All I've Never Wanted (34 page)

Yep, that’s right. As in see-through, for the most part. To make matters worse, the back dipped so low as to be indecent, which meant I was barely getting any coverage no matter how you looked at it.

In my opinion, I looked totally slutty.

I gulped, lunging towards my makeup bag and frantically dialing Carlo’s phone. He answered on the first ring.

“You have to go through with it,” he said before I had a chance to speak.

I glowered at my cell. “I didn’t even say anything.” My shoulders slumped. “Seriously, I can’t do this. I look like a hooker!”

“You are not a hooker, you’re a…seductress.”

“Who looks like a hooker.”

“Come on, remember what I taught you earlier? Breathe, be confident, you’ll do fine.” He paused. “How long have you been in the bathroom?”

I blushed. “None of your business. Can we put this off for another night?”

“No. I have another plan for tomorrow night.”

I groaned, seriously regretting confiding in him. Who knew Carlo could be so diabolical?

After ten more minutes, he finally convinced me to finish Phase One. At least, I hoped I could finish it. Taking a deep breath, I wiped my sweaty palms on a guest towel and covered myself with a short black satin robe.

I slowly turned the doorknob and stepped out into the bedroom, rearranging my face into what I hoped was a seductive expression.

Roman wasn’t there.

I frowned. Crap. Now what? Maybe he was in the outer suite. When I went to check though, he wasn’t there either.

Great. I pouted, going back into the bedroom. Even though I wasn’t all that happy about this part of the plan, I was upset I’d psyched myself up for nothing. I didn’t even know if he’d be coming back tonight.

Slightly disappointed at the thought, I sighed, running a hand through my hair. I’d curled it before dinner, but the curls had loosened into big, natural waves after a few hours.

Well, since Roman wasn’t here, Carlo couldn’t blame me for not trying. At least now, I could get out of my not-so-comfortable lingerie. 

I slipped out of my robe and hung it on its hook in the bathroom, then re-entered the bedroom and bent over to fish some PJs out of the bottom drawer.

“What are you doing?”

I froze. The voice was so familiar. I knew it was him. After all, who else could it be? But he sounded different, more…hoarse? I’m not even sure.

Gulping audibly, I slowly turned around, my heart pounding so hard it felt like it was going to batter its way straight out my chest.

Roman was standing in the doorway, wearing a pair of low-slung jeans and a soft, well-worn gray T-shirt.

I gulped again, trying not to drool over his muscular arms and broad shoulders. This was the first time and hopefully last time I see him in an outfit like that, because if this turns into a regular occurrence, I might go into cardiac arrest.

It should be illegal for someone to look that good, especially if their insides didn’t match.

“What do you mean?” My voice high-pitched and squeaky, not a seductress’ voice at all. I quickly tried to compose myself. “I was just changing, that’s all.” I nudged the drawer closed with my leg. I guess I was stuck in this outfit for the rest of the night.

Roman’s gaze swept over me, making my skin tingle as warmth raced through me. Every area his eyes rested on burned pleasantly. There was a strange expression on his face as he took me in.

“You’re going to sleep in that?”

Be cool. Be confident.
“Of course.” I ran my hand through my hair the way they did in movies—at least, I hoped I did it like that—tousling it a bit, and walked slowly over to him. 

I saw his breath hitch a little as I neared, giving me the confidence booster I needed. “Will that be a problem?” I peered up at him through my lashes in my best attempt at a smoldering look.

Apparently it worked, because when I trailed a finger down his chest, I could feel his heart beating wildly. I hid a smirk. I was beginning to enjoy this.

“What are you doing?”

Wow, he sounds like a broken record.

“I’m just talking to you,” I said innocently, trailing my hand lower until it rested on his rock-hard abs. Yeah, I was definitely enjoying this too much.

Who knew abs could cause a girl’s mood to do a total one-eighty in two minutes?

Roman’s hand immediately snapped up to grip my wrist before it could go any lower, not that I’d been planning on going any lower. A girl had to draw the line somewhere.

“You know, a few hours ago you couldn’t stand me. And now you’re…trying to seduce me?” His voice was suspicious.

Oh, darn it. Why did he have to turn smart all of a sudden? Ok, time to improvise.

I closed the distance between us, until we were pressed up against each other, trying to ignore the explosion of tingles that went off in my own body. “Is it working?” I breathed, running my hands up his arms. My mouth dried at the feel of smooth skin covering rock-hard muscles.

Holy crap, he had a good body. I mean, I always knew he did, but it was one thing to see it and quite another to feel it.

Ugh, now I feel like the biggest perv on the planet, albeit a happy one.

Roman’s eyes darkened, but it wasn’t from anger, I soon realized. It was from lust. I gulped for the third time tonight. The look on his face scared me a little—I was so not used to guys lusting after me, and no, Parker’s perverted jokes don’t count—but it also excited me a bit.

