Eternal Flame (Eternal Flame #1) (12 page)

Diego changed the subject and started talking about miscellaneous things but Kristen barely paid attention to him. She kept looking back towards the house, wondering where Roman was; secretly hoping he would come outside and find her.

“So” Diego huskily began, standing close to her and rubbing his hands up and down her bare arms, “what would you like to do tonight? Are you hungry? There’s food inside but I thought maybe you’d like to go somewhere private and eat.”

Kristen tore her eyes away from the house and looked at Diego. “That sounds nice.”

“There’s a great spot in the city I’d like to take you to. It’s a buffet. They serve all types of delicious food from Chinese to Italian to Soul-Food-“

“Sounds delicious.”

“And the entire restaurant is bathed in candlelight. That’s what I like the most.”

“That sounds great Diego. I’d love to go there.” Did she sound as robotic as she sounded?

“Good. Maybe afterwards we can go down to the Charles River and walk around a little…”

Was it all in her mind or were his head and lips inching dangerously close to hers?

“Hang out there for a while, then maybe go somewhere else and chill alone…”

“Like where?”

“We could go to your hotel. Or my place. It isn’t far from there…”

Was there anyone who wasn’t trying to get in her panties tonight? Anyone but a certain someone that she wanted to get in her panties but he kept acting like he didn’t?

Kristen struggled to quiet the noise of Roman in her mind. “Okay.”

“Great…”

Kristen’s heart stilled and her breath hitched as Diego leaned in to her mouth… Was he going to kiss her? Should she kiss him back? Did she want to kiss him back?

The front door slammed hard, breaking their reverie. Kristen and Diego jumped and turned around, startled. Kristen worriedly gazed at Roman as he stood on the porch watching them. He stood there for a moment; then slowly walked down the stairs and over to them, keeping his eyes on Kristen.

“Hey Braxton. You mind if I talk to Kristen for a second?”

Diego looked back and forth between the two of them, looking puzzled. “Sure,” he said in a confused tone.

Roman soberly looked at him and gave him a hug. Diego hugged him back, completely taken off guard. He looked over at Kristen. She cluelessly looked back at him and held up her hands in question.

Roman pulled away from Diego to give him their special brotherhood handshake and Diego compliantly returned it. “Thank you man,” Roman earnestly told him. “For everything.”

“Always.” Diego gave him a genuine smile.

Roman returned his smile and looked over at Kristen, not smiling. He placed his hand to her wrist and pulled her away from Diego. He walked all the way to the end of the sidewalk to the driveway before he turned and addressed her.

“I’m getting ready to get out of here,” he softly said.

Kristen’s stomach sunk with sadness. “Oh? Okay.” She hugged her arms, looking down at the ground.

He touched her arm and she vulnerably looked back up at him. “I apologized to my family. I apologized for earlier today and for leaving tonight. I was trying to relax, be in the moment, and have a good time, but… I’m just not feeling it. Thankfully they understood. We kind of had an emotional moment in there for a minute. It was a little uncomfortable but it was worth it.” His eyes were sincere as they probed hers. “Thank you.”

“Me? I didn’t have anything to do with that.”

“Believe me, you did.”
Their eyes held one another with feeling.

“I guess I’ll see you later,” he said with a half-smile. “Thanks for sharing my birthday with me. You and Diego have fun.”

He turned and made his way to his Hummer. Kristen felt like her heart was twisting in her chest as she watched him walking away. Feeling anxious, she jogged over to him. “Roman wait!”

He turned to her, his eyes somber.

“You want me to go with you?”

His eyes briefly brightened then dulled as he glanced over at Diego. He shook his head. “No. I’ll see you later.”

“I don’t want you to be alone. I mean, you look like you don’t want to be alone.”

He slightly shrugged. “I don’t. But I’ll be fine.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “Are you sure?”

Roman looked taken aback by the tears in her eyes. Then, his gaze softened and filled with a look Kristen had had the pleasure of witnessing more than once that day. He walked back over to her, stood almost nose to nose with her, put his hand against her face and tenderly touched her. His fingers stroked her soft flesh; his thumb breaking rank to inch closer to her mouth. Kristen’s eyes widened slightly as his thumb began sensuously caressing her bottom lip.

