Page 25 of Deceit & Desire

“I know that between you and Roman, I don’t have anything to worry about. I’ll see you both in a few days. I’ve gotta go doll, the nurse is here with a tray full of horse pills and syringes.”

“See you in a few days, Daddy.”

After we hung up, I scooped my clothes up off the floor, reveling in the pleasant ache between my legs. The sex between Rome and me had always been good before I left, but what just happened before that phone call was beyond good… it was fucking spectacular.

I shivered with pleasure, deciding I needed a fresh underwear set and a shower because there was no way in hell I was going to face the rest of the day with damp panties that smelled like I just got my brains fucked out by the one man whose heart I seemed built to break over and over again. A man who just made me feel like a goddess… a man I didn’t even begin to deserve, not even for a minute.

I scanned the room, looking for my bag and shaking my head when I spotted it sitting on the handmade wood foot locker sitting at the end of the bed.

“Presumptuous much?” I muttered the words under my breath, even as I rolled my eyes at myself.

Stop trying to look for things to be mad at him about, idiot.

I knew it made sense for my bag to be in his bedroom if we were fake engaged.

Hell, it made even more sense if we were going to go through with getting married for real, like I told him we should when we went to see Dad at the hospital yesterday.

I unzipped my duffel bag and grabbed a fresh underwear set, taking them with me into Roman’s bathroom along with the jeans and fitted black and pink floral patterned tee shirt I’d worn out to the paddock that morning. Not wanting to waste a lot of time, I piled my hair up in a bun on top of my head and skipped washing it, just doing a quick scrub-down to freshen up.

I grabbed a towel off the bar beside the shower and dried off, shimmying back into my clothes. I had my marching orders from Daddy to get to, and I was in a hurry to get up to the big house and get to work on them. Sitting on the edge of Roman’s bed, I tugged my boots on, then grabbed my phone off the night stand, and opened it to text him.

My finger hovered over his contact information, and I winced at “Fuckface” because I knew he wasn’t the bad guy in our story. Not really, anyway. I tapped the edit button and changed his contact name from “Fuckface” to “Rome” before shooting him a quick text.

Zoe

Dad wants us to move into the big house with him. He’ll be coming home in a few days, so I’m going to get things ready up there while you’re working today. Tell you the rest later.

Rome

All right. See you tonight, baby. Text me if you need me.

Zoe

I will.

Shoving my phone in my back pocket, I zipped my duffel bag up and hauled it down the stairs of the foreman’s house with me.

“Might as well take it on up to the big house with me.” I muttered the words to the empty house, as if I needed to explain myself, even though no one was there for me to explain it to.

With a gusty sigh, I let myself out of Roman’s house and stared across the yard at the big house… the house I’d left behind a decade ago.

I never thought I’d come back, but I fell prey to that age-old Achilles heel so many daughters have when it comes to their fathers. For my whole life, my father was so much larger than life that some part of me genuinely believed he was invincible despite the fact that I’d lost my mother when I was eight years old.

I was well aware that death was all too real, but I wanted to believe my strong, workaholic, kickass daddy was immune to the touch of death.

And I did, right up until my phone rang and Roman was on the other end, telling me my father had collapsed and had to be rushed to the hospital.

Ignoring the heavy lump of dread that settled deep in my gut, I let myself into the big house and went straight upstairs to drop off my duffel bag in the master bedroom. Though my dad had only been gone for a few days, there were dust motes floating through the air in the early afternoon sunlight slanting in through the windows, and I knew there was plenty of work to keep me busy here while Roman worked the ranch.

If I just stay busy, I won’t have to think.

Opening one of the top dresser drawers, I pulled out one of dad’s bandanas and tied it around my hair to keep it back out of my face, and to have something of his on me while I worked. Sucking in a deep breath, I gritted my teeth and marched downstairs to get to work on the back bedroom for Daddy, and the guest bedroom for the home healthcare nurse.

I stripped both beds and got the bedding washing, then opened the windows to let some of the stale smell out and fresh air in while I dusted, mopped, and vacuumed the area rugs.

After I swapped the bedding from the washer to the dryer, my gaze snagged on the downstairs bathroom’s closed door.

“Fuck my life.” I squeezed my eyes shut as my heart froze into an icy lump and dropped to my feet.

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