Page 40 of Nothing to No One

Maybe she should have asked for acting lessons.

No, her attitude was all wrong. Everything she knew of Roman was skewed by her first impression of him the morning they met. That was an intense time, high pressure, maybe he wasn’t as bad as she thought. Sure, Struan and Mieux and everyone she’d met seemed to agree he was high maintenance. Still, if this was going to be her life, she had to make the most of it.

A good motivator? This man meant something to Struan who meant a lot to her.

“How did you get into acting?” she asked, setting her purse on her lap, determined to find some common ground.

“Have you never heard of the internet? Anything you want to know is—”

“I don’t know how long this will last. How long we’ll have to see each other, live with each other, but it’s going to be more than just tonight. Unless you have some secret plan I know nothing about?” No response. “So we should find something, don’t you think? Something we can talk about.”

If nothing else, by all accounts, he loved to talk about himself.

Tension in his body pulsed, as though it was his instinct to argue; it quickly deflated again.

“We did it at school,” he muttered. “And there was a drama club thing my father took us to. Struan wanted to know how everything worked, the lights, the camera, how actors prepared. I loved being on stage, even in rehearsal, being up there commanding a room felt right.”

His typical scowl loosened. She could almost see a glimmer of Struan in him, which was the first time she’d seen either of them in the other. Just because they looked alike didn’t mean their souls were the same.

“Is there anything I should know? We’re going to dinner together and shouldn’t embarrass each other. I know not to order alcohol—”

“I’ll order the wine,” he snapped. “I’m no drunk.” There was that line between his brows again. “You don’t have to do anything. Don’t say anything. This is an important guy. Ricardo Whey owns half this town.”

And CollCom the other half, from how she heard it.

“He’s in charge ofUndercover Ops?”

“His company is. He sits in his office and makes decisions. He’s important, very important. Don’t be surprised if he doesn’t ask your name or remember it. He’s not there to see you.”

That got her thinking. If Ricardo Whey was so important, why would he take a meeting with Roman Lowe? Given a choice, she wouldn’t meet Roman in private. And if she was managinghis career, she wouldn’t want anyone else to meet him in private either. In private it was too easy to reach for the decanter, to accept one drink and another, increasing the chance he’d embarrass himself.

Putting him in a restaurant surrounded by other people gave them a time limit. Didn’t it? Once the food was eaten, they could sit at the table, but would they stick around all night? Surely not.

“How long will it take to get there?”

“What the fuck do I know?” he snarked. “I don’t care.”

“Do you have allergies? Likes? Dislikes? What kind of place is it? What food do they serve?”

Asking other people questions about the man who’d apparently stolen her heart embarrassed her, embarrassed them, and she didn’t want a repeat of that. This guy was supposed to be her boyfriend, her fiancé, shouldn’t they know something about each other? He didn’t seem bothered about walking in blind.

Was it really a surprise? Was Roman Lowe the type of man to know everything about a girlfriend? A serious, like forever, girlfriend? Maybe his heart was broken. It wasn’t with her, she didn’t want it, but maybe she should learn something about where it truly lay.

“Tell me about Sway.”

That jerked his chin higher. “She’s the goddamn love of my life. My woman, my soulmate.” She’d never seen him so sure about anything, and with a guy as cocky as him, that was saying something. “We’re destined to be together.” He wouldn’t be so brusque if she truly was a potential love interest, would he? Knowing what she did of Roman, it was possible. “So don’t get any ideas.”

Ha! He wished. Breathe. Just breathe through it. Laughing in his face wouldn’t set the right tone for the night ahead.

“Why did you break up?” she asked, deserving an Oscar for her calm.

“It’s none of your business. No tell-all book for you.”

Yeah, like that was her goal. Knowing more about the type of woman he could love would help her enact her current role.

“Where is she now?”

“In town somewhere. People in her life are keeping us apart.”

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