He had a point. She raised her gaze to him and softened her rigid posture. Not exactly the time or place she’d choose to deliberate on her residence and finances, but…
Yeah, life’s gonna be different now, Zee.
“True.” The ring slipped off then, and she tucked it into her purse.
Craning around the bulk of Roman standing in front of her, she raised one brow and said, “Good riddance.”
Chapter Three
Two little words. That was all she threw back at the asshole before she strode off. Her black coat flapped at the backs of her thighs, whipped from the wind as she left. Hot pink flashed bright and teasing as her dress was exposed. Brown waves tossed from the gusts. Like a furious warrior leaving for something better.
Good riddance?
Damn right.
He looked back once more at Aiden and his redhead. A snort escaped before he could chase after Zoe.
“Don’t bother coming back!” his former friend yelled.
Aiden thought he had to get the last word in? Whatever.
As if I want to. He had no desire to associate himself with the buddy who’d morphed into a jerk of the worst kind.
“Zoe, wait up!” he called after her as he jogged past the few pedestrians who braved the elements that night. She’d already gotten to the end of the block and didn’t show signs of stopping.
“What about the car?” Aiden yelled in the distance.
Drive it, you lazy asshole. Or leave it.
“Zoe,” he implored once he met her side. “Zee.”
Seemed his nickname for her did the trick because she stopped suddenly, breathing fast. Her eyes were glassy with tears as she slowly raised her face to him.
“Goddammit. No, Zee. Don’t cry. Not over him.”
She sniffled and grinned. “Don’t flatter him. He’s not worth my tears.” Regardless, she wiped at her eyes. “Freaking freezing out here.”
Maybe she was bluffing, hiding her vulnerability, but he doubted it. Cold wisps of wind had him getting watery, too.
“Not the best night to be outside, huh?”
She laughed once. “No.”
He ducked lower to stoop to her eye level. “Zoe, I had no idea that he was bringing someone. Stefan asked me to cover, and I assumed…”
“Engaged couples went to Valentine’s dinners together?” She sighed as she shook her head. “It’s not your fault.”
Didn’t diminish the awful weight in his stomach though. “I’m sorry.”
One brow quirked as she repeated, “Not your fault.”
“I’m sorry for you.”
She rolled her eyes and groaned as she began walking away, but this time she crooked her arm, waving him to follow. “Do not pity me for being rid of him.” On a gasp, she stopped again. “Shit, Roman. You punched him.”
Like he could have just stood there while he insulted her like that?
“Your job…”
He tucked her arm around his and resumed their walk. “Wasn’t worth sticking around for.” Not just because he wouldn’t be driving her. Aiden had gone too far. He wasn’t a client, even a human, he wanted to spend his waking minutes with. “Where to?”
Her attempt of a chuckle brought a smile to his lips. “Still taking care of my transportation?”
He slowed his feet, and his pace pulled her back, ceasing their movement along the cracked cement. It was awfully presumptuous of him to think she’d want to go somewhere with him. Maybe she wanted to be alone, far away from anyone. Yet she didn’t seem heartbroken. Jilted and angry, yes. A dash of bitter, too. But sad? He met her gaze.
“What?”
“Where are you going?” he asked. Her answer should give him a clue as to whether he should take off.
Her heavy sigh sank his mood even more. Once she started to shiver under the rush of more icy air, he stepped closer in an attempt to shield her.
“I guess…” Her cocoa-colored tresses blocked her face until she yanked the mass away. “I guess I’ll just get a hotel or something. Let this absorb in my head for the night. Kind of a lot to take in.” She stepped back and wouldn’t meet his eyes. “You don’t have to… Well, you don’t have to worry about me. I’ll figure it out.”
Have to worry about her? He couldn’t help it. Abandoning friends, true friends, wasn’t something he did. There was no doubt she would get right back up on her feet, but in the immediate future…
“How about this?” It was risky, but not entirely stupid. “Let’s go get warm somewhere. Maybe grab something to eat. And figure it out together. Two heads are better than one?”
