That surprised her, considering they were “the finest humans alive.”
“I mean, they’d understand,” he added, maybe reading her expression. “But I think my mother really liked being my only mother. I feel like I owe it to them to be first.”
Lacey sighed. “So…we keep on lying?”
“Who’s lying? She didn’t ask if I was her son.”
“She thinks you’re my boyfriend.”
“I am.” He squeezed her into his strong, solid side. “It’s not a lie.”
“Roman,” she scoffed. “It’s cute of you to say that, but let’s be real.”
“I am.” Slowly, he turned her in his arms so she was facing him. “I really like you. I really want to spend time with you. I really rented a house in Destin to be your boyfriend.”
“None of that is real.”
He tipped his head and gave her a look. Then, without another word, he lifted her just an inch off the ground and kissed her lightly on the lips. His mouth was warm, inviting, and, yeah, really real.
When he very slowly let her feet touch the sand and drew back an inch, she nearly swayed into him.
“Lacey, you are?—”
She put a hand over his lips. And not just to stop him from proclaiming whatever she was, but just to feel how soft they were one more time.
“Don’t,” she whispered.
“Don’t kiss you?”
Don’t break my heart, she wanted to scream. Because she could already feel how shattered it would be when this ended.
“Don’t…take this too far,” she said instead.
“I promise, Lacey Knight. I’ll only take it as far as it was meant to be.”
When they turned to walk back to the house, she realized that whole exchange was easily visible from anyone standing on the deck—and she knew that all four of them had been watching.
So was that kiss for her benefit…or theirs?
She didn’t know what it was about Roman Matteo, but Tessa felt so comfortable around the young man. Familiar, even. And far less nervous than Lacey, who was a little on edge and jittery when he arrived for their fishing adventure.
First, Tessa took him into the garage to dig through the box that Kate had sent, and admired the way he handled Dad’s fishing gear. With respect, but also with confidence. Most of it was in pretty good shape—good enough that they could use it to fish today before she donated a few rods and reels to The Abundant Catch. And those that were broken, he seemed certain he could fix when he had the right tools.
They opted to drive the short distance to the marina so they could bring everything they needed for a day of fishing on the boat, plus a cooler for lunch and cold drinks. He easily unloaded everything onto the dock, commenting on how nice the marina was and how at home he felt.
“I want you to meet Seamus,” Tessa said. “He was a friend of my father’s and runs the charity I mentioned. Let’s make a quick stop in the marina office.”
“Sure.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Lacey said quickly.
Tessa threw her a questioning look. “Why not?”
She froze, and gave the weirdest look to Roman. “Do you want to do that?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
Her eyes widened but then she shrugged and gestured toward the equipment and cooler. “We can’t just…leave this.”
