“We don’t….” I started.
“Your colors could be cream and seafoam just like the house,” she went on.
I looked to Roman for help but squinted at him when I saw his eyes were crinkled, and he was enjoying the fact that Sophie’s wedding preparations, were making me uncomfortable.
I may or may not have growled at him.
Ok I did. I growled.
Tall Dark and Handsome shoved his hands in his pockets, rocked back on his heels, threw his head back and roared with laughter.
I don’t know what he thought was so funny.
“I’m glad you find my discomfort so entertaining,” I said dryly. “I’m heading back to the manner to take some measurements of my office,” I needed to move this conversation away from any wedding preparations and back to reality.
Both Sophie and Roman wanted to come as well. The three of us headed outside to pile into the Range Rover when Sophie informed Roman she was going to move in with me.
“Not only do I get to move in, but I got to pick whatever room I wanted, just not the master, and I get to pick out all my own furniture! This is the best thing that has ever happened to me!”
When she announced this, Roman’s head swung to me. Before I knew what was happening, his shoulder was in my stomach and I was lifted fireman style and carried into the vineyard, over his shoulder.
I saw Sophie stop walking and double over with laughter. Several of Cabe’s commandos , who were working close by, clapped and cheered. I wasn’t exactly sure what they were so happy about.
Danggit! My palms started itching.
“Put me down!” I yelled, fake beating on his back .
I still liked him; I just didn’t want him to know how much this he-man behavior turned me on. It might go to his head.
And damn he smelled good.
“What are you doing?” I screeched.
After a few long strides he stopped deep in the vineyard, and Roman slipped me off his shoulder. He placed his large hands on my hips, as my high heeled feet sunk deep into the soft soil. My unsteady balance forced me to grab his biceps to keep from falling over. I looked up just in time to see the determined look on his face as he bent down to kiss me.
And kiss me he did.
That fine man kissed me hard and deep. Kept kissing me hard and deep until I was dizzy, and my body relaxed against his. And that’s when the kiss turned soft and serious.
Gloriously, soft and serious.
Without breaking our kiss his hands traveled up my waist, to my stomach, and he began pulling my shirt from where it was tucked into my pencil skirt.
I kid you not, it was all my self-control not to do a happy dance when I felt his large hands on my bare skin. I sighed and stepped forward pressing my body against his. In doing so, I felt the beautiful hardness of his erection against my stomach.
My body flushed and may or may not have had a mini orgasm.
I definitely moaned.
Then he moaned, and the kiss became aggressive and urgent.
Somehow, my shirt came off and my bra was mysteriously moved down so low my breasts were completely exposed. I only became aware of this because Roman broke the kiss in order to lean back and watch, as he placed both of his large hands over my exposed breasts, pinched each of my nipples between his finger and thumb, and rolled them both at the same time.
This time there was no doubt if I had an orgasm or not.
I shuddered and moaned so loud his beautiful green eyes jerked to mine.
He smiled a sexy smart-ass smile, leaned forward and growled in my ear, “I like it too,” and kissed me again.
I can’t honesty tell you how long this went on. Tall Dark and Handsome was the best kisser I’d ever had the pleasure of locking lips with. Now that attention was being paid to my breasts, I was completely lost to it.
I did know, when I released his biceps and let my hands travel down his rock-hard stomach, to his impressive erection, he broke up our make-out session.
As he pulled away, I tried to follow and bring him back in, but he stopped all my attempts.
“Angel, you touch me now I’ll go off and I am not walking out of these vines, with semen on my pants like some fifteen-year-old kid.” That sobered me up a little, the sex fog started to clear, and I realized where we were and how long we’d been in the vineyard.
I looked around for my shirt and located it sticking out of his back pocket.
I said, “Don’t do that to me again.”
I didn’t get a response from him, so I pulled my shirt over my head and said, “Roman! Did you hear me? We can’t do this again.”
“I’m not agreeing to anything. You liked it as much as I did,” He leaned in and said, “Maybe more.”
Whatever.
I tried to storm off, but the loose soil had me sinking in my heels and made me look ridiculous. It was going to take me an hour to get out of there!
“Angel, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, and your breasts are perfection,” he rasped out from behind me.
He might have been laughing.
“I am so doing that again,” I heard as my feet were swept out from underneath me. He picked me up like a groom carrying his bride over the threshold of their honeymoon suite, and marched me out of the vineyards….with my shirt on inside out.
After the vineyard make-out session was over and we were back at the house. I cleaned up and sorted myself, discovering the situation with the shirt being inside out and knowing I’d walked past everyone like this was so embarrassing!
Oh, Lord Almighty! This man had me in fits!
We finally piled into my Range Rover and headed to the Manor.
Pulling up to the drive, I experienced the same overwhelming sense of home I’d felt on my previous visit. I knew deep in my bones I was making the right choice.
“Wow Angel, this is great,” Roman said from the back seat where he insisted, he sit so “the girls could visit.”
