by Holly Martin
Rome returned to the table then and squeezed into the booth next to her, much to Dougie’s annoyance at having to move round to make room for him.
‘Why aren’t you sitting next to Eden, there’s plenty of room?’ Dougie protested as he shifted round the corner.
Rome flashed him a glare and he returned to his conversation with Isaac, clearly unperturbed. Dougie had known Rome so long that any scowls, glares and comments just washed straight off his back.
Rome shuffled further into the booth, filling it with his enormous frame, and as Freya moved up to make room for him, for a brief second, so fleeting it could have been accidental, Rome squeezed her hand.
‘Freya was just telling us about the parade,’ Bella said.
‘It was fantastic, we had a great day, the floats were all wonderful and winning is a great coup for the island, Cal and the glass studio.’
‘The floats all looked so good,’ Eden said. ‘I’ve only been to the parade once, many years ago, and the floats were nowhere near as good as the ones I saw from yesterday. The towns have really upped their game this year.’
Freya smiled with love for her friend. Eden was not even mentioning the room or hinting that something had happened between them. Hopefully soon they would stop talking about the parade altogether.
Dougie and Isaac stopped talking and Dougie turned his attention to Rome.
‘So how was the suite? We heard you won a night in the sea-themed suite at the Bay View. Did you enjoy the hot tub?’
‘Oh, no, erm, Freya slept in the suite, I slept in the twin room.’
Freya glanced at Rome and tried to indicate that she had given the exact opposite answer, but she was obviously having trouble conveying that message with just her eyes as Rome was looking at her in confusion. She only hoped that Dougie hadn’t noticed.
‘Hang on, Freya said you had the suite and she had the twin,’ Dougie said.
Freya shook her head. ‘No, I had the suite.’
‘That’s not what you said before.’
‘That’s exactly what she said,’ Bella lied. ‘You need to wash your ears out, cuz.’
‘I still can’t believe you two are actually cousins,’ Eden said, deftly changing the subject.
Bella had recently found out that her biological father was Dougie’s uncle. She and Dougie had grown up together and had always been close; now they had an extra reason to be friends.
Freya leapt onto the change of subject. ‘Is that weird for the two of you?’
Dougie shrugged. ‘I always knew she was my cousin, I just wasn’t allowed to talk about it as Bella was the product of my uncle having an affair. I still love her, always have.’
Eden practically swooned across the table at that wonderfully honest and sweet statement from Dougie.
Bella smiled with love for him. ‘It hasn’t changed things between me and Dougie, I still find him annoying.’
Dougie laughed.
‘But I do think about my half-brothers sometimes,’ Bella went on. ‘The ones I never even knew I had until a few months ago. It’d be nice to meet them at some point. Although I have no idea how to initiate that meeting as doing so would mean telling them that their dad had an affair. I don’t want to sully his name after his death, especially when he’s not around to defend himself.’
Freya understood that need for family, to feel like she belonged. Her own parents had died when she was young and she’d been raised by her gran. When her gran had died when Freya was eighteen, she had ended up moving in with the boyfriend who she was dating at the time and later became engaged to him. She’d worked with him, socialised with his friends, been adopted by his family. When it all came to an end, she had no one. That was until Rome had taken her under his wing. And she knew that she was stupid to let the same thing happen again with him, but she knew she belonged here, this was her home.
‘You can always come over to meet them next time I go over there to see my cousins,’ Dougie offered. ‘You could just be my friend. We don’t need to tell them who you are. Though you do look a lot like your dad, they might figure it out.’
Bella smiled. ‘Maybe that would be enough, to at least meet them.’
Isaac squeezed her hand. ‘I could come with you. I still have friends on St Mary’s, so we have a reason to be there.’
Bella nodded. ‘I’d like that.’
The waitress came over then to take their order and the conversation moved on. Thankfully there was no more mention of Rome and Freya’s relationship or who had the suite. They could just pretend everything was normal between them. Well, she would try to pretend everything was normal between them, though it was a bit tricky to concentrate on being just friends when Rome’s hard thigh was pressed against hers.
Chapter Eighteen
Rome stared down at Freya’s hand in his. Her fingers had been entwined with his all night. The waitress had taken their order and left and the need to touch Freya had been too much, which was ridiculous since he’d spent the day in bed with her. As he had slipped his hand into hers, it had thrown her, she had been mid-conversation and she had stumbled over her words as he stroked his thumb over her hand. But she hadn’t taken her hand away. Thankfully, where Dougie was sitting meant he couldn’t see that they were holding hands and, if Eden and Bella noticed that both he and Freya had spent the whole night eating and drinking with just one hand, they hadn’t said anything.
God, he needed to be with her now.
‘Shall we get dessert?’ Bella asked when the plates had been cleared away.
‘It’s been a long day for Freya and me,’ Rome said. ‘We were up early to get the plane back from Penzance, so I might call it a night actually.’
‘Me too,’ Freya said, a bit too quickly, feigning a yawn.
‘I’ll walk you back home,’ Rome said, standing up.
Freya stood up too and he helped her to put her jacket on, innocently brushing his fingers against her neck as he adjusted the collar.
