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“Double bullshit.” I tug my hands free. “You don’t love me. You think of me as your rival.”
Undeterred, he grasps my knees. “Every single guy you’ve dated has looked just like me. That can’t be a coincidence.”
“I don’t…” My brain flashes all my blue-eyed, auburn-haired boyfriends in front of my eyes. “I just have a type.” Then I glare at the man in front of me. “And you stole all of them away.”
His thumbs rub circles on my thighs. “Did it make you sad?”
“It pissed me off!”
His fingers slip under my knees. “But did it make you sad?”
I lick my lips, not wanting to admit it didn’t. What kind of horrible person does that make me that I wasn’t sad when my boyfriends ditched me for someone else? I was just angry that Roman won yet again.
“It didn’t, did it?” He tugs on my legs, pulling me lower in the seat before he pushes them open to make room for himself. “It didn’t make you sad because none of them was the man you really wanted to be with.”
Shaking my head, my eyes drop to his lips. “You were always competing against me.”
“I was doing my best to prove I was good enough to be with you.” His hands stroke up my thighs to my hips. “I didn’t realize it was driving you away until it was too late.”
My heart races, but I ignore it. “So, you thought you’d buy me instead?”
“I’ve been courting you for five years, Warren.” He gives a self-deprecating smile. “I’ll admit, I’ve been doing it badly, but I’ve been trying. Was it so foolish of me to think that a marriage contract was a sign?”
“But I’m an Alpha,” I protest.
“No, you’re not. You’re an Omega. My Omega.” He rises on his knees, his bergamot and citrus scent surrounding me. “But even if you were an Alpha, I wouldn’t care.” Gaze holding mine, he leans forward until his lips brush mine. “Alpha, Omega, Beta, I don’t care. I just want you. I always have.” I shiver as each word teases an almost-kiss. “Tell me I’m alone in this. Tell me there’s no chance for me, and I’ll walk away. I’ll never bother you again. You can keep running the tea shop; I’ll stay as a silent partner, and you can buy it back whenever you want, no strings attached.”
My gut clenches with panic. I don’t want him to stop coming to the tea shop. I don’t want to stop seeing him every day.
He brushes his lips across mine again. “You’re not pushing me away. Does that mean I can take that as a sign?”
I try to speak, but the words won’t come.
Slowly, Roman pulls back. “Or should I go?”
Groaning in protest, I close the distance between us, my mouth covering his.
11
My mouth opens at the first brush of Roman’s tongue, and he sweeps in, laying claim to me all over again.
How could I have walked away from this a week ago? How could I not recognize his feelings in the tender way he cups my cheek, in the way he tugs me closer?
Gasping, I pull back. “Ask me.”
“What?” His hands slip under my shirt.
“I’m not confused by the Heat now.” Lifting my arms, I let him pull my shirt over my head. “Ask me what you did before.”
His fingers slip beneath the nape guard to brush against my Mark. “Let me take care of you. Let me love you. Let me Mark you and marry you, and be with you always.”
“Yes.” I pepper kisses across his face. “Long engagement, lots of dates to get to know each other, and if we survive that, then yes.”
“Anything you need.” He pulls my lips back to his. “Just remember, I’m really bad at this whole love thing.”
“We’ll get better together.” I thread my fingers through his hair to pull him closer. “Tomorrow. We’ll get better tomorrow. My bedroom’s down the hall.”
Roman doesn’t waste any time lifting me from the chair and into his arms, striding to my bedroom.
