Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Rosie
Sunday
“Happy birthday, beautiful girl,” a husky voice whispers in my ear.
“Mmm. . .” I stretch, arching against Daniel’s big body behind me.
His hand skates up my side and cups my breast. Immediately my nipple tightens against his palm.
“I’ve ordered room service breakfast because the post-wedding brunch will be more of that foam nonsense. . .” He rocks against me. “And then after that, we have the whole day to ourselves.”
Mel and Javi are taking a helicopter trip to the Grand Canyon, just the two of them, and everyone else is splitting off and doing their own thing.
Daniel’s going to take me to get my tattoo mid-afternoon, and then he’s booked dinner reservations somewhere special.
I can’t wait.
There’s a knock at the door, and he leaps out of bed. My tummy rumbles, so I roll after him. I go to put on the robe hanging on the back of his bedroom door but spy his dress shirt from the night before.
Even better.
I do up a few buttons so I don’t traumatize the room service attendant and lean against the doorframe as I watch Daniel hunt for his wallet.
I’m giggling as he opens the door, shirtless, but the laugh dies in my mouth when instead of hotel staff, the person on the other side is Mel.
“Dad, I wanted to give you this—” She cuts herself off as she looks past him and sees me.
Time slows, and my legs start to shake.
“What are you doing here?” Her face twists in horror. “Rosie, what the fuck?”
Daniel growls at his daughter. “Melanie, watch your mouth.”
She spins on him. “Dad, did you sleep with Rosie? Oh my God, do not answer that. Gross.”
He winces. “What did you want?”
“It’s not important now.” She gestures her hands between us. “Whatever this is, it’s not appropriate.”
“You’re right,” Daniel grates. “But it’s you that’s being inappropriate.”
She pushes past him, and the door closes behind her. “You’re twice her age.”
“I thought age didn’t matter when it came to love?” He gets between her and me, not that it does any good. I can still feel her zinging nasty looks my way.
“This is not the same as me and Javi. Don’t you dare—” She stops. Sighs. Glares up at the ceiling then stomps her feet. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. And don’t tell me to watch my language, Dad. You guys should have tried harder to keep this a secret. Ew.”
“We are in the privacy of my suite. I was expecting breakfast.”
“Are you saying this is my fault? And why are you ordering breakfast when I’m going to be hosting a brunch in two hours.”
“Jesus, Mel, not everything is about you.”
“Excuse me for thinking that on my wedding weekend, it just might be!”
I cannot witness any more of this conversation while only wearing Daniel’s shirt. Neither of them notices that I zip across to my room, and I’m grateful to close the door for a minute and take a breath.
Then I pull on clothes. Real clothes, my clothes, not the Vegas-only outfits I’ve been wearing so far. Sweatpants and a vintage Nintendo T-shirt. I wash my face and swipe on some mascara in the bathroom, then quickly put my hair in two French braids, one down either side of my head.
Staring back at me in the mirror is Rosie Johnson, regular girl from Conception Ridge. And she’s slightly horrified that she ruined her best friend’s wedding weekend.
Was it worth it?
My stomach twists.
I can still hear them arguing, their words muffled through the wall.
Another deep breath.
But when I open the door, they aren’t in the living room anymore. Daniel has gone to his room, and Melanie is standing in the doorway.
“You can tell them I had to go back for work,” I hear him say. “Nobody needs to know. I know I made a mistake, and I’m not going to ask you to pretend to be okay with it.”
What?
My stomach drops, that messy, twisted feeling giving way to a freefall of panic.
“And what about Rosie?” she asks, her voice sharp.
I hold my breath.
“She’ll agree it was a mistake,” he finally says.
I wish I wasn’t sure he’d just said that. I wish his stupid voice didn’t carry so well across the suite.
Stepping back into my room, I ignore the hot tears sliding down my face and start shoving everything I have back into my suitcase.