Realization dawned over her like a sunrise. He’d tried to protect her from the office gossip by being gruff. He’d given her meaningful glances. Now he’d opened up to her and was expending his love language for her benefit. Rosabel stilled and allowed the moment’s sudden clarity to sink in.
“You will be the belle of any ball in that hat; c’est tres jolie.” The shopkeeper rang up the hats as a younger man with thick-rimmed glasses and wearing a button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows appeared from the back room. All he lacked were the bands around his biceps and he could have been from a different era as well.
He reached for Rosabel’s gray hat, but the French shopkeeper stilled him with a hand on his wrist. “Are you sure you don’t want to wear it out?” she asked Rosabel.
Excitement fluttered in her low belly. “Really?” She turned to Duncan, who shrugged at her as if to say it was her call. Decision settled at once. “You know what? Why not?” Rosabel took the hat and positioned it on her head as though for all the world she was dressed in a flapper gown rather than jeans and a T-shirt.
“I will have Wesley provide you with a hat box for storage, my dear.” The shopkeeper passed the second hat to the younger man, who took it through the door behind the register. Moments later, he returned with two glamorous white hat boxes in hand, each tied off with a red bow.
“Trolley time?” Duncan suggested, heavier hat box in hand.
Rosabel cradled the empty box to her chest. “Yeah. Let’s head back to the lake house.” She had so much to think about, but she found she anticipated the time alone with him more than she wanted to admit.
13
Rosabel stared at the white hat box on the dresser. She’d placed the hat Duncan had bought her there for safekeeping, and settled onto her bed, needing time to process the befuddling, bewitching afternoon.
For Rosabel, knowing someone cared about her made her that much more aware of him in return. After his confessions that day, and the way her mind recalled clues she’d previously ignored, she couldn’t deny reality any longer.
Duncan Hawthorne, her beastly boss, was into her. He had been into her for a while now, though she’d been completely oblivious. Now that she knew, she wasn’t sure what to do about it.
Living in the same house didn’t help. She had so many questions. She wanted to apologize for judging him so badly, but honestly, what was she supposed to think? Rosabel had thought he was heartless. The worst thoughts had been rambling in her brain during that meeting with Mrs. Simmons, just as they had for months now.
Her assumptions hadn’t all been real, though. She’d seen what she wanted to see. She’d been determined to find him a scoundrel, to stop her own feelings from seeping through into her work.
The truth was, she cared for him too. She hadn’t wanted to. She’d fought those feelings every day. Being around him was a constant balance, an incessant struggle. She’d managed by closing herself off from him as much as she possibly could.
The recognition stormed in, pouring on her from all sides. Her body trembled as she sat on the edge of the bed and stared out at the dark sky through her window. Her pulse picked up speed. She wasn’t just into Duncan—she’d crashed hard for him.
And she hadn’t even realized how much.
Suddenly, her knees were feeble. Her mouth was a desert. She needed some air; she needed some space. Rosabel wished she knew the house better than she did. Praying Duncan stayed in his room, she slipped into her flip-flops, threw on her cardigan, and slipped out what she hoped was the back door.
A deck spread out before her. Darkness blocked her view of the lake, but the smell of forest filling the air still soothed her. She needed this. The open space. The clarity fresh air brought. The sound of … bubbling water?
“Hey there.”
Rosabel spun. A hot tub sat at the deck’s edge, the walnut wood finish hiding in the shadows. Duncan sat in the gurgling water.
“Come join me,” he said, waving a dripping hand to her.
Warning blasted through her. Being so close to him now? After the afternoon they’d shared and the way everything turned topsy-turvy? The prospect of his proximity unveiled entirely new territory she wasn’t at all sure how to navigate.
But the undulating water, the heat to her muscles … She wouldn’t mind a relaxing soak in a hot tub. Maybe it could wash away the year of stress and trouble with her dad. Maybe it could work out the knots that had formed the day he was diagnosed. Maybe it could ease the tension of knowing how she felt about her boss.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea?” she asked anyway.
