“Yes.” Despite all the stipulations and how this whole relationship agreement had begun, that night—the first night we’d met—mattered. It was the reason I was standing here before him. There had been no agenda then. No expectations. Just two people with a fresh start.

Roman Reese was special, and made me feel special, like something more than a disaster outrunning darkness. And yet he was running from his own darkness.

“What if I want to think with you?” he asked.

“Well, that would kind of defeat the purpose.”

“I disagree.” He placed a soft kis

s on my forehead and said, “I want to be with you, sweetheart. You want honesty?”

I nodded, barely brushing his nose with mine.

“The way you’re talking right now has me nervous.”

I cracked my eyes opened, not realizing I had closed them in a lost moment, and gave him a disbelieving look.

“Politicians never get nervous,” I challenged.

He scoffed. “They do. The good ones just don’t show it.” I smiled and he kissed me again, then pulled away. “However, I did come here for a reason.”

I groaned and spun from him, returning to my packing. “Of course you did.”

He came up behind me, his big hands on my hips, his thumbs brushing just above my jeans and beneath my shirt. The small contact of his fingers on my skin sent shivers racing through my body.

“I came to ask if you’d like some company to Indiana?”

My blood pressure spiked so quickly, it ricocheted through my veins like a boomerang. I spun to face him, my eyes so wide they almost hurt.

“You want to come with me?”

“This is the anniversary of your sister’s passing,” he clarified, as if I didn’t know. “That’s important, and if you’ll have me, I’d like to accompany you.”

My whole body lit up like a cracked glow stick. I’d always gone alone. And even when I saw my parents, they had the uncanny ability to make me feel excluded in their presence. But to have support? To have Roman?

“You’d really do that?”

He looked at me like I was crazy. “Of course.”

“But the election is right around the corner and you have meetings, don’t you?”

“Nothing I can’t reschedule.”

Water lined my eyes and I launched myself into his arms. I hugged him tightly, and he wrapped those strong arms around me.

“So, is that a yes?”

“Yes,” I smiled. “I’d love it if you came.” This was a huge sacrifice for him, and I couldn’t believe he’d actually take time from his overflowing schedule to come with me.

He kissed me. It was soft at first, then hot, needy.

“By the way,” he said, his palms sliding down my back to grip my ass. “I really like you in jeans.”

Chapter Seventeen

She’s just so beautiful and kind. Really amazing and ambitious. She never failed at anything she set her mind to,” my father said with pride in his eyes.

Roman nodded and smiled at me. My parents had been excited to meet the governor of New York when I’d called yesterday to tell them he was accompanying me, and had instantly invited us over for dinner. Now, as we all sat around the dinner table, my parents couldn’t stop gushing.

Tags: Joya Ryan Sweet Torment Romance
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