Her slow smirk erased his low mood. “Like … dinner? A date?”
A date? He hadn’t intended to stick with her for the sake of intimacy. But he technically had just asked her out.
On Valentine’s.
Minutes after she’d just found out her fiancé was cheating on her.
He rubbed his hand over his face, stifling a full groan.
Could I be any more of an ass?
He only wanted to get them out of this nasty weather and to help her somehow. Not pounce on her.
Her small hand punched his stomach lightly. “Roman…”
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
She cocked her head to the side and had to wrench a handful of wind-blown hair aside again before saying, “I know.” Then she tucked herself into the nook under his arm and wrapped hers around his back, urging him to walk. “I’d never turn down your company. And it’s not a farfetched idea. Look at us. We’re already dressed up to the nines. Who wouldn’t think we’re heading out on a date?”
His arm tightened her closer to him, thankful she could bounce back to teasing. Maybe Aiden’s “love” wasn’t really something dear for her to lose if she could move on lighthearted like this…
She scoffed, “Okay, people might assume you are decked out for a date, and I’m just a strangler you picked up.”
He glowered at her as they walked. “Don’t tell me you actually let Aiden trick you to thinking you’re not something special.” Precious, too.
Silence was her reply.
That asshole. “Just for the record, I’ll inform you of a universal fact. You. Are. Gorgeous.”
Breathtaking.
Stunning.
A sexy goddess.
Too damn tempting.
“Come on, Roman. Don’t waste your flattery on me. Have you checked this out recently?” she said, brandishing a wave at herself.
Every day. So many times. The exotic beauty of her in that short pink dress was burned in his retinas.
“I mean…” She gripped some hair that flew back across her forehead. “This is like a retro Aqua Net tease. Without the product.”
He laughed. “Well, you know how much I love the eighties.”
She groaned, and his grin threatened to become a permanent fixture. She’d always been a nineties fan. Music. Movies. Even the horrible fashion. Their love of decades never failed to be a fun debate.
“So where are we heading?” she asked, her light joking tone gone.
“Tell me if I’m imposing too much,” he said and hated how nervous he could be to speak his mind around her, “but I could save you a hotel room tonight. You could crash at my place. I’ll take the couch. It’d be a safe place for you to let this…”
“Absorb in my head.” She nodded. “I appreciate that. Really, I do. Are you sure?”
He squeezed her arm in response. “The least I can do.”
“You mentioned food, too?”
“There’s a little diner street level at my building. Nothing fancy, but decent comfort food.” More like the opposite of fancy, but convenient. And affordable.
“How far?”
“We can hop on the subway in a couple blocks.”
Huddled together, they stayed silent on the remainder of the walk to the station. Whether it was from the force of the wintery beast in the air stealing their ability to speak or he’d freaked her out by i
nviting her to dinner and to stay at his place, Roman took the quiet to rehash what had happened to bring him to the underground subway space. With her.
They were able to get on very quickly, but the car was crowded. No seats remained, so they stood together with only a pole between them. Stale cigarettes stank up the space, along with a weird touch of BO, and Roman couldn’t wait to get off. Fresh air. No weirdo “accidentally” bumping into him as he did some lame gangsta dance.
“Damn, did I miss this,” Zoe said on a deep exhale.
“I know. Right.” He laughed a couple times and winced as someone farted very loudly. Teens cracked up in laughter, and he glanced at Zoe.
Her eyes were bright and alive, a smile peeking on her lips. Shy happiness as she surveyed the car like it was a scenic marvel.
Wait, is she serious?
“Been a while since you’ve ridden one?” he asked.
“Hey, baby, I’ll let you ride mine,” a drunk college kid slurred as he leaned into Zoe.
She rolled her eyes, but Roman didn’t hesitate to glower at the punk and pull her closer to him. Not even an inch separated them in the crowd now, the pole at her hip instead of separating them.