He rested his arms on the hot tub’s edges on either side of him. There was that dimple. Good heavens, she was in trouble. “A hot tub is always a good idea.”
He was right. She needed the chance to relax as much as she needed air. Against her better judgment, Rosabel returned to her room, slipped into her black one-piece, and returned. The scalding hot water was a welcome respite for the tension in her muscles. She needed to relax—impossible as the prospect was. As long as she stayed on one side of the hot tub and he on the other, they’d be fine, right?
“Some day, huh?” Duncan asked as she sank into the water.
Rosabel exhaled and allowed it to seep into her bones. One foot at a time, she extended her legs, stretching her toes and allowing her feet to float. “Yeah,” she answered, leaning her head back and closing her eyes.
They sat together for a while, not saying much. Soon, the water cooked her. Too warm, she hefted herself out and sat on the hot tub’s ledge, watching her toes kick through the bubbles.
“You’re beautiful.”
Rosabel almost didn’t hear him. Her entire body chilled, and boy, was she glad she’d opted to bring a one-piece rather than her bikini. She considered ignoring him but thought better of it. “You’re only saying that because of what I told you about love languages.”
“I’m not.” He floated toward her and then rose closer to her height, water dripping from his tanned chest. “I’ve thought as much for a long time. I’ve been thinking about what happened earlier today with Mrs. Simmons. About things you’ve said in the past that I never paid enough attention to, about how heartless I am—”
“You’re not heartless,” she argued.
“I behaved that way, though.” He rested a hand on the hot tub’s edge.
“Only because I think sometimes you don’t know how else to behave. I think you care too much about what others think. Image is important to you.”
He stared at her. Just stared. Rosabel suspected he saw into her, the way she’d been doing with him these past few days. “How can you possibly know that?”
“I’ve worked closely with you for over a year,” she said. “I always thought you were one of the most selfish people I’ve ever met, but I think it was your business persona. I think it’s a façade you put on, so you project a powerful image to your associates. Am I right?”
He swallowed. “Sounds like you know me better than I know myself.”
She felt too exposed sitting on the edge that way, and with his gaze pinned so concretely on her. His dark eyes danced with desire and secrets. The corner smile on his lips didn’t help with her internal body temperature either. This situation was becoming far too toasty.
“I should get out,” she said as he inched closer to her.
“Do you want to know what I think?” His voice was packed with intrigue.
Rosabel swallowed. Though she fought it, she did. She ached to know he’d watched her as closely as she’d watched him.
He slid closer to her. Some part of him brushed against her leg. The touch sent a sizzle into her bones. Slowly, she slid back into the water. It was too strange to be so high above him.
“I think you’re attracted to me,” he said. “I think when you argue, it’s your way of trying to deny it.”
“You’re full of it.” She attempted to stand once more, to move to the opposite side of the hot tub.
<
br /> Duncan’s hand found hers in the water. His skin slid across her wrist, fastening her as surely as a stake in the ground. Her pulse escalated as his legs brushed hers. “Am I right?”
Shadows played on his handsome features. His dark hair matted to his forehead and was starting to curl. Goodness, he had curl in his hair. Bemusement struck him, playing at that dimple.
She was fastened to him, unable to pull away, unable to look anywhere else. “I don’t know,” she admitted.
He moved closer. His hand slid around her, pulling her to him.
She placed a hand on his chest. “What are you doing?”
“I want to kiss you,” he said. “Will you stop me if I try?”
Her heart was on fire. She was snared by him, by his proximity, his touch, by the tenderness and the delight and the pulsing desire between them. She wanted to. What was wrong with her? She wanted him to.
“What happens after that?” she asked quietly, feeling herself melt. She wasn’t talking about the immediate after. She meant the forever kind of after, like when they went home. When they were no longer shrouded by the magic of this town.
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll have to see.”