“He calls you Angel,” Sophie whispered to me.
“I know,” I whispered back with a smile.
“I really like him,” she sighed.
“Me too,” I sighed back. I didn’t have the heart to tell her once I moved, we probably wouldn’t see much of him anymore. That thought made my stomach hurt so I shoved it away.
We pulled into the circular driveway and parked behind Terra’s dark red Mercedes. Sophie immediately focused in on the stunning dark-haired woman standing at the porch looking back and forth from the left of the house, to the right, just as I had done earlier that day on my previous visit.
“She’s beautiful,” Sophie was smitten. “She even has bling on her car.” I looked back to the red Mercedes and smiled at the sparkling rhinestone license plate holder.
“Come on let’s introduce you two,” I said getting out of the car .
“Sis! This place is awesome! How did I not know this was here?” Terra said as we approached.
“I don’t know. It’s minutes from Isabella and I’ll be able to pop over to her any time I’m needed. Or hungry.” Everyone laughed. I wasn’t being funny, I was serious. That woman could cook.
“Terra, you know Roman. And this is my new charge Sophie. She’ll be moving in with me, so I’d love if she could help pick out some of the furnishings and have complete control of her room.”
“You’re so beautiful,” Sophie breathed.
It was true, Terra really was stunning. She had dark almond shaped eyes and black hair that gave away her Mediterranean heritage. I looked at Roman to see if he was checking out my beautiful friend too.
I didn’t need to worry or wonder. He wasn’t paying any attention to us and had wandered over to where the driveway shot off to the left side of the house, towards what I already knew to be the garage.
“Let me show you two in,” I opened the huge front doors and a tingle ran up my spine.
This was going to be my home.
I was coming home for real.
Chapter 12
&n
bsp; Shootings and Showers
O nce the gals were situated discussing all of the things they wanted to do to the house and more specifically Sophie’s room, I quickly got the feeling with Terra and Sophie, who had clicked like long lost twins, furnishing and decorating was going to cost me a small fortune.
But I didn’t care too much. It was going to be worth it. When they were all done, Agatha, Sophie and I, would finally have the home neither of us had ever really had.
A home with family. We had become each other’s family.
I left Agatha with the gals and found Roman out past the pool and barns, walking the perimeter of the house.
“Whatcha doin’?” I shouted as I approached.
“Checking out your property and figuring out where security needs to be upgraded.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” I said, waving my hand, “I’ll have Cabe and his band of commandos come over and work their magic.”
“I will work with Cabe and his men on the security,” Roman’s already deep raspy voice sounded aggravated, which made it deeper and raspier.
So, freaking sexy, I got chills.
“Oh, okay. Sounds great!” I said with false cheerfulness. Honestly, I didn’t care if he worked with Cabe on the security. It was probably best if he did work with Cabe on the security. The two males would make sure I received the best system possible.
I didn’t however, like Tall Dark and Handsome turning irritable every time I brought Cabe up. But I did want to kiss him again and do even more fun stuff with him. Also, I wanted Roman to want to kiss me again, so I let it go.
Can’t die on every hill.
“What do you think of the house?” I asked hoping to defuse the situation.
“It’s perfect Angel,” I loved the way his deep raspy voice sounded, at least I did when he spoke words I liked, and when he spoke words I didn’t like. Let’s face it, I just liked his voice.
“Did you see the pool and back yard?” I asked.
“Oh yeah. I’ve got big plans for that backyard.”
“You do?”
“Yep.”
“Care to elaborate?”
“Do you honestly care what I do back there?”
“Not really. But since it’s my house, I’d like to know what your plans are.”
“Would you really like to know what my plans are?” When he dropped his voice it made me shiver. Damn goose bumps.
I tilted my head and squinted at him because I got the feeling, we weren’t talking about the pool anymore. I said nothing.
“Chicken shit,” He growled, with a sexy smile. He turned away from me and walked in the direction he was headed when I found him.
“Why did you call me that?” I yelled.
“You know why,” He stopped, turned back and crooked his finger towards me and commanded in a sexy growl, “walk with me.”
I looked past him and said, “You just want me to walk to the other side of the barn with you so you can kiss me again.”
Roman shrugged his wide shoulders, turned his back to me and resumed his walk past the barns.
I don’t know if it was watching his beautiful backside as he walked away. If it was how his shirt was pulled tight across his broad back. Or the fact that I could still smell his delightful scent.
Whatever it was; it made me want to follow him anywhere he wanted to lead.
And so I did.
And it was wonderful.
Behind that barn, in between perfectly planted kisses, and teasing touches, I agreed to let him do whatever he wanted to my backyard.
Totally worth it.
The short escrow flew by. During those days so much happened it was hard to keep up. Our Isabella was run off the road and shot at, landing her in the hospital. They didn’t find the aggressors who perpetrated the horrible attack, but the fact that it happened at all threw the entire alpha male commando group, or Macho Men, as Isabella liked to call them, into a frenzy. Cabe was completely freaking out. Which made him act like an even bigger jerk. And that’s saying something.
