A corner of his mouth lifts in a half smile. “One of the brothers owns a shop. I work there a couple days a week. Keeps my hand in.”
He stands, and I find myself rising too. We’re closer now, close enough that I can feel the heat radiating from his skin, see the faint scar above his eyebrow from a bar fight long before we met.
“I don’t miss the shop half as much as I miss you.” The words are so quiet I almost don’t hear them. Almost.
“Roman…” His name falls from my lips like a prayer, or maybe a plea. For what, I’m not sure even I know.
His eyes search my face, looking for something I’m not sure I’m ready to give. “I keep wishing I could go back,” he says, his voice rough with emotion. “Back to before you got kidnapped. Before I failed you. Kick my own ass and then maybe I wouldn’t have—”
I don’t let him finish. Something snaps inside me and suddenly I’m moving forward, my hands finding his face, pulling him down to meet my lips with my own. For exactly half a second he goes completely still with surprise, and then his arms wrap around me and he kisses me back with a thoroughness that makes my knees feel weak.
One of his hands slides into my hair, cradling the back of my head as if I’m something precious, something he’s afraid might break or disappear. The other presses against the small of my back, eliminating any space between us. I feel the hard planes of his chest against mine, the thundering of his heart matching the frantic beat of my own.
When we finally break apart, both gasping for air, his forehead rests against mine. His eyes are closed, his breathcoming in short bursts that warm my lips. I want to say something, anything, but words seem entirely inadequate for the storm of emotions swirling through me.
A cough from the doorway shatters the moment. We spring apart like guilty teenagers, turning to see Gunner standing there, a look on his face that suggests he would very much rather be somewhere else but here.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he mumbles, shooting Roman an apologetic look. “Dragon needs to see you. Now.”
Roman’s expression shifts instantly from tender to alert, and it’s like watching a mask slide into place. This part of Roman I remember. He nods once at Gunner, then turns back to me.
“I’m sorry,” he says, his voice low enough for only me to hear. “I have to—”
“Go,” I tell him, taking a step back, trying to bring my racing pulse under control. “It’s fine.”
He hesitates, his eyes searching mine one more time, then nods again and follows Gunner out of the room. I watch him leave, my lips still tingling, my body humming with a need I’d almost forgotten was possible to feel.
What have I done?
The question echoes in my head as I sink back onto the bench, my legs suddenly too weak to support me. What have I done, and more importantly, what happens next?
32
Chapter 32
Roman
I stride down the hallway ahead of Gunner, my mind still reeling. The taste of Kayla lingers on my lips, and I can still feel the heat of her body pressed against mine, the gentle pressure of her hands on my face. Two years of thinking I’d never hold her in my arms again, and now the flood of everything I’m feeling threatens to drown me. All I can think about is getting back to her, finishing what we started, consequences be damned.
“Roman, hold up,” Gunner calls from behind me, his footsteps quickening to keep pace.
I barely hear him; my thoughts a chaotic mess. Kayla kissed me. After everything, after all this time, she kissed me. What does it mean? Has she forgiven me? Does she want me back in her life? And what does this mean for her relationship with Todd?
“Roman,” Gunner tries again, his voice more insistent. “You need to—“
“Not now,” I growl over my shoulder, not breaking stride. “I need to deal with whatever Dragon wants and get back to Kayla.”
Gunner makes a frustrated sound behind me. “That’s not what I—“
I round the corner, Dragon’s office door in sight. Whatever Dragon wants, I need it to be quick. I need to get back before Kayla has time to overthink what just happened between us, before her walls go back up. Before she remembers all the reasons she left me in the first place.
The urgency of that thought propels me forward, and I push through Dragon’s office door without knocking, a habit that used to earn me lectures, but which Dragon seems to have resigned himself to now.
“What’s so damn important that—“ The words die in my throat as I take in the scene before me.
Dragon is behind his desk, his expression going from severe to amused. Gray stands to his right, arms crossed over his broad chest, one eyebrow raising as he turns to look at me. And Demon — because of course Demon is here — lounges in a chair across from Dragon, feet propped up on the edge of the desk, wearing a smirk that immediately sets my teeth on edge.
All three of them stop mid-conversation to stare at me. The silence stretches uncomfortably as their eyes move from my face downward. I follow their gazes, looking down at myself, and that’s when I realize.