Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55839 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55839 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
“You’re right. I guess I’ll just hold your hand.” Tingles race up my arm from the contact.
Why do I get this thrill every time he touches me? He’s touched me before in a platonic type of way, but now that we’re pretending it’s different.
“You’re meeting with Bane Delgado?” he asks, changing the subject.
I nod. “Yes.”
“And?” His hand tenses over mine.
“And what?”
“You’ll be alone with him in a room?”
I laugh lightly. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Roman Thorne is jealous. “At the jail, yes. We’ll be alone.”
“I don’t like that.”
“You know he’s engaged, right?”
Roman shrugs. “So?”
“Are you jealous?”
Roman shifts in his chair, removing his hand from mine so he can take a quick drink of his margarita. “No, I’m concerned.”
I raise a brow. “Concerned? That he might try to hurt the one person defending him?”
“Didn’t say I had a good reason to be concerned, okay, maybe I am a little jealous.”
“It takes a big person to admit when they’re jealous.”
Roman glances around the restaurant, and grabs my hand again. “Well then, I’m jealous all the time.” He smiles wide, and I realize he doesn’t actually mean what he’s saying. It’s all for the show.
“Sure you are.” I remove my hand from under his and take a sip of my drink.
“Ledger used to tell me growing up I’d get jealous a lot.”
“Really? Of him? Or of your past girlfriends?”
“Mainly him, but I think he was lying.” He laughs.
I laugh. “What’s it like?”
“What is what like?”
“Having a twin who can practically read your mind. And who you’re so in tune with. Must be sort of freaky.” The server drops off our food. “Like, will he not feel hungry once you eat tacos?”
Roman laughs. “We’re not that close. But sometimes when we were younger, I hated it. Like when he asked Daisy to the prom. He knew I wanted to ask her.”
“Does he do that a lot?”
“What?”
“Steal women from you?”
Roman’s eyes pierce right through me. “There’s nobody I care about enough for him to steal.”
“Oh.”
“And he knows better than to steal the one woman I do care about.”
I blink. “Who’s that?”
He stares at me for so long that I feel like he’s about to profess some undying love for me. But he blinks and says, “You.”
I can’t breathe. “What?”
He laughs lightly. “I mean as my best friend. We’re besties, right?”
My heart sinks, but I try not to show it. “Oh, right.” I laugh a little as I pick up a taco.
We eat in silence for a moment, and I nearly choke when Eden appears at our table.
“Well, hello, Greer. I’m surprised to see you out tonight.” Her sniveling stare reminds me of the way she always looked down on me in high school.
“Why is that?” I set my taco down and wipe my hands on my napkin.
“Just with the case and all,” Sadie says, stepping beside her partner in crime. The mean girls.
Roman turns on the charm, giving them a dazzling smile. “Greer’s been extremely busy working on the case, but I felt she needed some taco time with her boyfriend.” Roman winks at me. “Nothing beats taco time. Right, baby?”
Sadie and Eden look dumbstruck and don’t have time to say anything else, because Roman effectively ends the conversation with, “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go back to spoiling my girl.” The seductive way he looks at me has my thighs pressing together.
I’m not sure if I’ll be able to handle faking a relationship with Roman after all.
After dinner, Roman and I decide to stroll around the bustling streets of downtown.
“I can’t believe you said that to them,” I say with a laugh. It’s a chilly night, but the cool air on my hot skin is invigorating. There’s a hint of mischievousness at the way Roman stares at me. Like he says things like that all the time.
I’d call dinner a success. Eden and Sadie will report that I’m dating Roman and life will be great.
“I’ve always disliked people who think they’re owed something because they have a little popularity.” He grabs my hand in his. “Why did they feel they could come up to our table and interrupt us?”
I blink. “I think they were stunned you were on a date with me.”
“Why?”
“Well, because you don’t date. And because you’re you, and I’m me.”
He stops walking. “What does that mean?”
I glance down at the cobblestone sidewalk before gazing back up at him. “You and I are opposites. I like rules and order, and, well, you break all the rules and thrive on chaos.” I drop his hand.
He laughs a little. “Do you think I’m chaotic?”
I nod.
“What’s chaotic about me?”
I think a minute before saying, “Maybe you’re not that chaotic as much as you create chaos within people.” To prove my point, my heart slams around in my chest as his eyes drop to my lips.