Dougie had seen the gesture, Rome could tell by the subtle way he arched an eyebrow at him, though for once he didn’t say anything.
Bella and Eden shot up to hug them both goodbye, delaying them leaving by precious seconds. As Freya fumbled in her purse to pay for her food, Rome threw enough money down on the table to cover them both before ushering her out onto the street.
‘You don’t have to always pay for me,’ Freya said.
‘You can pay me back later,’ Rome said, taking her hand again and hurrying along the streets towards his house. He ignored the curious glances of a few of the locals who were interested to see that he was holding Freya’s hand.
‘You know my house is the other way. If you’re walking me home, you’re doing a terrible job.’
‘I want you in my bed.’
‘That’s very caveman of you. Is that what you say to all the women you date? “I want you in my bed” and then throw them over your shoulder and carry them back to your cave?’
‘No, I believe in equal opportunities, I always go to the woman’s cave,’ Rome said, cursing how far away he lived from the main high street. He had chosen the house because of the incredible view of Buttercup Beach, but now it was something he could do without.
‘You never take anyone back to your house?’ Freya said, breaking into a jog to keep up with his long-legged stride.
‘No, never.’
‘But I’ve been to your house a hundred times.’
‘You’re different.’ He ran down the steps onto Buttercup Beach where the streetlights didn’t reach and the only light was the glow of the moon over the sea. It was a hot night and the warm sea breeze enveloped them. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard. God, the taste of her against his lips was heaven. She wrapped her arms round his neck and kissed him back, her body melting against his. He pulled back slightly so he could stare into her eyes. ‘You’re different in every single way.’
‘So I’m the first woman you’ve had in your bed?’ Freya giggled and
then the smile fell off her face. ‘I mean since Paige.’
‘First woman in this bed. I got rid of the last bed as I couldn’t even contemplate sharing it with another woman after Paige had died. Though it didn’t make any difference, I still couldn’t bring any woman home.’
Freya was quiet and he cursed himself. He was just about to make love to his best friend, he didn’t need to bring up his ex.
‘Why now? Why me?’
‘Because you’re important,’ Rome said, stroking her face. ‘Because for the first time in forever, I’m going to make love to someone I really want to be with, rather than just having sex with someone to dull the pain or pass the time. What we have is special, you know that.’
She smiled, sadly. ‘It’s special for me because I love you.’
He needed her to know how important she was to him. He couldn’t tell her he loved her – he was so confused by his feelings for her but he knew it was something rare and incredible.
He pulled her closer. ‘I have never in my life felt what I feel for you.’
She smiled. ‘And what is it that you feel for me?’
Was it love? His feelings for Freya ran so deep and he knew he had never felt like this before, not even with Paige, and that confused the hell out of him. Because if this was what love really felt like, what had he felt for Paige? He thought he had loved her, they’d been planning to get married. To admit that he had never loved her felt like a huge betrayal. But if this wasn’t love he felt for Freya, what was it? And labelling it as love scared him, because last time he had been in love, or at least thought he was, he had lost her. The universe had seen that he was happy and came along and ripped that away from him. It seemed safer, somehow, to keep his feelings locked away because he couldn’t lose Freya too. There would be no getting over that.
His silence caused her to frown slightly. ‘I love you. I’ve been in love with you for years. I’m hoping that one day you can fall in love with me too.’
He kissed her, not sure what he could say. He pulled away slightly. ‘Let me make love to you.’
She hesitated for a moment and that worried him.
‘Make love to me here,’ Freya said and he felt his eyebrows shoot up into his hair.
‘Someone might see,’ Rome said.
‘And we wouldn’t want that, would we,’ Freya said, pointedly.
She pulled away from him completely and let her jacket slide off her shoulders onto the sand. To his surprise and his delight she pulled her dress over her head and let it drop to the ground too. She was wearing nothing but a pair of black lacy knickers and her sandals, which she immediately toed off.
She stepped out into the shallows of the sea, looking over her shoulder at him. He had never seen anything as magnificent as her, watching her body lit only by the glow of the moon. Then she turned and dived into the waves, disappearing into the inky blackness. She surfaced a few metres away, sweeping her hair back from her face and laughing.
‘Come and join me,’ she called.
He looked around, hesitant to get naked in case anyone saw them.
Suddenly Freya threw something soft and black at him. When he caught it, he realised it was her knickers.
Forgetting any of his inhibitions, he quickly stripped off his clothes and waded out to join her.
The water was cool, heated by the sunshine of the day as he swam out towards her. Freya was lying on her back, staring up at the stars. He scooped her up into his arms and she wrapped her hands round his neck, caressing his damp curls as she kissed him on the forehead. She wrapped her legs round his hips and kissed him. She pulled away slightly, leaning her forehead against his; her soft breath against his lips was an incredible feeling.
‘I really do care about you Freya, I—’
‘Stop talking.’ She pressed a finger against his lips. ‘No one wants to hear that someone cares about them. You care about your sisters, or your parents, or an elderly neighbour. You shouldn’t care about the woman you’re about to make love to. Next you’ll be telling me you see me like a sister again. There’s nothing guaranteed to put a dampener on a romantic moment than being told you see me like your sister, so if you’re even thinking of uttering those words, don’t, not if you want to get laid tonight.’
