Roman’s hotel was a boutique Hilton downtown, a block from Pioneer Square. Hailey found a SmartPark nearby and walked the short distance to the hotel entrance.
The lobby had a bar in it, all very luxe—browns and blacks with pops of rich color and accents in rose gold and brass. She went straight to the front desk and asked for Roman’s room number—no, she didn’t expect the tall, beautifully groomed woman whose name tag read Beatrice Sinclair to give it to her.
But she took a flier on that anyway. “Which room is Roman Marek in?”
It didn’t work. “Let me check on that for you,” said Beatrice pleasantly. “Your name?”
Hailey gave the woman her name and Beatrice called the room. After a quick exchange with whoever answered the phone, the clerk glanced up at Hailey. “Mr. Marek is in meetings all day and unavailable.”
“Is that Lois? Let me speak with her.”
Beatrice managed to ignore Hailey’s request without seeming rude about it. “Yes,” she said to the person in Roman’s room. “Hailey Bravo. She’s right here.” Beatrice glanced at Hailey again. “Your phone number, Hailey?”
She rattled it off and Beatrice repeated it into the phone, thanked whomever it was she’d been talking to and hung up. She gave Hailey a kind smile. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“Apparently not. Have a great day, Beatrice.”
“Thanks so much. You, too.”
Hailey went to the bar, ordered a coffee and debated what to do next. There wasn’t a lot to debate. She’d wanted to catch him off guard, but that probably wouldn’t be happening.
Resigned, she got out her phone and texted him. I’m in the lobby of your hotel and I want to speak with you in person. Now, if possible.
An endless thirty seconds later, he replied, Go home, Hailey.
Well, that wasn’t very promising. But she’d come this far. She wasn’t leaving without seeing him. She sent him a middle-finger emoji and settled in to enjoy her coffee.
* * *
Roman, who had excused himself from his meeting and stepped out into the hallway when he saw it was Hailey who’d texted him, muttered a filthy word at her middle-finger reply and returned to his meeting.
It was winding down, that meeting. They would break for lunch and reconvene at two. Still, he tried to keep his mind on track.
Until that damn text, it had all seemed important, nailing down the details, getting everyone’s agreement to move on to the next step—but now, all of a sudden, he just didn’t give a damn about the next step. It could all go to hell and he wouldn’t really care.
Who did he think he was kidding, anyway? He’d been miserable since he dumped her.
And now she was at the hotel.
And okay, it couldn’t work out between them. He’d already decided that, acted on it, ended it.
But he should probably go talk to her, explain that she needed to give it up, forget about him.
It was over and she had to learn to accept that—they both did, because he was having some trouble getting the memo himself.
Not that he would tell her that.
No. He would be firm and gentle—well, as gentle as he was capable of being. He would remind her that it could never work, and she needed to go home.
“Don’t you agree, Roman?” asked Darrin O’Kelsey, a good man from Phoenix who’d put in almost as much capital on this deal as Roman had.
Roman had no idea what he was supposed to be agreeing with. And right this minute, he didn’t care, anyway. “I’m sorry, Darrin. Everyone, I’ve got an emergency I really need to deal with.” A four-alarm fire by the name of Hailey Bravo, to be specific. “I’ll catch up with you in the afternoon.”
They all made understanding noises and agreed they would see him later, that whatever the issue was, they hoped it would work out all right.
“Thanks, yeah. So do I.” And then he was out of there, striding along the hallway between the meeting rooms, racing down the wide stairs that led to the lobby floor.
He spotted her immediately, in a brown coat and jeans and short harness boots, her thick, pale hair tumbling down her back. She sat at the bar, laughing at something the bartender had said.
For a second or two, he was frozen in place, just listening to the sweet, husky sound of her laughter, glaring at the bartender, who didn’t need to lean that damn close.
Right then, it all came blindingly clear to him.
It was no good. Sending her away from him had accomplished exactly nothing, except to make him miserable.
And what about her? Had she been miserable, too? He knew she had. He shouldn’t have done that—hurt them both that way.
Okay, yeah. It scared the hell out of him, how much she meant to him, how empty it all felt without her hand in his.
But breaking it off with her was no kind of solution. He was half-dead without her, just going through the motions. Whatever she wanted, she would damn well have it.
She wouldn’t marry him? Fine. He would learn to live with that, somehow. For as long as she would put up with him, he needed to be there, together, with her.
Whatever she wanted, however she wanted it—that’s how it would be.
If only she would just give him one more chance.
The bartender caught him glaring. Hailey followed the other man’s gaze, turning on the barstool, spotting him standing there. They stared at each other.
God, she was so beautiful. That skin like cream, cheeks strawberry-pink from emotion, or maybe the cold outside. Those eyes that saw into his soul.
No, he didn’t know right then—what she wanted, why she was here...
But he couldn’t bear one more second with all this distance between them. He went for her. She slid off the stool and met him halfway, in the central seating area.
