“I was about to,” I said, tears glittering my eyes from the excitement building up my throat. “We got side-tracked—”
“It’s stunning!” Liberty said, jumping up and down.
Savannah squealed right alongside her as we fell into a fit of hugs and giggles as I told them how Roman had proposed. How everything had fallen into place. How deep my love ran for this man.
Roman and Nixon shook hands, holding their own version of the tale off to the side as me and my girls celebrated.
The night flowed into a flurry of music and drinks and celebrations with friends who were genuinely happy for Roman and me. A blissful sort of contentment settled over my soul as I realized how different life was when you had someone who truly loved you by your side. Someone who didn’t want to change you or mold you into their perfect prize, but someone who loved you for you—flaws and all.
“Dance with me?” Roman whispered into my ear, his hand grazing my hip.
“Always,” I said, sitting down my champagne flute and following him onto the dance floor.
He twirled me beneath his hand as we made it to a clear spot, the music soft and slow around us.
“Do you still like me?” He asked, a free smile on his lips.
I bit back my grin at the memory of the question we’d asked each other dozens of times over our long friendship. “Yes,” I answered. “Do you still like me?”
Roman drew me to his chest, his hand lifting my left hand between us as he smiled down at the ring that claimed me as his.
“Always,” he said. “That diamond looks good on you.”
I raised my hand, wiggling my fingers so the stone caught the light as we swayed to the music. “You know,” I said, my tone teasing. “I would’ve said yes to a RingPop.”
Roman laughed, the sound filling every inch of my soul with light.
“I’m pretty sure you did, in third grade, but I’ll be sure to remember that on our anniversary,” he said, tucking me closer to lean his head against mine. “Future Mrs. Padilla.”
My heart sang at his words, but my body froze at the sight just over his shoulder.
“T?” Roman felt the shift and moved in our embrace to follow my gaze.
Rick.
Dancing with some cheerleader not four-feet away.
His eyes flared, his neck tense as he looked at the ring on my finger. The one I’d just so unashamedly held up in the air. And he’d no doubt heard Roman’s words just now.
Roman tensed beside me, but I stopped his efforts to tuck me behind him. I stared Rick down, unashamed. I loved Roman. The true kind of love someone like Rick would never understand.
I held that vicious gaze, and I didn’t flinch. I didn’t blush. I didn’t look away. I steeled my spine and dared him to say one word to me.
And after a few heartbeats, when he had made no move to approach, I nodded and took Roman’s hand.
I led him off the dance floor.
After seeing Rick, facing him without cowering or recoiling or falling into a panic attack, there was nothing more I wanted to do than to get home and thank the man who had helped me find that strength.
“T?” Roman asked as I led him through the doors and gardens and back to his car. “You all right?”
I smiled at him, the motion genuine, easy. “Absolutely,” I said. “I can’t wait a second longer.”
“For what?”
“For you to take me home.” I let the desire and love churning inside me show through my eyes, and Roman echoed my need.
We made it to his house within twenty-minutes, greeted by an extremely excited Walt. After petting and catching up with him, Roman let him outside to go explore the grounds as he often did this time of night. He’d barely closed the back door before I threw myself at him.
He caught me easily, his lips meeting mine in a hungry clash.
“I love you,” I said, my heart racing against my chest as I tore my lips from his. “I’ve always loved you. Even when I couldn’t show it properly. You know that?” I titled my head, clinging to him, needing him to understand just how much he meant to me in that moment.
“I know, Teagan,” he said, flicking his tongue over my bottom lip. “I love you, too.”
I kissed him again, harder, and with abandon. So many revelations had hit me since falling for Roman, since realizing how much I’d always loved him. He’d given me the space to heal, to become myself again, and now I had forever to give him every piece of my heart.
Roman set me gently on my feet, my high heels clicking against his floor.
I grinned after kissing him one more time, then took a step back, his tie slipping through my fingers. “We never finished our dance,” I said, crossing the living room. I pushed a few buttons on my phone, connecting my music to his surround sound. A slow, sultry song filtered through the speakers, and Roman cocked a brow at me as I motioned to the armless chair on the opposite side of his couch.
He sank into it, his eyes never losing my heated gaze.
Fueled by champagne and love and feeling truly beautiful and seen for the first time in so, so long, I rolled my hips to the beat of the music, using my hands to slide over my body like I knew Roman would once I pulled the trigger.
He growled when I gripped his shoulders, swaying my hips over him, teasing him, my dress flowing out around us. I let the steady pulse of the bass fill me, let the sultry strings pluck my body into a dance that teased us both.
Roman’s fingers slipped beneath my dress, his warm touch sizzling against my bare thighs as he explored me while I danced above him. Teasing him, rolling my lace-covered heat over what was hard as granite beneath his suit pants.
The music rose in beat, a crescendo of notes that propelled my pace over him, winding us both up until every touch, every graze, every innocent caress felt like a match to gasoline.
“God, Teagan,” he growled. “You’re so fucking sexy.”
His words undid my restraint, my resolve, and I gave him a hazy grin as I stepped back enough to unzip my dress. The silk fluttered down my body, pooling around my ankles. I stepped out of the pile of fabric, leaving me in nothing but black lace and heels.
Roman hurried out of his suit jacket and shirt, discarding them atop my dress. He reached for his pants, but I chided him, slowly falling my knees, my fingers on his zipper.
His hard chest rose and fell as I unzipped his pants, tugging them and his boxer briefs down and throwing them over my shoulder until he was gloriously bare before me. I lightly dug my nails into his muscular thighs, my mouth watering at the sight of him—all smooth dark skin, carved muscles, and that perfectly hard cock that twitched when I dragged my nail down his shaft.
Roman hissed, his hips thrusting up off the chair as I gripped him.
The music shifted to a new song, this one with harder edges. I smiled up at him, flicking my tongue over his head, lapping up a drop of pre-come and relishing the taste of warm salt and pure Roman before standing to continue our dance.
The hard length of him slipped between my heat, the lace drenched from wanting him as I ground against him to the beat. He gripped my ass, holding on with a growl as I planted kisses along his chest before spinning to bend slightly, giving him an eyeful of my ass as I swayed to the music.
“Goddamn, Teagan,” he said, lightly smacking my ass. “You’re driving me crazy.”