Rome's Chance (Reapers MC #6.6)(26)

“Hey there,” he said, offering a panty-melting smile. Smiles like that shouldn’t be legal. “Thought you’d want your bra back.”

Rome dangled the tattered black lace from one finger, just out of reach.

“You could’ve just thrown it away,” I said awkwardly. “It’s all torn up, anyway.”

“What?” Lexi said. She wrenched the door open, then stared at the bra in horror. “I can’t believe you did that to my special bra!”

He looked down at the scrap of black fabric, and raised a brow. “You wore your little sister’s bra?”

Lexi snatched it from him, shooting both of us the evil eye as she turned away. Rome ignored her. He reached forward instead, gently brushing the hair away from my eye, studying it.

“How’s it feeling?” he asked, that low voice of his rumbling right down between my legs.

“Like I fell face first on a beer bottle after getting hit by a flying cowboy,” I told him.

“I’m sorry you got hurt,” he said softly. “I missed you this morning. Last night got crazy. Let’s go somewhere and talk about it.”

He wanted to talk.

Right. Because talking was something all guys loved to do so much. No, this was about sex. Had to be. But was that really a bad thing? I felt his pull like a magnet. I wanted to lean forward against his chest and sniff him. Was he the wrong kind of man for me? Absolutely. That didn’t mean we couldn’t have some fun together…

If I had to give up my entire life to move back here, maybe I deserved a consolation prize.

Except it wasn’t fair to abandon Lexi—not when I’d be leaving again so soon. Even if I got a new job here right away, I’d have to work out my notice and pack everything up.

That brought me full circle to adulting and its associated bullshit.

“I’d like to,” I admitted. “And I’m sorry everything got weird. But I should stay and help my sister. My mom had an asthma attack this morning.”

“She okay?”

“She’s fine,” Lexi said from the living room. “She has them all the time. But I’m not fine. One of you destroyed my bra.”

“You think you could get over it if I paid you a hundred bucks?” Rome asked her. “My washing machine did the damage, so it’s kind of my fault.”

“Rome, you don’t need to do that,” I said, feeling guilty. I’d murdered Lexi’s bra, and I’d done it knowingly. My intentions had been good, but I hadn’t realized how upset she would be. Now I felt like a bitch.

“Shut up, Randi. You’re not the one whose stuff got ruined,” Lexi snapped, coming back to the door. She crossed her arms, meeting his gaze head on. “I had to order it online. And it’s not just the list price, you know—you have to pay for shipping, too.”

Rome nodded seriously, then pulled a wallet out of his back pocket, opening it. “How about this? I give you a hundred and fifty, and you let your sister off the hook long enough for us to talk about last night. I’ll have her back to you in a couple of hours.”

“Her virtue is priceless,” Lexi countered, her gaze calculating.

“Two hundred.”

“You have to take her somewhere nice this time,” she said slowly. “And no more fights.”

“Do I get a say in this?” I asked.

“No.” They both replied at the same time, Lexi flipping me off and Rome smirking. Smug bastard.

I couldn’t decide if I was flattered or insulted. Then Rome started counting out bills and Lexi’s mask slipped—her face was full of that same excited joy she’d had as a little girl. I decided to be okay with it. It wasn’t like money was plentiful around here.

My weekend visit had gotten way too serious, way too fast.

It was a lot to take in—I needed to think. And it wasn’t like I was abandoning my family to run off with a random stranger, right? We’d already spent the night together and he’d been a perfect gentleman. Well, aside from grinding me to orgasm against a bar wall before wading into a fight.

Denial. Denial was the best way to process that particular incident.

“I’ll grab my bag,” I said, pushing past my sister.

Rome finished counting out his bribe, then Lexi asked, “Can you wait outside for a minute? I need to talk to Randi before she goes.”

“Sure,” Rome said, obviously trying not to laugh. He stepped out, and Lexi shut the door behind him. Then she turned to me, and I caught a flash of guilt on her face.

“Being around him makes you stupid,” she said. “And now I feel sort of like a pimp.”

“That’s because you just sold me to a man for money,” I pointed out gently.

“I think it’s more like babysitting. He’s paying me to watch Mom so that you can go out on a date.”

“Except Mom isn’t a child.”

“Well, someone still has to babysit her,” Lexi replied, obviously suffering from an attack of conscience, even as she fondled her wad of cash. I was the one who should feel guilty, though. How had I missed seeing what was really happening here?

Because you didn’t want to see it. You wanted to have your own life.

“Look, you don’t have to go with him. You know that, right?”