Page 31 of Leah

I could see where this was going…

“Careful,” I found myself saying without stopping. “A fool and his money are easily parted.”

He paused and stared at me for a beat, his brows slowly pinching together.

“What is she saying?” his Melanie-look-alike asked in confusion.

“She’s saying Rome’s gonna go broke,” Carter answered in a low voice.

It was the first time he’d spoken.

I met his eye again, and my chest pinched. He hadn’t touched his food, but he was drinking like a fish. On the table in front of him were two bottles of beer and he was holding a third one.

I watched him raise the tip to his mouth. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he gulped a bit down, never looking away from me. My gaze trailed his throat and down his upper body before looking back up again. He noticed my perusal and his mouth flinched upwards, knowingly. A lone tingle ran down my spine.

Fuck you, tingles.

“Are you going bankrupt?” Marlena then gasped, completely getting the wrong idea.

Rome exhaled. “No, Mom—”

“All that money gone? Harold, say something!”

Harold grunted with indifference. “You live and learn, honey.”

“Wait, you’re going bankrupt?” Alyssa suddenly inserted in shock, looking at Rome like her entire world was falling apart.

“The next album will fix that,” Molly muttered under her breath, still typing away at her phone. Bet you she was on Twitter.

Oh, stereotypical Leah.

Why was I being such an asshole?

“For fuck’s sake!” Rome growled out. “I’m not going bankrupt! I just said I was looking for another house to buy! Does that sound like I’m going bankrupt?”

Alyssa fell back onto the couch in relief. Because that’s not a sign enough the chick was in love with more than just his pretty face. Carter let out a deep chuckle, and I felt it all the way down to my toes. That freaking laugh…

Dear God, I was doomed.

Confidence, confidence.

Marlena gasped again. “Language, Rome!”

Rome glared at me for several moments and I shrugged apologetically. Maybe it was time I just shut up, which was pretty ridiculous since I’d barely said a word.

The conversation steered far away from money now, and into their music. I remained quiet, watching them as the boys ate and the girls pretended to be interested.

All the while, I felt the searing burn ofhiseyes penetrating me wholly.

Ten

Leah

Everyone eventually broke off into separate conversations. I wasn’t part of any of them. Neither was Carter. He was still watching me in the most intense way, like he was stripping me bare right there on the spot. He used to look at me like this before, and those times usually resulted with my back on the ground somewhere, and him over top of me. I could see that heated simmer in his eyes. Glancing at him several times, I felt the heat of his gaze all the way down to my toes.

It was doing things to me.

Very bad things.

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