They stopped with no more than two feet of space between them, beside a pumpkin-colored barrel chair.
His arms ached to reach for her.
And yet he didn’t dare. “Hailey.” His voice was a low, desperate rumble.
“You came.” Her eyes were so hopeful—and that was a good sign. Right?
He fisted his hands at his sides. They wouldn’t stop wanting to grab her. “I was planning to tell you...” The words got all turned around in his throat.
“What?” she asked and then seemed to answer the question he hadn’t asked—or had he? “Yes,” she said firmly with a quick nod of her head.
“Hailey,” he said again.
“Yes.” She stared up at him, lavender eyes pleading, yearning...
And he was yearning, too...
And then, all at once, the words were there. “I love you, Hailey. I love you so damn much. I didn’t know. I never guessed...”
And she cried, “Oh, Roman. Yes!”
And then she was in his arms. He lifted her, until he was holding her up off the floor, her body soft and perfect and willing, her mouth under his, opening. Inviting.
Someone shouted, “Get a room! The place has twenty floors of ’em.”
Someone else whistled.
And someone slow clapped.
He didn’t care. Neither did she. They kissed for the longest time, right there in the lobby of his hotel, holding on tight, promising without saying a word that never again were they going to let go.
When the kiss finally broke, he lowered her until her feet touched the floor. Bending a little, he pressed his forehead to hers. “Just one thing...”
“Anything.”
“One more chance. That’s all I’m asking. Give me one more chance. And however you want it, that’s how it will be.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Say it again. Say the words.”
“Hailey Bravo, I love you.”
“Oh, Roman. That sounds so good.”
&nb
sp; “And will you give me a chance?”
“I will. I love you, too. And I was thinking...”
“Yes.”
She chuckled and brushed her soft fingers into the close-clipped hair at his temple. “I was thinking a compromise.”
He could do that—compromise. For her, he could do just about anything. “Yes.”
She blinked up at him. “Did you just say yes to a compromise?”
“As long as you really mean it, that you’re really going to give me another chance?”
“I do. I mean it. Yes, I am.”
“Then I’ll compromise the hell out of whatever works for you.”
And she smiled, a slow smile, one that was achingly sweet. “You’re serious?”
“I am.”
“Roman, I want a little time.”
“You got it.”
“I want us to live together, the way we were doing, you and me and Theo. I want to build a life. I want us to be engaged.”
“Engaged?” This compromise of hers was starting to sound pretty damn good. “Are you saying yes to me?”
She nodded, a slow, careful movement. “Yes, I am, Roman. I want you for my husband. I want to be your wife. And it won’t take forever until that happens, I promise you. But I’m just not going to rush it. I want a little time. I want six months, with us living together, practicing compromise and patience.”
He tried to grin. “You mean the things I’m really bad at?”
“You’ll get better.”
“Because practice makes perfect?”
“Because I love you and you love me and we’re both motivated to create the best life we can, together, for us and for Theo.”
“You’re right. I’m in.”
“Good. And then we’ll get married in the spring.”
For a half a second or so, he couldn’t find words. But he rallied. “Clarify for me.”
“Of course. What do you need to know?”
“You’re telling me yes?”
“Yes, I am.”
“We’re engaged and you’ll wear my ring?”
“Yes, we are, and I will. Happily. Forever.”
He stared into her incomparable upturned face. “God. I missed you.”
“And I missed you. So much. Never pull that kind of crap on me again.”
He’d figured out a few things during the endless, awful days without her. One was that a guy needed to admit his own damn culpability outright. “I really screwed up.”
She laid her soft hand on the side of his face. It was everything—that touch. “You did,” she answered tenderly. “You got scared.”
“Damn straight, I did. I’m an overbearing ass.”
“Yeah, kind of.” Her thumb brushed his lower lip and her eyes stayed locked with his. “On occasion.”
“I don’t deserve a second chance. But you just said yes and I’m holding you to it. Hailey, I swear to you, this time I won’t let you down.”
“I know you won’t. I do believe in you, Roman. I believe in us.”
He caught her hand, opened her fingers and kissed the heart of her palm. By then, he knew. He was certain. This was real. They were going to work it out. “Let’s go upstairs.”
“Yes. Please. I need to see Theo. I’ve missed him so much.”
* * *
“Lee-Lee!” Theo cried when they walked in the door of Roman’s suite. Hailey had never been so glad to see anyone—well, except maybe Roman a few minutes ago, downstairs.
The little boy was already standing, kind of propped up on the arm of a club chair. He took off on his own two feet, staggering toward her with his arms outstretched.
“Theo.” She crouched and opened her own arms wide. “I have missed you so much!” She gathered him in, her gaze locking with Roman’s over the silky crown of his head. “How long’s he been walking?” she asked in wonder.
