Page 156 of If You Love Me

Poor Tally. It can’t be easy trying to date with a dad as protective as Vander Zee.

I message Roman.

Lexi

Walk to the arena together?

Roman

Absolutely.

He shows up at my office fifteen minutes later.

“I have news.”

“I-need-to-call-Sam kind of news, or get-out-the-balloons kind of news?” he asks.

I laugh. Hemi’s brother Sam is intense. I don’t know what his job is, but Dallas jokes that he’s a fixer. “The paperwork has been filed. I’m fully cleared.”

“That’s fantastic.”

“And Donnie isn’t with the Terror anymore.”

“That’s even better news, because I had some plans for him that might have made my retirement a challenge. We’re celebrating the hell out of this later.” He closes my office door, turns the lock, and strides across the room. Taking my hand, he pulls me out of the chair. Roman’s arms circle my waist and his eyes spark with desire.

“You shouldn’t look at me like that when we’re in the office.” I lace my fingers behind his neck.

“Stop looking so tempting, then, beautiful wife.” He strokesmy cheek. “Thank you for weathering this storm with me. I know this hasn’t been easy.”

“Loving you is worth it.”

He drops his head, and the kiss is soft, a tender promise of what’s to come later.

EPILOGUE

ROMAN

“Fee, can you test this for me?” I hold out the spoon.

“Can I test it too?” Callie moves to stand beside her sister.

“Absolutely. Grab me another spoon.”

Callie opens the drawer, picks up another one, and passes it to me. Fee waits while I dip it into the marinara.

“It’ll be hot, so blow on it before you taste it,” I warn.

“You tell us this every time.” Fee blows on her spoon.

“I know. I’m a dad. It’s engrained in my dad DNA to protect you from even the smallest of potentially harmful situations. Like a burned tongue.”

Callie giggles and blows on hers too. Then they test the sauce at the same time. It’s a regular ritual in our house. Whenever we can, we make dinner together, and the girls always perform a taste test before we plate the meals.

“What do we think?” I ask.

“Maybe a touch more salt,” Callie suggests.

“Just a pinch and it’s perfect,” Fee agrees.

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