Since I Fell For You(49)

Because while everyone else was enjoying the party, she was poring over cupcake recipes to help a friend, her lower lip held between her teeth in concentration. She accepted an ex reality TV star like Rosalind Bouchard into her family with wide open arms and no judgment. Not only that, but she was willing to give her father another chance to be the parent he should have been all along.

Suzanne Sullivan had the biggest heart of anyone Roman had ever known.





CHAPTER SIXTEEN





Even when Roman was dressed in a finely tailored dark suit that was perfectly appropriate for a wedding, he didn’t quite look civilized. It was as if he were a lion trapped in a cage, pacing behind the bars, ready to break free at the first possible chance.

This morning, she felt exactly the same way. As if the attraction to Roman that she’d tried so hard to keep leashed, to keep contained, was about to burst free in front of her entire extended family.

She wanted to eat him up. Wanted to leap onto his lap and tear off his suit to finally feel his muscles, his skin, finally feel his lips pressing against hers. Against all of her.

Last night, after Suzanne, Roman, and Christie had finally finished with hours of baking and frosting cupcakes, she’d been so tired she’d been tempted to curl up on one of the Inn’s couches. But after Christie had dropped them back off at her father’s house, she’d barely been able to sleep knowing Roman was only one wall away. Were it not for her brothers and father sleeping down the hall, she likely would have found herself standing outside Roman’s door in her PJs, begging him to let her inside so that they could finish what they’d almost started in the gazebo.

For today’s wedding, she’d chosen a teal silk dress that was both elegant and sexy. All morning she’d been drowning in compliments from family and friends. During the past week, she’d been surprised to realize that she had begun to grow comfortable wearing something pretty and feminine. Comfortable enough that, for the first time, she wasn’t instinctively brushing off their compliments.

But right now, only the appreciation—and the heat—in Roman’s eyes mattered. Appreciation and heat that he kept shuttering so quickly, she was left wondering if they had ever been there at all.

Yesterday, he’d told her she was stunning in the gold dress. Today, they’d barely said a private word to each other. Yes, they’d been surrounded by her family since earlier that morning. But it was almost as if both of them knew how close they were to the edge. So close that even a few simple words might be too much for them to handle, to resist.

Somewhere along the way, her intention to seduce him into making a move on her so that he would resign had shifted. She’d been attracted to him from the first moment—a white-hot attraction unlike anything she’d ever felt before. But even bigger than that was how much she’d begun to like him. She desperately wanted to get beneath the bodyguard shield he wore, and everything he’d told her about his past, his hopes, his fears, felt like golden nuggets.

She still didn’t want or need a bodyguard, but if that was the only way she could get him to stay…

God, she could hardly believe she was thinking this, but the truth was she’d take it. Take whatever part of Roman he was willing to give her. If only for the possibility of one day getting to have that kiss—and then finding out if there was more, if there could actually be something real between them.

Suzanne couldn’t deny that a part of her longed for that to be the case. After all, in addition to the inescapable heat between them, there were so many places where they connected. Neither of them had grown up with a mom. They both loved the outdoors and being active. She felt safe with him—and not just because keeping her safe was his job.

He made her feel special time and time again, with nothing but a few sweet, heartfelt words.

Then again, given how stiffly he was sitting beside her right now, keeping a careful distance so that no part of him touched any part of her, maybe her mental gymnastics where he was concerned were a moot point.

Fact was, just because she was losing sleep over him didn’t mean he was losing sleep over her. Maybe she was reading too much into a few looks, a few nice words, a few almost-kisses. Roman had obviously built a great career for himself by going for what he wanted. So if he did want to kiss her, wouldn’t he have up and done it already, professional boundaries be damned?

Still, as the first bars of the Wedding March rippled out from the harp, she had no choice but to be swept away by Smith and Valentina’s wonderful romance. Smith was standing in the center of the gazebo, with his mother and brothers and sisters fanned out to the sides of the structure. Clearly, he was on pins and needles waiting for Valentina to appear in her wedding dress.