Page 77 of Hate to Crave You
“Months.” With a laugh, Roman shook his head. “It was hard enough keeping it quiet for that long, sir. I’ll offer an apology, but I can’t pretend to be remorseful. I don’t have a lick of regret.”
“As long as it wasn’t back when the two of you met in boarding school,” Charles said, waving a hand.
“Boarding school?” Julianna asked.
Roman glanced at her, but she had her eyes on her father.
“Yes. Don’t you remember?” Charles cocked his head, studying his daughter with a smile on his face. “It was one of those times your asthma flared up and it was so bad, you had to be hospitalized. Thank God you grew out of that. Anyway, while you were in the hospital, there was a bad strep infection going throughout the children’s ward and they didn’t want to risk you getting sick. You ended up getting isolated with this boy here. But Michael found out and…well. That was the end of it. You talked about him for weeks after his dad had him moved to a different room. This was the boy who taught you how to play solitaire and he tried to teach you how to play poker.”
Julianna’s lips parted and she slid her eyes toward Roman, the look in her gaze softening.
“Thatwasyou,” she whispered.
He just shrugged. Looking back at her father, he asked, “So you have no problems with us being together?”
Once more, Charles gave him that look that made him want to squirm in his seat.
But after a few seconds, the older man’s face softened and he smiled at Roman. “Just make her happy.”
* * *
“I’m sorry about your dad,”Juliana said.
It was a few nights later and they lay in bed in her apartment, the city spread out just beyond the window in a dazzling, jeweled array.
They’d had dinner with Moira and Edgar Templeton to start hammering down details.
Nothing was official—yet.
That would take lawyers and paperwork, but they all trusted each other and knew what they wanted out of the deal, so they expected it to go smoothly.
Edgar had been overall quite pleased with things, but both Roman and Julianna had heard him muttering over a drink with Charles. The wordsstubborn old goathad been heard more than once.
Roman had resigned from Montrose Jewelers. Being fired would be one hell of a splash in the papers, but it wasn’t the kind of publicity he wanted. Nobody would have to speculate about why it happened, though.
Pictures of him and Julianna out the night before had peppered the papers that morning and rumors of them being together as a couple were whirling around.
It probably didn’t hurt that one of the pictures was of the two of them kissing.
They hadn’t known about the photographers, but even if they had, neither of them would have cared.
Now, as she lay against him, one hand circling over his chest in teasing strokes, Roman turned his head to nuzzle her hair. “I knew it was coming.”
“Knowing it doesn’t make it easier, does it?” she asked.
He thought about it a moment before agreeing, “No, I don’t guess it does.” He pulled her on top of him and said, “But I’d give up everything to be with you. I don’t want you to ever doubt that. Not even for a second.”
A sweet smile curved her lips and she lowered her head to kiss him.
Just as interest started to rise in him, though, she lifted her head. Hands pillowed on his chest, she rested her chin on them. “I know you and Dad both think he’s not going to come around, but I keep hoping you’re wrong.”
“The old man is too stubborn,” he told her with a shake of his head. “He doesn’t know how to admit he made a mistake and that would be the first thing necessary to fix this. It’s not even that I need him to say he’s sorry. But for him to allow himself to talk to me, he’d need to admit that he either screwed up…or he’d want me to sayIscrewed up.” Roman stroked a hand down her hair. “And you’re where he’d want me to say I screwed up. I love my dad, but I’m not going to lie to win his approval, Julianna.”
Her chest shuddered on a deep, sighing breath and she turned her head to rest it on his chest. Curling an arm around his neck, she said, “You know, it ought to be easier than this. I love you. You love me. We’re happy. Why can’t that be enough for him?”
“Because he’s a stubborn old goat. Your father’s words, not mine.”
She hiccupped out a laugh. “My old man has always had a way with words.”
