Chapter 11 ROSE
ROSE
Iexit the terminal and open my umbrella. Typical British weather, even at the height of summer. Rain patters against the fabric and runs off, hitting my crew case.
A car pulls up at the side of the curb, then the passenger door opens.
Dan leans over the centre console and shouts, “Get in!”
I ignore him and continue to walk towards the taxi stand.
He rolls along the edge of the curb with the door open. “Get the fuck in the car, Rose.”
“I’ll take my chances with a taxi, thanks.
” I fake smile and strut down the path, my heels splashing in the puddles.
My heart accelerates. After two and a half hours in close proximity with this man, I need some space.
I need to breathe and I need to get the hell away from him before I do something I regret, like climb into his car and fuck him senseless.
“Don’t make me bend you over my knee.”
I can’t help smiling at that statement. This angry side of D’Angelo is all new to me, and I kind of enjoy winding him up.
The man I knew before played by the book.
He was the perfect gentleman, as if he’d read a manual or one of my romance novels.
Back then, Mamma picked out my reading material, but now, my romance books are much spicier.
I bend down to the open door. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me.” His dark eyes stare into mine, daring and dangerous. Part of me wants to take this further and see how far I can push him, but when I see an empty taxi stand, the idea of letting him take me home seems more appealing.
“Stuff it.” I open the back door and slide my case onto the back seat, then drop into the passenger seat and collapse my umbrella, giving it a shake outside before placing it in the footwell of his silver Audi.
As soon as I close the door and buckle up, he’s speeding off onto the main road. The only sound is the wipers squeaking against the window as they swish side to side. His tattooed hand rests on the gear stick, brushing against my thigh each time he shifts gears.
I gulp and untie the scarf at my neck, needing to breathe easier. My skin itches. “Do you have the heater on? I’m burning up.”
“I have that effect on people.” His grin widens. “Mr. Inferno at your service.”
I deadpan. “Seriously?”
He leans over and squeezes my thigh, his hand warm where my skirt’s ridden slightly above my knee. “Relax. It’s just me.”
“That’s what I’m worried about. I don’t trust you.” I don’t trust myself around you.
He curls his fingers inside my thigh, slipping under the fabric of my dusky pink skirt. “I’d never hurt you.”
You already did. You hurt me more than any man’s ever hurt me. I don’t have physical scars, but the pain is still there, like a dull ache that never goes away. I want to tell him, scream it rather. But I stay silent, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much I cared.
He slides his hand farther up my skirt, and I stop him from reaching my knickers.
I flash my eyes towards his in a warning.
We slow down at the traffic lights. He gives me that gorgeous smile as his fingers play with the lace at the top of my stocking and the clip and strap that attaches it to my garter belt.
Heat pools in my centre. His calloused fingers against my flesh have my centre tingling. “That’s enough. This is just a ride home. Don’t get any ideas.”
He reaches over, his face inches from mine. “That was before I knew what you were hiding under this uniform.” Staring into my eyes, he waits for my next move.
My hand holds his inches from my aching centre, my vagina willing me to slide his hand higher, my head screaming to get him off of me, but it’s my heart caught in the middle—the broken pieces aching for him to fix them and give back the parts he took a long time ago.
A car horn blares behind us, cutting through the tension. I squeeze his hand and remove it from my side of the car. “I said no.”
His jaw ticks, but he nods. He places both hands on the wheel and drives. The silence that follows is heavy, but not uncomfortable. The heat between us lingers, curling in the space between our bodies.
He clears his throat. “I’m sorry. I got carried away.”
“I have that effect on people.” A small giggle bursts from my lips.
He laughs along with me, the way his nose scrunches reminds me of the man I knew. “You have no fucking idea.”
I smirk, tilting my head, allowing my gaze to drift south. “Oh, I have an idea. Pretty sure your zipper’s feeling it right now.”
Dan groans, gripping the wheel so tight his knuckles are white. “Fuck’s sake, Rose.”
I bite my lip, feigning innocence. “What? Not my fault you have no self-control.” My stomach ties itself into another knot as I take in the tent in his trousers. Gosh, I remember what his magical dick felt like. My body remembers too as my walls clench, aching for the way he filled me.
His fingers flex on the steering wheel. “You keep running that mouth, and I’ll show you exactly how much control I have.”
A huff of laughter leaves my lungs. “Big words. But last time I checked, you were the one getting all hot and bothered over a little lace.”
