Since I Fell For You(46)

“Don’t get used to it.”

She laughed, making everything inside his chest go even warmer than it already was just from being near her.

As they began work on decorating the gazebo, it didn’t take long for Roman to see that Suzanne not only had an innate sense of flower placement, but she also knew exactly how to combine the colors and sizes of the flowers.

“You didn’t only take the flower-arranging class because you thought it would help you code, did you?”

She paused midway through winding a long-stemmed rose around a pillar. “Why do you say that?”

“Anyone else with your eye for this would have become a florist.” He held her gaze in the faint light of the lanterns. “Or a painter.”

“I’m terrible with a paintbrush.”

“I’ll bet you’re not.”

He knew he should back off. Knew with every word out of his mouth that he was getting closer to the red flashing lights of the danger zone. Knew he should revert to being strictly professional and apologize for speaking about any of these things with her. But, damn it, he wanted to know the answers.

He wanted to know her, plain and simple.

“Though only Drake made painting his career, something tells me that you, Harry, and Alec could have been artists, couldn’t you?”

“Drake didn’t know our mother. He didn’t see the two of them together. He was just a baby when she left.”

“So were you.”

“I was old enough to remember.” Though she was still looking at him, her eyes unfocused slightly as she fell into memories. “There was so much passion. So much emotion. So much angst. And so much sadness after she was gone.” She swallowed hard. “Painting meant all those things to me. Whereas computers were safe.” As soon as the words fell from her lips, she stilled. She looked stunned as she repeated, “Computers are safe.”

“They’re not just safe—you also clearly love everything about technology. I don’t know computer code, but I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that yours probably could go up in a museum somewhere.”

That surprised a shaky laugh out of her. “I’m pretty sure my if:then:else clauses aren’t going to be framed and put on display anytime soon.”

“Other people with your talents can’t wait to spread the word about how great they are, any way they can. But the Sullivans I’ve met so far are damned modest. Especially you, Suzanne. Take how Buck Elroy was falling all over himself flirting with you. You honestly had no idea he was interested, did you?”

Fireflies had begun to dance in the darkness around them. A breeze blew in off the lake. Laughter and conversation drifted toward them from the Inn. But all Roman was aware of was the woman standing with him beneath the gazebo.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Suzanne replied. “He could have anyone. And that’s not false modesty. I know my face, my body—they’re not bad. But I’ll never be the kind of beauty my mother was, or that my cousins Lori or Sophie or Mia, or my Aunt Mary are. I’ve seen it happen so many times, how when they walk into a room, everyone stops. Stares. And because they’re such sweet people, it makes them even more interesting to look at.” She grinned crookedly. “But no one looks at me like that. No one stops. No one gasps. And, honestly, I’m glad they don’t.” Her smile faltered. “My cousins and aunts are all strong enough souls to let their looks roll off them, but my mother wasn’t. She couldn’t bear the weight of it. And…” She let out a breath. “I’m not sure my father could see past her beauty. Not completely, anyway. It’s almost like he was so mesmerized by her face and form that he was never quite able to tap into what was beneath her skin.”

Roman wanted to put his hands on her and shake in the truth that she was precisely as attractive as her mother and cousins and aunt. Even more so when a guy spent any time whatsoever plumbing that intense and brilliant brain of hers.

But that wasn’t the full truth. He wanted to put his hands on her, period. Anywhere on her. Everywhere on her. Suzanne was no longer merely an attraction.

She was rapidly becoming an obsession.





CHAPTER FIFTEEN





“I didn’t know your mother, and though I only just met your father, I’m sorry for what happened to them. I’m sorry for what you lost.” He should shut the hell up right now. But for the first time in his life, he couldn’t keep his feelings locked inside the way he always had before. “I can see why you might want to believe you’re not as beautiful as your mother when her beauty seemed to be her downfall. But the fact is, people stop, people gasp when you walk into a room. No matter how much you want to believe you’re an invisible geek girl—it’s all there, Suzanne. Your beauty, your sweetness, your brain. You’re right that Buck Elroy could have anyone. But he’s smart enough to want you.”