Page 8 of Falling for You (Balsam Cliffs #2)

I’ve been purposefully annoying Rome for the last two hours. Flirting relentlessly with this guy, who on any other day would be a perfectly good fuck, and if I’m in a preppy mood, exactly the type of guy I’d pick.

But on a day where I’m watching Roman work in his cargo shorts with his muscular legs showing, and the inked skin rippling over his muscled arms, no one is my type except him.

And he isn’t even giving me the time of day since he delivered my drink. It seems our usual round of foreplay isn’t working to drag him back into me.

My brothers, on the other hand, are about to crawl out of their skin watching me fawn all over this guy.

They’re dying to kick him to the curb, but Willow and Violet are keeping them in check.

Probably because they want to see me piss Rome off and push him to the point he finally admits to my brothers what we had or, according to them, still have.

I catch his eye as he pretends to not be watching me from the outdoor bar where he’s collecting dirty dishes to go back to the kitchen. I stare at him while I lean over to whisper in my date’s ear. Is it bad I don’t even remember his name?

“I’m going to run to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” I run my hand along his chest, just like I used to do with Rome. My every move in this moment is calculated.

When I get up all four of my brothers are staring at me, their eyes shooting daggers. I’m sure I’ll be getting a call from Cooper later about this guy when our brothers fill him in.

Cooper might be working in Europe for a travel magazine for a few days, but it doesn’t stop him from being another overprotective older brother. Not when he still has four spies so close by.

I step into the bathroom, grateful for a moment I don’t have to act like this super ditzy, flirty girl anymore. It’s really exhausting.

I turn on the cold water to splash some on my face. But I don’t get the chance before I’m ripped away from the sink.

Roman’s body covers mine against the bathroom wall. His forearms rest next to my head and every inch of his glorious body is stretched up along mine.

“What are you doing? Anyone could walk in here?” I ask breathlessly.

He holds the key in front of my face, dangling the set from his pinky. “I put up an out of order sign. They’ll go to the men’s room.”

“Okay, back to what are you doing ?”

“Me?” The vein in his temple ticks to the beat of the music in the brewery. “What the fuck are you doing? Why are you doing this to me? You’re purposely making me jealous.”

“Me doing this to you? You ended things. I’m moving on with my life.

And neither you nor my brothers get to control what that looks like anymore.

” I try to look angry with him, but my body is reacting to the proximity.

She remembers absolutely everything his body can do, and she’s desperate for more. Traitorous bitch .

His lips slam into mine, pressing my head into the wall, pushing my lips open. And I comply, my body just melting into his. It fits so perfectly, but I need to remember why we’re here, hidden and locked in a bar bathroom.

Just as I have that thought, he pushes off me, ripping his lips from mine. And, like a weak ass woman, I fall toward him, reaching for him, needy for him.

“They don’t need to know, Rome. It can be our secret like it was,” I plead.

“No!” he says harshly. Taking a step toward me his face softens, “I won’t let you be a secret, Ems. You don’t deserve that and neither do I. I want to love you out in the open.”

“Love me?”

My question causes pure panic to etch across his face.

Before he can respond a knock comes at the door, “Roman, we need you in the kitchen.” Clark’s voice is loud, and gruff, breaking the moment we have.

He looks at me, and regret fills his eyes. “I gotta go.”

“Roman. Don’t go.” I rush to the door to find Clark standing on the other side. His eyes widen when he sees me, knowing what is at stake for Roman if Hunter finds out.

He turns quickly to follow his boss to the kitchen. Clearly, he wasn’t expecting me despite his plea to not give up on Rome. Which leads me to wonder who he was expecting.

I turn back to the bathroom, the cold water still running from a moment ago. I splash some on my face, take a deep breath, will those tears back in and pat my skin dry before going back to the group.

I slide into my chair, not making eye contact with any of them, especially my date.

I listen to the conversation swirling around me, my mind somewhere else.