She struggled to breath. Her body was on fire. He was touching her and it felt so good. So damn good. Better than she could’ve ever imagined. She had wanted this all day. And the way he was looking at her…

Slowly, Kristen turned her face into his hand. She opened her mouth to his finger and his eyes narrowed hungrily. His heavy-lidded eyes watched hers. Her hurried breaths matched his. She saw him visibly inhale and exhale again, his mouth gripping into a thin line. He was fighting something. Whatever it was, he was struggling to keep it at bay. But she didn’t want him to. She didn’t want him to fight.

Roman glanced back up at Diego and abruptly pulled away from her, yanking his hand away from her face like he’d been burned.  “I’m sorry,” he huskily replied, his eyes regretful as he looked at her.

She moved towards him with a dull ache in her belly. “Wait-“

“No,” he strongly said, absently jerking his head in the direction of Diego.

Kristen turned to Diego and saw his eyes trained on the sidewalk, his mouth turned down in what looked like sorrow. She felt like shit in that instant but felt even worse because it wasn’t enough to make her want to stay and honor her word to be with him. She and Roman had just connected on a level that was both primal and gut-wrenchingly emotional. She didn’t want to disrupt the moment.

She turned back to Roman and felt her insides crumble as he slowly backed away from her. “It’s okay,” he resolutely said. “Diego’s waiting. You guys have fun.” He turned and walked away again.

Kristen took an uneven step towards him and stopped. “Roman!” his name came out in a desperate plea.

He turned to her again. His voice was low, husky, and fatigued as he answered her. “Yes.”

Kristen bit her lip and blinked back tears. “Will I see you before I leave?”

He waited a beat before answering her. “Hopefully.”

With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Kristen despairingly staring after him. 

Morning came too quickly for Kristen. She groggily opened her eyes and flinched at the daylight creeping through the half-open blinds in her hotel room. She heavily sighed, rolled onto her stomach, and turned her head in the opposite direction, too lazy to get up and close the blinds completely. Her body felt heavy and fatigued. What time was it?

She glanced over at the clock on the night-stand and groaned.

It was only 8am? She’d only had four hours of sleep? Fuck.

Kristen groaned again and covered her eyes with her hand, wishing the coffee maker in her suite could turn itself on and fix her a hot cup of steaming coffee. God knows she needed it. She’d had a hard time going to sleep the night before and when she was finally able to nod off, it was fitful. She tossed and turned so much she was surprised she didn’t have whiplash. Her mind was flooded with images of Roman and their day together. The stilted conversation. The mood swings. Most of all, the sadness. She couldn’t forget the sadness in his eyes when he’d left. She wished she had his number so she could call and check on him. But she hadn’t wanted to disrespect Diego by asking him for it.

Speaking of which…

Kristen pinched her nose as she felt a tension headache coming on. Last night’s date with Diego had been strained, to say the least. They spent nearly six hours together and the first half of it was anything but fun. There was so much uncomfortable tension between them. She wasn’t sure how much of the intimate encounter Diego had seen between her and Roman but whatever he had seen seemed to have bothered him. After Roman left, he’d waited a minute before gathering her and walking with her to his car. The car ride to the restaurant had been silent; their shared meal was even worse. They didn’t start talking again until they left the restaurant. Diego asked her where she wanted to go and she told him it didn’t matter. He asked if she was ready to go home and she lied and told him no. He suggested they go to the movies and she readily agreed.

Thankfully by the time they arrived, everything was right between them again. They were able to loosen up and have a good time. After the movie, they went down to the Charles River and walked around talking and getting to know one another better. He didn’t bring up what had happened between her and Roman so she didn’t either. She didn’t know what she could say to him if he had. She was still confused about some things herself and was obsessively mulling them over in her mind. She was still attracted to Diego, she had a great time with him, and she liked him very much, but… It wasn’t like it was with Roman. That bothered her. Aside from the cold shoulder he’d briefly given her, Diego was more than clear about how he felt about her and he made no bones about it. He complimented her endlessly. Told her he liked her. Held her hand. He couldn’t stop looking at her. And he’d tried to kiss her. Against her better judgment, she had let him.

Kristen regretfully moaned and pulled the covers over her face, as if the covers could lock out the memory of the kiss she’d shared with Diego. And there hadn’t been just one kiss either. There had been about six. All tongue. She’d even let him kiss her when he dropped her off at her room. They stood outside the door of the suite and kissed for almost five full minutes. Least, that’s how long it felt to her.