‘OK,’ he said, quietly. God, he was so rubbish with women. He never knew what to say to them. ‘I definitely don’t think of you as my sister.’ He ran his hands up her sides, stroking her breasts and running his thumbs over her nipples to illustrate his point. She gasped softly against his mouth.
‘Look, I know this is just sex for you, and I’m not complaining, it’s been incredible. And I’m guessing it’s pretty good for you too judging by how you can’t keep your hands off me. But don’t give me platitudes and pretend that it means something more to you. If you want to say nice things to me, tell me you find me attractive, tell me you think I’m beautiful, don’t give me false hopes that this is anything other than sex.’
He swallowed down the ache in his chest. The very last thing he wanted was to hurt her and this was why he’d never wanted to get involved with her – hurting her would mean losing her. But he was already involved now and walking away would hurt her anyway. Not that he could do that. She was right, he couldn’t keep his hands off her.
He kissed her and he was gratified when she kissed him back, pulling herself tighter against him as the cool inky water lapped around them. He slipped his hand between them, stroking her, and she moaned against his lips.
‘Freya, I find you very attractive.’ He moved against her so she could feel just how attractive he found her. He kissed her again, lifting her slightly and then sliding inside her. He let out a noise that was guttural at the feel of her surrounding him. She arched against him, taking him in deeper, and as she tipped her head back, he moved his mouth to her breasts. ‘I think you’re the most beautiful woman in the world,’ he whispered against her skin. ‘But I have never lied to you. I have never pretended to be anything other than who I am with you.’
She brought her head back down to look at him.
‘When I tell you that this is something special and incredible between us, when I tell you that I have never felt like this with anyone before, then you should know that it’s absolutely the truth.’
She moved slowly against him and he held her tighter.
‘This is a hell of a lot more than just sex. I told you before that I didn’t just want sex any more, I wanted something more and I would never risk our friendship just for a quick shag. You’re way too important to me for that.’
Her eyes were soft now and she kissed him briefly. He felt her tighten around him, her breath starting to quicken, and he shifted her slightly to slow her down.
‘I know how hard it must have been to tell me you love me and how much it must hurt that I never said it back to you. I just need some time to figure all this out in my head. You asked me not to lie to you and I won’t, so you know that, when I say it for the first time, it will be the truth. And while I can’t say it yet, you should know that I do cherish you, I adore you, I need you, I’m crazy about you, I idolise you and I fancy the arse off you.’
Freya giggled. ‘OK.’
He ducked his head to look properly into her eyes. ‘OK?’
She nodded, a big smile on her face. ‘Now stop talking and make love to me.’
He grinned and guided her back towards the shore, laying her down where the waves were lapping gently onto the sand. She stared up at him as he moved against her and a feeling of utter contentment washed over him. He wanted this feeling to last forever and as she found her release and clung to him, moaning out his name, it was the need to be with her always that gave him that wonderful release.
Chapter Nineteen
Freya pulled her dress back on as Rome quickly got dressed. Although no one could see them from the street as they were hidden in the darkness, she didn’t want any late-night dog walkers or fishermen to suddenly come across them. She had never had s
ex outdoors before and wasn’t entirely sure what had possessed her to instigate it but to hear Rome say all those wonderful things made the whole risk factor worth it. Making love to Rome was always going to be wonderful and exciting, she still couldn’t quite believe that it was happening after all this time, but maybe she would stick to indoor sex from now on.
Rome picked up her jacket and draped it round her shoulders, kissing her sweetly on the forehead. God, this man. If it ended, if he decided that he didn’t or couldn’t love her after all, would she ever get over him?
Suddenly there was a noise which sounded like someone falling over behind the rocks close by, followed by a soft curse.
Her heart leapt as she and Rome froze. ‘Oh god, someone’s there,’ Freya whispered. ‘They must have seen us.’
‘I’ll handle this, bloody perverts,’ Rome said, leaving her side and climbing over the rocks towards the noise.
Freya hugged herself, feeling shaken at the huge invasion of her privacy.
‘Dad!’ Rome said from behind the rocks. ‘What the bloody hell are you doing here?’
Rome’s dad? Freya felt her cheeks burn. It had just got a hundred times worse.
‘I was fishing, son, you catch some absolute beauties at night. You don’t need to worry, I didn’t see anything, I had my eyes closed the whole time.’
Freya watched as Rome helped Finn over the rocks and onto the sand.
‘Hello Freya dear, it’s lovely to see you again. I’ve been telling everyone about your heroic deeds the other day with Sammy the seal. Everyone is very grateful. You might even get some kind of medal,’ Finn said, clearly as embarrassed about the whole thing as she was.
‘You… you were there the whole time?’ Freya said. ‘You saw me naked?’
‘Oh no dear. I never saw that. I didn’t even realise you two were there, until I saw you swimming. I thought it might have been Sammy at first, my eyesight isn’t what it used to be, and when I realised… um, what was happening, I closed my eyes straight away and put my fingers in my ears for good measure. You don’t need to worry.’
