming.

---