She couldn’t stop feeling guilty about what she’d done and she didn’t know why. She was single; she didn’t have an allegiance to anybody. But she felt in some way she’d betrayed Roman; worse than that, she knew her feelings for Diego weren’t as strong as his were for her. She didn’t even know why she’d let him kiss her so many times. He was a good kisser, no doubt about that. But there were no fireworks for her either time. It was nice, but… She didn’t crave more. She was just going with the flow.

Before leaving he asked if he could see her again the next day (which was already today) and she said yes. After entering the suite, she walked straight to the bedroom, undressed, put on her night-shirt and climbed in the bed, spent. She hoped sleep would find her immediately but it hadn’t.

She felt so conflicted and so confused. She only had two days left. What was she going to do and who was she going to spend it with? Would she see Roman again? Would he try to contact her? What about her date with Diego? If she talked to Roman should she tell him she’d kissed Diego? And why did she feel it was his business and she owed him an explanation?

She chuckled at the irony of it all. She’d scolded Joy about trying to romance two brothers and here she was getting tangled up with best friends. The pot sure couldn’t talk about the kettle.

Kristen pressed her face in her pillow and prayed sleep would find her again soon. But it was nothing doing. She heard her phone ringing in the distance and groaned again as she closed her eyes. She leaned up on the bed and groggily looked around the room, wondering where she’d left it. Who the fuck was calling so early? She thought for a minute it might be Ms. Austin but she knew for a fact the older lady loved sleeping in and didn’t usually ruse from her bed until well after noon. She briefly wondered if it was Joy; then remembered Joy had gotten in not long before she had fallen asleep. Maybe she had left back out and forgotten her key.

She moved to get out of the bed to go get her phone; then sighed with relief when it stopped ringing. Thank God. Whoever the hell it was could call back.

She lay back down in the bed and turned over on her back, eager to get back to sleep. She swore under her breath when she heard the door creak open.

“Kristen,” Joy whispered into the dim sunlit room.

Kristen didn’t move and didn’t answer her, hoping she’d think she was still asleep and leave her alone. Morning etiquette was not Joy’s strong suit.

“Kristen!”

Kristen sighed loudly. “Whaaaaat?” she grumpily said, turning back over on her stomach and bunching her pillows together. She lifted them up and put her head beneath them.

“Your phone was ringing. Telephone.”

“Whoever it is tell them I’ll call them back.”

Joy was still whispering by the door. “I don’t think you want them to. You’ll want to take this, trust me.”

“Bye Joy.”

Kristen turned her eyes skyward and sighed again when Joy pushed the door back against the wall and barged into the room. She opened her fatigued eyes and peered over her shoulder at Joy, ready to strike. Joy was still whispering about someone being on the phone.

“Who?” Kristen asked.

“Ro is on the phone.”

“What?”

“Roman is on the phone.”

Kristen’s heart leapt in her throat. “What?”

Joy sighed and tossed the phone on Kristen’s bed. “Here bitch.”

Kristen stared disoriented at the phone, then hastily wiped at the dried drool at the corner of her mouth and combed her fingers through her hair. She didn’t know why she did that. It wasn’t like he was standing at the end of the bed.

Joy walked to the other side of the room and sat down on her unmade bed, expectantly looking at Kristen.

Kristen glared over at her and covered the phone with her hand. “Bye!”

Joy rolled her eyes, got up, and left the room, slamming the door.

Kristen cleared her throat and took her hand away from the phone. She nervously pressed it against her ear. “H-Hello?”

“Hi.”

Kristen swallowed hard and struggled to breathe. She released a long, contented sigh as she lay back on the bed. “Hi.”

“Did I wake you?”

Kristen stifled a moan and licked her lips. God help her, his morning voice was as sexy as his afternoon and night-time voice. “No. I was awake.” She paused. “How did you get my number?”

“I called the magazine and they gave it to me. I would’ve called Damian and told him to ask Joy, but… I didn’t want them in my business like that. And calling Diego was definitely out of the question.”

She understood that all too well. “Oh,” was all she said.

“I hope that’s okay.”

“No, of course it is. It’s fine. I’m glad you called me.”

He was silent for a while. “How did you sleep?” he asked.

I couldn’t stop thinking about how good your finger felt against my lips and how great it would probably feel moving in and out of my rabbit hole.
“Fine,” she lied. “You?”

