Taking a step forward, I wrap my arms around him, using the split second he is dumbfounded to plant a kiss on his lips.Grabbing his face, I kiss his cheeks, his nose, his forehead, and then go back to his lips.
“You look wonderful, Charles. How is the wife?”
Charles splutters, his face going red as his brows pull together in a frown and droplets of his ever-dripping sweat starting to bead along his non-existent hairline.
“Faith, darling,” Roman chuckles, standing and pulling me back into his body more aggressively than he should.
His hands grip my hips as he moves my hair to the other side of my neck. Lowering his voice, his breath sends tingles down my spine as he stage-whispers,
“I think you’ve broken Mr Langford.” If I’m not mistaken, he almost sounds annoyed, which I don’t have enough time to dissect.
“Oh.” I drop my eyes to the floor. “S… s… sorry, Charles. It has been so long. Please forgive me, you know I have always been a bit of a live wire.” I force a pretend, awkward chuckle as I look back up.
“Quite alright.” Charles finally gets his bearings, licking the cherry lip gloss from his mouth as a small smile spreads across my face. “It is good to see you have not changed.”
Liar.
I have never even met this man before today and I am certainly anything but a live wire.
“Excuse me for a moment, will you, Mr Langford? I am just going to get my wife and I a drink. Would you like one?” A polite, forced tone drips from Roman’s mouth.
I wonder if it is as obvious to them as it is to me that he is despising this interaction. Roman would make the worst spy. No wonder he took up weaponry.
“No, that’s quite alright, Mr…” Charles trails off, because of course he has no idea who we are.
“Reece. Reece Fernsby, sir.” One of Roman’s hands lifts from my hip as he extends it to shake Charles’. “I love the work you’ve been doing in the tech space. It’s revolutionary.”
“Thank you, young man.”
Roman nods at that, drops his hand and starts pushing me towards the bar. Breaking free from his electrifying touch, I divert and make my way to the toilet. My heart is already beating faster than it should be and a headache starts to build. Maybe I put this on too soon…
Shoving my way through people, not even caring if I knock someone down, I make it to the bathroom and run straight to the sink. Nausea swirls in my gut as I start scrubbing the lip gloss off with soap, water, and tissue.
I desperately try to get the antidote out of my bag, but my hands are shaking so uncontrollably that I can’t open the clasp. A loud bang hits the door and my head whips up, the remaining air in my lungs get knocked out of me as I see Roman enter like a dark, vengeful god.
“Help,” I wheeze.
His mind seems to catch up before his body does. I see the fear flash across his face as he assesses me with a clinical eye. Striding over in three steps, he rips the bag from my hand and manages to open it. Unscrewing the vial, he grabs the back of my neck and pours the liquid down my throat, covering my mouth with his hand so I don’t miss a drop.
My vision blurs as my heart continues to pound.
Roman steps back, grabbing more soapy water.
“In your lip gloss?” he asks and I nod quickly.
“You are an infuriating woman, Tinkerbell.”
His fear mirrors mine as he continues wiping my lips, making sure every trace of poison is gone. He exhales, flushing the tissue before coming back to me, his hand closing around the back of my neck as his thumb tilts my face up.
“Now, what the FUCK was that?” he barks, his eyes blazing with fury.
CHAPTER 6
ROMAN
Rage hits me like a rupture in my chest at the thought of my little one's lips on him. It’s hot and sudden and so uncontrollable I have no idea what to do with it. It’s always like this with her. It drives me insane.
Why? Why does she evoke so much emotion out of me when others can barely get a blip? I feel my chest tighten as my pulse roars in my ears until everything but her nearly dying and her lips on his is all I can see. I want to destroy it all. Her breath hitches as I step further into her space and the air between us snaps tight.
