Love Me (The Elites of Cheshire shore #2)

23. Florence

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

florence

“ M aybe Flo isn’t the one to blame here, there are two in this relationship.” Lottie’s brown eyes sparkle. “Rome needs to show everyone that he’s well and truly in love with Flo after all.”

Rome pinches my ribs, making me squeal. “Now there’s a good start,” Dante pipes in. I silently promise to make Lottie’s life a living hell when she introduces me to her next boyfriend. Payback is a bitch after all.

“Can we please focus,” Rome grunts, adjusting me on his lap to get more comfortable. Ironic, because he is doing his best to ensure that we’re both increasingly uncomfortable in the current position.

“There has been a development,” he continues. Everyone is oblivious to the tension hiding between us. “It seems Deeter has let slip there is a pool of proposals?—”

“How many are in the pool?” Luca quickly asks before Rome can finish his sentence.

Rome peels his gaze away from Dante and the small screen to stare directly at Luca. “I don’t know, we need to do some digging and not-so-subtly convince the other applicants why their proposals should be pulled.” He takes a deep breath. “We do know for sure Deeter is thinking of grooming his godson to take over, and he wants to keep Deeter Group in the family, which is obviously making that assumption more favorable.”

“Fuck, wasn’t that the whole reason why you came up with this relationship?” Dante groans.

“Yeah, and it would obviously look too fucking weird now to say we randomly broke up, so we need to keep up the relationship facade. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have someone else double date with us?” Rome stares at his brother.

“And it’s at this time I mention I’m on the other side of the world,” Dante replies dryly. But he isn’t the Venuccio brother we had in mind, as all eyes turn to Luca.

“What?” His eyes widen as his face becomes all soft and innocent.

“I think they’re volunteering you as tribute,” Lottie replies.

“Don’t you have your own brothers to annoy?” Luca bites out.

It doesn’t affect Lottie one bit though. Having grown up around these guys, she lets the insult slide like water off a baby duck’s back. “Oh, I do, but annoying you is way more fun.”

Poor Luca. He really is fun to annoy.

“So it’s settled then, let’s organize a double date.” I clap my hands and bounce up and down on Rome’s lap, making him moan partly from pleasure but also from the pain that he can’t do anything but maintain his stoic facade.

“You will pay for this,” he whispers in my ear.

“I absolutely cannot wait,” my reply is loud enough to be heard by everyone in the room.

“I can’t believe I’m reduced to this. A double date with my best friend, my brother, and the girl who is holding our future in her hands, and you can’t wait.” Luca rests his fingers on the bridge of his nose and releases a sharp breath.

I one hundred percent wasn’t talking about our double date, but I’ll happily let Luca think that.

We spend the remainder of the morning hatching out our plan, Dante is going to stay focused on Kadelburg, Luca is going to gather intel on who else has put forth a proposal, and Rome and I are going to couple it the hell up and try to convince Brian, and most importantly Nora, who can really convince her dad. And Lottie got to hang out because it was better than watching some trashy reality TV show that she uses to unwind.

We made it to our next couples red light therapy session with minutes to spare. After this morning’s breakfast, we thought it was safest that we go everywhere together, hands intertwined in a completely lovesick way. So far, Rome’s threat has seemed empty. I sure do hope that he decides we need to practice more. I may be sworn off love, but I sure am not sworn off being railed into next Thursday. And something about the way he said that he was going to make me pay, made me know it was going to be delicious. Too bad it was an empty threat.

When the schedule said infrared therapy, I didn’t think it meant sitting in a small glass room in my bikini—which, luckily Lottie had a spare pair; unluckily, I think it’s the sorriest excuse for a bikini. The small triangles barely cover my areolas and the bottoms are more thong than anything else. I guess coverage is optional with these particular ones. I mean, I feel like a goddess, I just hope I don’t get told to cover up by the spa management. I tug the bows on my robe, making sure they are tight.

