Chapter Fifteen
Jack
The last forty-eight hours had been hell. I’d spent my entire Sunday at the office dealing with an unexpected crisis that took me away from Rose and when I had successfully handled that hoping I’d get to go home, I’d faced a much more annoying situation in the name of: Bryan Coleson. But it was done. Rose was done with them. I’d made sure.
As if that wasn’t enough for the day, before I could leave the office Joshua had showed up. Everything was piling up and I was slowly getting buried underneath it all.
So I was in my study at three AM, doing nothing but making myself miserable instead of going to bed…just a few doors down from her.
When there was a hesitant knock on the door, I snapped out of my thoughts.
“Come in.”
First, her head peeked in, her shoulders and body hidden behind the door.
“Hey, Jack.”
“Hey.”
“Am I bothering you? Can I come in?”
If I’d been sure it wouldn’t startle her, I’d have laughed out loud. She wasn’t bothering me enough—that was the problem.
Just in case, I closed the lid of my laptop, hiding the email I had just received.
“Please, come in,” I repeated, and she finally showed her entire body and stepped in, closing the door and leaning her back against it. I wasn’t sure how long I could keep my hands off of her or how wise it was to be in a secluded room together like this, but I didn’t care.
“I woke up,” she said, softly smiling at me. “Couldn’t go back to sleep.”
Rose was wearing black leggings and a light grey t-shirt that did nothing to hide her yellow lace bra underneath it. I had lost my tie somewhere when I’d walked into a quiet apartment, but I was still wearing the white button-up and black slacks I had put on that morning. She looked beautiful even disheveled, whereas I must have looked like a mess.
“What are you doing?” she asked when I didn’t say anything.
“Something came up that I had to deal with.”
She pushed herself off the door, slowly approaching with her hand behind her back. “You still have work to do?”
I gave a sharp nod.
“I didn’t see you today.”
Had she been hoping to see me? I didn’t think so. “I was at the office. There was a crisis with a client, but I dealt with it.”
“I thought you didn’t work every weekend.” She was a few steps closer, and I was aware of each and every one of those steps. Her gaze slowly took in everything in the room but me.
Rising from my seat, I rounded my desk and sat on the edge of it. I had to shove my hands into my pockets so I wouldn’t grab her, but I needed to be closer. I sat still on my perch and watched her slow movements as she walked up to the bookshelves and strolled the length of them, pausing once or twice to check a title, her fingertips softly grazing each spine.
“No, not every weekend. Did you need something?”
She stopped perusing the books and focused on me. “If I’m bothering you…”
“You are not bothering me, Rose. Did you want to talk about something?”
She lifted one shoulder in a shrug and kept her eyes on the books. “Nothing in particular. Like I said, I couldn’t sleep.”
“Okay.”
She turned to me, keeping her back against the bookcase. “Will you go to bed?”
“At some point, yes.”
“Good. That’s good. Sleep is good.”
With even slower steps, she drew closer to me, her eyes moving around the room.
“You have a beautiful apartment,” she murmured, and I frowned at her.
“Rose? Are you okay?”
She hated when I asked her that question. I knew that, but I loved her reactions too much to quit asking.
She sighed. “Yeah, sure. Why?”
“You’re acting weird.”
She waved a hand in front of her, dismissing my words. Then, standing next to me, she put her hand on my desk. “This is a beautiful desk,” she said.
Something was definitely wrong with her.
“It’s a desk,” I agreed in a flat tone.
Her lips twitched, and my gaze focused on that tiny movement. I was losing my mind. Being so close yet so far away from her was wreaking havoc on my self-control.
She released a deep breath and finally met my eyes, no trace of the smile I had become so enamored with. “So…at the event…we…did a good job, right?”
“A good job? Of what?”
“Of being husband and wife. I need to try something, so can you just stay still?”
My eyebrows rose in confusion, but I simply gave her a sharp nod, not having any idea where she was going with this.
She licked her lips and puffed up her cheeks before letting out a long breath. Then she took two more steps forward until her chest was only an inch or two away from my shoulder.
I stiffened, my hands twitching in my pockets. Not sure what she was about to do, I had to take my right hand out and grip the edge of my desk. Her focus was on my lips, and I watched her bite down on her bottom lip then lean in close.
Her eyes flitted between my eyes and my lips.
“It’s just…I’ll…”
Then she leaned forward, and I covered the remaining space between us until her lips finally touched mine, pressing a soft kiss on the edge of my mouth. Her eyes still closed, she pulled back and made a noncommittal sound.
“Huh.”
To say I was surprised would be an understatement, but I didn’t dare move, scared I would break the spell of whatever was going on. I just kept my eyes on her beautiful face and tried to read what she was thinking. Then she took another step forward, and I swear to God I felt her nipples press into my chest.
She swallowed and put her hand on my cheek.
“What are you doing, Rose?” I asked, unable to hold back anymore. My voice sounded rough to my ears.
“I’m just trying something.” She looked into my eyes. “Could you close your eyes?”
I raised an eyebrow in question.
“Just for a quick second. Promise.”
I sighed, slightly annoyed that she didn’t want me to watch her, to take in her features when she was standing so close to me. My fingers gripped the desk tighter, but I did as she’d asked.
“It’s just…you’re making me nervous when you frown at me like that. This’ll only take a second, I promise.”
My lips parted to give her an answer, but no sound came out because her lips had found mine again. I responded to her gentle kiss and opened my eyes anyway so I could watch her. She had already closed hers, and her hand was slightly trembling against my cheek. Tilting her head, she deepened the kiss, her left hand pressing on my chest as she rose higher. I dipped my head down and closed my eyes, feeling drunk with her kiss.
She pulled back before I could take over completely, and we just stood there a few inches apart, her breath coming out in little pants. My heart hammering in my chest, I studied her as her eyes slowly opened and she made a face like something wasn’t quite right.
Scrunching her nose, she gave me a look I couldn’t interpret.
I cleared my throat. “Not good?”