Teryn raises an eyebrow. “And then …?
Jahlani shrugs. “Then maybe I’ll start dating again.”
Teryn kisses her teeth, giving her ayou can’t be seriouslook. “That’s a shitty plan.”
“Hey.”
Teryn raises her hands. “I’m just saying, it sounds like you’ve been running past some pretty nice doors.”
“Not all doors are meant to be opened.”
“They’re not all meant to stay shut either.”
This one is, she thinks.It has too.
Jahlani drags the tablet closer to pay the bill, but Teryn beats her, tapping the screen with her card.
“Thanks,” she murmurs, thinking about how she just finished paying for her credit card bill. “Look, all I’m saying is that plans increase the likelihood of success.”
“Oh yeah?” Teryn says, smoothing out a few dollar bills and placing them under the saltshaker. “How’s that plan working out for you so far?”
Jahlani’s mind drifts to the past few days—her increasing desire to benearhim. During the day, when the sun is the brightest, when her head is the clearest, she catches herselfwonderingabout him. About how he’s doing and if there’s anythingelseshe can do for him. Is what she’s doing enough? She wonders how she can ease his burdens. When she catches herself wondering, she convinces herself it’s out of guilt for the things she did and said. It has absolutely nothing to do with wanting to know more about him and his world.
Or with the way he looks at her when she’s talking.
Or the way his lips felt against her cheek.
“It’s working out fine.”
As Jahlani pulls into the paved driveway, she releases a shaky exhale. She takes in the bungalow, the front porch swing, and the patch of lilies on the manicured lawn. She was hoping for a bachelor pad. Something impractical for her to criticize himon. Something to smother the good guy image she had clearly missed. To change his flag back to red.
Agonizingly, the flag is getting greener by the second.
Smoothing down her hair, she shakes out her hands as she makes her way to the door. She knocks, and it swings open almost immediately. She gives Roman a tight smile as she takes in his ruffled hair and bare feet. Her eyes stretch past him in an attempt to look down the hallway because her curiosity is growing by the second and he’s not moving.
He stands in some sort of trance-like state, staring. He’s in loose shorts and a white cotton T-shirt. His eyes sweep over her before moving back to her face. He exhales, blinking.
Her smile grows slightly, and she clears her throat. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this is the part where you invite me in.”
He stuffs a hand into his pocket, stepping back to open the door wider.
“Jesus, yeah. Sorry. Come in.”
She brushes past him, wagging her index finger. “You’d be dead if I were a vampire, Hayes,” she says over her shoulder as she takes a few cautious steps into his hallway. As she takes in the console table overflowing with unopened mail and the vintage mirror hanging on the wall, his palms move to her shoulders, easing her out of her jacket, his fingertips cool against the length of her arms.
What a gentleman.
Too quickly, they’re gone, and she finds herself wanting to chase the sensation. To get it back.
Roman Hayes is husband material (clearly),and she wonders to herself why no one has snatched him up.
Her head suddenly revolts at the idea of him taking someone else’s coat for them and pushes the thought from her mind.
“Oh yeah?” he asks, his voice a low murmur as he folds the jacket over his arm, staring at her pointedly.
“Yeah,” she says, stepping forward to run her fingertips along his neck. She doesn’t miss the way he leans forward slightly, or the way his pulse seems to ricochet.
“I wouldn’t go for the carotid artery. You’re too tall,” she says, sighing. “I’d have to settle for the radial artery,” she adds, tapping his wrist. He’s staring at her finger, then meets her eyes with a quirked eyebrow.
