Page 68 of Hate to Crave You

Roman

Her eyes softenedat the sight of him and he felt an echoing sensation in his chest, but Roman steeled himself against it.

They had shit to settle.

Namely, the way she’d been running around behind his back.

Shoving off the wall, he moved to cut her off. Her head tipped back and he watched as a veil fell over her eyes, blocking the softness he’d seen.

“Hello, Roman,” she said, her voice calm and cool.

So calm and cool, it pissed him off.

“I want answers,” he said in lieu of greeting. “What the fuck was going on earlier?”

Her eyes cooled even more and she gave him a withering look.

“If that’s the tone you’re going to take, we don’t have anything to discuss,” Julianna said, cutting around him and moving toward her door.

He heard the rattle of keys as he turned around.

As she unlocked the door, she tossed a comment over her shoulder at him. “You should go home and cool off. You’re welcome to come back after you’ve done so. But when you come back, you better have an apology for how you’ve acted today…andtonight, as well as for not trusting me. I love you. I’ll always have your back. Got it? And when youdocome back, be prepared to have a conversation like a reasonable adult.”

She unlocked the door and slipped inside.

Roman gaped at her, her words bouncing around inside his head a moment before finally connecting. Once they did, he lunged forward, slapping a hand against the door just in time to keep her from shutting him out. “Wait!”

She eyed him narrowly.

“Just…wait. What did you say?”

With a disdainful sniff, she said, “Must I repeat the entire thing?”

“Ah, how about the part where you said you love me?” He gave her a charming smile and hoped she wasn’t going to shut him out.

Julianna swept her lashes down low over her eyes, not responding to him.

“Come on, Jules,” he said cajolingly, lowering his voice. “Let me in. We’ll…talk. We’ll have that reasonable conversation.”

After he kissed the hell out of her.

She loved him?

Why in the hell hadn’t she ever said so?

Why in the hell hadn’t he realized how much he needed to hear it?

Julianna finally huffed out a breath and backed away from the door, letting him slip inside. He shut and locked the door behind him, turning to face her across a span of a few feet.

She’d backed away from him and the distance was more than he could stand.

He moved toward her, eliminating that distance so he could reach up and catch a thick lock of her hair between his finger and thumb. “Tell me again,” he murmured.

“You should go home and cool off,” she replied, an edge in her voice. “Come back with an apology. You’ve been anasstoday.”

He thought back, and realized she might be right. Especially in light of what she’d said—she loved him and she’d always have his back. If she did have his back…

He wouldn’t ever betray her like that. Why had he assumed she’d betray him?