[HANNAH]

I climbed out of bed and headed straight to the shower. It had taken forever for me to fall asleep after Roman left me needing more of his kiss last night.

If I wasn’t careful, I was going to get too used to being around him. This wedding agreement was solely to break the contract.

The affection was just a ploy to make people believe we were in love.

"It’s not real," I said to myself as the hot water poured over me.

After I showered and dried off I took a hard look at myself in the mirror. Roman found me attractive with my green eyes and red hair, which was nice, but it was certainly not enough of a reason to marry someone.

I thought about Roman’s blue eyes staring into mine and I turned away from the mirror to find an outfit from the few clothes that I had of Lauren’s. The walk-in closet in the bathroom was empty and I found myself wishing that my clothes were in there.

As I thought about buying new clothes versus trying to navigate the logistics of bringing my clothes here from home, there was a knock at my door. I slipped into the green bathrobe and opened the door. Roman stood there, smiling when he saw me.

"Good morning, Roman," I said, already feeling a slight increase in my breathing and heart rate. This man was getting under my skin and I wasn’t sure how to stop the way he was making me feel.

"Morning, can I come in?" he asked me.

My brain was telling me no, but my mouth said, "Sure, of course." I opened the door wide and stepped aside so that he could enter. Slowly closing the door, I was very aware of his presence. Roman wore a blue and white checkered shirt today that brought out the baby blue color of his eyes.

"I need to go into the office today," he said with his hands in the pockets of his slacks.

"Do you have a cell phone?" he asked suddenly.

"I have the phone that Geoffrey gave me to use," I said, taking the phone from the table and handing it to Roman. He clicked through the phone for a moment, handing it back to me.

"That’s one of Dad’s old phones," Roman said.

"He likes to keep them in case of emergencies. I know the number."

Roman pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped the screen a few times. The cell phone in my hand vibrated and chimed. I opened the text message to see Roman’s name with a smiley face emoji. I glanced up at him with a smirk.

"Please don’t tell me you’re a serial texter," I said teasingly.

"No way," Roman said. "I don’t have time for texts. Call me if you need me for anything." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"I will," I said, beginning to feel a bit awkward with him in my room and me in my bathrobe.

"Actually, I could use some help getting my things from my parent’s house, especially my clothes," I said.

Roman snapped his fingers and nodded.

"I should have thought of that," he said.

"Feel free to raid Lauren’s closet until your stuff gets here; her room is on the third floor. A maid can show you where."

"Thank you, Roman," I said. "I don’t want you to be late for work."

Roman scoffed. "I make my own hours," he said before holding his hand out to me. "Come here, Hannah Macalester."

I raised a brow at him, but I took a few steps toward him. Roman slipped his hands around my waist and held me close to him, our gazes locked on one another. I held on to his biceps, not sure what else to do. I just knew that my heart was racing now and that I was trying to remind myself to breathe normally.

"I woke up thinking about our kiss last night," he said in a low voice.

"Me too," I admitted as Roman lowered his lips to mine. There was no way that I could deny him another kiss, and I wanted it just as badly as he did.

Our lips parted and moved in slow unison, tasting one another. He gripped the back of my robe tightly as our kiss picked up speed. My hands slipped behind his neck and I moaned as his tongue touched mine. I could feel my nipples hardening beneath the soft fabric of the robe, and there was a throbbing between my thighs that demanded attention. When he broke the kiss, his blue eyes were dark with need. I slipped out of his grasp and took a few steps back, running my fingers through my damp hair.

"Call me if you need me," Roman reminded me in a low voice as he moved to the door. I promised him that I would as he stepped out into the corridor and walked briskly toward the elevator. I closed the door and placed my forehead on the wood paneling. If his plan was to kiss me into submission, I wasn’t sure how many more of those kisses I could take before he had me in the palm of his hand.

I decided to make my way up to the third floor and look around. It should be easy to find Lauren’s room. I asked a maid to prepare me breakfast in the kitchen and I stepped onto the elevator in my bathrobe and slippers. Once on the third floor, I opened a few doors to find a home theater, a rec room, and a library.

Lauren’s room was down an adjacent corridor. I knew it was hers as soon as I opened it because of the decor. She had a large canopy bed similar to mine, but her curtains were a sheer cream color that had strips of silver material running through it. There were hanging lights at various levels to give the impression of being among the stars. Silver and gold pillows lined her bed and her window seat.

Everything in her bathroom was cream-colored with silver and gold decor. Even though Lauren didn’t live there, her closet was filled with clothes, shoes, purses, and accessories.

Since I planned on going for a stroll in the garden, I chose a pair of denim shorts with a cute blue tank top. After I grabbed a pair of Lauren’s sandals, I made my way down to the kitchen for breakfast. Geoffrey stood waiting for me near the kitchen island.

"Good morning, Geoffrey," I said.

"Good morning, ma’am," he replied. "Can I get you anything?"

I glanced at the coffee, fried eggs, waffles, and fruit waiting for me at the breakfast nook table. "I’m fine, Geoffrey," I said, "but I do plan on visiting the garden after breakfast if that’s OK."

"That will be perfectly fine," Geoffrey said. "I’ll let the gardener know." Geoffrey left the room, and I took my time eating breakfast. I looked out the window onto the garden to see an older gentleman dressed in overalls and a wide brimmed hat emerge to speak with a maid that Geoffrey had likely sent to let him know I would be perusing the garden.

Even with the staff in the house, it was quiet and peaceful. After my second cup of coffee, I finished breakfast and went back up to my room to grab the cell phone in case Roman tried calling to check in. I frowned at the three missed calls from unknown numbers, and I clicked to listen to the voicemails.

The first call was from a florist asking me to call her back so that we could discuss flower arrangements for the wedding. In the voicemail, the woman said, "Your fiance’s assistant gave me your number."

"I don’t know anything about flowers," I muttered to myself as I clicked the next voicemail, which was from one of the best bakeries in the city. My eyes widened as the baker also mentioned that my fiance’s assistant told him to give me a call about details for the wedding cake. Was Roman seriously trusting me to plan this wedding?

The third call was from a company that would make our wedding invitations. I sighed heavily as I sat down at the desk, wondering what the hell I knew about wedding planning. I had no idea what colors or food or anything that I would want at a wedding on such short notice.

If Roman wanted a wedding as big as he claimed, it would take a lot of planning and we would need a huge venue. The only place in town that I could think of that was big enough and beautiful enough to hold a wedding was the historic downtown museum. I had seen wedding parties on a few occasions taking pictures on the steps and around the elegant columns of the building.

I was not going to be able to do this alone.

Instead of calling the florist, baker, and invitation company back, I made my way outside toward the garden so that I could get some fresh air and think about the wedding that Roman clearly wanted to happen soon.