Roped Into Romance Read Online Free PDF

mind."
    Anton leaned into the forearm he'd braced on the table and reached for his beer. He took a drink from the longneck, keeping his gaze locked with Lauren's as he did.
    "Can I ask you something Lauren? Do you want to be here with me? Or did you feel indebted to go out with me because of what went on in the elevator?"
    Indebted was the last thing she felt. But she could understand where he was coming from, considering the way she was acting. Time to stop dancing around the ring and take it on the chin. Returning her chopsticks to the table, she smoothed down her simple salmon-colored skirt.
    She tried to smile but, since the feeling failed to reach her heart, was afraid she wasn't very convincing. "I'm sorry. I just don't think this is going to work."
    Anton blew out a huff, as if he'd been anticipating her decision. "You're calling this off before we've even gotten to know each other?"
    She was calling it off before she was in over her head and ended up being hurt. "I think I make you uncomfortable. And that makes me uncomfortable."
    He frowned. "Why would you make me uncomfortable?"
    "Because I am who I am. I say what I think. I go after what I want. I play by my rules and I'm afraid that might cause me to inadvertently step on your more traditional toes." There. She didn't think she could be more honest without telling him he needed to loosen up.
    "My toes are traditional?" he asked, a small quirk to the corner of his mouth.
    This time her response was genuine. She felt her own smile work the muscles of her face. His smile she felt other places and she held the feeling close. She wanted to feel so much more, but they seemed to be coming from two disparate places. "Since I haven't seen them yet, I can't say for sure. But I'm leaning in that direction."
    "What do you want me to do with this?" He held the condom he'd pulled from his wallet between two fingers.
    Lauren felt a flush heat her cheeks. She might be the more free-spirited of the two, but e ven she didn't want an entire restaurant wondering if they were in for a show.
    She took the foil packet from his hand and tucked it down in the low-draped cowl bodice of her sleeveless white blouse. "I'll hang on to it. Just in case."
    One blond eyebrow went up. "Just in case you change your mind?"
    She shook her head. "In case you come to your senses and realize that you don't have to be the one on top to have a good time."
    Lauren and Macy finalized the deal on the loft not long after. Doug Storey represented the firm of Neville and Storey, Architects at the closing. He explained that neither he nor Anton usually handled the financial end of any property they sold.
    But the loft space had been an anomaly since they'd acquired it and they'd sworn to see its sale through to the end.
    Lauren couldn't have cared less who showed up. She and Macy had found the perfect place to live and nothing else mattered. And Lauren told her best friend that very thing.
    "Oh, that's a bunch of crap, Lauren," Macy said, her head next to Lauren's as they lay side by side on the hardwood floor of the loft's main room. Feet pointing opposite directions, they stared up at the exposed piping Lauren had decided to paint red, purple and green. "You wanted Anton there and you know it. You may not have said so, but you wore a business suit to the closing, for chrissakes."
    "It was an important occasion and I dressed accordingly."
    "You dressed like you thought Mr. Uptight would want you to dress."
    "That's not true. He is not uptight. He's just…traditional."
    Macy snorted. "Traditional, my ass. He's a stick in the mud. Face it."
    Anton Neville was anything but a stick in the mud. He was a veritable god. Seeing to her pleasure? Without expecting anything in return? Had she ever known a man so unselfish? So considerate? So incredibly kind and thoughtful? And did she mention hot ?
    Lauren groaned. She'd been so worried about her precious equality that she'd told him it wasn't going to work before they'd