All Roads Lead Home ✓

34 | ALL OF ME

"You've been to Park Street?"

"It's how I found you. Well, one of the ways."

She clutched her throat. "Tell me. Because if you found me, then Marion can, too."

He wrapped her in his arms. "It's okay. No one can touch you." For the next few minutes, he gave her the details of how he'd come to Austin and fate had intervened. That's all it could have been. He'd had little clues but someone upstairs made sure they'd been enough. Probably Charamel.

Zoya shook her head. "Stella was with the investigator? I can't believe she'd help him."

"I think she's helping you and that's why he gave you a head start and then came back to point me in the right direction."

She turned to face him and narrowed her eyes. "Why would he do that?"

Roman pulled his lips tight against his teeth and sucked air. "From the way he looked at her, I'd say there's something going on between them."

"Oh. I guess that's possible."

"Yeah." He pointed to the painting again. "Now, about that. You've got to get rid of it."

"Why? It's art. I like it. And it helps when I—never mind."

"When you what?"

"Nothing."

Well, well. His voice sounded rough even to his own ears. "You look at it while you get yourself off, don't you?"

She frowned. "There's nothing wrong with that."

Not a sign of embarrassment. He thought about the first time he met her. Naked in the tub. She'd been shameless that night. He didn't think she had either emotion. But he did, and no way in hell he'd take a chance on the world seeing him in full naked technicolor. The shadowed paintings were bad enough, but this one showed everything in living color. Even if it helped her get off. He took a second to imagine that. "I'd like for you to put privacy aside and let me watch."

"Why?"

"Because it'd turn me on."

Her eyes tracked south. "You're already turned on just talking about it."

He brushed his lips over hers. "Just promise you'll let me watch sometime."

She shoved him playfully.

"Okay. Back to the painting. There isn't a single place you can hang that thing without the risk of someone seeing it. Think about it. Would you want Mariana or Lemon or someone to see my junk? I don't." He rose from the bed and moved to the artwork.

Zoya laughed.

He jerked toward her. "What's so funny?"

"You, standing next to it. I did a really good job."

Roman looked down at himself, then the canvas. "Yeah, you did." He went back to bed and spooned her close. "We need to go to sleep. Got a lot of miles tomorrow. We'll get our license, and since there's a three day waiting period, you can use that time to plan the wedding."

She snuggled into him. "I want to go home."

"To Baton Rouge?"

"No. To Arcadia."

He raised her face to his and kissed her. "Do you have any idea how happy you make me?"

"No."

"You saved me, Zoya. For the longest time I didn't care about anybody but myself and Ophelia, and even Flynn a little. Trust, compassion, love—well, those words weren't in my vocabulary. You've given all that back to me."