My brothers are being nice to this guy, only it’s the kind of nice that I know is really sarcastic and making fun of him.

I can’t take it anymore. They’re keeping me from the person who really makes me happy.

Now keeping me from the guy who could make me happy for the night.

I reach over, draping my arm over his shoulders, “Let’s get out of here, babe.”

A tipsy smile graces his lips, “You got it, sweetheart.”

I push back from the table, “We’ll see you guys later, we’re going to get out of here.”

My brothers all go slackjaw, realizing that they can’t chase this date away especially if I leave with him and they’re stuck here. Violet and Willow, however, both chuckle under their breath.

I loop my arm through his, and we walk out through the brewery.

I catch Roman’s eye as we walk past the bar, laying my head on my date’s shoulder and turning away from the man I don’t know if I want to forget.

I’m tired of the back and forth with him.

I look up at my date, smiling at the simplicity of our deal.

Other than forgetting what his name is. I should probably figure that out.

We walk back to the cabin, the same one that is covered in construction materials, drop cloths, a cooler holding my snacks, and an out of order bathroom. Hopefully he won’t mind roughing it. At least I’ll get a real orgasm, if he’s even capable of giving one, but I can work with that too.

His hands are roaming sloppily around my body, moving but not actually doing anything for me other than annoying me.

I slip the key into the lock, opening the door to the cabin.

He snickers. “This is a nice place.”

“It’s under renovation.” I point to the tools all over my dining room, and the missing cabinets in the kitchen.

“I see that.” He ignores the mess and lunges toward me, pulling me into his arms unceremoniously.

I ignore his advances for now, something doesn’t feel right with him, not like it does with Roman. “Would you like a drink? I have uh…” I pull out of his arms, walking over to the cooler at the edge of the kitchen, “some hard cider?” I pull two cans out of the cooler.

“No, baby, I just want you.” He pulls me into his arms once more. His lips make contact with mine this time, they take over more than my mouth, his tongue goes too far nearly choking me, his hands are too rough, digging into my skin.

When our teeth clash, I can’t take it anymore.

I pull away from him. He looks at me concerned.

“What’s wrong, baby?”

“I just…” I pause. “I have an early morning. So I need to get to bed if you don’t mind.”

I walk toward the door, opening it for him to leave.

He stalks toward me before stopping in front of me with his finger pointed at me. “You’re a fucking tease. Fuck you.”

I let out a breath as he walks away. Once he’s safely gone and out of sight, I grab the hard cider from the counter, crack it open and plop down on the bed.

I try to scroll my phone but Roman is too in my head.

I pull up a text to him, he should be closing now and my brothers should be on their way home.

Me: You owe me an orgasm.

Roman: Date didn’t go well?

Me: You could say that.

My phone rings in my hand and I see Roman’s photo flash on the screen. I hesitate to answer. Do I want to do this again? Do I want to open myself up to be rejected yet again?

Yes. Yes, I do. I’m a glutton for punishment, obviously.

I swipe the green button at the bottom of the screen. “Hey.”

“Hey there. He looked pretty sloppy on the way out. He doesn’t know how you like to be touched, am I right?” His deep voice fills the space of my bedroom.

“No one does,” I admit. “No one touches me like you.”

He growls on the other end of the line, “You can’t say shit like that, Sunshine.”

“And you can’t pull what you pulled in the bathroom. Or calling me Sunshine. You don’t deserve to use the nickname you gave me if you’re too scared to face Hunter.”

He started calling me Sunshine last summer.

The bar would always close late at night so he missed the sunsets every day.

If I wasn’t there waiting for him I’d send a photo every night right before the sun dipped below the horizon.

I relish the nickname. But I mean what I say this time.

He needs to grow a pair and tell my brother.

I would, but it’s not my best friend. So I’m leaving the decision to him.

If he wants this, he needs to fight for it.

“I know. I’m sorry. I’m going to tell him. I promise. I need you, I need to hear you moan when I kiss you, gripping your neck tight before I slam my mouth into you. I need to wake up tangled with you in my bed.” I hear him sigh.

