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“You don’t have to say it back,” Penny added quickly. “I completely understand if you’re not ready for that. But…it’s how I feel. I didn’t plan to say it, but the damn thing came out anyway.”
“I’m getting there.” Roman’s kisses worked their way down to Penny’s lips. “Have patience, sweetheart.”
“I waited a long time for this, for us,” Penny said. “I can wait a little longer for you to catch up.”
Roman just smiled and nuzzled against her.
“Tell me about Eliza,” Penny said.
Roman propped himself up on his elbow, his hand stilling on Penny’s belly. “What do you mean?”
“I’m curious,” Penny said. “You were married for a long time.”
“Yes,” Roman said. “We fell in love in college. Or whatever you want to call it. I always thought the two of us had more of a business arrangement than anything. Eliza is…exceptional in the workforce. It didn’t translate to home life.”
“Why’d you marry her?”
Roman’s eyes flickered toward Penny. “I wish you wouldn’t—”
“Indulge me,” Penny said. “I’m not jealous. I just want to understand.”
“We were dating,” Roman said. “We got married fast. Eliza was up for a huge job, but her visa was about to expire. If I didn’t marry her…”
“That’s so romantic!”
“It was borderline illegal.”
“Romantic,” Penny insisted. “You took a risk for a woman you loved. Even if it didn’t work out. I think that’s admirable.”
“Even though we failed.”
“Even though it failed.”
“Yes, well…” Roman winked. “I can be unadmirable, too, if you’d like to see that.”
Penny giggled, wriggling against him. “I saw plenty of that last night.”
“There’s more where that came from.”
“I want to talk,” Penny said. “I want to get to know you. More, I mean. Every inch of you.”
“The past is the past. I don’t want to sit around discussing my ex-wife when we have this beautiful morning ahead of us. Let’s order room service.”
“Sure,” Penny agreed as Roman extended an arm and pulled the menu toward him. He slipped on a pair of thick glasses that she thought made him look exceptionally cute. “Then let’s talk about the future. Our future.”
Roman placed a call to room service, ignoring Penny’s request. He ordered a lavish breakfast spread from the staff at the Pelican Hotel and spared no expense. They’d returned to the scene of their first night spent together time and time again. It’d been weeks since that evening, the evening of the book launch party, and they’d spent many a night together since, each better than the last. Call it nostalgia, call it routine—Penny didn’t care. She loved it. She loved him.
Roman continued his order: sliced grapefruit, full omelet, toast with rose petal jam, fresh figs and dates, and two black coffees with cream on the side for Penny. When she spent the night with Roman, she never went hungry. One of the million perks to dating a man with money.
“Two sugars,” Roman added. “And extra packets of butter for the toast.”
When he hung up, Penny rested her hand on his thigh. He wore nothing but black boxers, and her hand stroked through the dark hair on his leg. “I love that,” she whispered. “This. Us. It’s just so…easy.”
“What’s easy?”
“Us,” Penny repeated. “You know what I like to eat and how I like my coffee. That I need extra butter for my toast.”
“I know the extra butter is so you can stash it in your purse for later.”
