When she didn’t move, I tried to soften my tone. “Please come in, Rose.” As she moved past me, I gave Cynthia a long look. “You’re done for the day. You can leave.”
“I was just thinking I should do that,” she replied coldly, and I gritted my teeth.
Closing the door and hoping Cynthia would leave as quickly as possible, I turned to find Rose standing in the middle of the room.
“Please, sit,” I said, gesturing to one of the leather chairs in front of my desk.
“Jack, if you’re busy—”
“I finished my last call. I’m not busy anymore.”
Keeping her eyes on me, she slowly sat down, her eyes studying me. “You look extra grumpy. I can leave.”
I sighed and ran my hand over my face, trying to get it together. “Extra grumpy?” I asked, my brows rising. She bit on her lower lip and shrugged. I had to force my gaze away from her mouth before I forgot about everything else and just acted. “No, you don’t have to leave. Too many meetings, too many calls, that’s all. I didn’t mean to be harsh out there, I just wasn’t expecting to see you.”
“That’s usually my line. You always show up when I’m not expecting you.” I couldn’t manage to smile back. “Ray came to the coffee shop when I was getting ready to close up, when he asked whether he should take me back to the apartment or pick you up first, I thought it’d be a nice change of pace—me picking you up, I mean.”
Her lips curved up slightly, and my eyes focused on that. Her smile was what had gotten me into this mess that first time we were introduced.
I just stared at her as a frown replaced her smile.
“Jack? Are you sure everything is okay? Is there something I can help with?”
Unfortunately, everything wasn’t okay. I was losing control, and it was all because of her, all because of the guilt I couldn’t get rid of. If I kept going down the same path, all I’d accomplish would be making her hate me. Cynthia’s words came back to me and I considered them for a second, considered telling Rose. Maybe if she heard everything, maybe if she knew what had happened and what I was thinking—I decided against it. I wasn’t ready to lose her just yet.
If I could find the courage to tell her one day and hope she’d still stay, things would have to change—drastically.
I’d need all the time I could get to try to make her feel something for me, and maybe along the way I would come up with a good way to admit that I’d deceived her from the very beginning, to admit that the reason I offered to marry her wasn’t to have someone to attend the parties with. I hated any and all events, rarely went to them. It wasn’t to appear to be a family man to appease clients, and it definitely wasn’t because I was interested in the property. I could’ve bought ten of them if I was so inclined.
But, to be able to tell her all of that, I’d have to forget about the guilt that was eating me up on the inside and focus on getting and keeping her attention.
Coming to a concrete decision, I focused on Rose. “Everything is great. Are you free to have dinner with me again tonight?”
That piqued her interest. “Takeout?”
“If that’s what you want.”
“Can we have pizza again?”
“If you’ll let me take a look at your knees, I’ll think about it.”
The look she gave me…
“That’s sounded a little kinky, Jack.”
The sweet smile on her lips that I had craved to be on the receiving end of for so long…
I was ruined.
In the end, we had the pizza, but she didn’t let me get a look at the damage to her knees. When it came to Rose, I knew I had my work cut out for me.
Good thing, after getting to know her and spending so much time with her, I had no intention of backing off anymore.
Grabbing my phone, I found Bryan Coleson’s number from my contact list and hit call. Finally returning his call.
Chapter Twelve
Rose
Being married to Jack Hawthorne had turned out to have its own advantages—apart from the broody eye candy and the almost daily arm porn, I mean. As much as I didn’t care for the idea of having a driver take me to work, I didn’t put up any fight when Jack forced me to go with Raymond