Page 37 of Hate to Crave You

Maybe it was the adrenaline of the day or maybe it was just her racing mind.

She kept thinking about Roman.

And the weird talk with her mother.

She wasn’tfallingfor him.

He was just…well, he was fun.

And he made her laugh. He understood her on a level a lot of guys didn’t. When she started talking about things going on with the family mines, or advancement in gem technology, his eyes didn’t glaze over.

Hegother.

That wasn’t a bad thing, was it?

She closed her eyes and groaned as she realized that her mother just might be right. A good ten minutes had passed with her sitting there staring at the same page on her tablet, yet if she’d read anything, she had no idea what it was.

Her phone buzzed and she looked over at it, a small frisson of worry lighting inside her. Sometimes, the texts that came this late were from her brother and that never signified anything good.

But it wasn’t her brother’s picture that lit up her screen.

It was Roman’s.

She tapped the message and her breath caught at what he’d written.

ThoughtI’d take you up on that offer to hook up. Meet me at my place in thirty?

Julianna bit her lip.

It was late.

She should get some sleep.

She should maybe show some caution, because if her mother was right…

She tapped out a response.

I’ll be there.