“No, you couldn’t.” I gasp in shock, but also, as my stomach flip-flops, I’m reminded of what he does to me.
“Please,” Mia says as her coffee arrives. “It was so worth seeing you two happy.” We watch each other as we both take a sip of our drinks. The scene reminding me of the time we did the exact same thing back in college.
“Oh my god, do you remember—?”
“Geordie Crouch,” Mia finishes my sentence with a squeal, and suddenly I’m back to that young girl with so much ahead of her. A pang of regret tightens my chest as I remember how much Mia and I laughed along with the class. Geordie decided that cupcakes could be molded into any shape. Then proceeded in making a dozen penises.
“Sex education at its finest,” I laugh, lifting my mug and tipping it with Mia’s.
The restaurant is filling up, and we place our orders for lunch before Mia leans in and says, “So, real talk.” She settles in and looks at me. “What’s happening with you and Rome? I think you make a gorgeous couple.”
“But?” I ask, lifting my mug to sip my drink. I know there’s something more coming, and I’d like to hear what someone outside our strange agreement makes of us.
“But something is holding you both back,” she says. “I can tell he likes you, a lot, but you both seemed almost as if you’re still unsure of what’s going on.”
I nod. “Yes, it’s just . . . I mean, I told him it would be one night, and then it turned into no strings, and then . . .” I allow my words to filter off between us, leaving the sentence hanging so she can finish it.
“And now you like him. Really like him, not just for the sex.” Mia’s voice feels louder than it is, and embarrassment burns my cheeks. “Oh, come on,” she says on a laugh. “You can’t be wanting to hide away from that. You’re a strong woman, you’re independent, and you know what you want. Just tell him.”
Sighing, I shrug it off. “I guess. It’s just that I’m scared of getting hurt,” I tell her just as our food arrives. Two salads with a sweet dressing that makes me think of home and my mother’s apple reduction she always loved drenching her salad in. “I mean, what if I bore him one day?”
She laughs, the melodic sound making me smile, even though I’m thinking of the fact that Rome could so easily turn around and walk out the door.
“Let me say something, and it’s Camden’s take on you two,” she says, jabbing her fork into the green leaves. “He said that you two seem cozy enough that you’re practically married already.”
Her words have me choking on my chicken. “What?”
“Camden just said you both seem at ease with each other. Also, I noticed that Rome looks at you the way Camden would look at me.”
“And what look is that?”
This time, it’s Mia who shrugs as if it’s nothing, but then she stops poking at her lunch and looks at me before saying, “Like you’re his entire world.”
And that’s when my entire world stops.
Chapter 25
Rome
The office is buzzing with the two new properties that have just gone up. I know the agents will be trying to get those sales because their commission would skyrocket if they got those off the market.
Smiling, I head into the office to find Dom sitting behind my desk, his feet on the smooth, veneer top. “Good morning, Rome.” The satisfied smirk on his face is evidence that he has something to say.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, making my way deeper into the room before I stop at the chair, motioning for him to get out of it.
With another smile, he lowers his shoes and pushes from the seat. “You’ve been hiding away with that pretty little baker of yours,” he says. “I want to meet her.” I settle in my chair, and Dom takes the one in front of my desk. He’s still grinning, and I know there’s more to it than just him wanting to meet Elisabet.
“Are you going to tell me what your man found?”
“It seems your girl is married,” he tells me.
Furrowing my brows, I meet his gaze, green piercing me with questions that I can’t answer. Not right now because that can’t be true. “She’s not married. She was promised to be wed to some asshole who let her go. She admitted everything to me last week.”
“Oh, well, it seems that her last name may not have changed, but she certainly exchanged vows. Because when I look into her Social Security number, it has hits on her marriage contract.” Dom gestures to the folder on my desk, and I flip it open. I scan the information page by page in silence as he waits for me to respond. I can feel his eyes boring into me, curiosity dancing between us in the air, hanging over us like a heavy cloud.