“A guy kissed me once,” she said, and her voice was so low he could barely hear it. “On a dare. It was at a dog party.”
A dog party? What the f**k? He knew what dog parties were. They were little shindigs thrown by bored, ass**le kids who recruited the worst date they could find to parade in front of their friends. They were cruel, shitty things. Why was someone as sweet and vulnerable—and hell, gorgeous—as Elise invited to a dog party? Because she was shy? It didn’t make sense. “I think I’m missing a piece of the puzzle here.”
She pushed at his arm, indicating she wanted to leave.
He ignored it. In fact, he leaned against the doorjamb, blocking the door entirely. “Why were you at a dog party?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I was the dog.” Her voice held a note of bitterness.
“Actually, no,” he drawled. “It’s not obvious. You’re not a dog, Elise. That’s why I’m so confused about this whole mess. I get that you’re shy. I don’t get why someone as pretty as you would get invited to something like that.”
She swallowed hard, and her face was tilted away from him. “You think I’m pretty?”
“I have eyes, don’t I?”
She looked at him, then, and her eyes were shining with tears, even though her mouth was curved into a faint smile. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“Don’t thank me,” he said gruffly. “Just explain.”
She licked her lips, and he hated that he was fascinated by that little flick of pink tongue. “After the party, I had laser treatments. On my face.” Her hands brushed over her cheek. “I had a really large port-wine stain. From here”—she touched the tip of her eyebrow—“to here.”
And she touched her chin.
Rome frowned. She was looking away from him again—looking anywhere but at him, actually. He touched her chin and tilted her head toward him, and she closed her eyes but let him examine her face.
There. Just barely there was a faint staining of her skin. He’d never noticed it before, but now that she’d mentioned it, he could see a faint, too-pink shadow covering one side of her face. It was the cheek she always dragged her hair over, and he realized this must be what she was trying to hide from him. The skin was smooth—almost too smooth, he realized, and the discoloration was faint, like a tan that had occurred on only one cheek.
He wondered how much of it had been lasered away. “This is what makes you think you’re ugly?” His thumb brushed over her jaw.
She shuddered against his touch, a tremble racking through her. A tear spilled down her cheek, dripping onto his fingers. “Most of it is gone, but I still see it every time I look in the mirror.” Elise straightened her shoulders and reluctantly pulled away from his touch.
That small confession went a long way toward helping him understand her, though. What, he wondered, was this costing her? She agonized over speaking to him. Confessing about her scar must be killing her, he realized.
And he hated that.
Rome reached up and brushed his fingers over her cheek again. She jerked away, startled, her eyes wide, as if shocked that he’d touch her. Did she always think like that? Like she was a hideous beast that no one would want to touch?
Fuck. No wonder she was so shy.
“Is that why you’ve only had the one kiss?”
“Two, now,” she said softly. Her gaze dropped to the floor again.
Ah, yes. That quick little peck he’d given her in the woods. If that counted as a kiss, then damn, the girl needed a real one. “So that’s why you picked me? Not because you want to go slumming with someone from the wrong side of the tracks, but because I kissed you?”
She looked up at him, startled, and he realized the thought had never crossed her mind. “I like your eyes, too,” she blurted, and then her face lit up a bright red, the stain on her cheek becoming more obvious with her blush.
He couldn’t help it; he laughed.
Elise made a soft whimpering noise and pushed at him, trying to get him away from the door.
He didn’t budge. Oh no. This girl was not going anywhere.
“So,” he murmured. “What exactly did you have in mind?”
FIVE
What did she have in mind? Was he going to make her say it? She thought it was obvious. Hadn’t she made it clear what she wanted from him?
Elise stared up at him. It was hard to look at him directly; every instinct in her body told her to flee, to run away before he hurt her feelings.
But the look in Rome’s eyes was soft, and she remembered his light touch on her cheek that had sent shivers through her body and awakened things she thought she’d never get the chance to feel with a man. Things that usually happened only under the covers, late at night when she touched herself.
When she was silent, he raised an eyebrow at her. A pierced eyebrow.
Okay, so he was going to make her say it.
“Well,” she began softly. “Um . . . I’d really like to have sex.”
“Right now?”
She could feel her cheeks heating. “It doesn’t have to be right now, no.”
His mouth twitched. “Tomorrow, then?”
Oh god, would she be ready tomorrow? What did she need to do to prepare? She hadn’t given much thought to talking to him beyond handing him cookies and hoping for the best. “I suppose tomorrow works? What time is best for you?”
He laughed.
Her heart stuttered in her chest out of fear, and she flinched backward, hurt.
Immediately, his hands were smoothing down her hair, holding her in place. “I’m not laughing at you, Elise,” he soothed, gazing into her eyes. His hand brushed over her cheek again, and she wanted to lean into that soft touch. “I’m laughing at the thought of making an appointment to have sex with a virgin. Don’t you think we should start smaller? Maybe with kissing?”
“Oh.” She smiled and let out a long breath. “Yes, that sounds good.” Kissing. They could start with kissing.
“And did you want to kiss me? Or shall I kiss you?”
“You really want to go through with this? With me?” The words erupted out of her before she could stop them.
Rome smiled again, and his hands slid from her hair to cup her face gently. “Let’s see. A gorgeous, smart, funny girl is asking me to have sex with her and is surprised that I’m interested? Is this a joke?”
She shook her head, even though it was trapped by his hands. It wasn’t a joke. “You think I’m gorgeous?”