Gripping the small zipper on the side of my skirt, I slowly slid it down.
“I don’t like Paige being involved,” I said slowly.
With a little shimmy, my skirt fell to the floor, and I stepped out of it. Roman inhaled so roughly I heard it from where I was, five feet in front of him.
I should have been nervous, but there was something about the way he was looking at me. As though he was really seeing me, and liked what he saw. I placed a hand against the stone hearth and went to take off my heels.
“No,” he bit out. “Those can stay on.”
I stood up straight and looked at him. “I’m not wired.”
His dark gaze slid over my body, and I felt it so acutely that it could have been his hands. “I’m still not convinced.”
Taking a deep breath, which he really seemed to enjoy watching, I reached behind me for the clasp of my bra. I snapped it open and slowly let the straps slide down my arms, keeping the lacy cups in place with my hands until the very last moment.
“You can’t come into my work and drag me out,” I said softly, letting the material fall and land on the floor next to my skirt and shirt.
A full-fledged growl came from Roman, whose face was hard as he stared at my body. Every square inch all at once. I had no idea how he did it, but nothing went unnoticed. From my face to my lips to my breasts, he drank me in with a single look.
I ran my thumbs along the waistline of my panties. The action snatched his full attention.
“You can’t expect me to come running every time you call,” I whispered. “I know I’m not really your girlfriend.” I pushed the flimsy material down to my thighs and let it fall from there. “But I’m not your slave either.”
A tic worked in his jaw as he looked me up and down, pausing between my legs long enough to make me squirm.
“You are mistaken about several things,” he rasped, and pushed to his feet. “First, Paige is good at her job. You interfering the way you did today only creates awkwardness for both of you.”
I opened my mouth to retaliate, but he spoke again before I could.
“What we’re doing will continue, and my team, which includes Paige, will deal with that. Second…”
He took a step toward me and I stifled the urge to cover myself, my confidence hanging by a thread. The fire at my back was hot, but nothing like the man with blazing black eyes coming toward me.
“I didn’t drag you anywhere. I merely adjusted the situation to better fit my needs. And my needs included you.” Another step. “Finally, you are my girlfriend. And I do expect you to come.” His mouth quirked up at the side in a devilish expression. “Often.”
I couldn’t breathe. The faint essence of burning wood and Roman’s masculine scent were too much. The closer he got, the further my thoughts strayed. I couldn’t keep my mind on the issues. Couldn’t think clearly enough to argue. A few syllables of his gravelly voice drained all the fight right out of my pores.
“I’m naked,” I whispered, and glanced down at my body. I had been beaten. He’d won this match, and I couldn’t maintain my false idea of power. I crossed my arms over my breasts.
Roman grazed his fingers along my forearm. “Yes, you are.”
“Every time I get near you, alone with you, I…”
“Lose judgment.”
I looked up at him, and he gently pulled my arm free, exposing me to his view.
“How do you know that?” I asked.
“Because I struggle with the same thing.” There was a softness in his voice I was coming to recognize. Honesty. I wasn’t going anywhere, not even if I wanted to, which I didn’t.
“I have yet to see you lose anything, Governor.”
He lifted my chin with the crook of his finger. “You’re witnessing it right now.”
The idea that maybe he felt a fraction of what I did made him seem more…human. More like the man I’d met at the gala, who’d led me barefoot to the ledge of a giant city and made me feel worthwhile for the first time in a long time.
My hands touched his chest softly. He was so hard and strong. So approachable, yet untouchable. A total and utter conundrum I couldn’t figure out. And my body was in worse shape than my mind, because everything in me was screaming for more.