She didn’t stop him. In fact, she closed the distance before he could, pressing her mouth to his. His arms wrapped around her, though thankfully he kept a distance. She wasn’t sure she could handle him holding her close while they were in the water. The kiss shot bottle rockets off in her brain. It tingled and raced along her spine and speared to the ends of her fingertips.
“Thank you,” he said when they broke apart. His hand continued stroking her bare shoulder blade.
“For kissing you?”
He grinned, a heartbreaker kind of thing that managed to settle itself into her chest. “For coming with me on this trip. I remember you like to be told ‘thank you.’ I’m glad you came.”
“Me too,” she said, playing with the hair at the base of his neck. “You’d better be careful, or I just might believe you.”
“Believe it,” he said, pulling her to him for another kiss.
14
Rosabel couldn’t sleep in if she wanted to. While the kisses replayed in her dreams the entire night and woke her with a blast of adrenaline and stardust in her bloodstream, she couldn’t help the conflict knotting behind her sternum.
Duncan had changed so much since they’d arrived here in Eureka Springs. He was completely opposite from the man he’d been in Vermont. If he’d been like this from the start? Whew. Her smile had wings at the thought.
Though her heart released a voluntary flutter, she attempted to suppress it. No, she told herself. Just because he paid her compliments and kissed like temptation itself didn’t mean she could lose hold of herself completely. People weren’t coins. They couldn’t change sides after one flip, not the way he had. He’d said the reason he kept her arm’s length and was rude had been to protect her. It’d been a show. She needed to make sure she believed him.
The sun spilled in puddles of yellow and soft blue, lighting her room just enough. Hurriedly, she dressed, eager for some fresh mountain air, to burn off this excess energy and sort through her thoughts. If only her mom was around. She needed someone to talk to.
She had cousins, but she wasn’t exactly close to any of them. She could call Sarah, she supposed. They’d been friends in high school before Sarah had started caring for Dad. She’d already texted Sarah to tell her she’d bumped into Hannah Noah.
Thankfully, Duncan hadn’t yet risen. Rosabel tiptoed through the quiet house, pausing for some water in the kitchen, before broaching the front door. The crisp mountain air was a refreshing drink. She inhaled it, allowing it to course through her system.
Beams of golden light began to reflect in the large homes’ windows on the sleeping street as the sun climbed higher in the sky. Rosabel’s feet crunched along the roadside. She quickened her pace at the same time the front door to the Italian-villa-style home with its wide white tower opened, and the woman Rosabel had met during her first run here trotted out. Hazel wore ankle-length jogging pants, a neon-pink tank top, and white sneakers. Her black hair was knotted on top of her head in a messy bun.
At the sight of Rosabel, Hazel smiled and met her at the end of the drive. “Hey there. Rosabel, right?”
Rosabel inclined her head.
“Mind if I join you?” Hazel asked.
“Not at all.” She was eager for the company. Soon, the two women took to a jogging pace and fell into stride beside one another, making for the Sweetheart Tree. Rosabel had an odd urge to gush everything that had happened between Duncan and herself, but she barely knew this woman. She couldn’t exactly spill personal details like that.
“So, what do you do?” she asked instead.
“I’m a marketing executive,” Hazel said, her breathing audible. “As a teenager, I had this idea for an online video streaming app for businesses that has really taken things to the next level. That app shot me into the big leagues business-wise. But I also help clients on a more personal basis, getting their businesses on their feet. Personal consultation, you know? What about you?”
The question triggered a sense of chagrin. How could she talk about Duncan without giving everything that was going on between them away?
Rosabel tried to play it cool. “I’m an assistant for Duncan Hawthorne. He owns the house across from yours, and he’s having me help him conduct business while he’s here.”
“Business?” Hazel said with a smirk. “Is that the only thing between you two?”
“What does that mean?”
“I like to work in my tower. Gives me the best view of the lake, since I didn’t get a lot with the lake in my backyard. I … see things sometimes. Wow, does that sound creepy or what?”
