shrugged. “I like parts of him. He doesn’t have the most stimulating of personalities, but he’s got a monster cock and magic hands, so he’s perfect for the time and place.” Her smile was sunny but didn’t quite reach her eyes. “You know me—I don’t do that messy emotional bullshit. I like my life how it is. I don’t have time for some needy dude expecting me to bend over backward to rearrange it for him.”
There was a story there, but in all the years Allie had known Becka, she’d never got to the heart of it. Despite her friend’s carefree spirit, Becka had a hard line when it came to anything resembling a relationship. She liked to laugh away the serious stuff whenever they got close to talking about it, and Allie respected the unspoken request to not bring it up.
Then again, Allie hadn’t done more than casually date in that time, either, so she wasn’t one to talk.
“Shots!” Becka poured vodka into two glasses and passed one over. “To a night of wall-banging sex and living our vacation to the fullest.”
They clinked glasses. “Tomorrow, why don’t we do something with just us?” Allie suggested.
“Sure...as long as you aren’t using me as a shield against Roman.” Becka downed her shot without a grimace. “If you want to spend the rest of this trip with him, then you should. I’m more than capable of keeping myself occupied, and it’s not like we don’t spend more time with each other in New York than we do with anyone else in our lives.”
There was no arguing that, but... She took her shot, closing her eyes as the alcohol burned its way down her throat and created a comforting warmth in her stomach. “I don’t want to abandon you.” She wasn’t sure she wanted to be that close with Roman, either. It was already hard to keep the boundaries in her head between them—between the island and New York, between the present and the inevitable future. Getting to know him better would make it worse.
Except...
“I’ll think about it.”
“Do that.” Becka plucked the shot glass from her hand. “Now get out of here. Five bucks says he bangs you right there on the patio.”
“You really need to stop making bets about how quickly Roman and I get to banging.” But she laughed all the same. She could shelve all her worries about what the future held—at least for a few more days.
Allie would figure out the rest when she got back to New York.
ROMAN HAD EVERYTHING prepared for Allie. A table set up on the patio overlooking the sunset. The food prepped and ready in its various warming plates. Candlelight. The best of intentions.
And then she walked out of the jungle and the blood rushed out of his head and took up residence in his cock. She wore a skintight beige skirt that his hands were itching to slide over, and her little crop top bustier thing offered her breasts up as if begging for his mouth. The sandals had a little heel on them, which only served to highlight the muscles in her legs and...
He rubbed the back of his hand over his mouth. “Fuck, Aphrodite.”
Her sweet smile was reward enough, but he wasn’t going to be the gentleman he’d planned to be originally. Not with her looking at him with those come-fuck-me eyes and strolling right up to slide her arms around his neck. Her smile widened as she pressed her hips against his. “Hey.”
“Hey.” He cupped her ass with one hand and her hip with the other, dragging his thumb along the exposed few inches of her upper stomach between the skirt and top. “You look amazing.”
“Thanks.” She looked him over. “You, too.”
It was too hot for pants, but he’d chosen a pair of khaki shorts and a linen button-down that passed as dressed to the nines for island fashion. “Are you hungry?”
“Starving.” She hooked her fingers into his belt loops. “But not for food. I’ve been thinking about you since we were on the boat.” She gave a delicate little shiver that had his cock hardening further. “Dinner will hold. I need you now.” Allie had his belt undone in the space of a heartbeat and shoved his pants down his legs.
Shock stole his reasoning when he recognized the look on her face. “You’re still jealous.”
“No, I’m not.” She knelt in front of him and wrapped her fingers around his cock. “I was. It wasn’t anything you did, and it wasn’t anything I have a right to feel, but it was there all the same.”
He laced his fingers through her hair. “You’re entitled to feeling anything you damn well please.”
“Yes, I’m aware.”
He watched her lick her lips, his heartbeat kicking up a notch. She was jealous of the woman on the boat. Roman hadn’t bothered to remember her name, but she had been beautiful and confident and someone he might have looked at twice if he wasn’t totally and completely wrapped up in Allie. “Do you really think another woman can compare when you’re in the room?”
“We were on a boat.” She gave him another stroke but seemed content to talk for the time being.
“The point stands.”
Allie pinned him with a look. “I’m not interested in competing with another woman for a single damn thing. Life isn’t a zero-sum game, and too often we’re pitted against each other when it’s not beneficial for anyone but the men around us.” When he just looked at her, she relented. “Fine. I hated seeing her touch you. I wanted to march up and toss her over the railing. I’m not proud of that.”
He wished he’d seen the obvious fury in her gaze when it all went down, though it was probably for the best that he hadn’t. Roman had no business being pleased with the fact she was jealous, but he was all the same. He slid his fingers deeper into her hair and lightly massaged her scalp. “I’m not interested in anyone but you.”
“For the next few days.”
For always. He couldn’t say it. Even with all the extenuating circumstances, it was too soon. Roman had never shied away from what he wanted, though—and what he wanted was Allie Landers.
He just had to give her a reason to give him a shot.
Focus.
“Suck me, Aphrodite. Show me how disinclined you are to share.”
She arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow. “I find myself very disinclined to share.” Allie licked the underside of his cock like a lollipop and then sucked him down.
Roman had to fight to keep his eyes open, to watch her pretty pink lips move over him. She licked and sucked, her gaze never leaving his face. She worked him like she was laying claim to his cock in a way that had lightning sparking at the small of his back and pressure building in his balls. He wasn’t going out like that, though. Not without touching her. “Come here.” He guided her off him and lifted her onto a chair.
Roman hit his knees and slid his hands beneath her skirt, pushing the soft fabric up. She wore nothing beneath it, and his breath caught in his throat when he
