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Her lips open, forming a perfect O.

“Anyway, Leo showed up and took care of it. Within an hour, he’d de-escalated the situation and had her set up with a mental health professional. He’d even paid for her to stay at the nicest mental health inpatient facility he could find.”

“That’s amazing.”

“Yeah. It was,” I say, my voice barely more than a whisper. “Anyway, he’s never looked at me the same after that…”

“Damn. That’s heavy,” she says, blowing out a breath and flipping over to snuggle into my side. Her fingernails trail over my arm in soothing strokes as we both seem to lose ourselves to our thoughts. It’s a companionable silence that neither one of us tries to fill.

The part I don’t tell her is that I’ve been trying to win back Leo’s approval ever since. Doing everything I can to prove to the best man I know that I am a good person.

Because if Leo believes it…then maybe it’s true.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Kira

It’s Sunday night, and Roman left to grab dinner to give me some privacy. I can’t stop thinking about what he told me the other night, about the woman he was a little too careless with and who ended up hurt. He was young and inexperienced. No one can fault him for not being able to foresee something like that happening. Unfortunately, mistakes are our greatest teachers. Some people are faster learners than others.

I’m not often wrong when it comes to reading people. Especially men. But when it comes to Roman Kingsley, I missed the mark by a landslide.

He’s so much more than just the lovable, easygoing man everyone can depend on.

I wish he could see himself the way I see him. The amazing, generous man that he is, who is always willing to help everyone around him, even if it’s at his own detriment.

His personality makes so much sense now, how he’s so intentional about caring for everyone around him and committed to doing the right thing.

It’s taken me a little while to see it, but we’re more similar than I first realized. Both hiding behind a mask, trying to control the narrative of how we’re perceived. Me through allowing everyone to think the worst…and Roman through his never-ending pursuit for perfection.

Both terrified of showing the world our true identities.

The only difference is, I’m aware of it…

I’m by no means an expert on self-awareness, but I can honestly say my sessions with Marguerite have opened my eyes to so many of my suppressed emotions.

Dare I say, I’m actually excited for our session today. I have so much to catch her up on.

The past few weeks with Roman have been straight out of a fantasy. He’s exceeded every expectation I’ve ever had for an intimate relationship, shown me a whole new world of pleasure that I never believed existed. I don’t think I’ve stopped smiling for weeks. I feel like a new woman.

Everything about the man on paper is wrong for me, yet he’s showing me exactly what it feels like to be adored. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he may be catching feelings for me.

But that’s just how Roman is with everyone. He’s got this magnetism about him that pulls you in and makes you feel like you’re the most important person in the world. I’ve seen it play out so many times already this summer that I can't think otherwise.

His story about the girl who instantly fell head over heels for him is the most recent example. The wild part is, I totally get it.

Not that I’m going to start ripping my hair out and breaking things…but I can understand how she fell so hard, how she could easily mistake the mutual trust needed to surrender herself to him for something that felt like love.

I know because I’ve caught myself slipping into thinking the same thing. Good thing I know it isn’t real.

Now I understand why he added: I promise not to fall in love with you, to our contract.

And I had the nerve to tease him for it.

Marguerite’s smiling face fills the screen, and her voice interrupts my thought. “Well, aren’t you glowing?”

“Thank yo—” But before I can get the words out, she cuts me off. “Looks like somebody’s been enjoying their homework,” she singsongs.

I swear, this woman terrifies me sometimes. She must be psychic. There’s no other way her intuition could be that spot on—especially over a webcam.