Page 52 of Hate to Crave You
He dealt with the routine task of brewing the coffee as she showered. While his hands were busy, his mind ran through the day he had ahead of him. There was nothing particularly pressing, just a routine day. If Julianna didn’t have anything that might keep her late, maybe she’d like to go out to eat. He had a yen for Italian lately.
She joined him in the kitchen just as the first cup was ready and he turned it over to her with a smile.
“You are a darling,” she said, sighing with gusto as she accepted it.
He pointed toward the table. Even though she’d said she had a breakfast meeting, he’d heated her up a croissant. She had a fondness for them.
“Oh, yummy.” She picked it up and nipped off a bite before taking another sip of coffee.
“What sort of day do you have ahead of you, aside from the breakfast meeting?”
She shrugged. “Typical day. Why?”
“I was thinking maybe we could go out for dinner. Italian?”
“Sounds like a plan.” She devoured half the croissant and drank a few more sips of coffee. “Text me details later?”
She dashed into the bathroom after dropping a kiss on Roman’s forehead and he sat there, smiling at nothing as he sipped at his coffee. The past several weeks had been the best of his life.
He hadn’t thought it was possible to be happy like this.
“What are you smiling about?” Julianna asked as she strode back into the kitchen a couple of moments later.
He got up to kiss her. She tasted like toothpaste. He lingered over the kiss until she pushed him back. “Keep that up and I’ll be late,” she advised him.
“Is that so bad?”
“Well,Iwouldn’t think so, but I was already late for a meeting this month, and if it happens again, I’m going to have a hard time brushing it off.” She winked at him as she grabbed her purse. “You never did tell me what you were smiling about.”
“You,” he said simply.
She stopped mid-motion, staring at him. Then she started to blink rapidly. “Damn you. You go saying things like that and you make mewantto be late.”
He leered playfully at her, but she laughed. He took a step toward her and she held up a staying hand. “You…stay over there. I’ve got to go.”
“I’ll walk you out.” He escorted her out to the private elevator and dropped a sedate kiss onto her cheek. “I’ll text you about dinner, okay?”
She smiled in response and stepped onto the elevator. The doors closed on the sight of her blowing a kiss at him.
Roman retreated back inside his condo and sat down at the table. Her plate still sat across from him, most of the croissant gone. He took the corner she hadn’t eaten and popped it in his mouth as he debated on whether or not he wanted to make himself some breakfast or grab a bagel on the way into the office.
As he rose to pour himself another cup of coffee, there was a knock at the door.
He frowned.
It was awful early for it to be much of anybody. Only a few people had the code for his private elevator and most of them weren’t exactly the type to make early morning calls.
Opening the door, wondering if Julianna had forgotten her keys, he fixed a smile on his face, ready to tease her.
It almost died at the sight of his father.
Oh, fuck.
“Hello, Roman.” Michael Montrose nodded at him. “I was in the area. I thought we could grab a cup of coffee and drive into the office together.”
At his father’s expectant look, he dutifully stepped aside.
Had he seen Julianna on his way out?
