The Bachelor Read Free

tangible.
    Roman appreciated the attempt to lighten his mood, even if it didn’t work. “More important that she doesn’t expect too much,”
     he shot back. Any woman he married had to know up front who he was and accept what he wasn’t.
    Chase slapped him on the back. “I’m proud of you, kid. This is a once-in-a-lifetime decision. Be certain you can live with
     her, okay?”
    “I don’t plan to live with anyone,” Roman muttered.
    “Then what do you plan?” Rick asked.
    “A nice long-distance marriage that doesn’t change my life much at all. I want to find someone who’s willing to stay at home
     and raise the kid, who’ll be happy seeing me whenever I can make it back.”
    “You’ve got enough baggage as it is, is that it?” Rick asked.
    Roman scowled at him. His attempt at mood-lightening had gone too far. “Actually, we had a damn good life while growing up
     and I want to make sure anyone I marry can provide the same thing for my kid.”
    “So you go on the road, the wife stays home.” Chase shook his head. “You’d better watch your attitude. You don’t want to scare
     potential candidates off too early in the search.”
    “There’s no chance of that happening.” Rick chuckled. “There wasn’t a girl in high school who didn’t lust after the kid, before
     he left for a life of adventure.”
    Despite the situation, Roman laughed. “Only after you graduated. Yours were big shoes to fill.”
    “That goes without saying.” Rick folded his arms over his chest and grinned. “But fair’s fair. I had to walk in Chase’s footsteps,
     and they were huge. Girls loved his strong, silent bit. But once he graduated, they turned their sights on me.” He tapped
     his chest. “And once I was gone, the field was open for you. And they were
all
interested.”
    Not all.
Without warning, the memory of his high school infatuation resurfaced, as it often did. A beautiful girl with jet-black hair
     and green eyes, Charlotte Bronson had made his teenage hormones run wild. Her stinging rejection lived within him, as sharp
     now as it had been back then. He considered her the one who’d gotten away, and he’d never forgotten her. Though Roman would
     like to label it a teenage crush and leave it there, truth dictated he admit his feelings had run deep.
    Not that he’d admitted it aloud to his brothers then, nor would he now. A man had to keep some things private.
    Last Roman had heard, Charlotte had moved to New York City, the fashion capital of the world. Though he shared a rent-controlled
     apartment in the same city, he’d never run into her, nor had he looked her up. Roman was rarely in town long enough to do
     more than sleep one night, change clothes, and head out again to his next destination.
    He hadn’t heard any gossip from his mother lately, and curiosity won out now. “Charlotte Bronson back in town?” he asked.
    Rick and Chase exchanged surprised glances. “She sure is,” Rick said. “Owns a little business on First.”
    “And she’s single,” Chase added with a smile at last.
    Roman’s adrenaline kicked in hard and fast. “What kind of business?”
    “Why don’t you stop by and see for yourself?” Rick asked.
    The notion tempted him. Roman wondered what Charlotte was like now. If she was still as quiet and sincere as she’d been way
     back when. If her jet-black hair still hung down her back, tempting a man to touch. He was curious to know if her green eyes
     were still expressive and open, providing a window to her soul for anyone who cared enough to look.
    He’d cared and had been shot down for his effort. “Has she changed much?”
    “Go have a look.” Chase added his prompting to Rick’s. “You can call it your first chance at scoping out potential candidates.”
    As if Charlotte would be interested. She’d walked away with ease after their one date and let him move on, apparently without
     an ounce of remorse. Roman had never believed her proclamation of