shoulder. The affectionate gesture surprised me, made my heart thump harder, and I wondered if she could feel my pulse racing against her cheek. I lifted my arm and draped it around her, happy to just be there, quietly holding her. Her eyes closed, and after a little while I could see she’d drifted off to sleep. I was almost tempted to join her, but I didn’t want to give up this time I had. I wanted to enjoy being so close to her after what felt like an eternity keeping my distance.
She only stirred when the bus finally arrived back in the city. I watched as she blinked a few times, moved her body, and then smiled when she remembered where she was and whose shoulder she’d fallen asleep on.
“Hey,” she whispered, sitting up and pulling away to fix her hair. I already missed her, my arms feeling empty without her there.
“Hi,” I murmured in response.
The bus pulled to a stop outside Iggy’s studio, and Rose and I disembarked with the others. Out on the street, it seemed like we couldn’t stop staring at each other. When we spoke, it was all at once.
“Want to share a taxi?”
“I guess I’ll see you on Monday.”
I’d been the one to offer sharing a taxi, but we both knew that wasn’t a good idea. With how I was feeling, having spent the last two hours with her in my arms, all I wanted to do was carry her to my bed and keep her there for what was left of the weekend.
“I told Iggy I’d help him build this new chest of drawers he bought for his flat,” said Rose, her cheeks colouring. I imagined she knew exactly why I’d been so eager to share a taxi.
“Okay, I’ll see you Monday, then,” I said, leaning down and placing a soft kiss on her cheek. When I stood back to my full height, I felt the weight of somebody’s stare. Blake was standing just a few yards behind Rose, chatting with several other cast members. He wasn’t speaking, though. His jaw was tight and his expression dark as he glared daggers at me. I continued staring him down, because fuck if I was going to be the one to look away first. Finally, he turned his head, and I felt a small victory that I’d held my ground the longest.
A moment later, Rose said one last goodbye before going with Iggy. It wasn’t often that I felt possessive of people or things, but Rose had sparked something inside me, something that made me want her like I’d never wanted anyone else before in my life. She was beautiful and kind, funny and caring, and now I could only move forward with the prospect of us being together as my goal.
I watched her walk down the street with her eccentric boss, knowing that if I had my way she’d be mine, and Blake would never put his hands on her ever again.
Eighteen.
*Rose*
It was Sunday afternoon when my phone rang. I put down the clean laundry I was folding as I watched the repeat of Eastenders on BBC1. Damon’s name showed on the screen. My heart did one quick, hard somersault before proceeding to hammer away like a crazy monkey playing the drums.
The ride home from paintballing yesterday had been something else. I’d been so aroused, so near to him, yet with no choice but to keep my hands to myself.
I picked up after several rings, my voice expectedly shaky. “H-hey.”
“Rose, are you busy?” he asked, sounding stressed.
“Oh, um, not really. What’s going on?”
His next words flew out in one long stream of word vomit. Truth be told, it was probably the most I’d ever heard him speak all at once, so I knew something was wrong. “There are paparazzi outside the house, at least a dozen of them. One of them even climbed over the gate and tried snapping shots through the window. And Jacob called this morning to say Alicia and I have an appearance on a television talk show tonight to promote Moulin Rouge. He said he held off telling me because he knew I’d only stress out about it. Well, now I’m stressing even more since he’s sprung it on me with barely any notice. I don’t want to do it, but he said all promotional work is included in the contract I signed and — ”
He would’ve kept talking if I hadn’t cut him off mid-sentence. “Okay, okay, calm down.