Since I Fell For You(31)
“A new house for someone on the lake?” She took a bite of her burger, and it was so delicious she immediately took another bite before even finishing the first.
“He said he’d be able to tell us more about it soon.”
“Sounds mysterious.”
“Dad always is.”
When Suzanne’s mother took her own life three decades ago, William Sullivan had pulled back from his four children. Very recently, Suzanne and her brothers had learned that lingering grief over losing his beloved wife wasn’t the only reason their father had become so remote. It turned out that he blamed himself—and his obsessive love that had manifested itself as hundreds of paintings of her—for Lynn Sullivan’s death.
Suzanne had made sure to tell him that she would never in a million years blame him for her mother’s suicide. But while she wasn’t sure he believed she meant it, or if he would ever be able to absolve himself of the guilt he felt, at least they were slowly inching closer to the father-daughter relationship she had always longed for.
“What about you?” Since she had just divulged the most embarrassing thing in the world to her brother, she wanted something from him too. “Seeing anyone lately?” Women threw themselves at her good-looking academic brother, but none of them had ever managed to make inroads into Harry’s heart.
When he shook his head, she asked, “Surely there’s someone you’ve got your eye on?”
“No, there isn’t.”
She would have taken his denial at face value had it not been for how fast and how firm it was. As if he wasn’t only trying to convince her that he wasn’t interested in a specific person—he was trying to convince himself too.
Lord knew she understood that situation all too well right about now…
Harry was saved by a knock at her door. “Come in,” Suzanne called. She’d just have to keep working to get the dirt on whatever her brother was hiding from her.
“I’m sorry to disturb the two of you,” Jeannie said, “but I’ve got Cinthia from Brazil on line one. I know you’ve been trying to reach her for a while.”
Harry sat on the couch and reached for one of the pads of paper on the table in front of him. “Go ahead and take the call, Suz. I want to write down some thoughts I’ve just had about an upcoming talk I’m giving. And then once you’re off, I’d still like your feedback about how to best approach that new research I mentioned earlier.”
She had a feeling there wasn’t really any big problem he needed her help with—and they both knew he could make his notes anywhere else than her office couch. But since he’d given his word to Roman to keep watch over her until he returned, Harry wasn’t going anywhere for the time being.
“Sure,” she said, eating one last French fry before she picked up the phone and pushed Roman into the very back of her brain.
Unfortunately, even without him standing in the corner of her office taking everything in with his dark, intense eyes—and even while dealing with business matters that demanded every ounce of her focus—she still couldn’t stop thinking about him.
No matter how hard she tried.
CHAPTER TEN
Roman covered the handful of city blocks to Craig Boylan’s corporate headquarters in record time. He knew better than to let emotion get the best of him. Battles were always better fought with cool and calm.
But just thinking about Suzanne sleeping with this guy made Roman’s blood boil. It had been a long time since he had used his fists for sport, but his hands were clenched tight as he shoved through the glossy black doors of the CP Systems building.
Where Suzanne’s lobby was bright and welcoming in its simplicity, this one was trying too hard to impress, with dark marble everywhere. Clearly, this guy was making up for deficiencies elsewhere.
And yet, Suzanne had still slept with him.
She wasn’t Roman’s. She would never be his. But that didn’t make the thought of her sleeping with someone else sting any less.
“I need to see Craig Boylan,” he told the woman behind the reception desk. “Now.”
Flustered by his curt demand, the young woman opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before any sound came out. “I’m sorry, could you please tell me your name?”
“Roman Huson. I work for Suzanne Sullivan. Which floor is Mr. Boylan on?”
“If you will give me a moment to call his assistant—”
But Roman was already pushing past the security gate and walking into the elevator. The receptionist came running up right as the door closed in her face. Roman figured Craig would be on the top floor. Ornate headquarters and penthouse offices went hand in hand. Along with being bitter enough over losing Suzanne to attack her, tech style. To begin with, at least.