“You think I don’t fucking know that?” I growled, my temper boiling over. “You think I didn’t figure that out the second she went along with my plan?”
“Then what’s the problem? Just tell her.”
“Tell her what, for fuck’s sake? Tell her I basically stalked her and the more I learned about her, the more interested I became? Or should I tell her I don’t give a damn about the property?”
“You didn’t stalk her, Jack. You were trying to help her. She’ll understand when you explain it to her.”
“Trying to help by marrying her? There were a number of other things I could’ve done to help her, Cynthia. Getting married wasn’t at the top of the list—it shouldn’t have been on the list at all. I was being a selfish bastard.”
“Your own gain—”
My voice had risen enough that George, who was just passing by, stopped and opened the door.
“What’s going on here? I can hear your voices from a mile away. Aren’t you supposed to be at the Morrison and Gadd meeting?”
“I’m heading there now,” I gritted through my teeth. “We just picked up a file we needed.”
Frowning at us, George accepted the lie and, giving us a final confused look, walked away.
Cynthia started on me before I could utter another word.
“You had me look into her a year ago. Why did you wait so long to introduce yourself?”
“I’m only going to tell you one more time, Cynthia: if you ever say another word on this subject, I will fire you on the spot and not even think twice about it. I don’t give a damn whether you’re the best or not.”
Without waiting for her to even acknowledge what I had just said, I stormed out of the room and headed straight to the meeting.
By the time the meeting was over, my head was pounding and I was ready to end the day and leave. It was only five PM, though, so I was stuck in my office for a few more hours going through more paperwork.
Cynthia was smart enough to stay out of my sight the entire time. I took all my frustrations out on work and didn’t even think about anything else for the rest of the day, which is why when I ended my last phone call and lifted my head, I was so surprised to see Rose standing just outside my office door, talking to my assistant. Trying to keep my anger with Cynthia in check, I slowly rose from behind my desk and strode toward them.
When I pulled the glass door open a bit too fast, Rose jumped a little, her hand flying to her chest. “You scared me. How did you get here so fast? You were just sitting at your desk when I looked in.”
“What are you doing here?” I snapped, my eyes going from her to Cynthia.
Cynthia gave me a disapproving head shake, which I chose to ignore.
Rose’s eyes widened slightly, and I cursed myself. “I’m sorry. If this is a bad time, I don’t have to—”
“Come in.” 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 in the mornings instead of walking through Central Park and getting myself into situations—his word, not mine—because I knew it was safer.