She’s a terrible liar. Bright cheeks. Shifty gaze. If I keep pushing, I’m pretty sure she’ll crack and tell me what’s really going on. “Why did one of your friends shout ‘stay off the internet this week!’ before hanging up?” I playfully side-eye her. “Are you addicted to porn, Iris?”
“You caught me.” She laughs. “No, my friend who said that was just reminding me to be fully present so I can thoroughly enjoy everything the island has to offer.” Her chin wobbles slightly, but she quickly camouflages it with a sad little smile.
I stroke her leg and ask softly, “Have you been crying?” Her tears have dried, but her eyes and cheeks are still red, so it’s believable I’d ask the question, even if I hadn’t been eavesdropping.
She shakes her head. “My eyes are probably puffy from sleeping so long.”
Man, she’s a tougher nut to crack than expected. As I ponder my next move, there’s a brief, awkward silence, which Iris fills with, “I’ll get myself packed up. Thank you again, Roman. For everything.” She hugs me. “I had an amazing time with you.”
I’m surprised she’s truly planning to leave without at least hinting about me asking her to stay longer—or, at the very least, that we should have sex another time before she heads out.
Cameron’s voice pops into my head.She’s a pariah, Roman. Stay away from her, Roman.But the words that tumble out of my mouth don’t align with Cameron’s instructions. “Stay here for the week,” I blurt. “Stay with me.”
Oops.In deference to Cameron, I planned to say“onme.” Not “withme.” As in, “You can stay here on my dime, while I leave and find somewhere else.” But I guess my dick intervened and blocked the message from my brain to my mouth.
Iris’s cheeks burst with color. “I would loveto stay here with you.” She pauses. “But I can’t.”
“Can’t or don’t want to? Come on, Iris, I’m not doing anything this week, except playing golf on Friday. As far as I’m concerned, there’s no good reason for you to go somewhere else, unless that’s what you genuinely want.”
Iris swallows hard. “No, I’d really, really like to stay here with you, but—”
“Great. Then it’s settled.”
“But I really shouldn’t. At least, not without showing you something first—something that might make you decide to revoke your invitation in record time.”
Chapter 12
Iris
A warm, gentlebreeze wafts over me, and I’m hit with the fragrances of tropical flowers and sea salt. I couldn’t stand to be in the bungalow as Roman watches the video, so I cued it up and staggered out here onto the patio to stare at the ocean and pray Roman won’t retract his invitation for me to stay.
Movement to my left draws my attention, and when I turn to look, Roman is walking toward me with two glasses of champagne in his hands and a lopsided grin on his handsome face.
“Good for you,” he says. “You sexy little baddie.”
My jaw nearly clanks onto my lap. Of all the reactions I was anticipating, that wasn’t one of them. “You’re not totally freaked out?”
As he sits, Roman pulls a face like that’s a preposterous thought. “Not at all. I’m impressed and turned on.”
“Turned on?” I repeat, not sure I heard him correctly.
“There’s nothing hotter than a woman standing up for herself.” He places the two champagne glasses on a small table. “I’m sorry for what you’ve been through, but I’m proud of you for taking him down.”
“Brandon’s got everyone convinced he walks on water, so I wanted to unmask him.”
“Mission accomplished.” He places his large palm on my bare thigh, and his hand feels warm and comforting. “You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of, Iris. Your ex was a shit stain on the underpants of life, and you gave him exactly what he deserved.What you did took guts, and anyone who says any differently can eat a bag of dicks.”
I can’t believe he’s not the least bit weirded out that I was supposed to get married mere days ago. Or, at least, put off by the raunchy thing I said at the end of the video about getting myself railed and scrambled. “Did you watch the whole thing?”
“I sure did. I liked the way you left it all out on the field, baby. Go big or go home, right?”
I’m floored. He’s so unbothered by it all. “That thing I said at very end? I was parroting the exact language my ex used in some dirty texts to other women. I know this might be hard to believe, but I didn’t come here planning to have sex with a random stranger.”
“So what if you did?”
My lips part in surprise. “No, I ... No shade to anyone with an agenda like that. I just ... that’s not me. I know it looks like it is, given what I said in the video and how things went down between us. But I want you to know everything that happened between us occurred naturally and not according to any master plan.”
Plainly, he doesn’t care either way. “If it was your master plan, then I was more than happy to be of service. If not, then same answer.”
