Page 86 of Iron Shield
“You had a strange look on your face.”
She held his stare for a moment, wondering how much to open up to him—to everyone.
Rome had a dish towel slung over his shoulder in a sexy, manly way that made her want to start cooking all over again.
A couple of other guys who hadn’t drifted to the common room after completing their tasks angled toward her, waiting for her to speak.
“I was thinking about my mom and dad.” She looked down at her hands, and Jolie’s came to rest on top of them. Stina offered her a small smile before going on even as she felt a small twinge of guilt that Jolie had lost both of her parents.
“They’re all the family I’ve got. I don’t have siblings, but you all remind me of a big family that I never had growing up.” And it was only a matter of time before they were all removed from her life too.
Rome’s expression made her heart tumble a little more for the man who had started as her protector and ended up…well, more.
“With more testosterone, of course,” she added to lighten the mood and stabilize the unsteady rhythm of her heart.
A round of grins broke out across the room, and her throat tightened at the sight. Not once in her life had she ever guessed she’d end up in a ghost ops base under a closed ski resort at the worst time in her life, with people who felt like family.
She was glad for the distraction when Jolie hopped off her stool. “I’m going to the common room. Want to come with?”
Darting a look at Rome from beneath her lashes, Stina shook her head. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
After all the guys drifted out, leaving only her and Rome, she slipped to her feet and crossed the room to him.
He set the towel on the counter and reached to pull her against him. God, he was so strong and hard…and so much more.
She didn’t know how it happened. When her feelings shifted from annoyance with the man to wanting to stay right here, with her head resting over his thumping heart.
His rough fingertip brushed her chin, and she lifted her gaze to his. Their gazes locked for a heartbeat and both of them moved at once.
She pushed onto tiptoe as he swooped in. Their mouths collided in a soft, seeking kiss, a brush of lips and tongues and the rougher scrape of his beard stubble against her skin.
When they pulled away, she was shaking and Rome’s not-so-small problem was stiff against her stomach.
She ran her hand down his chiseled chest. “Jolie’s expecting us in the common room.”
He gave a short nod, his expression a little quizzical in a way that made her wonder if he was just as affected by their kiss as she was.
He took her hand and led her out of the kitchen, out of what was becoming her domain, and into his.
The guys already circled the poker table, and Jolie had the Monopoly board out.
Stina smiled at the sight—Jolie’s relationship with Monopoly was legendary among her siblings. Stina had heard all the stories about how her skills in economics from raising her family alone made her a force to be reckoned with.
Stina looked at the board and then to Jolie. Then she looked at the stack of pastel money already sorted by denomination.
“I love you,” Stina said, “but I amnotplaying Monopoly with you.”
Jolie laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll have Archer’s butt to kick.”
Giving her a flat look, Archer plucked up the dog game piece and set it on the board.
Rome guided her to the poker table that was at the ready. She plopped into a seat.
“Uh-oh, Romey. Looks like we might have a real threat.” Rivers shuffled the cards into a fluid bridge that told her this wasn’t his first poker night. He leaned over the table and caught Stina’s eye. “Do you actually know how to play?”
“Deal the cards.”
“The queen has spoken!” Rivers and everyone else at the table laughed, including Rome.
