play whipping girl about this, Allie. It’s okay to want him.”
But it wasn’t okay.
She didn’t know how to reconcile the person she was back home and the woman she was acting like here. “I’m not supposed to want him. Anyone but him.”
“Ah.” Becka nodded and took a long drink of the pink thing in front of her. “I don’t have an easy answer for that. You going to his place tonight?”
“No.” She might want him more than she had a right to, but that didn’t change the fact that she didn’t want to talk business with him—or, rather, fight about business. If he couldn’t agree to that bare minimum, then the pleasure wasn’t worth the pain.
She just had to keep reminding herself of that.
* * *
Roman didn’t sleep well. Every noise brought him fully awake, sure that Allie had changed her mind. He knew she wouldn’t. She had drawn that line in the sand and she was stubborn enough not to cross it. He might have bullshit her yesterday, but he knew the truth.
The ball was in his court.
He woke early and attended the sunrise yoga class. There were a few people there he didn’t recognize, but neither Allie nor Becka showed up. It was a relief to turn off his mind for a bit, but the feeling lasted until he walked into the tiny business center and went through the irritating process of checking his email.
Aaron had come through for him.
Roman stared at the document for a long time before he printed it. Even if he decided to take Allie up on her offer, he still had his eye on the prize for when they got back to New York. That meant he needed the deeper research so he could figure out how to play this. They were down to the wire.
It wasn’t completely his fault, but that didn’t change the bottom line.
He gathered the papers, double-checked to make sure the document hadn’t downloaded on the computer and logged off. There was plenty of time to get his reading done and then figure out how he’d plan the rest of the day. Accidentally running into Allie might be entertaining as fuck, but it wasn’t accomplishing anything. He had to figure out a better way to go about this.
I could take her up on the offer.
Roman hesitated in front of his cart. It seemed simple enough—leave business out of things. It meant passing up valuable opportunities to talk to her, but...it wasn’t like Allie was talking to him at this point. She wasn’t going to, either. She’d made that more than clear.
There was no goddamn reason not to say yes.
He turned around and headed back into the main building. The hostess smiled when she saw him coming. “Mr. Bassani, are you enjoying your stay?”
“Very much so.” He was about to enjoy it a whole hell of a lot more. He stopped next to the desk she stood behind. “I was hoping you could help me with something.”
“Of course.” She smiled brightly, her brown eyes lighting up with the rest of her face. “Let me know what you need and I’ll take care of it.”
“I’d like to send a message to one of the other villas—villa six.”
Her face fell. “Oh, I’m sorry. We do our best to create an isolated and relaxing atmosphere here. If guests choose to come into the lodge, that’s one thing, but we don’t seek them out unless they need something.” And she clearly thought that whatever he wanted to send wouldn’t be relaxing.
Roman put on his most charming smile. “It’s just a little note. If they order dinner tonight, there would already be someone going out there. You can just include the message with the food.”
Still she hesitated. “I’m not sure.”
“If it makes you feel better, you can read the note. Just to ensure it’s all on the up-and-up.”
Another hesitation, shorter this time. “I suppose...” She passed over a thick piece of island stationery. Roman accepted the pen and scrawled a quick note. The hostess frowned. “That’s it?”
“She’ll know what I mean.”
She smiled, obviously put at ease by the fact he hadn’t written anything inappropriate. Roman could have corrected her assumption, but he needed Allie to get that note. Passing notes. That’s what I’ve been reduced to.
It would be hours yet before he knew what her answer was—possibly longer if she decided to make him wait. The entire thing was beyond his control, and it irritated the fuck out of him. What was he supposed to do with this? Roman was used to seeing what he wanted and going for it—and heaven help anyone who thought they could stand in the way.
He wanted his client happy, and the only way that would happen was acquiring the gym.
He wanted Allie, too.
Therein lay the issue—he couldn’t have both. There might not be any sort of future with Allie, but there sure as fuck wasn’t one if he kept pushing her. She’d made that more than clear.
If he stopped pushing her, they could relax into the insanely hot sex, but he’d have to let his plan for Transcend go. It might not be the end of the world, but Roman’s career was built on the faith that he could provide exactly what he promised. He’d never met an obstacle he couldn’t account for and overcome.
Until now.
He turned and strode out of the main building and to his cart, gripping the stack of papers. All the information he could come up with for Allie and her gym—something Roman should have done a long time ago. Oh, he’d done the basic background check and pulled the available financial statements he could get ahold of, but he hadn’t dug deeper than that, even when she’d refused to meet him.
Stupid of him.
He didn’t need to navel gaze for the rest of his goddamn life to know why he hadn’t pushed as hard as he normally did. The shelter. He admired the hell out of what she was doing there, and he knew it was pretty damn likely that she had some kind of history that drove her to create a safe space like she had. Having a man try to bulldoze her might trigger shit that he’d have to be a monster to pull up.
He’d played softball with her.
Now that he’d met Allie, he was forced to reevaluate. She wasn’t anything like he’d expected. She wasn’t a wilting flower that would crumble at a sharp word. The woman had thorns, and she had no problem using them. Roman gripped the papers. The gloves were coming off. Now.
ALLIE BARELY WAITED for the man to leave their covered food before she yanked the lids off. “I’m starving.” If she’d spent any time wondering if she’d be active enough while on vacation, she needn’t have worried. Swimming and paddleboarding had left a pleasant soreness in her muscles and an equally pleasant tiredness.
Also, she’d been ready to wade into the ocean and try to catch her own fish
