Delores Fossen - Branded as Trouble

There was a gold foil wrapper inside.

At first, Roman thought it was candy, but no, it was a condom.

He quickly shut the lid, cleared his throat. “It’s, uh, personal,” he said because everyone was clearly waiting for the big reveal. “Tell Vita thanks,” he added, and hoped it sounded sincere.

He wasn’t.

Did the woman expect him to be having sex while he was in the hospital? Good gravy. He really had to do something to tone down his badass reputation.

“Is it an egg with poop on it?” Mila asked. “Because my mom likes to send stuff like that. She gave me chicken poop earlier when—” She stopped and suddenly got very interested in looking in the empty bag that had once held the gifts.

Roman didn’t think there was anything else interesting in there, but he did wonder why Mila hadn’t finished. And why Vita had given her chicken shit. He had no intention of asking her either of those things—he could probably find out from Sophie, anyway—and besides, they were interrupted.

A nurse stepped into the doorway. Not the Busby sister, but it was someone Roman knew well. Alicia Dearman. He’d lost his virginity to her way back when, and judging from the smile she gave him, she was remembering that in great detail. Roman remembered, too, and it wasn’t something he wanted to repeat.

He could almost feel his testosterone levels drop with that thought.

Still, Alicia was a barracuda in bed. And yes, teeth were involved, and even if he hadn’t just had surgery, he wasn’t looking for sex. He wanted to focus on his son.

Even though Vita obviously thought the sex would win out.

“How are y’all doing?” Alicia asked. She spared Belle, Mila, Sophie and Tate only a glance and kept her attention on Roman.

Roman adjusted his badass expression and added a bunched-up forehead so it would look as if he was in pain. He was, so it wasn’t that hard to do.

“Poor baby,” Alicia said. “I’ll see about getting you some meds. For now, though, I need to borrow this little guy. Dr. Woodliff wants to see him.”

That was a name Roman didn’t recognize, but he figured it was the therapist. “Can I go with him?” Roman asked.

“No, that’s okay,” Tate quickly said, and Alicia made a sound of agreement.

Roman tried not to let that sting. Especially since it would have been hard for him to get out of bed right now. Still, he wanted to know what the therapist was going to say to Tate. And vice versa.

Especially the vice versa.

Tate might tell the doc that the reason he took those pills was because he hated his dad. Hell, Tate could think Roman hated him. He didn’t. But for some reason, Tate just wasn’t feeling the love. Maybe because he was feeling Valerie’s rejection even more.

“I’ll just walk with them,” Sophie said when the nurse wheeled Tate out into the hallway. “That way, I can maybe find out how long Tate’s session will take.”

Roman thanked her. Sophie wouldn’t listen at the door or anything, but she might be able to get a sense of how Tate felt about all of this. His son was far more likely to open up to his aunt, or even to the janitor, than he was to Roman.

“I should be going, too,” Mila said. She headed for the door, but Belle practically scurried off the bed to stop her.

His mother looked in the hall and shut the door. She also pulled Mila closer. “I had one of those life-changing moments when I thought I was dying,” Belle said to her.

His mom probably thought she was whispering softly enough for Roman not to hear her. She wasn’t.

“I’ve heard that can happen.” Mila glanced at him as though he knew what this was all about. Maybe Belle was going to give her some safe words, too. If so, he hoped they were better than bumfuzzle or Dippity-do.

“It got me thinking,” Belle went on. “I stopped living my life when I lost my husband. It was as if I buried myself right along with him, and I want that to change. I’m only sixty, not a hundred and sixty.”

Mila gave him another uncomfortable glance, but his only response was a “you’re on your own here” shrug.

“Anyway, I know you love those online fantasy sites,” Belle went on. Now, that got his attention, and Roman found himself trying to quiet his pulse just so it wouldn’t drum in his ear and he could hear better.

Fantasy sites? Maybe this had something to do with books. After all, Mila did own a bookstore.

“I’m off those for a while,” Mila whispered. Her voice was considerably softer than Belle’s, but he still heard it.

“Yes, the Buttercup fiasco. I heard you talking to Sophie about it on the phone. But that was just one negative experience out of a dozen or more, right? And honestly, as pretty as you are, no wonder Wesley wanted to get in your pants.”

That really got his attention. Was this Wesley guy real? From the sound of it, yes. And also from the sound of it, he’d done something to Mila to upset her.

“I want the name of the site,” Belle went on. “I want to have a 10 movie experience. You know, Bo Derrick running down the beach with her hair braided.”

Mila shook her head. “I’m not familiar with that—”

“’Cause you’re too young, but I remember it.” His mother made what appeared to be a dreamy sigh. “And I always wanted to do it. I want to do that beach scene where the seaweed washes over the kissing couple, too.”

What the hell?

Roman must have made some kind of sound, probably a grunt of uncomfortable confusion, because both women looked at him.

“Did you hear us?” Belle asked, her tone one of pure shock. He wasn’t sure why it was hard to believe he’d heard her since he was only about ten feet away.

“I heard some of it. What’s this about, anyway?”

Mila couldn’t have looked more uncomfortable if he’d put wet Pop Rocks in her panties. “Nothing. Just a way to keep myself entertained.” She brushed a quick kiss on Belle’s cheek. Waved an equally quick goodbye to Roman. “We’ll talk tomorrow,” she added to his mom, and hurried out.

Roman waited for Belle to explain. And waited. And he waited some more. When it was obvious she wasn’t going to spill all, he opened his mouth to ask her about it. But opening it was as far as he got.

“Bumfuzzle,” she said. His mother made a locking motion with a key over her lips and got back in bed.

Heck. Roman hadn’t expected the safe word to work in her favor. But he didn’t press it. One way or another, he’d just get the truth from Sophie.

CHAPTER FIVE

“WHAT DO YOU mean Roman was asking about my sex life?” Mila asked Sophie, who was on the other end of the phone line.

This wasn’t exactly a conversation Mila wanted to have while walking across the hospital parking lot, but it wasn’t something she wanted to put off, either. Anything about Roman, especially Roman mentioning her, had a way of capturing her complete attention.

“He heard you talking to Mom about the fantasy stuff,” Sophie explained, “and when I went to see him earlier, he worked it into the conversation.”

“How the devil did he work that in?”

“He asked if you were still a virgin.”

Mila wasn’t sure why that caused her to blush. Everybody in town probably talked about that, but it caused a little tingle inside her to know that it was something on Roman’s mind. It likely wasn’t a deep interest for him, though. More like a curiosity.

“I told him yes, you were still a virgin,” Sophie went on, “and that he was the reason for it.”

Mila gasped and nearly dropped her phone. “You didn’t.”

“No. Just kidding. But it’s the truth.”

In part, and in a very roundabout way, it was the truth. Mila put her hand to her heart to try to steady it. She needed to regain her composure and get rid of the flushed cheeks before she went into Belle’s hospital room.