Rosabel laughed, slowing her pace. Hazel did the same, and together, they speed-walked. “And you thought we were together?”
“Looked that way to me.”
Rosabel shook her head. Apparently, everyone who saw her and Duncan together got that impression. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this … but … Things between Duncan and me have changed almost overnight. I don’t quite know how to handle it.”
“Changed how?”
“Less like boss and employee and more like—”
“Boyfriend and girlfriend?”
“Yes! This is so different. So unexpected. I don’t really know what to do.”
“But you like him, right?” Hazel asked, picking up the pace again. Rosabel followed, jogging closer to the line of trees as a car crawled past.
“I do,” Rosabel said, experiencing a surge of freedom at the admission. She hadn’t ever said the words out loud to anyone. Admitting them now to this near stranger was liberating. Hazel wasn’t anyone from home who’d known Rosabel on a personal level; she wasn’t someone from the office who would throw her relationship with Duncan in her face at the first possible chance. That was comforting.
“Then what’s the problem?” Hazel veered off down a sharp turn beyond the trees.
Rosabel didn’t know how to explain the nature of her relationship with Duncan. It had been on eggshells, probably because of the attraction they’d both been feeling for so long that neither had allowed themselves to admit to it. How could she go along with this change when she’d fought her feelings for so long? Could she trust him to stay the way he’d acted yesterday and be someone she could get close to?
She couldn’t get the meeting with his family out of her mind, how cold and distant they all were to each other. She didn’t want a relationship like that. Sure, the attraction between her and Duncan was like a match to gunpowder, but that wasn’t enough to ward off the icy gap she’d witnessed. How could she take a chance on a relationship with him seeing the familial relationships he’d been exposed to?
Cold and heartless could be his default setting. She couldn’t let her heart get close to him only for the flame to be doused and replaced with icebergs and bitterness.
“I want to make sure it’s going to last,” Rosabel said, deciding that was the best way to summarize what she couldn’t quite put words to.
Hazel slowed to a walk again, resting a hand on her hip. Rosabel captured her breath, glancing at her watch to check her steps.
“Sounds like you really want it to,” Hazel said, staring at the treetops.
Rosabel attempted to slow her breathing and turned back toward Billionaire Mountain Cove. “I—yeah, if I’m getting into something, I do. I want it to last.”
They began making their way back toward the community. “I’m no expert on love,” Hazel said. “I dated the same guy all through college. When I thought Wesley was about to propose, he surprised me by breaking up instead.”
Rosabel’s brow furrowed. “Ouch. I’m so sorry. That sucks.”
Hazel shrugged Rosabel’s sympathy off. “I’ve blocked him in every way possible now, so I understand not wanting to get hurt. I guess you’ll have to decide if this Duncan of yours is worth the risk.”
That kiss last night was definitely worth a risk. Duncan had also made promises yesterday, promises that he would change. Promises she would hold him to.
That was all she could do, she supposed. When she’d agreed to come to Arkansas, he’d made similar promises, and he’d kept every one of them so far.
Their homes came into view, and the two women jogged their way to the sidewalk before Hazel’s tower. The May sunlight fully blazed now, shrouding the air with warmth.
“Thanks,” Rosabel told her. “I really needed someone to talk to this morning.”
“No problem,” Hazel said with a lovely smile. She walked in circles, allowing her pulse to slow, no doubt. “Though I don’t know how much help I was.”
“You were,” Rosabel reassured her. “If I can ever return the favor, let me know.”
“Sure thing. Maybe I’ll bump into you again.”
With a wave, Hazel made for her house and Rosabel crossed the street to Duncan’s. She scurried inside, grateful that Duncan was yet again nowhere in sight. The shower was a respite, allowing tension to seep from her muscles and ease her worries. By the time she’d dried off and dressed, excitement to see Duncan coursed through her. Thanks to her conversation with Hazel, she was ready to give him a chance.
Rosabel And The Billionaire Beast (Billionaire Bachelor Mountain Cove Book 6) Page 11
