A Nine-Month Temptation by Joanne Rock

Author:Joanne Rock
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-04-12T13:31:36+00:00

* * *

In the week since he’d last spent time with Sable at the Cloisters, Roman’s mood had plummeted, getting worse and worse on a daily basis.

Every frustrating hour of that time weighed heavily on his shoulders, a weight he dragged around whether he was seeing properties with his Realtor, taking conference calls with his office in Los Angeles, or reviewing the books for the fashion house in Marcel’s cramped back office at Zayn Designs.

Like now.

Parked behind his temporary desk, scrolling through his brother’s business expenses on the computer, he could hear the easy rapport between Marcel and his assistants—Sable included—filtering through the open door. It made no sense that Roman felt a surge of jealousy every time Marcel teased a laugh out of Sable, the musical sound stirring equal parts gratitude for her happiness and possessiveness that he hadn’t been the man to cause it. The caveman instincts were utterly new to him and unique to his relationship with Sable. He told himself it was because she was carrying his child.

There could be no other reason to account for the tangled-up reactions he hadn’t even experienced with Annette, a woman he loved more than life.

Scowling, he ignored the latest round of laughter floating over the strains of a Duke Ellington song. The theme of the day seemed to be jazz and big band music. Roman had no idea what they were working on in the design studio now that it was past five o’clock on a Friday, but it sounded a whole lot more fun than reviewing endless columns of poorly organized numbers, many of which struck him as unnecessary expenditures.

“Sotheby’s Auction House?” Roman called through the door, needing clarification on a staggeringly costly purchase.

“Original artwork for the flagship store,” Marcel shouted back, before his voice returned to a normal pitch as he gave instructions to someone about adding more beadwork to a gown.

Roman’s head pounded at the response, since Marcel didn’t even have a property purchased for his store, let alone a finalized business plan for a dedicated retail space. Roman wanted Zayn Designs to be a global success—needed for it to be since he’d invested much of his personal savings into financing the venture—but his brother refused half of Roman’s business advice. It made him question why he bothered remaining in New York when Marcel ignored his counsel and Sable found excuses to avoid him ever since his revelation about Annette.

Had Sable been spooked by the fact that he’d been married before? He failed to see how that affected their relationship. Sable had been married to someone else before they met, too, so if anything, it put them on more equal footing. But what else could account for the radio silence all week? It had been tough as hell to leave her at her apartment door without so much as a kiss goodnight after their day together, but he’d forced himself to do so. He’d hoped that by respecting her boundaries, taking a break from the ever-present chemistry, he’d get her to trust him more.

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