When in Rome (When in Rome, #1)

by Sarah Adams

Noah is the blanket fort you used to make and hide in as a kid. So warm and reassuring.

All I want is to ensure this woman gets on her way as soon as possible and out of my life so everything will go back to normal.

just wish she still wanted me, too, and not just my money.

For a split second, I thought someone slipped something in her drink and I was about to flip every table in that bar until I figured out who did it.

“I’m drowning and no one sees

It’s not infatuation. Not even lust. It’s the worst of all the feelings…care.

Annie’s smile is like a ray of sunshine.

MY ANNIE

When the hell did it become such a crime to be selfish now and again?”

The sudden force of his gaze threatens to level me

It’s dangerous to let myself believe him, and yet, I do.

find myself wanting to trace a line around her smiling lips so I can always remember the shape of them.

What kind of asshole wouldn’t want to be friends with her? She’s sweet. Funny. Easygoing. Gorgeous. It’s unfathomable that she’s single.

But for some reason, when Amelia’s blue eyes slip to me, I feel stripped. I want to tell her everything.

We all look up to see what’s holding Annie up. She’s smiling at me. A soft, knowing smile that prickles at me. Annie has always seemed to understand me better than my other sisters, and it grates on me that she knows something now that I’m desperately trying to pretend doesn’t exist.

I HAVE A CRUSH ON YOU AND HAVE BEEN WAITING UP TO SEE YOU.

He smiles. SMILES. It’s blinding. My heart stops and then starts again, galloping right out of my chest.

I finally clean up the glass and cover Noah with a blanket, and when I’m buried under the soft patchwork quilt on my bed, I fall asleep to the smell of Noah’s cologne and the misplaced hope that one day we’ll kiss again.

I’ve never met a prettier woman.

it’s nice to know that you think I’m pretty and sweet.” She blinks playfully. “Like powdered sugar.”

Cause he bakes

I like her. She likes me. And we have intense chemistry between us that I can’t indulge.

Why is it the one person who can only be temporary in my life is the one who wants to understand me? Be there for me without me having to ask for it?

Noah’s worth it and you won’t find a better man than him.”

there’s a very real chance he’ll never let me know him.

And I realize in this moment, I’d do just about anything to make her laugh.

“You look very pretty.” I feel a smile in my soul before it reaches my lips. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.” “It is for me.”

I’m putting myself on a diet. It’s going to be tough, but I’m cutting out all Amelias.

He’s so good—this man. I can’t imagine how I’ll be able to walk away.

But I know that when it’s time to go, I’ll leave. Just like Audrey.

Frank. He would be so familiar with him that he feels inclined to be on a first-name basis with the man. Like I am with Audrey. It physically hurts now how smitten I am with Noah. I can’t take much more.

I can be standing in a room full of hundreds of people that supposedly love me and feel completely isolated.”

Everything would be so much easier if my answer were yes. Part of me wishes I could have come to this damn town and found my joy of music again without also finding something more.

I will sink to the bottom and die a happy woman because I have now seen perfection.

“I’m trying so hard to stay away,” he says in a low rasp. His eyes track over my face and now the pull between us feels crushing. Unbearable. “And I’m failing.”

I, however, have no restraint because it’s been too long since we kissed. I’m also not sure I’ve ever been kissed or held like this by a man I liked this much.

I can barely sleep at night because I lie awake tormented with the thought that she’s sleeping across the hall from me. That I’ve never met anyone who makes me feel the way she does.

I want to kiss her all day every day until I eventually die from lack of oxygen.

And the problem is, I can’t afford to have my brain scrambled right now. I need every lick of sense I can get to help me withstand falling in love with Amelia Rose. Except…no. I think I already have.

I don’t want you to go.

But most of all, I’m mad that I’ve fallen in love with Noah, and I’ll never get to have a life with him.

I think I’ve fallen in love with Noah.

“To me, you’re Amelia. Maker of shitty pancakes and a smile that rivals the sun. All I want is you.”

I could never forgive myself for letting you get away.”

Don’t give up on us so soon, Noah.

All I want is to escape pain, but it always finds me.

she broke her social media hiatus and posted an Instagram photo of her hand clasped with a man’s—a gorgeous princess cut engagement ring gracing her finger. The caption read: “When in Rome…”

WHEN IN ROME