AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I can’t believe you would accuse her of something so vile... How dare you...”
“I never accused her of anything,” I say, as my stomach clenches. Yeah, I’m beginning to believe more and more that Paula did something underhanded to keep me from the classroom, and with the way he’s defending her, he’s completely unaware.
I stare up at him. Even though I saw the worst side of many people growing up and trust no one, I still can’t quite wrap my brain around the idea that Paula would go to such lengths to knock out the competition. Unease grips my throat. What else would she do to ensure he won the full-time position?
He rocks on his feet for a few seconds, and while I turn to take in Roman’s solid presence on the playground, I can feel Richard’s eyes drilling into me. “Where exactly did you say you and Roman were married?” he asks. My gaze flies back to his. His tone might be deceptively innocent, but every intuition I possess tells me there is nothing innocent about the abrupt change in conversation. This m
an is on a fishing expedition, although from the smug look on his face, he might have already reeled in a big one.
I tamp down the anxiety threatening to rise. “Oh, it was just a small ceremony at city hall in Manhattan,” I say, and try not to shift or look uncomfortable as the lie spills from my mouth. “Why do you ask?” I take a deep breath, not sure I want to hear the answer.
He goes quiet, leaving my mind to call on every worst case scenario, and after a long pause he says, “I was just wondering, because Paula said there are no records that you two were married in NY State.”
“Why on earth would she look that up?” I ask, almost afraid of the answer. “Is she that bored at home?”
He purses his lips and my gaze goes to Roman, who is now standing perfectly still, watching the two of us. Richard looks back to me. “Why don’t you answer the question?”
“You didn’t ask one, and I’m sure it’s just a filing mistake. I’ll look into it.” The school bell rings. “If you’ll excuse me,” I say, ending our discussion as I walk away. I head toward Roman, who is standing still on the basketball court, his eyes dark and deep, locked on mine as I saunter toward him.
I keep my steps even and measured, resisting the urge to run, not only to put distance between Richard and me, but because of the need to be close to Roman, to revel in the way his strength always wraps around me. I step up to him, and as he lightly runs his fingers down my arm, he dips his head, positioning his mouth inches from mine. Being close like this, his strong hands on my body, has a way of soothing my worries—making me think things will be all right. But not everything will turn out all right, and I can’t think about the loss that’s going to slice through me when this man goes back to New York.
“What are you doing here?” he asks, his voice low and steeped in concern.
“I feel 100 percent better.” I crinkle my nose. “And I was bored.” Okay, maybe bored isn’t the right term. Maybe lonely is a better way to put it. Without his big presence in the villa, it was just a big open space. Stark. Empty. Lonesome. That’s insane, considering I love alone time.
He frowns and rubs his hands up and down my arms to chase away the goose bumps. “Did you think I couldn’t handle this?”
“Well, you did say you were terrified,” I say with a laugh. “But I can see you have everything under control.”
“The kids are great.”
“Honestly, I just needed a breath of fresh air.” Needed to see you. “The kids seemed so happy to have you here.”
“Not true. They were all asking for you.”
My heart flips and my gaze rakes over his irresistible face. My God, what have I gotten myself into here? “Really?”
“Really.” Concerned eyes move over my face. “You do look a lot better.”
I laugh at that. “After last night. My God, I couldn’t have looked worse today had I tried.”
“Not true. You were adorable.”
“You, my friend,” I say, and poke his chest, “have become an awesome liar.”
He frowns at that. “I don’t lie, Peyton. Well, except for this pretend marriage, but we’re fighting an unfair system and had no choice.” He looks past my shoulders. “What did asshole want?”
Unwanted thoughts of Richard push back the warmth in Roman’s touch, leaving room for dread to invade and spread through my blood. A hard quiver goes through me. “He asked about our wedding, and where we got married. Paula’s been doing some digging. I think they know something, Roman.”
“They don’t know anything.” He clenches his jaw and his muscles ripple. “They’re just trying to rattle you.”
“I never let on, but I think he succeeded.” I shake my head, guilt eating at me. “This was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have dragged you into this mess.”
“It’s fine.” He shakes his head, takes a deep breath and lets it out fast. “Maybe we should just get married for real,” he blurts out.
My entire body goes stiff. Holy, that flu must have affected my hearing, because no way did he just say we should get married for real. “What did you just say?”
“Maybe we should have a ceremony here, something small. We could play it off that we decided to renew our vows on the beach.”