To be honest, the idea that I could do that to someone like Roman gave me a heady rush, but I hoped I wasn’t in over my head. Carlo had told me to use my judgment as to when to stop, assuring me that Roman wouldn’t push me into doing anything I didn’t want.

Judging from the way he was looking at me right now, though, I wouldn’t be too sure about that. He was eyeing me the way a starving man would eye a juicy steak.

“Oh, it’s definitely working,” he growled, lowering his head until we were mere inches apart.

I gasped as he gripped my hips and pressed me even closer. He was right. It was working. I could, um, feel it.

My face turned bright red, and I started to sweat nervously. I go back to my earlier point. This was a bad idea. What the hell am I supposed to do now?

“Was this the lingerie you bought earlier?” Roman whispered, toying with one of the straps. They were so thin and he was so strong I was afraid it would snap at any moment.

As if he heard my inner panic, he let go of the strap, but I barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief before he started caressing the bare skin on my shoulders, sending my heart into overdrive. I was glad he was holding me, because I would’ve collapsed right then and there.

Screw the operation. I needed to get away from him.
Now.

The only problem being, my feet didn’t exactly want to move.

“What’s wrong?” Roman moved his head so it hovered just above the sensitive spot behind my ear. I instinctively grasped his shoulder, my nails digging into his skin. He didn’t seem to notice. “You’re usually not so quiet.” When he spoke, he lips brushed my skin, so gently I could barely feel it, only I did, and it was causing some very strange and unwanted reactions in me.

I needed to take back control.

Closing my eyes, I tried to focus, sifting through Carlo’s advice until I found a suitable one.

“Well,” I murmured, pulling away and taking several slow steps back while keeping my eyes trained on his. I stopped when I felt the bed hit the backs of my thighs, and I sat down, leaning back so I was propped up on my elbows. I made sure to keep my legs crossed. Flashing him was
not
part of the plan. “Talking isn’t high on my list of things to do right now.”

“Really?” Roman’s eyes darkened even more. “Funny, we agree on something for once.”

Then, he did something that totally shocked me. He started taking off his top.

My jaw dropped. Uh-oh. “Wh-what are you doing?” In my panic, I completely forgot about my seductress voice.

“Since you’ve changed into your…outfit for the night—“ Roman tossed his shirt carelessly on the floor, and I nearly drooled when his lean, muscled torso came into view. It was every bit as beautiful as the one other time I’d seen him shirtless, after I fell asleep in his room. “—I figured I should do the same.” He gave me a wolfish smile as he began unbuttoning his jeans. “Did I forget to mention I sleep in my boxers?”

The room suddenly turned into a sauna. “I believe so,” I croaked, silently cursing Carlo with all my might. This was all his—oh my. Roman stepped out of his jeans. The temperature rose another ten degrees, at
least
.

He eyed me hungrily, and a swarm of butterflies immediately invaded my stomach. I unconsciously licked my lips.

Bad move.

Before I even knew what happened, Roman was on the bed. More specifically, he was on top of me on the bed, his legs straddling my hips. The only thing that kept the entire length of our bodies from pressing against each other was the fact he had propped himself up with his hands.

My breathing became shallow, even as I dimly realized the tables had totally turned. I wasn’t teasing him, it was more like he was teasing me.

Although is it still considered teasing when he’s about to kiss me?

As I lay there frozen, unsure what to do, his mouth began its descent to cover mine. The majority of me was yelling
abort! Abort!
but there was another, shameful part of me that wanted the kiss to happen.

Then, in what had to be either my stupidest or smartest move of the night, I blurted out, “Thank you.”

Roman froze, his face so close to mine I could count all the individual gold flecks in his eyes. “Thank you?” His voice was strangled.

“Yeah.” I fought to retain my calm. “I wanted to see the effect this lingerie has on the opposite sex—practice and all—so thanks for helping me out.” I shrugged to the best of my ability, considering I was pinned down on the bed.

Confusion clouded his features. “Practice for what?”

I said the first thing I could think of. “For when I wear this for Carlo later.” The minute the words left my mouth, I wanted to hit my head against the wall. Wow, I just keep digging myself into deeper holes.

And just like that, the passionate, lustful Roman was gone, replaced by one I knew so well. Only, not really, because even though he roughly pushed himself off me, he wasn’t scowling at me like I expected him to. Instead, his face was a stony mask and completely unreadable.

“Glad I could help,” he finally said coolly.

I swallowed, sitting up straight and involuntarily grabbing a fistful of the comforter in my hand. This wasn’t what I expected. Angry Roman, I could handle. But this one, the cold, detached one? I had no clue how to handle him.

He walked over to the other side of the bed and grabbed a pillow off of it.

“What are you doing?” I asked, confused.

“I’m sleeping in the living room tonight.” Roman turned his back to her. “Maybe that way you could pretend Carlo’s sleeping next to you later.”

I watched, slightly stunned, as he disappeared into the living room.

If I didn’t know better, I would’ve sworn he was hurt.

I should probably feel triumphant right now, but the only thing I felt was lost.