Consequences of Passion
Автор
Yahrah St. John
Прочтений
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One
Roman Lockett was bored already.
Why had he let his sister, Giana, convince him to attend this bachelor auction benefitting a cure for multiple sclerosis on a Saturday night? Because as the baby girl of the family, anytime she looked at him with those big brown eyes of hers, he was helpless to resist.
Roman’s mind, however, was still on the tense meeting he’d had yesterday. As chief operating officer and director of player personnel of the Atlanta Cougars football franchise, it was Roman’s job to handle all major player contract concerns. And securing DeMarius Johnson, the team’s star quarterback, was high on not only his list but his father, Josiah Lockett’s, the Atlanta Cougars owner and general manager.
Because of his impending fee agency, negotiations with DeMarius had dragged on for months. His father thought Roman incapable of finishing the deal, but Roman had come to the table prepared for battle. They’d had to void the final two years of DeMarius’s contract, allowing the Cougars to re-sign him while maintaining the league’s salary cap. It had been risky because it was already late January. However, Roman had known allowing him to become a free agent would be problematic and so he’d adapted the contract based on market factors.
Roman hoped his father would be proud of the win under his belt. He had been on a success streak in recent years with the talent he’d brought to the Cougars team. As a result, they were ranked fifth in the league and Roman had played a big role in that. Yet despite all his successes, his father never gave him his due. Because Roman was the oldest, Josiah Lockett was harder on him than on his younger siblings, Julian, Giana and Xavier.
He stood on the outer fringes of the vast oval-shaped ballroom with crystal chandeliers and white drapery and surveyed the elegantly dressed men and women. He caught a glimpse of Giana making the rounds to get everyone psyched up for the evening. She wore a one-shouldered canary yellow gown with a stunning diamond necklace. Her jet-black hair had been artfully cut shoulder-length with bangs. It was a different look for her, but she wore it well. Meanwhile, most of the men were shamelessly flirting in the hopes women would bid outrageously on them. Roman, however, didn’t need to work the room.
He was Roman Lockett and every woman in Atlanta knew he was heir apparent to the Atlanta Cougars franchise. And if they seemed not to, they were faking it. His parents had been a major presence in the community for three decades. He’d already been approached by several beautiful women who’d made blatant attempts at seduction, and when that didn’t work, they’d resorted to pouting or affected hurt, all in an effort to gain his attention. But tonight, none of them held any appeal.
Roman had no idea how he was going to make it through the rest of the night. Let alone a date with one of these insipid women. Until he saw her.
A caramel-skinned beauty in a blush-colored gown with spaghetti straps. It wasn’t as elaborate as some of the confections he’d seen other women in tonight, showing off their God-given assets. Instead, it might be considered modest. Then she spun away and Roman saw the dress plunged to a curvy bottom, leaving her back bare save for a skinny piece of fabric holding the straps together.
For the first time tonight, Roman was intrigued. She looked oddly familiar, but he couldn’t place her. Who is she? He had to know. He began wandering across the ballroom toward her, but was stopped by another bevy of beauties. When he finally managed to extricate himself from their clutches, Roman couldn’t find her.
His nose flared. She might be the woman he wouldn’t mind spending time with at the end of the evening. He prayed she would come back because only she could transform this night from being an abysmal failure.
Shantel Wilson was impressed with the image she presented. With her job as a psychiatrist she didn’t often get a chance to dress up for a fancy night out on the town. Her best friend, Julian Lockett, had begged her to come and bid on him at the bachelor auction so he didn’t take home some unsuspecting female.
“C’mon,” Julian had cajoled. “I need your help. After that unflattering article about my dating life, my mother is furious with me. She warned me she wouldn’t tolerate any more shenanigans and I agreed to keep a low profile. If you attend, she’ll know I’m keeping my promise.”
“I don’t have anything to wear to something that fancy.” Shantel had used any excuse she could to get out of the event. Her wardrobe was comprised of slacks, silk blouses and the occasional skirt.
“Don’t worry about that. I know some fancy boutiques in Buckhead.”
