Chapter 11 #2
“Really, Rosie?” I shake my head. “He is not the one for you.”
“What?” She pouts. “He’s so cute and—”
“He has no personality. The man doesn’t even smile.”
“That’s because he was in the military and he’s probably not used to smiling and—”
“Girl, please. I know we all have bad taste in men at some point in our lives, but I was really hoping you would not have even worse taste than me.”
“What are you saying?”
“If ever there were red flags surrounding a man, they surround him.”
“You don’t even know him, Sage. We don’t have to talk about him. It’s unlikely I’ll see him again after tonight anyway. He’s just cute, and I like flirting with him. I don’t care if he doesn’t respond.”
“You don’t?”
“I mean, it would be nice if he responded. It would be nice if he were like, Let me take you on a date, Rosie, but, hey, whatever. He’s still cute.” She crosses her arms and looks back at the four of them standing a few feet away. “So, what are we going to do? This is kind of awkward.”
“I know, especially with Dalton here. He really should be at home with his son, not helping us with random-ass cleaning tasks.” I wrinkle my nose, starting to feel guilty again.
“His son’s really cute, isn’t he?” She looks at me in a certain way, but I keep my expression blank.
“He’s fine. He’s a kid. Why do you ask?”
“I don’t know. I just thought … you know, that you—”
“Why are we talking about him?”
“I was just checking to see if you were interested because you guys seem to banter back and forth a lot. And I haven’t seen sparks fly between you and someone in a long time.”
“Stop right there,” I cut her off. “There are no sparks flying between us. And he’s nothing to me. He’s just our new boss. And he is Lucia’s older brother. And obviously, he’s helping Lucia’s friends.”
“Uh-huh.” She grins. “Sure thing, sis. Look, I don’t want to stay here,” she admits, changing the subject. “I said it. I’m sorry. I feel really, really bad because I know how much we put into this, but I really don’t want to stay here. Sage, do we really have to?”
“But you just said you don’t want to go to Coconut Beach.”
“Why can’t we just stay at Lucia’s for a little bit until we can save up money?”
“I don’t know.” I look back over at the group, and I’m not sure if Lucia is psychic or what.
“Hey, girls.” Lucia walks over to us, and Izzy follows behind. “Izzy and I would like to propose something.”
Rosie and I look at her, and she’s got her arms crossed.
“Now, I know we haven’t known each other super long, but I look at you two as friends and almost sisters already.
And there’s no way on God’s green earth that I’m going to let my friends stay in this dump.
And I know you might not feel super comfortable moving in with us, but what about if we say it’s for a month?
And then once you’ve saved more money, you can decide if you want to stay longer or not. ”
“Please,” Izzy says. “It will be so much fun. Plus, I need help with Colton and figuring out what I’m going to do. And we’re all going to join that dating app, and we can discuss our profiles and get ready for dates and stuff together.”
“Exactly,” Lucia says excitedly. “We’re going to have so much fun. What do you say, Sage?” She looks at me and offers me a wide smile. “Do you really want to stay here? Or do you think you might be open to living with us for just a little bit?”
I don’t know how to respond to her generous offer. I know what my heart wants to do, but my head tells me the offer is too kind.
“And I’ll get you your money back for this place.”
I now notice that Dalton has somehow joined the conversation.
His expression is unreadable, but his intense eyes never leave mine.
I don’t know what he’s thinking. I don’t know if he thinks I’m a hot mess, or if I’m like some weirdo he feels like he has to protect.
Maybe because I’m his employee, he feels responsible for me.
I don’t want to take advantage. I don’t want this man having any power over me, other than at work.
“Say you’ll live with us?” Lucia looks at us hopefully.
I look over at Rosie, who is crossing her fingers. She really wants this. And even though I do as well, I know I would say no if not for her.
“Thank you.” I look at Rosie and then at Izzy. “Your offer is really, really generous, and we’d love to accept.”
“Yay. Thank you, God.” Rosie jumps up and down. “Phew. I was so nervous that you were going to say no.”
She gives Izzy and Lucia a big hug, and Dalton comes over and stands next to me.
“I’m glad to see you actually do have a brain,” he whispers into my ear, a huge smile crossing his handsome face.
“Excuse me?”
“It wouldn’t have been cool if you’d stayed here.”
“Why not?”
“It’s a dump, Sage, and I wouldn’t have felt comfortable, knowing you were here.”
“I’m not your responsibility, Dalton. It really shouldn’t matter to you where I live.”
“Well, I guess it does. And I guess I’m just one of those men who is a little overprotective.”
“Why? Because I work for you?”
His eyes narrow, and he nods, a twisted smile crossing his face as he touches the small of my back lightly.
“Yeah, sure”—he runs his fingers down past my ass and then steps away with a smirk—“that’s why.”