Hired Love

The next day, Stacy glued herself to Roman as tightly as she could, trying to fend off her sister's dirty claws off him. It seemed like Claire had renewed her resolve to steal away every man she was with from her, and she was doing her best to not let it happen with Roman.

Roman on the other hand, seemed to enjoy the chase and completely left Stacy to do all the work, much to her resentment.

"She's trying to sleep with you, for Pete's sake. How can you not see that?" She almost yelled when they'd retreated to their room after breakfast.

Roman chuckled. "I'm not blind, Stacy. I can see very clearly."

Stacy glared at him. "Then why aren't you doing anything to bring this ridiculous flirting of hers to an end?"

"Because I don't have to. I have you." He dived face-first onto the bed, closing his eyes.

"What the fuck does that even mean?"

"It means that you're here to keep her from winning so I don't have to lift a finger. I don't think you give yourself enough credit, Stacy. You're pretty tough." "Roman." She called out, fuming. She was this close to killing him.

"Don't you see what she's trying to do? She doesn't want to sleep with me because she likes me. She's trying to get back at you for being at her throat all week. You're winning, baby." He stretched on the bed, kicking off his shoes. "So this is one of your stupid lessons where you try to teach me to stand up for myself?"

"Mm hmm." He took off his shirt, and her anger was completely dispelled. Why did he have to be so sexy? It was distracting.

He reached out for her. "Come here, baby. I want to hold you."

But seriously, who would say no to that?

The day went by rapidly. Stacy spent the entire day getting to know Roman better. They laughed and talked and exchanged childhood stories in the comfort of their bedroom. She'd even sneaked into her mother's room when the woman wasn't around just to google him.

Aunt Phoebe hadn't been lying when she said he was popular. She hadn't even finished typing his name when his Wikipedia popped up.

She knew exactly what she was looking for. In the personal life section, she read that he'd been with women who were the exact opposite of Stacy, models and actresses. Though the relationships-If you could call it that had been for a very short period, some even less than a week, it didn't change the level of insecurity she was feeling.

He really was a Casanova then.

She reckoned there was no reason to feel anything. They weren't technically together, even though she'd gone and fallen for him. He hadn't promised her anything. He never promised anything from the look of it.

How had things been with his parents, she wondered? It must've been really fucked up if it'd left him this strongly against love. She didn't understand how it was possible to completely write off a thing based on how other people had treated

it.

Stacy wouldn't deny that she was jealous. She switched her phone off and dropped it back in the drawer where her mother had kept it, wishing she hadn't bothered to find out but at the same time, knowing that it was something she needed to do.

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She made sure to stay away from Claire, though she had run into Matt when she was leaving her mother's room.

"Oh, Stacy. Didn't see you there."

She'd paused in shock because she hadn't expected to see anyone. After a few seconds, she arranged her features. "Yeah. Bye."

She made to walk past him, but he stopped her by grabbing her arm.

"Stacy," There was something resembling a plea in his voice and somehow it made her want to laugh.

"Let go of me, Matt or I swear I'll—"

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

She looked at his face then and didn't like how sorry she felt. This apology was what she'd wanted since that night. Just to know he actually felt an iota of shame and guilt for what they had done to her. But it was too late.

If he'd offered it that first day when she'd arrived, maybe she might've reconsidered.

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"I'm so fucking sorry, Stacy. You don't know how much. I'm a fool and I didn't-"

"Matt," She said. "Stop. I wish I could tell you that I was still angry and hurt. I really wish I could, but I can't because I'm not. To be completely honest, I don't feel anything for you anymore. Nothing at all. You're forgiven. I just hope it was worth it."

Pushing his hand off, she walked away from him. She meant what she'd said. She didn't feel anything for him anymore and there was only one reason for that; she felt everything for someone else.

She didn't wish Matt bad or good, karma would decide that. Who knows? Maybe Claire had been the one to initiate everything. Though she figured he was a moron for letting anything happen between him and Claire, not many men could resist the charm that was her sister.

Hell, she'd even managed to kiss Roman.

It wasn't a surprise that Claire was persistent. Even as a child, she'd been able to convince almost anyone to do whatever she wanted. Her persuasive was as good as it was harmful, and it'd usually left Stacy in a bad place.

Still, it didn't mean that Matt wasn't an idiot because he was. Somehow, she realized she didn't regret everything that had happened. She would've probably never discovered the woman she was slowly becoming, and she would've never met Roman otherwise. The thought of going through life without experiencing everything he had made her feel was unnerving.

Everything happened for a reason, right?