Follow Your Heart (Catalina Cove #4) - Brenda Jackson Page 0,38

I could start off my day by having breakfast with you at Witherspoon Café. I went there this morning hoping to see you, but Bryce Witherspoon-Chambray mentioned you’d been there earlier and had gotten your food to go.”

Her heart began fluttering upon hearing he’d dropped by her favorite café hoping to see her. “Yes, I needed to be at work earlier today for a meeting. Had I known you’d wanted to share breakfast with me, I would have gotten out of bed early and dressed and met you there.”

“I would always want to share breakfast with you, Victoria. Needless to say, I got mine to go, as well. So are we on for tomorrow?”

She smiled, feeling somewhat giddy that he wanted to spend even more time with her. “Yes, we are on.”

They had reached her car. “Well, thanks for making sure I got to my car safe, Roman.”

“I couldn’t operate any other way. Remember I have three sisters.”

Victoria wondered if that was his way of letting her know he placed her in the same category as his sisters?

“You’re frowning,” he said.

“Am I?”

“Yes. Everything’s all right?”

“Yes, everything is all right. Good night, Roman.”

“Good night, Victoria.”

Neither made a move. He made no effort to step aside for her to open her car door and she didn’t ask him to. Instead, they stood there and stared at each other. Then when he leaned down, instead of his lips touching her cheek, his fingers did. Her breath wobbled at the feel of the tips of his fingers caressing her skin. His touch was so gentle, it caused her eyes to close.

“Victoria...”

She reopened her eyes and glanced up at him. When she saw the dark heated look in his gaze, she felt a throb in her midsection as desire warmed her to the core. She wanted to touch him like he was touching her, so she slowly glided her hands up his abdomen to his chest, loving the feel of his T-shirt beneath her fingers.

“Say my name, Victoria.”

She wasn’t sure why he was asking her to do that. Not that she cared for the reason. At that moment, in her frame of mind, she would have granted him any request he made. “Roman.”

“Say it again.”

“Roman.” And just in case he wanted to hear it for a third time, she said, “Roman.”

As if three was a charm and that’s what he’d needed to hear, he lowered his mouth to hers.

* * *

ROMAN TOOK VICTORIA’S mouth with all the greed he’d felt over the past week and a half, since that day he’d seen her at the television station. Her lips and mouth had fascinated him then, so he couldn’t help letting himself go, releasing all binds, tasting her as deeply as he pleased, while filling his senses with the essence that was uniquely her.

She was bringing out an intense sexual longing in him—wants, needs and desires that could only be assuaged by her. And she was allowing him to do so by parting her lips and reciprocating his need with her tongue, mingling with his in a way that only fueled the intense primitive need building within him.

He couldn’t deny himself desire, nor could he deny her the same thing. They were caught up in a desperate joining of mouths. He knew at this moment that no matter what she thought, no matter what her great-grandmother assumed, Tanner Jamison was not the man for her. He would figure out how he reached that conclusion later. For now, he just concentrated on this kiss.

Finally, when he knew continuing could lead to a risk he wasn’t willing to take yet, for either of them, he pulled his mouth from hers, ending their kiss. But that didn’t stop his tongue from licking around her mouth, from one corner to another.

Then he knew he had to stop, so he pulled her into his arms and rested his chin on the top of her baseball cap while drawing in a deep breath. He heard her draw in a deep breath a few times, too.

“Please don’t ask me to apologize, Victoria,” he said almost breathlessly. “But I needed to do that.”

“And I needed you to do that, Roman,” she answered softly.

He released another deep breath, this one of relief. He wished he could ask her to go back to his place, spend the night and sleep naked in his arms, but he knew he couldn’t do that. At least not tonight. However, whether she knew it or not, this kiss—and her easy