Page 17 of Possessed By Roman

He shakes his head. “You’re not going to stop, are you?”

“No.”

The conversation continues while we finish preparing breakfast. And I find myself learning small things about him. He tells me his parents live in Kansas, that his siblings occasionally accuse him of being impossible, and that he spends most of his free time at 4R Ink.

We move to the dining table with our plates, and for a few minutes, I manage to focus on eating. Then Roman asks, “What about you?”

I look up. “What about me?”

“I know it’s just you and your dad. How was it growing up?”

“It wasn’t bad. You know dad joined the military before I was born, so moving around was normal for us. I’ve lived in so many places that sometimes I forget where certain memories happened.”

He forks up some eggs. “You like moving?”

“When I was younger, I did. Everything felt like an adventure. New schools. New houses. New people.” I shrug. “When I got older, it became annoying. You finally make friends, get comfortable, start feeling like you belong somewhere, and then suddenly you’re packing again.”

Roman watches me quietly. “That why you stay in touch with people?”

I blink. “What?”

“You have a lot of people texting you.”

I look toward my phone sitting on the counter. “You noticed that?”

“I notice things.”

Apparently. “Yeah. I guess I do. I learned early that if I wanted people to stay in my life, I had to make an effort. My dad always had work, and I never wanted to make things harder for him, so I learned to adapt.”

His jaw tightens slightly. “You were a kid. You shouldn’t have had to worry about making things easier for him.”

I smile softly. “He was a good dad.”

“I know.”

We go silent, retreating into our own thoughts at the mention of Dad. Nothing about this is okay. We silently finish breakfast. Roman pushes his chair back and takes his plate to the sink.

“I’m going to check in with the others.”

Roman disappears toward his office, leaving me alone in the open living area. The moment he is gone, I release a long breath. The strange, restless awareness I feel whenever he’s around slowly begins to ease. Roman Taylor is too much. Larger than life, too intense and too attractive.

Being around him feels like standing too close to a fire. Part of me knows I should move away before I get burned, while another part of me wants to step closer just to find out what happens. I have never experienced attraction like this.

I have almost no experience with men, and Roman makes my brain stop working. He has this quiet, commanding presence that makes me instinctively pay attention whenever he speaks. He doesn’t need to raise his voice. He doesn’t need to demand attention.

He simply has it. And there is something deeply exhilarating about that. I lean back in my chair.

“Get a grip.”

A few minutes later, Roman returns. I immediately sit up. “What did they say?”

His expression tells me the news isn’t particularly good.

“River is still in D.C.” My heart tightens. “He’s following what he can find. He’s checking Dan’s house and going over anything that might give us a direction.”

I nod slowly. “And Royal?”

“Still working on the encryption.”