The way she said it indicated she thought this was his standard operating procedure. Finding a pretty girl, entertaining himself, and then going back to work.
That was definitely not his standard operating procedure. He opened his mouth to tell her just that—
“If your grandmother is anything like mine, it’s probably best if I just head out. You don’t want to explain what we’ve been up to.” She made ayeeshface, then kissed his cheek. “We can catch up later.”
“I don’t care what my grandmother thinks,” he said, pressing his lips against the soft skin of her forehead.
“You’re sweet, Rome.” She looked up at him from under a filter of eyelashes. “Sweet and really asking for trouble if you introduce me to your family. I mean, I’m amazing. They’ll be all disappointed that we’re temporary. It’ll get weird when they start inviting me to family functions and stuff without you. We shouldn’t make it weird.”
He chuckled.
Yeah, he adored Sadie Howard.
“You can stay,” he said. And he meant it.
He didn’t care who knew about the girl who made this visit the best one he’d ever had.
“But I shouldn’t.” She kissed him on his mouth, lingering there. “I’ll catch a taxi. Come by my place when you’re done?”
“I don’t know how long it’ll be.” Hands against her cheeks, his fingers in her hair, he pulled her to him for a longer, lingering kiss.
“I’ll wait,” she said against his mouth when he broke the kiss.
And he’d do everything he could to make sure she didn’t have to wait long.
A quick rap on the beige door drew his attention away from Sadie.
“Roman?” his grandmother called.
“That wasn’t ten minutes,” he said, gritting his teeth.
He glanced at Sadie and she held an expression like she’d just gotten caught with her lips in his fly instead of in the middle of a quick goodbye kiss.
“Roman?” His grandmother tried the handle of the door, jostling it.
“Hang on,” he called.
Then the buzz and clunk of the keycard lock drew his attention to the door.
Who the fuck had given his grandmother a key?
Sadie squeaked. His grandmother pulled the door open, and the elderly woman shuffled inside.
So the timing wasn’t excellent and Sadie wasn’t wearing a shirt. The space in the center of his face went numb. This wasn’t the perfect introduction. That didn’t mean it wouldn’t go smoothly. Sadie was a spitfire and should be able to hold her own against whatever volley of questioning his babushka would throw her way.
“How did you get here so fast?” he asked.
“I vas in lobby,” she said in her thick Russian accent.
He turned to introduce her to Sadie, but Sadie—
Where had Sadie gone? He scanned the room and the small balcony.
No Sadie. It was like she’d been teleported somewhere else.
A movement under the door of the closet caught his eye.
Or, perhaps, she had just decided to duck into the closet. Why hadn’t he thought of that? Then they could both be stuck in the closet together.
