Chapter 12
DOMINIC
Ifought hard to keep my expression blank as Rose walked towards the car, staring at me nervously.
Her gorgeous hair bounced down her back as she walked, and her skin looked luminous.
And she still looked like herself. I was so glad Trevor hadn’t turned her into a Cece Blair clone, which was what I’d been worried about all morning.
Rose was perfect as she was, and I was furious at Trevor for suggesting she needed to change that to convince people she was my girlfriend. If only they knew how much I craved her. But I had to remind myself this was fake. I was only doing this to keep Rose safe.
She bit her lower lip nervously as she stared up at me.
“Will I do?” she asked softly, and I wanted to sweep her into my arms to show her how I really felt. Instead, I nodded shortly and turned to hold the car door open.
“Hop in,” I ordered.
“I’ve reserved a table at Paul’s at The Orangery,” said Trevor, checking his phone for the reservation.
Rose froze in her seat and gave me an odd look before she nodded slowly. Fuck! I remembered the darn article in The Weekly Whisper.
“Cancel the reservation,” I said gruffly, and Trevor shot me a look of surprise that I ignored. “Where would you like to eat, Rose?”
She looked relieved, and I knew I had done the right thing.
Rose did not want to go to the restaurant where I had taken my last date, and I didn’t blame her.
I wouldn’t want to take her to the places she went with Joe, either.
This…whatever was between us…might be for show.
But it was also ours. And I didn’t want it tainted by the past, either for her or for me.
“Can we go to The Cosy Spoon?” she asked hesitantly, referring to the town’s famous diner. “I’d love a fat, juicy burger.”
The Spoon was one of my favourite places to eat, even though I had been to some of the best Michelin-starred restaurants in the world. And I was glad Rosie liked it just as much.
Trevor cancelled our reservations at Paul’s, and I drove Rose to the diner.
We parked outside the place, and I knew that as soon as we walked in there, the town’s grapevine was going to be activated.
The Cosy Spoon belonged to one of Gran’s oldest friends, Agatha Pritchett, and Miss Aggie was also on the town council, which meant she was part of Gran’s matchmaking project.
I hoped she wouldn’t embarrass us too much with her heavy hints.
The diner was crowded and we were lucky to find an empty booth. To my relief, it wasn’t Aggie who greeted us, but her grandson, Adam, whom I hadn’t seen in years. He was a Michelin-starred chef in Boston and was making all of us real proud out there.
“Nice to see you, man,” I said, clapping him on the shoulder happily. “I didn’t know you were back in town.”
“I’m not sure how long I’m staying, but it’s good to be back,” he replied with a smile. “Nice to see you too, Rosie.”
Rose smiled at him sweetly, and I wanted to snarl at Adam to back the fuck off. I thought he was a friend, but friends didn’t flirt with your girlfriends, fake or otherwise.
‘What can I get you guys today?” he asked, and Rose bit her lower lip as she studied the menu.
“I’ll have the cheeseburger with the house dressing, with onion rings, and a Diet Coke, please,” she said eventually.
“A sound choice,” said Adam, with another mega-watt smile at her, which, in my opinion, was completely unnecessary.
“I’ll have the same, with fries and a sparkling water, instead of a Diet Coke.”
He gave me a knowing look as he took our order, the rat bastard, and I was still scowling as we settled into the booth.
“What’s wrong?” asked Rose, and I shook my head because it wasn’t her problem that I didn’t like her smiling at other guys.
“Nothing. I guess I’m just hungry,” I said, and changed the subject.
Our burgers arrived soon after, and I was delighted to see she wasn’t one of those women who picked at their food like it was their worst enemy.
And what was even better, she split half her onion rings with me and took half my fries.
She moaned as she dug into her burger happily, her eyes closed in bliss as she chewed the first mouthful.
“This has to be the best cheeseburger in the whole world,” she said happily, as she wiped her fingers clean and reached for her Diet Coke.
Just then, Miss Aggie came out of her office at the far end of the diner and spotted us.
Her eyebrows jumped in delight as she started towards us.
This was the real test, I realised. If we could fool Miss Aggie, we could convince the whole town we were dating.
So I took Rose’s hand and dropped a gentle kiss on the back of it.