Rome opens the door to the small infrared sauna. He waits for me to walk into our little cube, the humid air hitting me the moment I step in. I take a seat on the bench as Rome sits on the bench opposite me, pulling the door shut behind him. He immediately disrobes, his light blue trunks riding high up on his thighs as he relaxes back, his entire body of tattoos on display. I lick a small bead of sweat forming at the top of my lip. I’ve seen Romes tattoos a lot, but I’ve never really admired them like I am right now.

“Lollipop.” Rome’s voice pulls me from my lust-filled haze.

“Yeah?”

He tips his head to the side. “Comfortable?”

“Extremely,” I breathe.

“Maybe you would be more comfortable if you took your robe off.”

I follow a small bead of sweat that rolls slowly down Rome’s clavicle, through the hard planes of his chest, and disappears into the band of his pants. A knowing smirk touches his lips, and it annoys me. He’s the reason why I’m so worked up in the first place, It’s only fair that I should give him a taste of his own medicine.

I return his smile, knowing exactly what’s underneath my robe. Let the fun begin. “You know what”—I pull the ties on my robe, letting it fall open—“I think you’re right, this feels much more comfortable.”

I slowly let the lapels fall off my shoulders, enjoying the way his pupils blow wide, his eyes more black than green as he takes his time taking me in, before meeting my eyes. It makes me feel more naked than I already do. Rome’s throat bobs as his eyes twinkle, like I’m the most exciting thing he’s ever seen.

“Jesus.” Rome gives a low groan. From the corner of my eye, I make sure there is no one else in the infrared room. I cross the tiny room, the small panel is just above Rome’s head.

“I think we need to turn the heat up in here,” I tell him as I rest my knee on the bench seat between his spread legs. I bring my chest right up to his mouth as I reach up to flick the little Up arrow. It didn’t need to be turned up, but I wanted the excuse to turn the heat up on him, literally and physically.

“I thought I was the one who was supposed to be doing the punishing,” he whispers directly into my chest. I stay in place, resting my palm against the wall.

“Oh, baby, it’s cute you think you’re in charge.”

He runs his hands from my knees up my thighs. “This bathing suit is going to be the death of me.” His hands stop when they reach my butt cheeks. He grabs a handful of each generous globe and, with a little pressure, suctions my body to his.

“We do need to continue to practice after all. We don’t want what Luca said to be true.”

“Please don’t use my brother’s name right now.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want anyone to think we aren’t a real couple, and we’re definitely incapable of being celibate.”

“Incredibly incapable.”

“Rome?” My teeth sink into my bottom lip, waiting for Rome to do something more—needing him to do something more. My body is wound so tight, it is liable to burst at any second. And damn, do I want it to burst.

“Mmm?”

“I think we need to practice some more.”

“I was hoping you would say that.” Rome’s mouth suctions onto my collarbone as his hands move to the front of my bathing suit, dangerously close to exactly where I want his fingers. His hot breath makes my skin pebble as he places hot kisses down my chest. He hooks his finger into the string of my bikini top and moves it slightly freeing my breast from its hold. He lightly teases my nipple, making it into a hard bud. I moan, because fuck does it feel good. I need more. I need to feel him inside me. I need more. Rome abandons my breast and, like he’s read my mind, his hand moves farther down my body, right to where I need him. Where I crave his touch.

His mouth returns to my lips. “Tell me what you want?”

My legs go numb and my shaky arms can barely support my weight. His featherlight touch drags along my slit, teasing, at such a maddeningly slow pace, I want to scream at him to go faster. He removes his hand and spreads my legs wider, before his hands leave my body. Even sitting in this infrared sauna with the heat turned up, I shiver from the loss of contact.

“I’m waiting, lollipop.”

This is the moment. He’s giving me an out. If we stop here, or if I want to continue. If I want to blur the line from being just a fake girlfriend to a fake girlfriend with benefits.

“Don’t stop,” I whisper, and that is it. The small sizzle in the room turns into a damn inferno as something inside me and Rome snaps at the exact same time. I know I’ll have a hard time convincing myself this is just practice, but right now I really couldn’t give a shit.