Page 150 of Romeo

Weeks ago, I might’ve looked at that message and heard my own possession in it. Proof that she was finally becoming mine.

Tonight, it sounded better than that.

It sounded like Fiona making a choice of her own.

And I was smart enough now not to get in her way.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Fiona

The coffee shop was nearly empty at two in the afternoon. An elderly couple occupied the corner table, speaking quietly over matching cups of coffee, while Beth Brewer wiped down the espresso machine behind the counter. I sat at my usual table by the window with my phone in my hand, staring at the picture Jasper had just sent.

A baby girl slept against his chest, her tiny fist curled into his shirt. Jasper looked down at her with one hand cradling the back of her head, and there was something so gentle in his expression that I barely recognized him.

Not because I thought he was incapable of being gentle. I’d felt it in the way he fastened my corsage before prom and heard it when he asked what I needed instead of deciding for me. But this was different. There was no teasing smile or charm waiting beneath it. He looked completely content to sit there as long as that baby wanted him.

I enlarged the picture with my fingers and studied it again.

Maybe the strange part wasn’t seeing Jasper like this.

Maybe it was how natural he looked.

Me: She looks very possessive

Jasper: She screamed when someone tried to take her.

I smiled, imagining the scene.

Me: Maybe she knows you’re comfortable.

Jasper: Or she enjoys controlling men.

Me: Smart girl

Jasper: You two would get along.

My smile lingered as I looked at those words. A few months ago, I probably would’ve taken them apart looking for some hidden meaning. Now my mind went somewhere far simpler, and somehow far more dangerous.

I pictured myself in the same room.

Jasper holding the baby. Me beside him. Maybe reaching over to straighten the blanket around her. Maybe laughing when she refused to let go of his shirt.

It was such an ordinary image that I immediately tried to shove it out of my head.

Me: Are you saying I’m controlling?

Jasper: I’m saying you both expect my full attention.

My breath caught, and I read the answer again before responding.

Me: I don’t expect your full attention.

Jasper: No?

The annoying man knew exactly what he was doing.

I’d gotten used to having his attention without ever asking for it. If something happened during my day, Jasper was one of the first people I thought about telling. If I texted him, he answered when he could. Even when the club pulled him away, he came back.