the pen and scrawled a quick note. The hostess frowned. “That’s it?”
“She’ll know what I mean.”
She smiled, obviously put at ease by the fact he hadn’t written anything inappropriate. Roman could have corrected her assumption, but he needed Allie to get that note. Passing notes. That’s what I’ve been reduced to.
It would be hours yet before he knew what her answer was—possibly longer if she decided to make him wait. The entire thing was beyond his control, and it irritated the fuck out of him. What was he supposed to do with this? Roman was used to seeing what he wanted and going for it—and heaven help anyone who thought they could stand in the way.
He wanted his client happy, and the only way that would happen was acquiring the gym.
He wanted Allie, too.
Therein lay the issue—he couldn’t have both. There might not be any sort of future with Allie, but there sure as fuck wasn’t one if he kept pushing her. She’d made that more than clear.
If he stopped pushing her, they could relax into the insanely hot sex, but he’d have to let his plan for Transcend go. It might not be the end of the world, but Roman’s career was built on the faith that he could provide exactly what he promised. He’d never met an obstacle he couldn’t account for and overcome.
Until now.
He turned and strode out of the main building and to his cart, gripping the stack of papers. All the information he could come up with for Allie and her gym—something Roman should have done a long time ago. Oh, he’d done the basic background check and pulled the available financial statements he could get ahold of, but he hadn’t dug deeper than that, even when she’d refused to meet him.
Stupid of him.
He didn’t need to navel gaze for the rest of his goddamn life to know why he hadn’t pushed as hard as he normally did. The shelter. He admired the hell out of what she was doing there, and he knew it was pretty damn likely that she had some kind of history that drove her to create a safe space like she had. Having a man try to bulldoze her might trigger shit that he’d have to be a monster to pull up.
He’d played softball with her.
Now that he’d met Allie, he was forced to reevaluate. She wasn’t anything like he’d expected. She wasn’t a wilting flower that would crumble at a sharp word. The woman had thorns, and she had no problem using them. Roman gripped the papers. The gloves were coming off. Now.
ALLIE BARELY WAITED for the man to leave their covered food before she yanked the lids off. “I’m starving.” If she’d spent any time wondering if she’d be active enough while on vacation, she needn’t have worried. Swimming and paddleboarding had left a pleasant soreness in her muscles and an equally pleasant tiredness.
Also, she’d been ready to wade into the ocean and try to catch her own fish if dinner hadn’t shown up when it did.
Becka laughed and bumped Allie with her hip. “They also brought vodka. Your priorities are suspect.”
“Food always trumps vodka.” She speared a glazed shrimp with her fork and then grabbed a chair. “I’m glad to see that you and vodka are back on speaking terms.”
“We’re taking it slow.” Becka pulled up a second chair and sank into it. “My shoulders are killing me. I obviously need to add more push-ups to my routine.”
Allie laughed. “The girls will love that.” Her friend had a reputation for being a brutal fitness instructor—a reputation she’d more than earned—and this would only cement it. One of the biggest draws Transcend offered was high-energy spin classes with combined exercises that worked the entire body. She reached for the pitcher of cucumber water in the middle of the table and froze. “What is that?”
Becka reacted first and snatched up the little folded note. She read it and frowned. “What the hell is it?” She turned it around, and Allie’s heart skipped a beat.
Yes.
The word had been scrawled with a careless masculine hand, and even though it wasn’t signed, she had no doubt who had written it. He accepted my terms. A flush spread over her skin, and even though she tried to fight it, Becka saw.
Because of course she did. She dropped the note and pointed a finger at Allie. “It’s from Roman. You sly fox, I thought you were calling the whole thing off.”
Allie pushed her food around the plate with her fork. “I told him if he could keep from badgering me about business—or even talking about it—then we could spend more time together.”
“That was the tamest euphemism for banging your brains out that I’ve ever heard.” Her friend slouched back into her chair and laughed. “Vacation has done wonders for your stress level. I told you so.”
“The guy trying to convince me to sell the gym that I worked my entire adult life to get started and keep running followed me to another country to pitch his sale, and you call this trip a success.”
Becka shrugged, completely unrepentant. “You took care of that by removing business from the equation. Now there’s only the hot monkey sex to worry about, and I think you two have proved that you’re more than capable of keeping your eye on the prize.” She made an obscene gesture.
Allie spit out the sip of water she’d just taken. “Oh. My. God.”
“Just calling it like I see it.” Becka winked. “But seriously—if he’s willing to shelve that big black mark against him, are you going for it?”
There was no reason to think he was telling the truth. He could be trying to pull a bait and switch to get her alone. But that didn’t make sense. He could have found a different way. Roman had more than proved how capable he was in tracking her down. He had no reason to agree if he wasn’t interested in exactly the same thing she was—sex.
Her body clenched at the thought. Allie set her fork down. “I think so.”
“Woot!” Becka gave a little wiggle. “That’s my girl. In that case, I’m bringing that delightful bartender, Luke, back here for some of said hot monkey sex.”
She shot her friend a look. “You wouldn’t, by chance, be throwing me at Roman so you can hook up with Luke?”
“Oh, please. We both know that I’m more than capable of finding a suitable place to get under that uniform if I have to.” Becka sobered. “But I don’t want to get him into trouble, so the villa is a better option.” She held her straight face for all of two seconds. “What are you waiting for? Go! Get your...” Becka stopped short, her expression turning wicked. “He’s stacked, isn’t he? You can just tell by how he carries himself that the man is packing serious heat.”
“Becka.” Allie laughed, which broke the tension that had been building from the moment she realized Roman had changed his mind. She sat back in her chair. “You did that on purpose.”
“You’re stressing, which is the opposite of what you’re supposed to do here.” Becka popped a strawberry into her mouth. “I helped.”
“Yes, you did.” She looked at the food, but her stomach was tied in too many knots to think about eating right now. Allie pushed back her chair and stood. “I guess I should...change?”
Becka picked through the food and added more to her plate. “You want my advice?”
“As if saying no would stop you from giving it to me.” She snagged one of the bright red strawberries and took a bite.
“Wear that.” Becka waved a fork at her.
Allie looked down at her muscle tank top and sleep shorts. “This is not sexy.”