Since I Fell For You(3)

Just then, Roman’s eyes met hers…and every thought in her usually jam-packed brain dropped away. As lucidity slowly came back, she realized she’d never seen eyes so intense.

The best kind of intense, she thought as attraction continued to spark, even from across the room. He was looking a little too long, and a little too hard, but it wasn’t disconcerting.

It was hot.

Hotter than anything she’d felt in a very long time.

Suzanne had never learned how to play coy. So she didn’t even bother to keep the smile from her lips. It wasn’t a come-hither smile. She hadn’t ever really learned how to flirt either, regardless of how hard her cousins Mia and Lori had tried to show her the ropes. But instead of smiling back, Roman’s gaze grew even more intense. Even more heated.

Suddenly, she wished she’d had time to change out of the black jeans, T-shirt, and boots that were her standard workday clothes. Especially given that all the other women in the gallery were wearing bright dresses with short hems that sparkled and shone.

As she instinctively took a couple of steps forward, she realized he was moving toward her too. Everyone else in the crowded room fell away, until it was only the two of them. And then, there he was, so close that all she had to do was reach out.

She could touch him if she dared.

“Suz.”

Alec’s voice jolted her. She hadn’t realized that her brothers had crossed the room with Roman, hadn’t been aware of anything but him.

“We want you to meet our friend Roman. Roman, this is our sister, Suzanne.”

“Hello, Suzanne.”

God. His voice was as sexy as the rest of him. Especially when he rumbled her name in that deep tone. She wasn’t the most visual person in the world, unless she was reviewing lines of code. But she couldn’t stop the images that started dancing through her mind, visions of his mouth and hands on her bare skin, and hers all over his…

She swallowed hard at the vivid mental pictures. It didn’t matter that she was in her thirties. Her brothers would lock her up in a tower and throw away the key if they knew what she was thinking right now.

Still not sure she had herself—or, more specifically, her hormones—totally under control, she paused for a moment to pull herself together. When her pulse had lowered to a slow gallop, she put out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Roman gripped her hand for only a handful of seconds. But his electric touch on top of his sexy voice and intense gaze was more sensuality than she was prepared to withstand. Especially with her brothers watching her every move.

“How do you know each other?” Her voice sounded chirpy. Too high-pitched. Fortunately, neither Alec nor Harry seemed to notice.

“Roman has done some work for me,” Alec said.

“He’s not bad at jousting either,” Harry put in. It was nearly the highest praise her brother could give someone, given that he was a world-renowned expert on medieval history, with a museum-worthy collection of armor.

At long last, here was a guy her brothers obviously approved of. Could they have brought him over to her tonight in the hopes that she and Roman would have a connection?

“I am friends with your brothers,” Roman said, his deep voice resonating through every cell of her body. “But that isn’t why I’m here tonight.”

She nearly swooned. The computer geek who had never even come close to falling into a man’s arms was right on the verge of toppling straight toward his big, broad chest. And maybe, if her brothers were finally ready to see her happy with a great guy they were friends with, it would be okay if she did.

“Why are you here, then?” she asked, barely able to keep the breathlessness from her voice.

His dark eyes held hers. “I’m your new bodyguard.”





CHAPTER TWO





“My new bodyguard?” Suzanne gaped at Roman. “That’s impossible.”

He wasn’t surprised by her reaction. Her wide eyes and shocked gasp made perfect sense given that her brothers had hired him to protect her without informing her of their decision…until now.

The only thing Roman was surprised by tonight was his reaction to her.

The second he’d walked into the gallery, he’d noticed her. Not just because she was a stunningly beautiful woman whom any man would take a second hungry look at in the black jeans and T-shirt that clung to her curves in the sexiest way possible. But simply because every cell in his body had gone on alert just from being in the same room with her.

Careful not to give his reaction away, he hadn’t let himself stare. His clients had often commented that he must have eyes on all sides of his head, because he never missed a thing. Nights like this, he was especially glad for that skill. It meant he could watch her without anyone knowing it.