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I can feel her eyes on me, and I try not to think about the way her dress clings to her curves or how her hair falls in loose waves around her shoulders. I know it’s wrong to be attracted to her given the circumstances, but I can’t help it. The fact that she’s had a bad night should make her less appealing, but it doesn’t. What does that say about my moral compass?
She’s beautiful and infuriating and I want her. It’s as simple as that.
“My phone is working again,” Etta says. She glances back out the rear window, then from her phone to the screen in the dashboard. “You can let me out.”
There’s not a chance in hell I’m letting her out of this car.
“It’s starting to rain. I’m taking you home, and that’s the end of it.”
“Is there any point in arguing with you about this?”
“No.”
As we speed through the quietly deserted downtown. The streetlights blur together, one after another until they form a single glowing line. The rain intensifies, pelting my windows, and I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from mentioning it to her—as if she hadn’t noticed the increased downpour.
Finally, we reach Etta’s house. She directs me to pull into the driveway, then, before I can turn the car off, she is already pushing her door open with one hand and gathering her things with the other. “You should go before someone sees you.”
“I don’t give a fuck.”
She snorts “I do.”
Of course she does. She cares about everything, while I couldn’t care less who sees me. I don’t care what happens if it means a few more minutes of her time, especially after what I heard the other night. I don’t care if her family burns me at the stake, or if my life goes up in smoke, I’ll happily stand in the flames and burn myself alive.
I lean over the center console, reaching across her for the handle of her door before she can open it. “Wait.”
ChapterTen
ETTA
“Wait.”
My heart is pounding too fast, my pulse thrumming like butterfly wings against my throat, as he leans over me to hold my door closed. I’m suddenly aware of how close we are. Of his eyes darting down to my lips, and the heat I feel radiating from his body. I’ve never run into him so many times in so few days, let alone had him so close to me. It’s making my head spin, reminding me of all the crazy ideas and fantasies I had as a teenager.
If I did something stupid—disastrous—right now, could I convince myself it meant nothing? That the wild evening had rendered me temporarily insane?
I’ve been down this road before. Convincing myself that Roman is a good person, like some sort of misunderstood hero, will only lead to disaster. He’s proven time and time again that he’s no hero, and every shred of kindness from him comes with a bitter aftertaste of malice.
Except for tonight,a tiny traitorous part of me argues. He didn’t have to stop and help. I gave him every opportunity to change his mind. No matter which way I look at it, what he did tonight was beyond nice. I don’t even know where he was going, or what plans were interrupted by him helping me.
“You’re a nice guy when you want to be,” I say, without thinking.
To my surprise, he recoils slightly, like I’ve physically hit him. His face twists, a storm of turbulent emotions flying across his eyes before he manages to revert to his usual flat facade. “You’ve got it wrong, good girl. This had nothing to do with being nice. It was entirely selfish.”
I furrow my brow. “I don’t believe that.”
He clenches his jaw. “Believe whatever you want.”
My heart pounds too hard and fast. What are we doing? What amIdoing? I shouldn’t still be sitting here. Shouldn’t want him. Shouldn’t be thinking or doing so many damn things lately.
Yet, I’m not moving to get out of the car, and he’s not leaning back to give me room. Our faces are so close, and the darkness presses in around us. The sound of the rain pounds on the car, and our breathing grows heavier, falling in sync.
Our eyes meet.
Light floods the driveway breaking the spell, and I shrink away from Roman’s proximity. Whipping my head around, my heartbeat quickens for an entirely different reason. Raindrops slide down my window, and it’s dark outside, but even so I can make out my cousin Tyberius’s car pulling down the driveway. “You need to leave right now.”
Roman turns as well to look, then smirks at me. “Why? If he attacks me he’ll get kicked out of the Order.”
Pinching the skin between my eyes, I take a deep breath. This is the last thing I need.
