Satisfaction Guaranteed (2 page)

“That bastard,” she seethed under her breath.

The years had passed, but she"d never forgotten Rome. He"d turned her life

upside down before, but she got past it. She"d moved on, and now he wanted to pick

up where they left off like he hadn"t broken her heart.

“Fucking monkey-shit bastard.”

“Bad day, huh?”

She lifted her head and found light blue eyes staring down at her. Her eyes

widened in complete surprise. “Nick!” she cried before throwing herself at the blond

giant. He wrapped his arms around her and embraced her in a bone-crushing hug.

She didn"t dare groan in protest even as she felt her breath leave her.

It had been months since she"d seen her best friend. After a moment he

dropped her to her feet. She smacked his brawny shoulder. “I thought you weren"t

coming.”

He looked at her with mischief shining in his eyes and leaned forward. “I"m not

supposed to be here. Lucky for me my convention is only two towns away, and your

mom couldn"t bear the thought of you coming to this alone, so she made

reservations for two.”

She momentarily closed her eyes and groaned. “That woman!”

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“I know. She"s something, isn"t she?” He straightened suddenly, a smug grin on

his face. “Here I was thinking you would be desperate for my company, only to see

I"ve already been replaced. Who"s Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome?”

“No one special…just a guy I used to know.”

“Uh-huh, and you"re not interested in getting reacquainted?”

She sighed. “Rome and I aren"t even friends. There is no chance in hell we"ll

become…reacquainted.”

Nick"s smile broadened. “You might want to tell him that.”

She glared at him. “There is nothing to tell.”

Nick lifted both of his broad palms in surrender. “I get it. So what should I tell

him to get him to stop giving me the evil eye?”

Damn. Now that he mentioned it, Sela"s nape prickled with the kind of

awareness that she always felt when someone was staring at her. She didn"t need

two guesses to name her stalker. “Ignore him.”

“I think Rome believes we"re together.”

She snorted. “I wish.”

Nick pressed a soft kiss against her forehead. “Yeah, too bad I"m not your

type.”

She stared at Nickolas, truly seeing him for the first time since they became

good friends. He was handsome, sexy as sin, and a good person. To top it off they

connected on so many levels. Unfortunately, he never made her feel that tingling

emotion that stirred something deeper than platonic love.

“Unlike you and Rome, we"re better friends.”

She threw her hands in the air in defeat and spun around. “You hungry?” she

asked as she made her way to the buffet tables lining the gymnasium"s back wall.

The soft click of Nick"s dress shoes followed her. “I"m always hungry.” He

caught up to her and grabbed her arm. “How about you stake out a table, and I"ll

bring the food and drinks?”

“Sounds like a plan,” she said before standing on her toes and pressing a soft

kiss to his cheek.

Just as Sela"s lips touched Nick, she spotted Rome. He watched them with a

hard stare. If she didn"t know better, she would swear there was anger and

possession in his gaze. Almost as if he was trying to brand her as his. Seemed Nick

hadn"t been joking when he said Rome was giving him the evil eye.
You had your

chance, buddy!

She looked away before his gaze could sear her. “I"ll go get the table.”

Something in her voice must have given Sela away, because Nick lifted his

head and gazed out toward the area where Rome stood. He glanced back at her after

a moment, a smug grin on his handsome face. “You want to tell me again there is

nothing going on there?”

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5

“Been there, done that.” She threw the words over her shoulder before stalking

over to the cluster of tables sectioned off in the right corner of the gymnasium.

Behind her, Sela heard Nick sputter in surprise.

She chewed her bottom lip. She was going to get it the moment Nick found

their table. She and Nick had an unusually close relationship, maybe because there

had never been an issue about sex. They simply weren"t attracted to each other.

Nick was the one person she could tell everything, but she purposely forgot to

mention what had happened between her and Rome when they were younger. Nick

was going to give her an earful for not mentioning something so important to him.

The man was her best friend and closest confidant. He knew about every one of her

other lovers. She ignored the little voice telling her it mattered that she hadn"t told

Nick about Rome.

The nagging feeling that Rome was someone special.

Even after all this time.

She found an empty table, pulled out a seat and sat down in a heap. She"d

been at the reunion less than an hour, and she was already mentally exhausted.

“Are you okay?”

She lifted her head slowly and glared at Rome. “Exactly how clear do I have to

make myself? Leave. Me. Alone.”

He grimaced at her. “Is that your boyfriend?”

“What if I said he was?”

He shrugged one mountainous shoulder. “It wouldn"t change anything. I still

want you.”

She looked at him, incredulous at his declaration. Unlike his earlier statement,

there was no mistaking his goal. Or his determination.

“You would try to steal me from him?” she asked incredulously.

“I wouldn"t try, Sela. I"d succeed. What you feel for him is nothing like what

you feel for me. You belong to me, Sela. Always have and always will.”

She blinked at his boldness. At least that was what Sela silently told herself.

Her surprise had nothing to do with the intensity of his words or the fact that they

ignited a dark fire between her thighs.

Apparently having said what he came to say, Rome decided to leave. Sela sat

there, unsure of what to do about what he"d just said. Rome wanted her, and he

didn"t care what he had to do or who he had to hurt to get her.

Sela just hoped she wasn"t the one who got burned.

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Chapter Two

She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

The first time Rome realized this, he was fourteen, and Sela was thirteen.

