Page 23 of Hate to Crave You
Julianna
Most men lookedgood in a tuxedo.
But then there was Roman.
He didn’t just lookgood.
He looked delicious.
He looked dangerous.
He looked like a thousand sexy, secret dreams she’d never dared to let herself dwell on in the light of day, let alone admit to anyone.
Now as the limo glided to a stop, she was hard-pressed to tear her eyes from him.
“You’re staring,” Roman said softly, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“I’m sure I’m not the first woman to stare at you.” She wasn’t embarrassed. He looked like sex on a stick—he had to know that.
“You’re not. But I can’t think of too many women who’ve been able to give me a hard-on just by stroking me with their eyes, the way you do.” He shifted in his seat, making it clear he wasn’t just saying that, either.
Her eyes dropped to his lap.
“Damn, Julianna. Do you want to make it impossible for me to get out of this limo in the next few hours or what?” He grimaced, but his words were delivered in good nature.
She laughed, unable to control the curl of delight that twined through her. She loved knowing he reacted to her.
“Our car is next, Mr. Montrose,” a voice said over the loudspeaker.
Roman’s eyes shot to hers. “You need to behave or we’re going to give the crowd a lot more to talk about than needed.”
“They’ll already be talking about us.”
“But do they need to mention that I climbed out of the limo sporting wood while you were laughing?” he quipped.
“I’m hardly laughing about your…state,” she finished delicately.
He leaned across the limo and cupped her cheek. “What is it that has you laughing, beautiful Julianna?”
She shook her head, unable to put it all into words. The limo pulled forward and she closed her hand over his wrist, squeezing lightly. “It’s show time. How many stares do you think we’ll get?”
“All of them.” He let her tug her hand away and let his gaze sweep over her. “But a great many people will be looking at you because you’re so beautiful. You look like you’re made of gold in that dress.”
Julianna shivered at his tone. “Thank you.”
The limo door opened and Roman shifted away from her. His shoulders rose and fell on a sigh and she peered past him to catch sight of a bank of cameras. The New York elite had come out for this event and as always, the media had followed. Preparing to be blinded, she slid from the limo after Roman, accepting his offered hand.
There was a fraction of a pause. If one wasn’t used to such events, they might not have noticed it, but both Roman and Julianna had been attending such events ever since they were old enough to do so and in that brief hesitation, they caught the faint surprise coming from reporters who were well versed in the rivalry between the two dynasty families.
Julianna caught movement from the corner of her eye and put heronsmile firmly into place just as the first camera flashed.
Questions were shouted but neither of them answered. Each of them offered a wave and Roman stepped away for a brief moment as people shouted at Julianna to get a shot of her dress. She turned around to display the deep vee that ran between the twisted swathes of material that formed the shoulder straps. The dress was Grecian in style and flowed around her in layers. She wore a hammered collar of gold, one of the family’s designer pieces, around her neck, with a matching armband on her left forearm and a bracelet on the right.
After a few more pictures, she reached for Roman and he was there as if they’d done this a thousand times.
They were well-matched, something she’d noticed more than once.
Briefly, she wondered what it would be like if they were free to pursue a relationship—a real one.
