Eve quickly glanced at the car she could see through the gates one last time before she walked back into the house. Could they take clear pictures of her from that angle? The last thing she wanted was her face in the papers, especially since Roman was currently linked with Vivian. People never took kindly to the women even though it was the man playing games with them.
Roman was right, though. She had willingly come here tonight, even after the way he had kissed her in the car park. She didn’t know any other billionaires who could make this mess go away. And she didn’t know anyone who could protect her parents at the drop of a hat like he had done. No matter how she felt about him and what he had done to her, she was grateful he was there to sort the mess out.
Even if he had been the one to start it all by asking for that kiss.
When she was back into the warmth, she pulled her phone out and saw that she already had several calls and messages from her mum and dad.
Her finger hovered over her dad’s name before she pressed her mother’s instead. She picked up on the first ring. While she had been busy playing house with Roman, her parents must have been sitting by their phones. She was the worst daughter ever.
“Evie! Are you okay? What’s happening, I saw the paper today on the bus and then you haven’t come home yet.”
She winced. Of course, her mother would have seen her in Roman’s arms. They had free papers on the bus that were nothing but gossip. So her mother would have known about this since the morning when she went home from her night shift.
“I’m sorry, mum,” she whispered.
“What are you doing, Eve? You still cry yourself to sleep over this man,” her mother said. “You think I don’t hear you?”
She glanced down the short hallway to the kitchen and then went to sit on the chair in front of the fire. She didn’t want Roman to hear any of this conversation.
“I know,” she started. “But it’s not what it looks like.”
“It looks like you’re getting your head turned again to me. What does it look like to you?”
She could hear the disappointment in her mother’s voice.
“It was… It was closure,” she whispered. “I didn’t know it would blow up in my face.”
Her mother sighed.
“Men like that don’t change, Evelyn. If you get sucked back in, it will be the same story all over again. You’ll always be unhappy.”
“I know. I’m not back with him, mum. I wouldn’t do that to myself again.”
And she wouldn’t do that to them.
“You were terrified of him, Evie. I can’t understand how…”
How could she still touch him? Kiss him? If she understood that herself then she wouldn’t be in this position. Just that kiss had been enough to keep her awake imagining how Roman would finish the job he started. And then she had been disgusted with herself because she could still feel the tendrils of fear at his house. Her head, her heart and her lady parts were leading her in different directions.
But she wasn’t going to tell her mother it was her lady parts that had made that decision to kiss him and convinced her that his request was logical.
“I don’t know, mum. But it won’t happen again. All of this will be over soon and we’ll get back to normal.”
There was silence for a while and then her mother sighed again.
“So where are you now? We’ve been worried sick.”
She didn’t want to tell her parents she had been followed. And she didn’t want to tell them there was a security team outside making sure they didn’t get caught in the middle of all of this. They would worry too much.
“I went to Pam’s after I saw the paper,” she lied. “I’m okay.”
“We’ll talk about this when you get home.”
She had only ever been to Pam’s house once, soon after she got the job and the girl threw a party. But she was glad that her mother didn’t question why she would suddenly go there.
“Okay, mum. I’ll be back tomorrow before you go to work.”
When she hung up, she looked over her shoulder and saw Roman standing there with two cups of steaming coffee.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude,” he said as he came forward and put both down on the only side table in the room.
She didn’t know what to make of this whole night. She had seen Roman get angry a few times in the last days of their arrangement, so she had been sure this would set him off. But instead, he’d cooked for her and taken care of her parents. And he’d apologised again.
She wasn’t buying it, though. Her mother was right. People didn’t change. Especially men with so much money that they felt entitled and wanted their way all the time.
Why did it matter to him if she had told him the truth about being in love with him? They were both mature enough to see that it didn’t matter. He had already shown his true colours again and again.
“I don’t really want a drink,” she said. “I think I’ll just go to sleep. It’s been a long day.”
“Sure. There’s a room ready upstairs.”
She picked her bag up and started to follow him. Though she tried to look elsewhere, she really did, but her eyes stayed on his perfect butt as he walked up the stairs in front of her. Of course, she knew which part of her had made that decision.
At the top of the stairs, she looked around the hallway. The house had changed so much since she and her mother had viewed it. Like downstairs, upstairs looked more spacious and elegant. Maybe it was the lack of furniture or any other decorations.
When he stopped in front of a door, she realised he had led her to the master bedroom. Though it was also sparsely furnished, she could tell that this was the room he slept in. The bed was huge, almost like the one in his other house, and the bedding had bold designs and luxurious fabrics. A few personal effects lay on the nightstand next to the lamp.
“I’ll just grab some of my things for tomorrow,” Roman said as he opened a built-in wardrobe.
“Wait. I don’t want to put you out. I can sleep in another room or on the couch,” she said quickly.
Sleeping in his bed now would be… It would cause more trouble in her head than what it was worth. She didn’t need to give her lady parts any more ideas.
“The furniture is arriving tomorrow. This is the only bed in the house, and I want you in it,” Roman said as he picked some clothes.
Her thighs clenched together at his choice of words.
“I have work to catch up on, anyway,” he continued. “I’ll be fine downstairs.”
He then turned to stand in front of her for a moment. His eyes lowered to her lips, and just like that she could almost feel his lips on hers as she remembered last night.
Roman cleared his throat and looked away.
“There are new toothbrushes and towels in the cabinet under the sink. I’ll be downstairs if you need anything.”
And then he walked out of the room.
With him so close, she knew she would have another sleepless night again. But first thing in the morning, she would watch the security footage until that car left and then she would go. If she changed her coat and kept her hair under a hat she would be fine. She could laugh off any suggestions that she was the woman in the picture and go about her day.
And that would be the last she would see of Roman.