I nodded. “Does he have much of an appetite?”
She laughed and rolled her eyes. “Only fast food these days.”
“Great. I’ll go out and pick some up. Text me what he likes?”
Paola hugged me again and kissed my cheek. “I will, yes. You’re an angel.”
?
Rome stayed on the phone our entire ride home and even after we arrived at the house. He had the call connected into his car while I drove and encouraged me to speak up since we both could hear and talk. Joe stayed on the other line the whole time while conferencing with Rome’s agent, a Riders community outreach manager, and at one point we were able to speak with a services director from the hospital. Rome bullied his way into my schedule (which I didn’t mind—much) to have me meet with key individuals who I would know best how to work with.
In under an hour, Rome had successfully begun the workings of a charity fund that could feed directly into Danny. The foundation of such services gave light to future possibilities which Rome consistently hinted at with Joe and would shoot me a look when he said as much.
He kept the phone on speaker as we climbed out of the car and walked into the house. Our conversation finished up in the kitchen where Rome had pulled a snack from the fridge as well as some waters. He chugged his entire bottle after the call ended, crushed the thing with his hands, and tossed it into the trash. I started to summarize what we had learned, but he, once again, pulled me into a ridiculously tight hug that forced the air from my lungs.
“Crushing… me…” I said with my face pressed into his chest.
He laughed and let go, then kissed me on the forehead, the cheek, then the mouth. “You’re so incredible. I’m just so thankful that you’re in my life, Alex. That was the greatest gift you could have ever given me.”
I had no response to that. I wished I had an ounce of Rome’s timing to know what to say. Instead, I put my hands around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss…
And suddenly realized in that moment that I wanted totake our physical relationship beyond anything we had done. It wasn’t a lustful desire, although that did swim beneath the surface. No, I wanted to feel connected to him in one of the most powerful ways two people could be connected. I wanted to bring him pleasure with my body, but more importantly, I wanted us to bare our souls to each other, to look into each other’s eyes as we…
Make love? Love? Is that what this is?I thought as Rome deepened our kiss. He hiked me up by my ass and sat me on the kitchen counter. My legs went wide, then swung around to lock together by the ankles at the small of his back.
We weren’t in love quite yet, I realized, but damn if we weren’t on our way.
Not now. Not yet, I told myself.But soon. Very soon. We would keep our time under the covers to the new standard. Eventually, and likely just around the corner, we would take the leap to something more, something more incredible.
For that afternoon, we enjoyed each other’s bodies. Rome worked on his new skills and I continued to demonstrate how a pro got it done. Afterward, we showered together, put on fresh clothes, and sank into our favorite spot on the couch. Rome had his phone out as I crashed against him. That damnable calendar app of his was out. New date?
“I’ve got some fun news to share,” he told me. I realized I liked the way the deepness of his voice rumbled through my body as I lay against him.
“Another special delivery?” I asked and he snickered.
“No quite.”
Two days after I partially moved in with him, Rome had something delivered before he had to leave for a game. A new desk, the fanciest CEO chair I had ever seen, and a monitor the size of a television arrived at the house. He also hired two men to rearrange, assemble, and setup his office to accommodate a newworkstation for me. He bought two different kinds of mouse and keyboard (one with a number pad and one without) because he wasn’t sure what I preferred.
“I’ve made reservations at a really great restaurant in Boston,” Rome told me.
I sat up, spun, and looked at him. “Really? Like, out it public?”
He grew a Cheshire grin. “Yes, sir. I know the owners a little. They’d make sure we had some privacy.”
My jaw lowered. “Oh yeah?”
“Mmhmm.”
“No shit,” I said. “Shoot,” I corrected. “Okay. When were you thinking?”
Rome already had a date planned. “The tenth. We have a break before we play the Diamonds.”
I had a night shoot scheduled with the same congressman who came to me for a morning shoot several weeks ago. Ireallydidn’t want to cancel that one. Couldn’t. My reputation in the political world was critical.
“Oh, no. You can’t make it,” Rome said, crestfallen but sympathetic. He blinked, shook his head. “Shoot. I should have asked. I’m sorry for not considering your schedule.”
“I’m sorry,” I said with a pained face. “I can’t miss this one. Can we reschedule?”
