Page 143 of Guarded King

And maybe an imperfect painting is better than no painting at all.

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

CHLOE

With my feet propped on Roman’s lap, I let out a sigh. There’s a movie playing on his huge TV, and he’s alternating between answering emails on his phone and giving me a foot massage. Life doesn’t get much better than this.

It’s been a week since it hit me—I’m truly in love with him. And every day since, I’ve been turning over what to do about it in my mind. Should I tell him? Apart from having to keep our relationship a secret, being with him is wonderful. But will admitting how I feel change things? I’ve never said those words to a man before, and all the secrecy complicates matters.

Most of all, I have no idea whether he feels the same. Yes, he gets possessive. He doesn’t like when David comes by my desk and flirts. He says he’s obsessed with me, and he always wants to touch me. But what does all that mean for the future? What are his thoughts on long-term commitment? Marriage? Children?

I’m too afraid to ask.

What I do know is that his priority is navigating the company through the changes ahead, and that the EcoTech acquisition is a big part of that. No one can know about us until it’s done. So I haven’t broached the subject of making our relationship public.I just wish us being together didn’t feel like such a risk to all his hard work.

More than anything, I wish his father hadn’t been such an asshole. I wish he hadn’t taken Roman’s beautiful soul and twisted it until he was forced to build a wall around it.

The man in question catches me looking at him, and a wicked grin curves his seductive lips. “Is the movie boring you?”

With a sly smile of my own, I flutter my lashes. “Just can’t stop staring at my handsome boss.”

His eyes darken and he puts down his phone. “Come here, sweetheart.”

Without hesitation, I climb over and straddle him, staring into his eyes. Those gray eyes I once thought were so cold are now full of fire.

He kisses me, and it’s hot and tender at the same time. Just like him.

I roll my hips, relishing his deep groan and the way he swells, hard and ready, beneath me. With his hands buried in my hair, he angles my head, giving himself better access. I moan against his lips, anticipation flaring to life inside me.

The shrill ring of his phone startles me, and I pull back.

“Ignore it.”

Those simple words send a thrill through me. The knowledge that he’ll ignore a business call for me makes me happier than it has any right to. But when it rings a second time, I sigh and sit back on his thighs. If it’s urgent, he needs to answer it.

“What do you want, Cole?” He grips my hip, clearly impatient to get back to what we were doing.

Feeling playful, I pepper kisses along his jaw. He swats my ass, but it only makes me smirk and keep going.

Then his body goes rigid beneath my touch. I stop immediately, pulling back to study his face.

The sudden tension in his expression sends a ripple of unease through me.

“How did it happen?” he asks, voice low.

I search his face for a hint of what’s gone wrong. Is it EcoTech? Or worse, did something happen to one of his brothers or his mom?

He gives nothing away, dropping his chin slightly as he listens. Then he grunts as if in acknowledgment. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

As soon as he hangs up, I run my hands over the coiled muscles in his shoulders, trying to soothe him. “What’s wrong?”

Instead of answering, he lifts me off his lap and sets me gently on the couch before standing and pacing away.

The unease I felt before gathers into a heavy ball in my chest as he puts distance between us. It’s selfish, but if he’s upset, I want him to need me closer, not move further away.

Finally, he turns, lacing his fingers behind his neck. “Dad had a heart attack in prison.”

I sit up straighter, my stomach dropping. “Is he okay?”