“Not very good. I’ve been having a hard time sleeping lately.”

“What did you do when you left last night?”

“Not much. I watched television a little.”

Kristen chewed on her lip. “Oh.”

There was so much she wanted to say to him; so much she wanted to ask. But she didn’t dare. He might withdraw from her again and this moment was so sweet to her and completely unexpected. She didn’t want to ruin it. She honestly didn’t think she’d hear from him again, especially so soon.

“Is it raining over there?”

Kristen thought it was a weird question but she answered it. “No,” she said. “Why?” Their hotel wasn’t in the downtown area but closer to the city limits by the airport.

“It’s looking cloudy over my way. I watched the news this morning and the weatherman said something about there being an 85% chance of rain.”

“Hmmm.”

“I was debating whether I should go running this morning or not.”

“You run? How many miles?”

“About five miles a day. There’s a route I follow downtown that brings me back to my apartment. I don’t know. Maybe I should go ahead and head out just in case.”

“Do you have any specific plans for today?” she casually inquired.

Please say you want to see me!

“No, not really. After I run, I’ll probably just come back and take a shower and then figure my day out from there.”

The image of Roman showering in that sexy as sin shower with the titillating four shower heads rolled around in Kristen’s mind like a dirty movie. She could just imagine the water cascading down his beautiful face… Droplets bouncing off of his full, kissable lips… Him rubbing soap in on that broad hairy chest… The soap teasingly dripping down into his belly button, on down to the undeniably treasure of pleasure between his legs… She wondered if he had hair down there and if it was as silky and pretty as the hair on his head…

Kristen moaned deeply and turned over on her stomach, putting her hand to her soaked panties. She squeezed the dampness between her legs and moaned long again.

“You okay?” she heard him ask.

Kristen’s finger absently massaged her clit. “Hmm?”

Huskiness hugged his voice as he continued. “I heard you moan. Twice. Are you okay?”

Kristen’s finger stilled between her legs. Had she moaned out loud? “Ummm… Yes. Yes. Yes.” She turned back over on her back. Her clit throbbed with urgency and she suppressed the moan that threatened to surface past her lips again.

Roman was quiet for a moment. “Have you had breakfast yet?”

The gruff tone of his voice was driving her mad. Kristen’s finger drifted up her stomach to her hard nipple. She lightly traced it with her finger and closed her eyes, imaging it was Roman’s finger or tongue. “No.”

“I want to see you.”

Kristen’s breath hitched in her throat and she sat straight up, pushing her thick hair off of her forehead. She bit her nails and hoped he couldn’t hear her heart thumping in her chest. “Okay,” she quietly said.

“There’s a breakfast spot not far from where you guys are staying. It’s usually pretty empty this time of morning so we shouldn’t be bothered by fans or paparazzi or anything.” He paused. “Will you have breakfast with me?”

Kristen ran her pinkie over lip. “Yes,” she whispered.

“I’ll skip my run today. I’ll be there in about an hour.”

Kristen squeezed her thighs together as her pussy pulsated and throbbed. “Okay.”

He paused again. “I look forward to seeing you.”

He hung up before she could respond in turn. The phone dropped from Kristen’s hand and fell to the floor. She leaned forward on the bed and placed her fists against her lips, suppressing a scream. She was so happy and excited she wanted to cry. He wanted to see her! She was going to see him! It wasn’t over yet!

Kristen laughed through her tears and put her head in her hands. She expectantly looked up as the door opened. Joy stood in the doorway with two cups of coffee in her hands.

“You want some coffee?” she asked Kristen.

Kristen quickly nodded and reached her hand out.

Joy walked into the room and sat down on Kristen’s bed, careful not to spill the content in the cups. She reached Kristen her cup and carefully took a sip, watching her intently. “So?”

Kristen ran her teeth over her lip and lifted the steaming mug. She slowly took a sip of the hot beverage and happily looked at Joy. “We’re going to breakfast.”

Joy’s eyes widened with excitement. “He asked you out?”

“Yes.”

“Unbelievable.” She looked at Kristen for a moment and thoughtfully tilted her head. “You know what that means? It was completely voluntary. He took you out yesterday so he didn’t have to ask you out today. He wasn’t obligated to follow up with you. He must really want to see you. I told you you made an impression on him. I could tell that last night by the way he was looking at you.”