Since I Fell For You(33)

“I’m not going to lie to you—there was a time when I did want something more from her than just a couple of nights together. A hell of a lot more. So I get why you’re here.” The other man walked behind his desk and sat down, impressively composed and in control again. “But whatever’s happening to her, I’m not behind it.” He pointed to the framed pictures of himself with his arm around a pretty blonde, pictures Roman should have noticed before now.

Jesus. He’d really screwed this one up. Suzanne had already been furious with him before he’d left her office. When he went back and told her where he’d been, she was going to be absolutely livid. So much for convincing her that having him work as her bodyguard wouldn’t interfere with her life.

He pulled out a card and laid it on Craig’s desk. “If you can think of anyone who might not have her best interests at heart, I’d appreciate the name.”

Right then, another man pushed through the door. Where Craig had a slightly rugged look to him, this man was polished, from the top of his head to the tips of his shiny thousand-dollar shoes. “Craig, is there a problem? Eloise said you had an unexpected visitor.”

Roman could hear the hint of an Irish accent in this man’s voice as well. From the backgrounds he’d done on Suzanne’s competitors, he recalled that the men had met at school in Ireland before coming to America to make their fortunes in high tech. Not only did they make digital security software, but they had also ventured very successfully into home automation systems. Their units were in most of the high end homes in the city.

“Roman,” Craig said, “this is my partner, Patrick O’Conner. Patrick, Roman works for Suzanne Sullivan. He had some questions for me about a couple of conferences Suzanne and I both attended last year.”

Patrick looked at Roman suspiciously, obviously wanting to ask more questions. But when his cell rang, whoever was calling was obviously important enough for him to leave to take the call.

As Roman turned to see himself out, he was surprised to hear Craig say, “Hey, Roman. If I ever find myself needing someone to watch out for my soon-to-be wife, I’m going to give you a call. Despite the bruises I’m bound to have tomorrow, I appreciate the fact that you’ll do whatever it takes to protect your client.”

Craig was right. Roman would do whatever it took to protect Suzanne. And not just because she was his client.

But because, despite knowing better, he had started to care.





CHAPTER ELEVEN





Suzanne knew it must be Roman knocking on her office door by the sound of it—solid, steady, firm, sexy. Okay, so maybe a knock couldn’t sound sexy, but somehow he managed the impossible.

A part of her wanted to tell him to go away. The other part wanted to fling open the door and kiss him with all the pent-up passion she’d been trying so ineffectively to shove away.

God. For the first time in her life, she was an utter mess over a guy.

She took a deep breath to try to ground herself, but it was no use. And she couldn’t leave him standing outside for much longer, or Harry would wonder what was going on between the two of them. As it was, she was afraid she had already said too much over lunch.

“Come in.”

Her office was large and spacious. But the moment Roman stepped inside and closed the door behind him, he dominated the room. And all of her attention.

“I apologize for needing to step out,” Roman said to both of them before turning to Harry. “Thank you for staying with Suzanne until I returned.”

“My pleasure.” Harry immediately rose from the couch. “Thanks for lunch, sis.” After she stood too, he hugged her good-bye. “Your ideas on how to approach my new research were excellent, just like I knew they would be. I swear, you could almost guest teach my classes at this point.”

“I’d be happy to take you up on that sometime.” She always liked a new challenge, and after reading so many of Harry’s books and papers about medieval history over the years, she was nearly as fascinated by the subject as he was. Though she knew Roman was listening, she refused to monitor what she said because of it. “Remember when I was a little girl, how I used to want to do whatever you and Alec did?”

He smiled at her exactly the way he used to when she was constantly trailing behind them with her hair bursting out of pigtails and dirt beneath her fingernails. “You were our little shadow.”

“Just imagine if I’d stuck with that plan. I’d either be sending people off on fancy planes like Alec or teaching them medieval battle plans like you.” She grinned. “Actually, both of those things sound like fun.”