He side-eyes me, his smile dark and daring. “You call that little? There’s nothing little about the lace around your thick thigh.”
“Is that meant to be an insult?” I press my lips together and shuffle in my seat.
“What? Fuck no.” He takes his eyes off the road for a second and he relaxes when he sees the smirk on my face and knows I’m teasing. It’s clear that the size of my thigh turns him on.
It’s true what people say. You never forget your first. I just wish the memory of his betrayal didn’t hurt so much.
It’s tainted everything. All the good times we shared are now tainted with lies.
I’ve only ever experienced two men in my life.
One hurt me emotionally, the other physically, both shaping the woman I’ve become.
I stare out the window so I don’t have to look at Dan. The rain slides down the windowpane, mirroring how I feel on the inside, but I’ve shed too many tears over men for one lifetime. I vowed I’d never let another man close again.
Lights from the city shine through the darkness. It’s always a welcoming sign of coming home.
“Do you know where I live?” I turn back to Dan, wondering where he’s taking me. I had just assumed he was taking me home after his statement of I know everything there is to know about you.
“Yeah. Or I can take you to my place if you like. You might be safer there.”
“I’d like you to take me home, please.” I study him as he drives, looking relaxed, but there’s a tick in his jaw. “So how did you find me?”
He tilts his head to the side and give me a grin. “If I told you my secrets, I’d have to kill you.”
I roll my eyes. “How original.”
Silence stretches between us, thick with words unsaid. The only sound is the rhythmic swipe of the wipers, the low hum of the engine, and my pulse pounding in my ears.
His hand tightens on the gear stick, just inches from my thigh, like he’s resisting the urge to touch me again. Like he’s fighting the same battle I am.
I shift in my seat, pressing my knees together, willing the ache between my thighs to disappear. But Dan isn’t stupid. He notices everything.
“You keep squirming like that, and I’m gonna start thinking you’re as worked up as I am,” he murmurs.
I whip my head towards him. “I’m not.”
His smirk deepens, eyes flicking down to my lips before dragging back up. “Liar.”
I swallow hard. “You’re delusional as well as arrogant.”
He exhales a quiet laugh, but there’s no humour in it. Just heat and frustration. “Maybe.”
Another silence. The moment too charged to be ignored.
I turn away, focusing on the window as the city lights flicker through the rain. “This isn’t happening, Dan.”
The leather of his seat creaks as he shuffles beside me. “I know.”
But deep down neither of us believe it.
Not for a second.
Dan pulls up outside my building and kills the engine. Neither of us moves.
The rain drums against the windscreen, a steady rhythm that matches the pounding in my chest. I reach for the door handle, needing to put space between us before I do something reckless, but his voice stops me.
“You gonna invite me in?”
My breath catches. He’s not demanding. Not pushing. Just waiting.
I turn my head slowly, finding him already watching me, his elbow resting on the steering wheel, fingers absently tapping against the dash. He looks relaxed. Too relaxed. Like he’s perfectly fine with whatever I decide. But his eyes burn with all the heat of an inferno.
I wet my lips. “Why would I?”
His gaze drops to my mouth. He shrugs his shoulders. “To be hospitable?”
I pat his knee. “My shift’s over. I don’t have to wait on you anymore.”
He nods with a grin. “Fair enough.”
I should get out, shut the door, go inside alone. That would be the smart thing to do, but smart has never been my strong suit where Dan is concerned. I grip the door handle tighter. “If you come in…”
He shifts, elbow against the seat, one brow raised like he’s already halfway through the door as he leans in, voice dropping dangerously low. “Yeah?”
I shake my head, hating the way my body betrays me, heating at just the possibility. “You know what will happen.”
His tongue swipes across his lower lip. “Do I?”
I exhale sharply. “Yes.”
Another stretch of silence. Another beat where I should just open the door and walk away, but I don’t because he’s looking at me like I’m the only thing that’s ever mattered. Like he’s been waiting for this moment, for me, for so so long.
I’ve waited too.
It’s as if my body wants this, craves it even, but my mind knows all too well the pain that follows and my heart can’t take another break. One more crack and there’ll be nothing left to fix.
My fingers twitch. I can feel the heat radiating off him, smell the faint scent of his cologne mixed with the rain.
He shifts closer, invading my space without touching me. “Say the word, fiore mio. Just invite me in.”