Shantel had rolled her eyes. “I’m not one of your girls, Julian. I can buy my own clothes.”
“I know that, but trust me, it will help make you feel more comfortable hob knobbing with the upper crust if you’re in a killer dress.”
Famous last words, Shantel thought.
And so she’d gone to the high-end boutique Julian suggested and hadn’t been disappointed. The sales women had been eager to help, especially when she mentioned she was attending the Lockett charity gala. They’d shown her dresses in all shapes and price tags in the hopes she’d choose the most exorbitant one. Instead, she’d opted for a simple blush dress in silk chiffon, which she could afford with her salary from the practice.
Shantel liked the way it hugged her slender curves, and with the built-in bra, she’d been able to forgo a bra thanks to her barely B-cup-size breasts. The sales clerk insisted she needed lingerie, four-inch stilettos to boost her five-four height and a clutch to finish her look. In the end, Shantel purchased the entire ensemble. Tonight she felt like Cinderella, except she wouldn’t be losing her slipper. The shoes alone cost eight hundred dollars.
She was perusing the room when her eyes caught sight of Roman Lockett. The eldest brother of the Lockett clan was tall with a commanding presence. He wore what was no doubt a custom-fit tuxedo like a suit of armor. A veneer of power clung to his athletic frame. To Shantel he was like no other man she’d ever encountered, but Roman never paid any attention to her on the few occasions she’d been in his presence.
Tonight he was clearly bored with his surroundings if the jaded expression on his face was anything to go by. Had he been coerced into attending tonight’s event? And where was Julian, anyway? He’d begged her to come tonight and bid on him, but he was nowhere to be found.
Her idea of a fun Saturday night was a hot bath, a glass of wine and streaming a Netflix movie, but when Julian had pleaded with her, she’d been powerless to resist. Ever since they met at a college party ten years ago, their friendship had been grounded in love and affection. Julian had been attending Morehouse while she’d been at Spelman. Their friendship endured her mother’s suicide and Julian’s many love affairs, but that didn’t mean he didn’t vex her.
Shantel stepped out of the ballroom, pulled her phone from her clutch and texted Julian.
Where are you?
She waited and saw three dots on her iPhone indicating he was typing a message, but then the text bubble went away. She was certain Julian had read her message, so why wasn’t he responding? There was no way she would have come tonight if it wasn’t for him. Large social gatherings weren’t really her thing. She thrived in one-on-one interactions. She supposed it was why she was so good at her job.
Having been raised on the farm and being a nerd, she’d always been socially awkward. College had been eye-opening for a simple country girl like Shantel. She’d been raised in a town where everyone knew each other, but in college she hadn’t understood the rules or the games people played. Sometimes Shantel wondered if she’d made the right choice and whether she’d ever find a man who truly got her.
She was so deep in thought, Shantel didn’t realize she had company until she looked upward and found Roman’s ebony eyes trained on her.
He’d found her.
Suddenly the night he hadn’t been looking forward to had taken an unexpected turn. His mood became considerably lighter as he extricated himself from several hungry females with dollar signs in their eyes to find the demure woman in the pink dress. But when he finally did, recognition dawned.
“Do we know each other?” he inquired, searching her arresting face. She wasn’t classically beautiful like many of the models and actresses he typically dated, but there was a freshness to her symmetrical features, proud nose and pink kissable lips.
Her eyebrows rose and he could feel her bristle. “Is that what you say to all the ladies, Roman?”
“So you do know me?”
She rolled her eyes and Roman watched, transfixed, as she moved to step away from him. “Wait.” His hand jerked out to clasp around her upper arm, and a jolt of awareness rushed through him. Does she feel it too? It didn’t appear so because she glanced down at where he still held her, and he released her arm. “I’m sorry, but are you going to introduce yourself?”
“Roman.” She suppressed a sigh. “It’s Shantel Wilson, Julian’s friend.”
“Shantel?” He leisurely swept his gaze over her and was rewarded when a blush stole up her cheeks. “You look stunning.” He hadn’t recognized her. Her hair hung in soft curls down her back, her makeup was artfully applied and she had on killer heels making her nearly reach his chin.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” His mouth creased at the corners into a full-blown smile. “What are you doing here?”
