The Dare Collection: July 2018. Nicola Marsh

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       CHAPTER TEN

      ROMAN WOKE TO find Allie gone. He sighed and rolled onto his back. It shouldn’t have surprised him that she’d bolted, but disappointment was sour on his tongue. He stared at the vaulted ceiling for a few long moments before he forced himself out of bed. Lying around all morning wasn’t going to do anything but give him more time to debate what the fuck he was going to do.

      Accepting her terms was probably a mistake. But the thought held no strength against the memories from last night. He wouldn’t take that choice back, no matter how thoroughly it might bite him in the ass later.

      He pulled on a pair of shorts and headed out into the main living space of the villa. It was a sprawling room containing a kitchen and furniture artfully arranged around the wall that opened to the beach. Roman stopped short at the sight of Allie walking up the steps, sand on her feet and her blond hair windblown.

      She grinned. “The sunrise is seriously beautiful today.”

      She didn’t leave. He tried to get his reaction under control and to smile in return. “It is paradise.”

      “That’s true.” Allie dropped a kiss on his lips as she walked past. “I got coffee started. How do you take yours?”

      Roman had never lived with a woman before. Even when he’d dated—occasionally seriously—his schedule prevented this kind of casual morning interaction. It had never felt like a loss until that moment. He followed Allie into the kitchen. “Black.”

      “I should have known.” She’d reclaimed her shirt and shorts, and they looked even better in the daylight than they had the night before. She brought two mugs from the open-faced cupboards and poured coffee into them. After setting his in front of him, she doused hers with enough cream and sugar to make his teeth hurt. She shot him a look from beneath her lashes. “What can I say? I like sweet.”

      “I see that.” Even this early in the morning, he was smart enough not to comment on it. He took a cautious sip. “You stayed.”

      She stirred her coffee. “I almost left, but it didn’t seem right to sneak out like a thief.” Allie made a face. “Plus, Becka was otherwise occupied last night, so I don’t expect her up and around until a little later. I do not need to walk in on some kind of morning-after shenanigans.”

      He almost asked, but Roman was... He didn’t know how to term his relationship with Becka’s sister anymore. They were friends once, albeit not close ones. They might be friends again if Gideon ever forgave him for meddling in their relationship. At this point, he’d be lucky if he was invited to the wedding.

      Either way, it was none of his damn business who Becka Baudin went to bed with. He wasn’t her brother, and he wasn’t her friend. Her sister might have an opinion on that, but Lucy wasn’t here and Roman wouldn’t win any points by running back to her and telling tales. No, Becka was a grown-ass woman and he was going to stay the hell out of it.

      Roman leaned against the counter. “Big plans today?”

      “We were going to go snorkeling off the reef on the other side of the island. They have a boat that takes you out and they provide lunch, too.” She hesitated. “Do you want to come?”

       Yes.

      He tempered his reaction almost as fast as it arose. Jumping at her and yanking her into his arms was only going to spook her and make him look like a fool in the process. Instead, he saluted her with his mug. “Only if I’m not intruding.”

      Allie raised her eyebrows. “As if you’d let that stop you.”

      He laughed. “Fair point. Yes, I’d like to come snorkeling with you.” Saying it felt like he was agreeing to something more serious than a daytime outing, but Roman didn’t let himself think about that too hard. He liked Allie. He liked spending time with her. She wasn’t going to let him get any ground on talking business while they were down there, and even if he went back to New York, he couldn’t make any forward progress without her. All that aside, he wanted to be on West Island. With her.

      “When’s the last time you had a vacation?”

      He shrugged. “I visited my parents in Morocco a couple years ago.”

      Those blue eyes saw too much. She gave a soft smile. “When’s the last time you had a real—relaxing—vacation?”

      “Ah, that’s something else altogether.” He thought hard and came up blank. “I don’t know. Maybe spring break in college, but that’s hardly the idea of relaxing you’re talking about.” He’d had his eye on the prize even back then, so Roman had used the time to network. Nothing brought people together as much as getting drunk and doing stupid shit, and those relationships had panned out nicely in the years since.

      But an actual vacation? Just to relax?

      He cleared his throat, not quite able to meet her gaze. “Never.”

      “That’s what I thought.” Allie set down her mug and slid into his arms as if she’d made the move a thousand times before. “We have four days left on West Island. Why don’t we treat it like a real vacation and just enjoy ourselves?”

      It sounded a whole hell of a lot like she’d just smacked an expiration date on them. Roman wasn’t surprised at that. What did surprise him was how her words made him feel—like he wanted to bend her over the counter and fuck her until she admitted that there might actually be something there.

      Instead, he palmed her ass and gave her a light squeeze. “You’ll stay here at night.”

      “Yes.” No argument for once. Her gaze dropped to his lips. “I have to talk to Becka, but judging by how excited she was by my leaving last night, I don’t think she’ll have a problem with the change of plans. Especially if it leaves the villa open for her to have her own vacation fling.”

       I’m not a fucking fling.

      Once again, he smothered the response. Roman didn’t know what he wanted from this yet, other than more time with Allie, but he’d be damned before he did or said something to spook her. There would be plenty of time to hash it out later. Right now, they were just talking about the next four days.

      He smoothed her hair back. “Why don’t you bring your things here for the duration—it’d save you the multiple trips.”

      “Trips I’ll still have to make to arrange things with Becka for our daily plans.” Allie shook her head. “No, this is better with clear boundaries. СКАЧАТЬ