His voice was rough with excitement—and happiness. “He’s been trying, but this is the first time he’s made it more than a step or two.”
“Amazing.”
“Yep. Looks like all he needed was the right motivation.”
Theo commanded, “Lee-Lee. Up!”
She scooped him into her arms, kissed his fat cheek and rocked him from side to side. He was so solid and warm, and he smelled like fresh bread and baby wipes. With a tiny sigh, he laid his head on her shoulder. She had Theo in her arms and Roman at her side. All was right with the world.
It really didn’t get much better than this.
* * *
Roman gave Lois the afternoon off. She had her own room down the hall and said she’d be heading out to explore the shops at Pioneer Place. Roman ordered room service and they had lunch in the suite, the three of them.
He had a meeting that afternoon he couldn’t get out of. Hailey hung out with Theo in the suite. The little boy was napping in his travel crib when Roman returned, thus giving him and Hailey an opportunity for a more intimate reunion in the bedroom.
She had duties she couldn’t shirk at the theater tomorrow, so she went home by herself that night. As she was leaving, Roman pressed the key to the house into her palm. “I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon,” he said. “I’m hoping that when you come home from the theater tomorrow night, you’ll be coming home to me.”
She kissed him. When she dropped back to her heels, she replied, “I’ll be there.”
And she was.
The following Saturday, they left Theo with Sasha and Patrick and went together to pick out a ring. Hailey chose a single gorgeous round diamond on a platinum band.
Sunday, the three of them went to Daniel’s. Sasha and Patrick came, too. There were congratulations from all the Bravos—both for Sasha and Patrick on their recent marriage and for Roman and Hailey on becoming engaged.
Hailey got a little bit worried when Daniel and her brothers disappeared with Roman into the study at the front of the house. But they all emerged smiling an hour later and no one was injured that Hailey could see.
At home that night, Hailey asked Roman what had happened when he went off with her brothers.
He tipped up her chin with a finger. “You know the rules, Lee-Lee. What happens in your brother’s study stays in your brother’s study.” And then he kissed her, and she forgot everything but the feel of his lips on hers.
* * *
Six and a half months later, on the last Saturday in May, Hailey and Roman were married on the stage of the beautifully refurbished Valentine Bay Theatre. Half the population of Valentine Bay sat out in the auditorium to witness the occasion.
Harper was the maid of honor and Daniel gave the bride away. Hailey’s other sisters—Grace, Aislinn and their switched sister, recently retired movie star Madison Delaney Larson—were also attendants.
By then, the groom had had plenty of time to fully accept that Patrick Holland was a fine man, a man worthy of Sasha’s love. Roman had asked Patrick to be his best man and Patrick had said he would be honored to stand up with him.
Both Hailey and Roman wanted eighteen-month-old Theo for their ring bearer. Theo was walking comfortably on his own by then, but he had a habit of changing direction at the drop of a hat.
Sasha got the job of corralling him. The little boy wandered off course more than once—during both the wedding march and the vows that followed. But his grandma always guided him back to where he belonged.
It was a simple ceremony presided over by Tandy Carson, an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church. When Tandy gave Roman permission to kiss the bride, he peeled back her short veil and whispered, “Finally.”
“Totally worth the wait,” she replied as his lips met hers.
* * *
Watch for Harper Bravo’s story, A Temporary Christmas Arrangement, coming December 2020, only from Harlequin Special Edition.
; And for more great single parent romances, try these other stories:
The Single Mom’s Second Chance
By Kathy Douglass
A Matchmaker’s Challenge
By Teresa Southwick
In Service of Love
By Laurel Greer
Available now wherever Harlequin Special Edition books and ebooks are sold!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Secrets of Forever by Marie Ferrarella.
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Secrets of Forever
by Marie Ferrarella
Prologue
While Miss Joan’s Diner—the only restaurant in the small but thriving town of Forever, Texas—was rarely ever empty, the hours between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. were hands down the busiest time of the day. That was usually the time when ranchers and small business owners chose to take a break from their hectic lives and reconnect with friends and neighbors. For the space of an hour or parts thereof, they forgot about deadlines and schedules, or the problems that ranching might generate, and just paused to take a deep breath.
Even so, most of Miss Joan’s patrons were usually in a hurry, wanting to eat and go before their self-indulgences created some sort of a problem that left them answerable to either bosses or, on occasion, to themselves.
Miss Joan, owner of the diner for as long as anyone could remember, presided over all this organized chaos with an iron, blue-veined hand, making sure her customers never had anything to complain about, be it the service or the food.
As usual, her full complement of waitresses—four—was on hand during this time frame. While they knew better than to rush her customers, Miss Joan always made sure they kept everything moving right along.
Noticing one of her regulars staring off into space while cradling a cup of coffee in his rough hands, the sharp-tongued woman said, “You want to nurse what’s in front of you, Jefferson, go to Murphy’s.”
Home for the Baby's Sake Page 18