They"d known each other for years, but it wasn"t until then that Rome realized just

how lucky he was to know Sela. For reasons he hadn"t dared to look into, Sela"d

agreed to go with him to the eighth-grade dance. When she"d appeared at the top of

the stairs, looking gorgeous as hell, he"d realized he was one lucky kid. From then

on he wanted to make Sela Newton his.

She still was the number one person in his life. Even if she didn"t know it.

After all these years, Sela Newton still was the most beautiful woman he had

ever seen.

He took every inch of Sela in.

Her skin was a deep mahogany color, and he was dying to run his hands down

her body. Her thick black hair fell in loose waves past her shoulders, following the

soft curve of her spine. His gaze followed the line until it landed on the plump

globes of her ass. Not too big, not too small, but just right, Rome thought as he eyed

her bottom. Sela was curvier than most of the women he had been with. She had a

true hourglass figure. Her breasts, hips, and thighs were larger than what was

fashionable.

He considered that one of her strong points. She was a woman a man could

hold on to.

And then there was her face. Sela"s eyes were her best feature, large and

bright with short, thick black lashes that highlighted their unique almond shape.

Her nose was small, almost reminiscent of a slightly upturned button. Her second

best facial feature was her lips. They were full, bow shaped, and naturally tinted a

light shade of red.

Rome breathed deeply and stifled the urge to groan when he thought of her

mouth. He could spend hours simply kissing that mouth.

And even more time doing more than kissing Sela"s mouth.

But he wasn"t going to get a single moment with Sela if he didn"t step up his

game. He unconsciously tightened his fingers into a fist when he considered the

reality that Sela may already be slipping away from him.

He was entirely out of his element.

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7

Rome watched Sela laugh at something the blond man whispered into her ear.

He watched her eyes light up with mirth and her face soften with pleasure. The

knowledge he could have been the man making her laugh burned in his gut. He"d

had his fair share of women. Hell, he"d been called a playboy and a womanizer by

more than one person, but the one woman he wanted would not give him a single

moment of her time.

She was making him work for it.

Irony didn"t even begin to describe his situation. Ten years ago, Sela had been

at his beck and call, just as he was at hers, but he"d let her slip through his fingers.

Never again, he thought as he watched her beautiful face. This time he was

playing for keeps.

He had his priorities in order. When Rome contacted his assistant to let him

know he was going to be gone—for as long as it took to accomplish his goal—his

assertion shocked the man. He tried to get him to change his mind. After all, Rome

had a new show opening in less than two weeks. He couldn"t just take off for upstate

New York. Rome simply responded that some things were more important than a

career.

Sela was one of those things.

He glanced back at the blond man standing next to her, whispering into her

ear.

At one time he was that man. The man Sela let her guard down with, the man

who had made her smile with a word, brought her pleasure with a simple touch.

He turned and strode out of the gymnasium. He hoped by the end of the

weekend, he would become that man.

Sela"s best friend. Her lover. Her soul mate.

Rome hadn"t taken more than four steps out of the gym when he was forced to

a halt. A tall, statuesque brunette stood before him, hands on her hips, smirking

smile on her full lips. Her honey brown gaze looked him over, taking in every inch of

his tall frame before returning to look him in the eye.

“Long time no see, lover.”

He stared at her, trying to place her. Unlike Sela, he hadn"t returned to

Brushwood since graduation. And he"d purposely cut off ties with his classmates

once things fell apart with Sela.

“It"s me, Jana.”

Rome plastered a smile to his face even as he felt his gut tighten. Jana was one

of those people he"d purposely avoided. She was bad for him in high school. Very

bad.

He looked on the bright side. That had been years ago. He wasn"t the same

roughneck kid he once was. No doubt she"d matured too. “You look gorgeous, Jana.”

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“Same to you, love. I almost can"t believe how long it"s been. I"m so proud of

you, Rome. I knew you would make it.” She opened her arms and beckoned him into

a hug.

He stepped into her arms. After only a moment he moved back and looked at

Jana. The look in her eyes was unlike any he"d seen before. She appeared to be

genuinely happy.

The decade had done her well.

“You really do look good.” And he meant it. She looked better than ever.

She flashed him a devastatingly smile filled with such joy he could feel it

pouring off her. “A good woman will do that to you.” She held up her left hand to

reveal a simple white gold or platinum ring on her fourth finger.

“Congratulations,” Rome said automatically, and then the importance of her

words actually registered. Jana was a lesbian. “Oh.”

If anything her smile widened, but it had a devilish tilt to it. “Explains why

senior prom night was so bad for both of us, huh?”

Rome blushed, thinking back to the time when he was more concerned about

bedding the best-looking girl in the class than listening to his heart. “That wasn"t

the reason, not for both of us.”

She gaped at him. “Don"t tell me you"re batting for the other team too!”

“Uh, no. I"m straight,” he said, more than just a little uncomfortable. Then he

noticed the look on her face. She was playing with him. He shook his head as he

tried to hold in his laughter. He"d forgotten just how twisted Jana"s sense of humor

was. Some things never changed.

She tilted her head in the direction of the gym he just left. “Hungry?”

He didn"t want any food, but he was suddenly starving for conversation. “Yes.”

Jana was only the second person that night who hadn"t asked him about his career,

the parties, or the endless parade of women he was reportedly dating. His interest

in what she"d done in the last ten years was piqued after less than five minutes of