“Yeah. It’s been a long time. Pretty much since I met Aiden,” she said and looked overhead, seeming to appreciate the ads and graffiti. “I miss the independence. Just going where I want, when I want. Seeing the city. Kind of sucks someone controlling where you go and how.”
It made sense. She’d only just moved to New York for her library job when Aiden had met her. Once the bastard declared her his girlfriend, she’d been forced into his lifestyle, including the chauffeur service.
She pressed her hand to his chest. “Hey. That’s not a dig at you.”
“I know.”
“That’s the one good thing about dating Aiden. It brought me to you.”
His heart raced, and he wondered if she’d feel it through his suit. Her words were a sweet thought he reciprocated.
“You’re a … good friend, Roman.”
He hoped not her only friend, although he recalled overhearing Aiden’s critiques of anyone she befriended who happened to fall below his social circle.
“Thank you,” she said. Her hand turned to a fist, clutching his suit, and she pulled him lower to place a quick, light kiss to his cheek.
Every ounce of his energy went to keeping his hands from her, the urge to hold her tighter almost overpowering. To hug her close, bury his face in her neck, and…
She’s. A. Cli—
No, she wasn’t a client anymore. But she had just ended her relationship. What she would be to him now, he didn’t know, but he’d hope.
“Hey, you’re not a bad friend yourself,” he replied. The subway jostled on the track, forcing them closer as people shifted in the car. Both of her hands pressed against his chest, and he reached around her to grip the pole, caging her in with his arm. The easy and relaxed smile she gave him calmed and excited him. While they were familiar with each other, these new circumstances made being with her a new adventure, too. Her fitting so snugly between his legs burned an insane desire he’d forced into submission.
“By the way, he’s wrong.”
So close to him, her forehead barely came to his chin as she met his eyes. Wayward waves tickled him, and he brushed her windswept hair behind her ear.
“Oh?”
“You’re not boring. Or lame.”
She shrugged a shoulder. “Even if I was, I wouldn’t have changed for him. I am who I am.”
Could he admire her any more? She was sexy, smart, and had a perfect dose of pride.
“He actually did me a service. I’m still pissed. And … I don’t know … something aggressive that might make me jaded for the future. But if he wasn’t in love with who I really am, now I know. Now it’s over.”
“He should have informed you of his unhappiness, not just slept with some ditz.”
Her hair brushed him again as she nodded. “True. I’m just … happy, finally. Okay, more like relieved. For months I’ve been debating how our relationship didn’t feel right. After tonight, consider me enlightened. If I bored him as his fiancée, I would have made him miserable as his wife. Vice versa, too.”
Months? It seemed a crime to waste so much time. If he knew anything about her, it was that she was loyal. Probably why it was so easy for Aiden to lie his way away with a lover. Zoe had probably given him the benefit of doubt, optimistic the future would turn out bright.
“I’m glad to be free of him, but … now I’ll have to lose you.”
Made sense. She’d only met him through his job of driving her around. Without her association to Aiden, she’d be back on public transit and no longer need him.
“Not so fast. We’ve got our date tonight.” He gave in to the need to embrace her closer. “And friends don’t just abandon each other.”
She knocked her forehead to his chest, and he felt her back rise in a deep inhale. “True, that.”
It almost seemed a chore, an ugly obligation to get off the subway because holding each other that tight in a too-long-awaited hug felt too good to give up. Once the doors swished open, she leaned away and smirked a smile at him. “After you?”
He took her hand and led her up the subway station exit. Brutal cold blasted them at street level, but the trek to his building was short. Once they entered the diner established at the base of his apartment building, he shivered and rubbed his hands on his arms. Sure, he had his typical suit on, uniform for the job. His thicker and more appropriate outer coat was still at the company’s garage.
If I’m frozen, she’s got to be even worse. Zoe strode in front of him, following the portly graying waitress to a booth in the back. His date’s bare legs had to be covered in goosebumps, but as he caught a glimpse of her creamy skin, he felt a few degrees spike in himself.
