Since I Fell For You(22)
No, the heat between them felt real.
Real enough that she instinctively reached up to touch his jaw, and not because there was anything to wipe away. As her fingertips made contact with his warm, tanned skin, she was a hairsbreadth away from kissing him.
Before she could, he shoved his chair back from the table and stood up. “If you’re done, we should go to your meeting.”
Disappointment rang through her at the way he’d leaped up to get away from her. Even though he was right. Her fake-seduction plan was supposed to lead to a kiss—but not a real one.
He’d just narrowly saved her from screwing up her own plan.
“Right.” She pushed away from the table too. “Let’s go.” She forced a smile for Jerry and his teenage staff. “Thank you for the great pizza.”
“I hope to see you two again soon.”
Keeping the smile frozen on her face, she nodded. “Bye.”
Roman hung behind for a few moments as Jerry said something to him in a low voice. By the time Roman hailed them a cab, his face had returned to looking like thunder. And the truth was that Suzanne’s insides suddenly felt just as stormy.
Because though she had absolutely no intention of falling for the bodyguard she’d never wanted in the first place, she couldn’t help but wonder if she was really as in control as she’d originally planned to be.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Don’t let this one slip away, Roman. She’s perfect for you.
Was Jerry nuts, saying that right as they’d been walking out of the restaurant? Clearly, the man had taken one look at Suzanne’s pretty face and lost his mind.
Couldn’t he see that she was as untouchable as they came? And not just because she was too smart and successful for a guy like Roman, whose only teenage refuge had been working in a pizza joint. Suzanne deserved a guy who could give her a solid relationship. A guy who had grown up learning how to love from two parents who were happy together.
Roman would never be that guy.
It shouldn’t matter that he wasn’t. He was her bodyguard, not a blind date set up by her brothers. But after spending an entire day being more impressed with her by the minute, for the first time in a very long time, he found himself wishing that things were different. That he was different.
At thirty-six, Roman was old enough to be brutally honest about who he was. He’d enjoyed the company of plenty of women. But he never let things get serious with any of them. Huson men didn’t do serious. Not after Roman’s father had made the mistake of falling in love with a woman with a white-collar upbringing who’d slummed it with him for long enough to have Roman, then she got bored, cheated, and left. Tommy Huson never missed an opportunity to hammer these facts home, and he insisted that his son not make the same mistake. Roman had made other mistakes in the past three decades, but trusting a woman with his heart wasn’t one of them.
Their taxi ride was a silent one, as Suzanne also seemed to be brooding. He enjoyed talking with her more than with any other woman, but this silence was better. Safer. For both of them.
They soon arrived at Drake’s loft. “Remind me, what’s this meeting for?”
“Rosa has recently launched a foundation to fight online bullying, and I’m helping her out in my spare time.”
“Spare time?” He nearly laughed out loud at her even using those words. “When do you get some of that?” After only one day, he could already see how tightly she was stretched. No wonder her brothers wanted someone to take care of her. Roman wasn’t sure she would ever take the time to take care of herself—not when others needed her.
The door opened before she could reply, and she was swept up into a hug. “Sorry I’m late, Rosa.”
Of course, he recognized the woman hugging Suzanne. Rosalind Bouchard was unarguably the most famous reality TV star in the world. He’d heard she’d recently left the business—he supposed it had come in the wake of her nude-picture scandal. He didn’t know much about her beyond the headlines that popped up on the Internet, but he felt for anyone who’d had to go through that kind of unwanted exposure.
He knew all too well how much it sucked to have someone peddle you out for their own gain—especially when the last thing you wanted was to be used that way.
“I’m glad you were able to squeeze us in at all, Suz.” Rosa held Suzanne at arm’s length. “Wow, you look amazing in that dress. Do you have a date later tonight?”
“Dates? What are those?” Suzanne joked, but by now he knew the different tenors in her voice well enough to recognize the tiny bit of sadness that hung behind the humor when she spoke about being single.