“I don’t know. I don’t know if I can do that again,” I admit.

“It’ll be different this time. I need you like I need air to breathe, Sunshine. I don’t want to feel like I’m suffocating anymore.”

“When Rome?” I whisper out.

“Soon. I will. Just give me some time to figure it out. Please?”

“I’ll give you one month. That puts us at a year of this… whatever this is. Then you either have to give me up, or I’ll tell Hunter myself.”

I hate being that girl. The one who gives an ultimatum.

But I’ve spent more of my life pining for Roman Thomas than I have actually being with him, or any other man.

Since I had a taste of what it was like to be with him, I don’t want to give it up, but I don’t want to pine for him for the rest of my life in secrecy either.

“One month,” he repeats. “I can do it in one month.”

I yawn, sinking further back into my pillows, the sun, heat and alcohol taking over my heavy eyelids. I lay my phone on the pillow next to me, curling my hands under my chin.

“Go to sleep, Sunshine. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Mmkay, love you Rome.”

I wake up with my phone flat on my face, and a vague recollection of telling Roman I love him. Fuck, I hope I didn’t do that.

I can’t just ask him if I did. It was probably a dream. Right?

Before I can even fully open my eyes, my front door barges open, much earlier than usual.

I cringe, knowing that Hunter is paying this particular construction site a visit this morning to see if there is an unwanted guest in my bed. I need to revoke his key to the cabin. But Liam would just let him in with the spares we keep in the office.

I pull the blankets up over my head and groan, snuggling further into my blanket nest.

“Ems!” Hunter’s loud ass voice booms from the kitchen, grating on my last nerve.

This time I tuck the edges of the blanket under my feet and under my head. If he can’t see me, I’m not here.

His heavy boots stomp their way to my bedroom door. “Ems, I swear to God if I open this door and see a dick, or worse, your naked ass, I’m going to tell Mom.”

Ugh. Like Mom wouldn’t be on my side.

“I’m coming. Give me a damn minute. The sun is barely up.”

I toss my legs over the side, flattening my feet on the cold wood floor. Despite the weather feeling like summer, it’s New England, and that weather left overnight bringing back the cooler spring temperatures.

Roman’s hoodie is laid across the end of my bed.

I stole it over the winter when I was sneaking out of his place.

It’s from Rebels so if any of my family saw it, they’d just think I grabbed it one night from the back.

I help Roman do his books sometimes when he gets busy.

I just add it to my list of shit to do for the inn.

I stuff the hoodie over my head, sliding it down my body.

Just as I open the door Hunter raises his fist to knock again. “I said give me a minute.” I furrow my brows, pouting at him.

Shuffling past him, I open the cooler in my kitchen, pulling out the pre-made cold brew and my creamer to make my coffee before I need to go over to the inn for the bathroom.

“When might I have working plumbing again?”

“If I say today, will you stop being so mad at me?” He follows me back to the kitchen.

“If you say today, and stop being such a cockblock, I might be nice to you. For a minute.” I put my coffee supplies back in the cooler and mix it together with my straw before turning to face Hunt.

“I’ll get you a toilet today. But I’m not going to let these assholes who are just here for the weekend take you home. They aren’t good enough for you.” He scowls.

“I don’t need them to be good enough for me. I need them to be good enough to deliver an orgasm.” I raise my brows at him, waiting for his response.

“Oh gross. Come on! I can’t scrub that image from my brain!” He squeezes his eyes shut tight.

“Why do you have an image of your sister getting off? You perv.” I laugh at him, knowing he walked right into that.

Sliding on my shoes I’m still laughing at him. Knowing that I ruined his day like he did mine yesterday gives me great joy.

“Get the fuck out of here,” he yells to me. He mutters under his breath as he walks into the bathroom with an array of tools.

At least I’m getting a working toilet out of this. At the moment I’d take that over an orgasm.