Page 67 of Saved By the Billionaire

“You wouldn’t!”

“I would.”

She held his gaze for as long as she could manage, before her heart threatened to burst from her breast. “Thank you,” she said, finally. “But you really shouldn’t have.”

“It’s no big deal. Keep going.” Her heart plummeted. He was right. Of course this was no big deal to Roman, even when it meant the world to Kate. Her throat felt thick suddenly, emotions bursting through her. She struggled not only to contain them but to conceal them as well.

Her touch was more clinical now, as she removed a small designer bag, the most supple leather she’d ever felt. “Stunning,” she admired, aware that all the pleasure had gone out of the moment.

Another dip into the bag and she felt a perfume—yet another brand name she’d seen in boutique windows but never dreamed of owning. She spritzed it in the air and closed her eyes, as a wonderful cloud of vanilla and gardenia seemed to carry her away. “I love it,” she admitted. It smelled somehow luxurious, but it was more than that. It smelled like care, even when it was probably just a case of him having selected a brand that women liked. Maybe this was a normal thing for him? A way to end his relationships?

Oh, God, she thought, stricken. That’s what this was. A parting gift. She’d refused to let him give her money, and so he’d bought her gifts that she could sell, if she needed to. It was Roman’s way of getting his way! It was his way of ensuring she’d be fine once she left here.

“The last thing is a gift for me.”

She blinked up at him, disoriented, trying to focus. She reached back in the bag, removed yet another tissue paper packet—this one very small—and unfolded it to reveal a thong, lace and silk, just a scrap of material.

“I want to think of you wearing that all night,” he said, bringing his body over hers and carelessly brushing her gifts aside. “And when we get home, I’m going to slide them off you and make love to you while you’re still wearing that dress. It’s all I’ll be thinking of, Kate.”

His hands moved to her singlet top, lifting it over her head and tossing it to the floor, as his head dipped and his lips found her breasts, driving rational thought from her mind, driving everything from her except the insatiable, ever-present need for Roman Hayes.

It was later, when the cyclone of need had dissipated and Kate was lying in the bed, staring at the ceiling, that she turned to Roman and said, “What did you mean, before?”

He propped up onto his elbow, eyes dropping lower to surf over her naked body. He reached out and put a hand on her hip with easy possessiveness.

“When?”

“You said you wanted to think of me in those, all night,” she gestured towards the end of the bed, where the panties had presumably fallen.

“Ah.”

“Where are you suggesting we go?” She was careful to phrase it like that, rather than a foregone conclusion.

“It’s a surprise.”

Of course it was. Maybe this was also part of the Roman Hayes ‘end of relationship’ pattern. She tried not to feel as though they were walking a path he’d taken many times. She tried not to think of the women who’d come before her with their NDAs and designer gifts.

“When do we leave?” She smiled, over-brightly.

Chapter Fifteen

FOR ALL SHE KNEW, he did make a habit of giving women expensive gifts before watching them walk away, but as far as Kate could tell, this whole evening had been designed especially for her. There was no other way to explain the activities he’d chosen, from a private tour of the Library, to dinner at a rooftop restaurant, where they sat alone on the terrace, overhead heating meaning she was warm enough to wear the glorious dress without a coat, and then, a limousine drive to Broadway to watch a musical from a royal box. Just the two of them, side by side, with nothing like nose-bleed seats, and very unobstructed views of the world class production. Afterwards, he surprised her with a walk through Times Square, holding her hand in a way that made her body thrum, and her whole self feel safe. They bought pizza from a window and ate it on the sidewalk, talking, and laughing, like any normal couple. But in the back of her mind, a drum was beating, because she knew they weren’t normal, and they weren’t a couple.

This was the beginning of the end, and there was no fighting that.

Deep down, Kate wondered if she had any fight left in her?

It was late the next day when Garrett called. “Can I come up?”

Roman wondered why his gut tightened with a presentiment of disaster. “Yeah, we’re here.”

Kate glanced at him and he nodded once, ignoring the way they communicated so effortlessly now. Silently. As though they were connected on some level that defied explanation.

“Do you think he has news?” She wrung her hands in front of her. Hands that he would be saying goodbye to the very next day, never to touch or feel again. His throat tightened and he clenched his jaw.

It would be better once she’d left. Then, he’d be through the worst of it. Neither of them liked goodbyes—they’d both had too many of them in their lives.

“I don’t know.” He crossed to Kate, who was fidgeting with her fingers, and caught her hands in his. “Either way, I’m here with you.” For now.