Blindsided (7 page)

Safe.

“How long does this trip last?” he asked.

“As long as it takes.”

“No.”

Ashley leaned forward and rubbed her thumb over the chipped blue polish on her big toe. “You’re not in a position to say no.”

“Give me an upper limit.”

“Two weeks.”

Two weeks, when Carmen had said Monday.

He already knew whose timeline was going to win. Carmen had faith in him, but she hadn’t met Ashley. She didn’t know.

If Ashley wanted two weeks, she was going to get them.

“You should just drag me out into the swamp and feed me to the gators.”

“I’m going to drag you all over the country instead. And introduce you to my friends.”

“Why would you want to do that?”

Ashley tilted her head and smiled at her toe. She looked sad, and he thought it might be for him, which just made him feel heavier.

“Because I love them.” She looked at him. “These people are my family, Roman. Sunnyvale is my home. I guess I’m hoping, if you meet them, you’ll get it. And you’ll care.”

He almost told her then. That he didn’t like her. That she was frivolous and inconsequential.

He almost told her that love never got anybody anywhere, and it was a weakness he couldn’t afford.

But instead, he said, “Fine.”

She’d left him no other choice. He’d have to reshuffle the entire construction schedule. Make a dozen phone calls. He’d have to invent some bullshit to tell Heberto and some other bullshit to tell Carmen.

He’d try for Monday—try his hardest, give it his best. But he couldn’t find any hope for himself. Hadn’t been able to for three days.

“But at the end of two weeks,” he said, “no matter what, you forget about the deer, and you step aside.”

“Unless you change your mind.” Ashley stood.

“I won’t.”

“Then I guess that’s the chance I’m taking.”

“Fine.”

She walked away. With her hand on the screen door, she paused. “It might be fun.”

“It won’t be fun.”

She shrugged and opened the door. “At the very least, it’ll be good for you to take a vacation. You could use some relaxing. You’re so uptight.”

“I’m disciplined.”

“You’re uptight. You need a holiday.” Then she laughed, abruptly, at nothing. “A Roman holiday. Cute.”

The screen door slammed shut behind her. A few seconds passed before she returned, flattening her nose against the screen. “Oh, and we leave in the morning, with the Airstream,” she said. “I’m going to be driving your Caddy at least half the time, so get used to the idea.”

Then she was gone.

Roman sat on the porch until the sun set. His phone buzzed and chirped and rang in his pocket—the press of business relentless as ever—but he didn’t shift to answer it.

What would be the point? He’d accepted defeat. He’d agreed to his sentence.

Two weeks in purgatory. Two weeks with Ashley.

Two weeks of motherfucking holiday.

B
Y
R
UTHIE
K
NOX

Ride with Me

About Last Night

Along Came Trouble

Flirting with Disaster

Truly (Coming Spring 2014)

Novellas

Room at the Inn

How to Misbehave

Making It Last

Roman Holiday (Serialization)

P
HOTO
: M
ARK
A
NDERSON
, STUN P
HOTOGRAPHY

USA Today
bestselling author R
UTHIE
K
NOX
writes contemporary romance that’s sexy, witty, and angsty—sometimes all three at once. After studying British history, she became an academic editor instead. Then she got really deep into knitting, as one does, followed by motherhood and romance novel writing.

Her debut novel,
Ride with Me
, is probably the only existing cross-country bicycling love story. She followed it up with
About Last Night
, a London-based romance whose hero has the unlikely name of Neville, and then
Room at the Inn
, a Christmas novella—both of which were finalists for the Romance Writers of America’s RITA Award. Her four-book series about the Clark family of Camelot, Ohio, has won accolades for its fresh, funny portrayal of small-town Midwestern life.

Ruthie moonlights as a mother, tweets incessantly, and bakes a mean focaccia. She’d love to hear from you, so visit her website and drop her a line.

http://www.ruthieknox.com

Be sure to continue your Roman Holiday with Episode 4:
Ravaged

Roman lifted a stapled pamphlet from the top of a pile on one gunmetal-gray shelf. “Army Field Manual FM 21-20: Physical Readiness Training.” The cover featured line drawings of soldiers in fatigue pants, combat boots, and T-shirts engaged in calisthenics. One was doing a sit-up, another jogging into the distance. He flipped through the pages and then tossed the book into Ashley’s shopping cart.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“A manual.”

“For what?”

“To keep me from losing my mind around you.”

She picked it up and studied the cover, and he wanted to tear the book out of her hands.

“Cute,” she said, tossing it back into the cart. “Are you going to run ten miles and do five hundred jumping jacks before breakfast? Maybe we should find you a vintage sweat suit to go with your vintage workout routine.”

He wanted to take her by the wrist and pull her out of the store, flatten her against the stucco outside and press right up against her, get right in her face and insist,
insist
, that she tell him everything about this trip she had planned. That she stop teasing him and taunting him and leading him around as though he were harmless as a pony on a rope.

He wasn’t a fucking pony. He was a tiger. He would claw her and eat her, rebel against her, and she wouldn’t even see it coming.

Roman crossed his arms and leaned back against the shelving. He tried to feel like a tiger while Ashley moved farther down the aisle and poked through a pile of canteens.

Easier said than done.

Coming December 2nd. Preorder now!

Curious about something? Want to ask the author a question or chat with other readers?

Visit the Roman Holiday forum at
http://forum.ruthieknox.com
and join the conversation!

Or subscribe to the Roman Holiday mailing list at

http://www.ruthieknox.com/roman-holiday-mailing-list/
to be notified when new episodes are available.

And don’t miss the
Camelot
series which begins with a deliciously sexy original novella, in which a good girl, Amber Clark, learns,
How to Misbehave.
Her brother Caleb meets headstrong Ellen and the two bump
noggins
—and bodies—in
Along Came Trouble.
Sister Katie Clark enters a no-strings fling that looks an awful lot like falling in love—or,
Flirting with Disaster.
Lastly, revisit Amber and a story that will take you to new heights with a desire reinvented,
Making It Last.