Her fingers trembled in my hand, and she tried to pull her hand out of mine.
“Miss Aggie is on her way to our table,” I murmured, and she froze like a deer in the headlights.
“What do I do?” she hissed.
“Just play along with me,” I replied, dipping a fry in ketchup and holding it to her lips. They parted reluctantly, and she bit into the fry.
“Very cheesy,” she said, as she chewed.
“The fry?” I asked in surprise because we had asked for regular fries, not cheesy ones.
“No, you,” she said, with a grin, and I laughed in surprise. It was a rusty sound because I didn’t remember when I had last laughed out loud. Just then, Miss Aggie pulled up at our table and beamed at the two of us.
“Now, isn’t this a delightful surprise?” she said loudly, and Rose’s fingers jumped in my hand. I gave them a quick squeeze before I rose to greet Miss Aggie with a kiss on the cheek.
“How are you doing, Miss Aggie?” asked Rose, with a warm hug, and the old lady patted her on the cheek fondly.
“I’m doing very well, my dear. Thank you for asking. I’m so glad you came to your senses and dumped that no-good Joe Cheney,” she said, her shrewd eyes studying Rose carefully.
“That wasn’t serious, Miss Aggie,” she replied.
“Yeah, she was just making me jealous,” I added, with a wink at Miss Aggie.
By the delight on her face, I knew that little tidbit was going to spread around the town like wildfire.
“I’ll leave you to enjoy your lunch in peace,” she said. “And I hope to see the two of you in here a lot more now.”
“Of course,” I replied politely, and she left us alone after that. I was glad to see that she kept Adam busy on the other side of the diner, so he didn’t get to come around and flirt some more with Rose.
We finished our lunch and I drove her back home, well aware that our first outing together had been noticed by most of the town. And I had a feeling we were soon going to have a little paragraph dedicated to us in The Weekly Whisper.
Trevor was setting up for my daily check-in with my core team when we walked into the apartment, and Rose disappeared into her room while I went into my study to get on with my calls.
I was about to sit down when I noticed my chair was already taken.
A malevolent black ball of fur with eyes glared up at me, daring me to move him out of my chair.
“Trevor,” I yelled, and my assistant came running into my room. He gasped when he spotted Beelzebub in my chair, and tried to shoo him away, but the cat just hissed at him and swiped at his hands.
“I’ll be back,” he said hastily before he ran from the room.
He returned with a handful of treats and toys, but failed to lure the little demon out of my chair.
“Maybe you could use another chair,” he said weakly, and I snorted in anger.
“No, I’m not going to let the beast win. Do we have oven mitts?” I asked, and when he brought me a pair, I grabbed Sweetpea by the scruff of his neck and scooped him up before he could use his murder mittens on me.
He growled loudly and tried his best to wriggle out of my grip, but I set him down on another chair and claimed mine before he could reclaim it. His tail swished angrily as he glared at me from his perch.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I scolded him. “It’s a working day, and I have tons of meetings to get through. My ass needs this chair.”
He stalked out of the room in reply, and I heaved a sigh of relief. I didn’t want to ban him from the apartment because he had nowhere to go, but I couldn’t put up with being bullied by a cat. Hopefully, he had learnt that I was the boss around here.
“He’s so going to pee in your bed,” predicted Trevor, and I scowled at him.
“That animal is not allowed in my bedroom,” I said firmly. “Make sure the door is shut at all times.”
“I can try, but I have a feeling that cat is smarter than both of us, and he’s going to be running rings around us very soon.
Here’s your schedule for the rest of the day, boss.
Your last meeting is scheduled for five pm, and after it ends, you’re heading straight into the hot tub for your photo op with Rose. ”
“Okay. And Trevor? Make sure she has everything she needs, including a work desk if she wants to write while she’s here.”
“On it, boss,” he replied, as he set up my video conference with my team that was scattered all over the world.
I raced through my day, wondering why I was in such a hurry to get my meetings over with, and it was only as I powered down the laptop that I realised that I was looking forward to some hot tub time with Rose.
We had never spent any time alone as adults, since I went out of my way to avoid her ever since I recognised that my attraction to her was not just a passing fancy, but something that had the power to ruin me.
