“You got intimate with Verek?” Charlotte whispers with her eyes wide in surprise. “Like all the way intimate?”
“Yes, I did! And maybe I would have months ago if someone hadn’t banished him from the island!”
“South Carolina isn’t an island,” Roman remarks.
“You know what I mean!” I yell so loudly my throat burns. “So, Roman, you’re going to find Verek and you’re going to tell him he’s good enough for me and that he has your approval for us to be together, because he apparently needs someone to tell him that. And if you don’t, I’ll…I’ll move back into this house and the two of you will never get alone time again!”
“I’m on it,” Roman says as he quickly pulls out his phone as fast as humanly possible.
“So, you really want to be with Verek?” Charlotte asks while Roman’s fingers fly over the phone.
“Yes! I sent Paul home.”
“How did he take the news?”
“He was hurt of course, but I think he’s relieved to finally be able to move on. Apparently, he had already tried to with other women…”
“See! I knew you needed the closure.”
“Don’t even go there again,” I grumble. “You shouldn’t have encouraged him. He was ready to move on without the closure. Oh, and while Verek was away he said he didn’t touch anyone else, and I believe him!”
“Wow. I can admit it. I think I was totally wrong,” Charlotte says. “I’m so unbelievably sorry. I thought I was helping and that I knew what you would want eventually.”
“I know, and I appreciate you trying to look out for me,” I say, taking a deep breath and letting my anger at my best friend go. I know her heart was in the right place even if she was totally wrong. “So, how was your honeymoon?” I ask.
“Perfect,” she replies with a grin. “Although it sounds like you had a pretty good time with Verek. How was it?”
“I can hear you!” Roman mutters.
“Then go somewhere else,” Charlotte tells him. “Tessa having sex again is huge news! I want to hear all of the details.”
“Ugh,” Roman groans before he puts his phone away and comes over to give Charlotte a quick kiss on the lips. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. I promise not to return until I make things right, Tessa.”
“About time,” I huff.
“Bye. Be careful,” Charlotte tells him before he slips out the door. To me she says, “Now, tell me everything.”
Verek
* * *
“Roman’s looking for you,” Damon, Fluid’s regular bartender, says when he glances up from his phone behind the bar. “I told him you’re here, and he’s on his way.”
“Great,” I grunt into my bottle of beer. I ignored all of his texts for a reason. “He’s probably coming to take my cut again,” I mutter aloud.
I’m on my third beer when Roman finally walks through the door like he’s in a hurry. “Office. Now,” he says to me as he passes by my stool.
“Good luck,” Damon whispers under his breath.
“Thanks,” I reply before getting up and following Roman into my office, shutting the door behind me. “So, what have I done wrong now? Are you gonna cut my balls off for sleeping with Tessa while you were gone?”
“No,” Roman says as he takes a seat behind my desk. “I’m going to apologize.”
“You are?” I say in surprise. Our president is not known for apologizing ever.
“I’m…sorry,” he says stiffly, like he hates the words and they’re unfamiliar coming out of his mouth. “I’ve put my shit on you for months because I felt responsible for the girls. I invited them to the club that night, and Tessa left while I was with Charlotte. I guess…I just wanted someone else to hurt and feel as guilty as I do about what happened to her.”
“Trust me, no one can ever feel as guilty as I do,” I tell him while leaning my back against the door and crossing my arms over my chest.
“The truth is, Tessa wants to be with you, not Paul.”
“He loves her and can be the man she needs,” I remark. “I’m a wild card. An unknown. I could hurt her again.”
“Tessa sent Paul home earlier,” Roman says. “They’re done and over. Did you know he slept with other women? Anyway, it’s fine because Tessa’s moved on. She loves you. So, you need to grow a pair and step up to try and make things work with her. If you don’t, I may never have sex with my wife again…”
“What?” I ask in confusion. There was a whole lot of crazy shit crammed into whatever he just said.
“Do you love Tessa or not?” he asks.
“How the hell would I know? I’ve never loved anyone before.”
“You don’t want to be with anyone else?”
“No,” I answer.
“And you want to be with her every day and night?”
“God yes.”
“You stuck by Tessa’s side while she was going through the worst part of her life,” Roman says. “At least until I made you leave. So, I think you’ve got the cherish in good times and bad, sickness and in health, all covered. That just leaves richer and poorer, but I doubt you’re hurting in that department.”
“I’m doing okay. I’ve got plenty of money in savings, more now that I no longer have to keep up two apartments in two different cities.”
“Then there you go! Problem solved. Go see your girl and start growing old together.”
“You make it sound like it’s that easy,” I mutter.
“Isn’t it?”
“I don’t know! Neither do you! You just got married a few days ago!”
“Either you man up and do your best to make Tessa happy and love her or someone else will,” Roman states.
“Fuck that,” I grumble. I’ve never been the jealous type, and I kept my cool dealing with Paul. But the thought of Tessa meeting someone else, being pursued by someone else makes my blood boil and my head throb. Even worse, it makes me feel physically ill. Oh god, is this love?
Chapter Thirty-Two
Tessa
* * *
After sitting with Charlotte for an hour, I go back to my apartment to wait, hoping Roman can find Verek and make things right.
Finally, a few hours later, I get a call from Jake.
“Send him up,” I say, knowing it’s Verek before he says a word.
“Yes, ma’am,” he agrees, immediately ending the call. I really should tell the prospects that they never have to ask if I want to see Verek. I always do.
I already have my door unlocked and open before I hear his hurried footsteps in the stairwell.
“Hey,” he says as soon as he comes around the corner and his eyes lock with mine.
“Hey,” I reply, instantly relaxing now that he’s here. It’s like everything is right in the world again. Still, something is obviously still wrong. “You took off earlier and wouldn’t answer your phone.”