The attack on Isabella led to Cabe and Roman having some kind of meeting of the minds over the protection of the women folk.
Men. Go figure.
I think it also helped Roman relax a little around Cabe, because a week or so after Isabella was released from the hospital, we walked into the library at the estate, and found Isabella sitting in Cabe’s lap kissing him.
Isabella acted guilty.
Cabe was irritated at the interruption.
Roman thought it was hilarious. And in fact, it really was.
I wasn’t missing an opportunity to give Cabe hell and so I did.
Back at the Manor Terra, Sophie and Agatha were thick as thieves by this point, and spent every available moment together shopping for the house. I guess decorating and spending someone else’s money was a terrific bonding experience.
I was happy for them. My bank account? Not so much.
I split my time between using the Bellini Estate library for an office and working at Safe Haven.
The day my office furniture was scheduled to arrive I made arrangements with Susan to bring several of the older girls to the house to help set the furniture. The girls loved playing with Agatha, and she loved being showered with affection. We planned to decorate, barbecue and swim: female bonding at its finest.
Terra, Sophie and a couple other of my wine tribe sisters; Becca and Jenna, were at the house instructing the movers who were delivering the furniture.
Well, to be honest, the gals were instructing the movers. Becca and I were out looking at the barns on the property trying to figure out what we needed to make sure the plethora of feral cats I was planning to give homes to, might need, in addition to what was already there.
Becca and I were at the furthermost barn from the Manor when Susan, who I thought should have already arrived, called.
“Hey girl, where are you?” I answered.
“Sydney, girl.” I turned on my heel as soon as I heard her voice. The way she said my name was strained. I didn’t know what she was going to say, but I knew she was about to deliver some really terrible news and I my first instinct, was getting to my car as quickly as possible.
“Who? What?” I yelled. I could feel Becca right on my heels and was pretty sure if I stopped walking, she’d run right into me.
“Sydney, officer involved shooting just came over the scanner.”
“Okay,” I said, picking up my speed.
“It’s a detective. Not a uniform. Sydney, I’ve been listening to the scanner trying to make out who it is but I can’t. He…” she broke off.
“He what?” I yelled.
“Whoever it was didn’t make it.”
“Roman!” I stopped in my tracks and fell to my knees. Becca stopped next to me and dropped to her knees too. I realized I had tears streaming down my face because I couldn’t see my screen to disconnect with Susan. Becca took my phone and I heard her say. “We’ll call you right back.”
“Call Roman!” I sobbed.
A few seconds later my phone was thrust back into my hands and I pressed it to my ear. Becca pulled me up from my knees while I listened to Roman’s phone ringing and pushed me along to the Manor.
I listened to my beautiful man’s deep raspy voice tell me to leave a message, that he would get back to me as soon as he could. Listening to his voicemail greeting made me burst out with next level ugly crying.
“Jenna!” Becca shouted from beside me.
“What’s happened?” Jenna yelled back from the opened French door on the back side of my office.
“Get me Sydney’s fucking car keys now !” I didn’t look to see what Jenna’s response was, but the next thing I knew Becca was shoving me into the passenger seat of my Range Rover. Becca climbed in behind the wheel and Jenna hoped in the back.
I redialed Romans number and put the phone back to my ear.
“What’s happening?” Jenna asked from the back.
“Put your fucki
ng seat belt on. Call Susan at Safe Haven and get the scoop. All’s I know is there’s been an officer involved shooting, but that’s all I know. I’m either takin’ us to the hospital or to Safe Haven.”
“Head to Safe Haven!” I said hanging up when Roman’s voicemail picked up again and redialed.
“Are you sure girl?” Becca asked, driving in the direction I had indicated.
“The officer who was shot didn’t survive,” I said. I could hear Jenna in the back seat speaking quietly into her phone but couldn’t make out what she was saying.
I redialed Romans number again; still no answer.
“Susan said there were two officers shot. One didn’t make it and was pronounced at the scene; the other was taken to Harmony Grove Memorial. Head there Bec’s,” Jenna instructed.
I couldn’t lose him. I’d been playing hard to get, well sort of; we were making out a lot, but I wasn’t expressing my fondness for him verbally like I should have been.
Truth is I was head-over-heels-in-love with the big guy and had been passively allowing things to move along. I was letting him do all of the work and making it seem like it was going to be hard to win my affection.
Why? Why was I so stupid? I knew bad things happened. I knew people were fleeting, especially the best people. I knew to enjoy the ones I loved because they would be taken from me. I knew this like I knew the sky was blue. So why was I so stupid in not telling him how much I needed him? Why did I pretend I could take or leave him? Why was I playing ridiculous games? What was wrong with me?
Lawyer & Liar Page 10
