My eyes were glued to her mouth. “Starving.”
Rome picked up on my double meaning, her cheeks flushing slightly. I pictured her ass looking the same way, red from my palm. “Want a beer?” She retrieved a bottle from the fridge without waiting for my response.
“Sure.” I twisted off the cap and took a drink.
“You can have a seat. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes.”
I didn’t go over there to spend time with Christopher in front of the TV, but whatever. “Need help with anything?”
“Nope.” She turned back to the counter and continued slicing the vegetables.
I walked into the living room and sat on the couch, Christopher perched on the other one. “So, what were we saying?”
“All your thoughts fell out of your head when you looked at her, huh?”
I smiled before I took a drink. “Something like that.”
After dinner, Rome entered the kitchen and washed the dishes.
Christopher talked to me about IRAs and other financial bullshit before he nodded toward the hallway. “There’s something I want to show you.”
“Where?”
“In my bedroom.” He left his beer on the dining table.
I raised an eyebrow, not interested in entering another man’s bedroom.
“Just come.” He walked down the hallway with me behind him. Once we entered his bedroom, he shut the door behind us.
And that made things weirder.
He crossed his arms over his chest and faced me, keeping his voice down. “Alright, I wanted to talk to you about something without that pain in the ass overhearing.”
Now I was interested. “What’s up?”
“She’s having some problems at work right now, and she needs to walk away from the business. She’s been losing money for a long time, and keeping For All is doing more harm than good. I know she mentioned she applied to your company a few times but never heard back. I was wondering if you would give her a job.”
I would give her anything she wanted. But why was I hearing this from him instead of her? “Why is this a secret?” Rome should trust me by now. There was nothing she could say to me that would upset me.
“Because she refuses to ask you for anything.” Christopher rolled his eyes. “She doesn’t want you to think she’s interested in you for your money, wealth, and connections. So, she’s stuck in this shitty situation until something better comes along. But nonprofit work that actually pays is slim pickings. She’s gonna be in that shithole forever unless you give her a helping hand.”
I processed everything he said, feeling moved about her priorities. She could ask me for help, but she refused to because I was too important to her. She valued our relationship more than making her life easier. Most women didn’t care about me beyond my fucking skills, wallet, and empire. Her gesture meant more to me than I could ever put into words. With Christopher watching me, I kept my emotions below the surface, wearing my stoic expression like always. My thoughts were always a mystery to everyone around me—except Rome. “I’ll take care of it.”
“How?” he asked. “I don’t want her to know I had anything to do with this.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of it.”
He smiled and shook my hand. “You’re the man. If you ever want to marry my sister, you have my blessing.” He winked then opened the bedroom door and raised his voice so Rome could hear our conversation. “Yeah, the Dow is doing terrible right now. Might have something to do with the election. There are so many variables when it comes to the stock market that nothing is certain, you know?”
We entered the kitchen area, and I nodded along. “I agree.”
Rome had just shut the dishwasher. “Do you guys ever talk about anything else besides finances? Like sports?”
“Actually, yeah,” Christopher said. “We were just talking about how you could benefit from some cooking lessons.”
Rome crossed her arms over her chest, giving a hateful look that was scary but borderline cute. “I’m not cooking you dinner again.”
“Good.” Christopher walked into the living room and snatched his beer off the dining table. “I’ll have beer for dinner.”
She rolled her eyes when he wasn’t looking.
Now that dinner was finished and we were face-to-face, I wanted to get out of there. Every moment my dick wasn’t deep inside her was wasted time. “Let’s go to my place.” I didn’t ask her because it wasn’t a request. Christopher was cool, but I wasn’t interested in spending time with him. My interest in Rome was very specific. All these dates and dinners were only part of the plan to get what I wanted.
“Now?” she asked.
“Right. This. Second.” I stared her down without blinking, amazed by the beauty of her green eyes. I couldn’t wait until they sparkled for me while she came as she dug her nails into my arms.