Maybe this was a bad idea, I thought, as I took a quick shower before I headed out to the balcony with the hot tub. It was already bubbling when I arrived there, and Trevor had set up a table with champagne in an ice bucket next to it.
“Are those…rose petals in the hot tub?” I asked irritably. “Get rid of them right now, Trevor. This looks far too romantic.”
“Umm, that’s the whole point, boss man,” he murmured, as he set up his camera.
I grumbled about the petals sticking to my ass as I stepped into the tub, and let out a loud groan as the hot water warmed my aching muscles.
“Okay, get ready,” he called out. “She’s here.”
My eyes flew open as Rosie stepped out onto the balcony, avoiding my gaze as she smiled at Trevor shyly. He wolf-whistled her, and she rolled her eyes as she walked towards the tub.
“If you make me look fat in any of the pictures, I’m going to post that video of you snoring like a water buffalo during our last sleepover,” she warned him.
I didn’t speak as she lowered herself into the tub because I was temporarily incapable of talking. She wore a skimpy, purple bikini that took my breath away, and apparently, my power of speech.
“Hello,” she said softly, finally looking me in the eyes, as she settled into the water.
I cleared my throat and tried again.
“Hey,” I croaked, wondering why I had a frog in my throat. I had slept with some of the most beautiful women in the world, but none of them had affected me like this. What was it about Rose that made me feel like a callow youth with his first crush all over again?
“This is soooo amazing,” she moaned, as the hot water washed over her, the low sound making my cock jump in delight.
Behave, I warned it. This was just a photo op, and I was getting out of the tub as soon as Trevor was done taking the pictures. I handed her a glass of champagne, and Trevor took a few candids as we sipped it in peace.
“How was your day?” she asked politely, with one eye on Trevor, who was bustling around, doing his thing.
“Good,” I said shortly, because the last thing I wanted to do now was talk about my work.
Trevor made us clink our glasses together for one last shot.
“Rosie, go sit in his lap for a bit,” he ordered, and she yelped in dismay.
“No!”
“Come on, it’s for a picture. Sit on his lap and wind your arm around his neck as you clink your glasses together,” Trevor said as if he’d been doing shoots all his life.
I held my breath as she stepped towards me gingerly and gave me an apologetic smile. I sighed and sat up, letting her climb onto my lap.
“Straddle him,” ordered Trevor, and she scowled at him before she put her legs around my hips.
My heart raced as she settled right over my hard cock, her eyes widening as she realised what was happening. I put a hand around her waist to hold her in place, and she wound her arm around my neck. We stared into each other’s eyes hungrily as we clinked our glasses together.
“And cut,” said Trevor happily. “We’re all done with the pictures. I’ll leave you to enjoy your evening now. Dinner’s in an hour in the living room. The table’s been set, and the housekeeping staff will come up in a couple of hours to clean up after you.”
“Wait! Where are you going?” asked Rose in protest.
“Hot date again. Gotta go, babe,” replied Trevor, as he gave us one last wave and left us alone.
“What did he mean about the staff?” she asked in confusion.
“They don’t live here. There are staff quarters on the floor below us, and they come in as and when I need them,” I explained.
Rose tried to get off my lap, but I groaned as she rubbed against my cock in the process. She froze and turned to me in horror.
“Ohmigod, did I hurt you?” she asked, and I held her eyes as I shook my head.
“The opposite,” I choked out.
Her eyes widened as she caught my meaning, and heat suffused her face.
“Umm,” she said, shifting again. I set my glass down on the table and gripped her hips with both my hands, holding her in place.
Her chest rose up and down rapidly as I settled her firmly against my hardness.
“This is a bad idea,” she whispered, and I nodded.
“But it feels good,” she went on.
“So good,” I murmured as she rocked a little in place.
“Tell me again why this is a bad idea,” she asked, panting a little.
I leaned forward to nip at the tender skin of her neck. She yelped in response and tilted her neck to the side, giving me more access. I kissed my way up her neck until I reached her lips.
“Because this can’t be anything but temporary. I don’t do permanent, Rose. And you’re the sort of woman who deserves a lifetime of happy-ever-after.”