“That brother of yours convinced me to come and bid on him and then he’s a no-show. Can you believe that?”
Roman chuckled. “I can.” Julian was known to be unreliable at the best of times.
“Anyway, I was about to leave.”
“You can’t.”
One eyebrow rose.
“I mean, if you’re already here, you might as well stay.” Roman didn’t want her to leave. Shantel Wilson was the most interesting part of his evening.
“And why would I do that?”
“Because I’d like you to,” he responded. “And because I need you.”
A frown marred her face. “How’s that?”
He leaned forward and whispered in her ear. “I need you to protect me from the women in this room.” He turned her shoulder toward the ballroom. “Look at them. They’re vultures and I’m fresh meat.”
Shantel laughed and the sound was like an intoxicating elixir to his system. “So you’ll stay?” he inquired. “You can bid on me like you were going to bid on Julian. I’ll cover whatever amount it takes to ensure you’re the winning bid.”
“Are you sure about that?” she asked. “Some of these ladies look like they’re willing to bet the farm.”
“That may be so, but I’m more interested in the woman in front of me.” Ever since he’d seen her walk in, he’d been unable to turn away, and it was odd given they’d met before. Usually he never gave a woman a second look, but Shantel was different.
“Well, in that case, I guess I’ll stick around,” Shantel said with a smirk. “I mean, I have nothing else to do.”
Roman chuckled. “Don’t sound so eager.”
“I’m sorry,” Shantel said. “I don’t really know how to do this.” She motioned back and forth between them.
“Do what?”
“You know.” She blushed again and Roman was even more intrigued. What woman blushed at her age? Not many women surprised him, but she did. First her transformation and now a shyness he’d never noticed. Was that because she’d never fathomed a second glance?
“No, I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”
“The whole cat and mouse thing men and women do when they’re dating or trying to feel each other out,” Shantel responded. “I did my thesis on it back in college.”
“Your thesis? What did you study?”
“Psychology,” she offered. “It’s important to understand people’s reasoning behind how they behave.”
“And did your studies provide clarity?” Roman inquired.
“Sure they did. They taught me that I don’t understand a damn thing,” Shantel responded with a laugh, and Roman couldn’t help joining her. She had a naturalness to her missing in other women he encountered.
He wanted to learn more, but suddenly Giana was onstage announcing it was time for the Bachelor Auction to start and all participants were needed backstage. Roman hated to leave. “Will you stay?” he asked. “And bid on me, however much it takes.”
“Roman...”
He liked it when she said his name and if he had his way, she’d be saying it a lot more before the night was over. “Say yes.” Her eyes grew wide at the commanding tone in his voice, so he amended, “Please.”
“Fine. You’d better be worth every penny.”
Roman grinned widely. “Oh, I am.” He left her blushing from ear to ear. It appeared the night was looking up and wouldn’t be a complete bust, after all.
He made his way backstage and found Giana in a huff. He smiled into her dark brown eyes surrounded by clear chocolate skin similar to his. They’d both taken after their father’s dark coloring. “There you are. We were looking everywhere for you.”
“Sorry, I was otherwise engaged.”
Giana smothered a laugh. “Oh, I bet you were. I’ve already had a half dozen women ask how much I think it’ll take to win you for the night.”
“Oh Lord.” Roman rolled his eyes. He no more wanted to spend an evening in those women’s company than he would want a root canal. It was why he was happy to have an ace in the hole. Shantel would be the winning bid and when the night was over, he had every intention of taking the delectable beauty in his arms. All night long.
Roman glanced behind the curtain and saw Shantel standing toward the back of the room. His skin tightened and his muscles surged at the sight of her. He wanted to ravish her all night long, but he could only offer her tonight because he didn’t do commitment. Roman wondered what Julian would think about him getting intimate with his best friend. Would he consider it a betrayal of their brotherhood?
Just how far was he willing to go for one night with Shantel?
