Hired Love

"So how good did showing off at the High Striker make you feel?" Stacy asked him with a teasing smile.

He wasn't going to lie to himself; it had felt really good. But he shrugged a shoulder to Stacy nonchalantly, keeping his face straight. The look on Matt's face had been priceless and he had reveled in it.

"I'm just saying," He said. "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen."

"You're ridiculous." Stacy chortled pleasantly.

He was here with her and a little girl he'd somehow taken a liking to, and he was very much aware the image they were painting to the world. Hell, if he had to put it on a canvas, he had no doubt he would capture the serenity he felt inside of him.

It had been a long time since he'd been this relaxed around a member of the opposite sex, hell, around anyone. The only person he'd let in had been Martha, their housekeeper when he was a teenager. The woman had taught him what it was to care for another, and he'd ravished all that care on her.

His paintings began to get noticed when he was only seventeen and it had helped that his family was rich and well known. He'd painted a famous actress who was a friend of the family and she'd posted the image on social media. It had earned him a lot of attention from all parts of the world and before he knew it, he became one of the most sort after artists in the world.

He was grateful for the opportunity, grateful for where his parent's wealth had taken him. He wasn't dim that he didn't understand that fame and wealth were a great partner to having a better life. Though he wouldn't wish his parents anything bad, he hoped they would continue to stay far away from him like they'd been doing. Not like they hadn't tried to reach out, he'd cut off communication with them, changed his address and phone number.

For the longest time after he moved out and even before then, he'd hoped they would recognize how miserable he was and try to make things right. They hadn't seen anything beyond their own noses because it had been stuck so high in the air. They both had abandoned their only child to the care of the housekeeper just so they would have enough time to fight and quarrel. And when they were not quarrelling, neither of them was at home because one was avoiding the other. It had been only a few days after he moved out that his mother had reached out to him. Thankfully, he missed the call and decided not to call back.

They could both go to hell.

He looked at the little girl on his lap, eating out of his hand. She was a pretty blond, with wide blue eyes that Roman noticed ran in the Lincoln family and thin lips that somehow hot fuller when she laughed. Her father loved her to bits. Did he devote his time to her because she was all he had?

Stacy seemed to believe marriage was a beautiful thing. He wished he shared the notion, but experience had taught him to learn from people's mistakes because he won't live long enough to experience them all by himself.

Roman didn't believe in marriage. He didn't believe in being tied down to one person for the rest of his life, not knowing what would happen along the way and not being able to leave if it got too messy. He didn't like messy. He liked easy and simple. He liked that he could break up with his women whenever he got bored. He liked that his peace of mind was non-negotiable.

"Roman," Olivia said, drawing him out of his reverie. "Water."

Her small face was covered in custard and ketchup, and he chuckled when her little teeth came into view as she smiled. He wiped her face and hands with the serviette the man at the hotdog stand had given him. He held her water bottle up and let her drink.

"Ooh, ooh, I want to go there next!" Stacy jumped excitedly, pointing in the direction of the ring toss.

Without waiting for them, she ran off with a laugh.

How old was she again?

"Stacy," He called, getting on his feet with Olivia. "Wait up, goddammit."

"Godemit!" Olivia whooped.

Benjamin would kill him if he heard that. He would deal with that later.

He caught up to Stacy just as she paid for ten rings and collected them.

She held out five rings to him. "Here Whoever successfully throws a ring around the bottle wins. Highest number."

He grabbed the rings from her, setting Olivia on her feet for balance.

"You go first." He told her.

She laughed, then threw a ring to the bottles. It was a perfect fit and she squeaked. "Beat that!"

He chuckled, lifting an arm to throw. Roman knew he had terrible aim, so he wasn't surprised when he knocked a bottle over. "Goddammit." He muttered, rolling his eyes when Stacy laughed at him.

She threw another ring, groaning when it failed to catch a bottle. He went next, aiming carefully. The ring rolled around a wine bottle, and he cheered, bending to kiss a giggling Olivia on her cheek. By the time they were done with the game, Stacy beat him at a three to one score.

Roman didn't like to lose but the smile on her face was just too contagious that he couldn't help but be affected.

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"Godemit!" Olivia whooped again, earning a burst of laughter from Stacy.

"Benjamin will have your head if he finds out you've been teaching his daughter swear words."

"I swear I didn't mean to." He chuckled, looking to the little girl. "That's a bad word, sweetie."

"But you said it." She whined.

"I'm big. I can say whatever I want."

"I'm a baby. I can say whatever I want too."

Stacy laughed again.

"Daddy is going to be cross with you if he hears that. You don't want that, do you?" He looked at her. Olivia's eyes were wide as she shook her head.

"That's a good girl." He smiled at her.