“Coffee?” their server asked as they still slid onto the vinyl seats.
“As hot as you’ve got it, please,” Zoe answered.
Roman nodded in agreement and handed Zoe a laminated menu. He’d never found out where Aiden was planning to go for dinner, but he was sure the beauty across from him wouldn’t have had choices like country fried steak and mac’n’cheese bites.
Instead of perusing the menu, he studied her. He didn’t know why it surprised him that she fit. In the diner. Sitting in a cracked booth with her elbows propped on a chipped Formica tabletop. She tilted her head side to side, as though she was struggling with a mighty debate over what food items appealed the most. Crazy, arctic-blasted hair shifted over her shoulder as she moved, and he didn’t bother to fight a smile.
Of course, she would acclimate to a dinky little eatery with him like this. Even though she was familiar with five-star dining and luxurious settings, she was simpler. Easy to please. Eager to live life and not own its trappings. He’d dare to say she likely felt more comfortable here than any place Aiden would have taken her. That dress might be the sore thumb, making her stand out a bit. So boldly bright—not quite fluorescent of a color—but naughtily vivid.
Enough with the staring. In the car, he could get away sneaking peaks at her in the mirror. Sitting across from her now, he had to concentrate … elsewhere before she caught on to him.
His meal was the same every time he stopped in here to eat, but he killed time reading through the alternatives on the menu. Anything to distract himself from her. A feasible task until her soft fingertips traced over his knuckles.
With such a whisper of a touch, he startled and dropped the menu. Her eyes were focused on his hand still wrapped around where the sheet had just fallen.
“You hit him.”
“Sorry?”
She dragged her finger down his knuckles, bump by bump, and then back toward herself over the table. “I’m not. Okay. Maybe a little. He has zero resistance to pain.”
Serves him right then.
“But your job… What will you do now?”
They’d both had quite th
e life-changing night. Only in Zoe’s case, she wasn’t going to suffer monetarily. She wouldn’t have Aiden’s riches to support her, but Roman suspected she’d be even happier with that prospect than not. Her salary couldn’t be much, but she’d survive.
And so will I.
“Go back to training at that gym?”
He smirked and held up a finger for her to wait. Their server had returned, and they both placed their orders. “I’d never go back there.”
“Then what?” She twined her fingers together. “As much as I, uh, appreciate you rushing to my defense, I hate to think of you without income.”
“I won’t be.”
Her blue eyes sharpened, and she jutted her chin out. “How so?”
She wasn’t prying, but he still hesitated to explain. “I told you I was writing…”
A gasp preceded her hands slapping to the table. Leaning forward, she blinded him with her brilliant slow smile. “Yeah?”
“I’ve…” Damn, is this awkward. “I’ve sold some.”
How she could leverage herself even closer without falling out of her seat, he couldn’t tell. But she was literally begging to know more, and he shook his head.
“Some?” She patted the table. “What does that mean?”
“I’ve been making decent money on my books.” Enough to cover his minimum expenses, at least.
“Books?” Appearing deflated, maybe hurt, she retreated to her seat. “Not just one?” She frowned at the salt and pepper shakers, at anywhere but him, it seemed. “You never—how come you never told me?”
Hell, if you weren’t asking me about it now, I still wouldn’t tell you. In the light of what happened within the last hour, maybe it wouldn’t be … that bad to discuss it.
The wounded tone to her voice tightened his jaw as he cringed. “I don’t talk about it with anyone, really. I don’t want to jinx it, or assume anything.” At her raised brows of curiosity, he continued, “I’ve made steadily growing sales for a few months now, but this it’s an insanely unpredictable market. I could sink tomorrow.”
“Or double up!”
“Well…” He took a sip of coffee to stall. “Maybe. I am very new at this. I have so much to learn, and I don’t want to get ahead of myself counting on this as a success when my next royalties payment could nosedive.”
Valentine's Date Page 3
