The deep resonance of his unexpected laughter moved through her body like a sip of good red wine. Like he had the night before, he did a quick search of her apartment. But unlike last night, she wasn’t irritated with him. Instead, a part of her wished he would stay a little longer.
“Good night, Suzanne.” The way his voice wrapped around her name made her feel the same way his laughter had—warm all over. “I’ll be waiting here in the morning.”
“Are you sure five thirty isn’t too early for you?”
“Any time you need me, I’ll be here.”
She understood that as her bodyguard he had to say that. But a secret little part of her couldn’t help but wish he meant it as something more. Her family had always been there for her no matter what, but none of the guys she’d dated had ever wanted to step up like that.
He waited in the hall outside her door until she was inside. After putting her bag on her kitchen island and dropping her heels on the floor, she headed straight for her living room couch. The bed was too far tonight.
She’d fallen asleep in the taxi, but only because she knew Roman wouldn’t let anything happen to her under his watch. Now, as she lay sprawled on the couch still wearing her purple dress, her brain slid back to that moment in the pizza place when they’d been close enough that she could feel his warmth radiating through to her.
When she’d touched his face, his eyes had gone so dark. So sexy. So intense. She would have bet money on his kissing her then—he’d seemed to want to devour her mouth as much as she wanted him to do it. But his control had been too good, too solid, and the moment had slipped away.
She’d lost her chance to see her plan through to its final conclusion tonight. But it was losing her chance to find out how Roman’s lips would feel brushing over hers that she regretted most of all.
Had she been less tired, that realization would have shaken her to the core. It should have shaken her awake so that she could make even better plans to ensure that he’d resign soon. Because what she was feeling for Roman was crazy. And Suzanne didn’t do crazy emotions with men. After all, look what had happened between her parents when they’d let crazy emotions get the best of them. Her mother had killed herself and her father had become a recluse.
But with all of Suzanne’s defenses currently down tonight, she didn’t have more energy to think clearly about how to protect herself from falling for a man who made her feel so many confusing, heated, conflicting things. All she could do was drift off to sleep dreaming of his kisses.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Good morning, Suzanne.”
She’d awakened more than a little horrified by the dreams she’d had about Roman. Just as sweaty and acrobatic as her dreams had been the night before…but also emotional now. In her dreams, they hadn’t just been having a one-night stand. They’d been having a relationship.
Now, all it took was hearing the low rumble of her name on his lips for that familiar warmth to move through her.
Mustering up the energy for day two of her master plan to get him to resign as her bodyguard had been even more difficult than she’d anticipated. It wasn’t the long hours she’d put in yesterday. She was used to keeping that kind of schedule.
No, it was the fact that she wasn’t at all looking forward to trying to play the seductress again today. She was used to being herself, not pretending. Which was why she had barely been able to force herself to put on another sexy outfit this morning, when her T-shirts and oh-so-comfortable flats were calling to her.
Still, even if the off-white dress with the red pinstripes was neither as body-skimming nor as short as yesterday’s dress, she had a strong enough will to make herself wear red heels. In flats, she would have been dashing around the way she normally did, without a single thought for sex appeal. In heels, she’d at least have some swing to her hips as she walked.
And she needed to stick to her plan, damn it. No matter how much she liked seeing Roman first thing in the morning…and last thing at night.
Knowing that cranky and grumpy wouldn’t get her any closer to completing her plan, she made herself smile as they stepped into the elevator. “Are you a morning person?”
“No.”
His concise and rather heartfelt response made her laugh. Honestly, it was a relief just to let it flow through her. Maybe, she told herself, if she let herself relax a bit this morning, it might help her get things moving in the direction she needed them to go. Because she did still need to get him to step over the line with a kiss…
“You could have fooled me,” she replied, laughter still in her voice. “Alec always stomps around in a pissy mood for a couple of hours if you wake him up early. Whereas you’re quite pleasant this morning.”