NINETEEN
Rose
“S o, the whole weekend with him at his cabin?” Junie aligns a label carefully on one of the folders we’ve laid out on the conference table.
“Yep, he’s picking me up after work.” I pass her another.
She wiggles a brow. “So, is this going to be the weekend?”
I bite my lip and grin. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
Junie sighs. “Again, I shall live vicariously through you.”
I laugh as I begin to stack the finished folders. “You know, you could remedy that…”
“And you know I will…someday.” She tucks a strand of her dark hair behind her ear.
Junie’s had a few boyfriends, but she’s very particular about who she lets into her life, and especially how far she goes with the men she’s dated. She’s still a virgin—by choice—and she says it’s because she doesn’t want to give that part of herself to just anyone. She’s been burned a few times by guys who walked away when she pumped the brakes, and sometimes she looks at her V-card like it’s a flaw, but I think it’s really commendable that she’s saving herself for someone who really matters.
I peer up at her. “Why aren’t you on these dating apps you keep suggesting to me?”
“I don’t make enough to qualify for Bloom.” She frowns. “But I…I’m actually on Blindly now.”
“You are not!” I sit up eagerly. “Are you talking to anyone?”
She shakes her head and runs her finger across the handle of her label maker. “No one interesting yet. I think you snatched up the only good one.”
“There’s a good one out there for you too, Junie.”
She slumps down in her chair and lets out a long, exaggerated sigh just as the door swings open and George strides in. He’s carrying a stack of files and checking his watch, and as soon as she sees him, she shoots up so fast she knocks her chair over and it falls to the floor with a loud clang.
He stops in his tracks, eyes wide at the sudden commotion, then he raises a confused brow. “Are you…are you alright?”
“Oh my God, I’m sorry. Yes, I’m fine.” Junie scoops her chair off the ground and rights it before running her hands through her hair and straightening her blouse. She seems to shrink in place as she peers anxiously at him. “Do you, um, need something from me?”
He stares for another moment and opens his mouth as if to say something, but he turns to me. “I’m actually here for Rose. Can you re-run these numbers for me?” He hands me a folder. “I’m completely booked today and haven’t been able to figure out why they’re not adding up.”
“Sure.” I take the folder and check Junie out of the corner of my eye. She looks like she’s about to die from embarrassment.
“Thanks.” He smiles and then glances at Junie again, who hasn’t taken her eyes off him. “You sure you’re alright?”
She waves a hand in the air and clears her throat. “Oh yes, I’m absolutely fine.” She lets out a giggle that turns into a squeak at the end.
“Good.” George nods and then gestures to me with a quick smile. “I owe you one.”
“And don’t forget it!” I call to him as he disappears out the door.
As soon as he’s gone, the tension in Junie’s shoulders dissolves and she sinks into her chair with a blank, faraway look in her eyes. It’s so painfully obvious and I can’t stop myself when I chuckle. “So, how long have you had a thing for him?”
Her eyes shoot up to mine, wide and shocked like she can’t believe I’ve found her out.
“Well, it’s not hard to tell.” I laugh again. “Want me to ask him if he feels the same?”
“Shhhh!” She lifts a finger to her lips and rushes over to close the door. “Rose, I’m so sorry! I know he’s your brother—”
“It’s fine, Junie,” I interrupt her with a comforting smile. “I don’t mind. It’s sweet.”
Junie sinks into her chair again and rubs her hand across her forehead. “It’s pointless. He doesn’t pay any attention to me. It’s just a silly crush. I’ve been trying to ignore it…” She looks at me again with pleading eyes. “Don’t you dare tell him.”
“You have my word.” I hold up my hands and shake my head. Junie’s a great catch, and I know she’d be good to George, but to be honest, I’m not sure how he would feel about dating someone who’s saving herself. I really don’t want to think about his sexual choices at all— cringe —but I’ve seen him go through his fair share of women. I doubt he’s the “waiting” type. And besides all that, Junie’s hardly the girl my parents would approve of. Sure, she works for the company, but she doesn’t come from money or status. That’s a prerequisite they have for all three of their children, but I actually don’t know if George cares.
Regardless, I smile warmly at Junie. “I would love nothing more than for you two to hit it off, but you’re going to have to say more than a few words to him if you want him to notice you.”
She shakes her head and lets out a small laugh. “And you know I’m not capable of that.”
***
“I’ve always loved that skirt on you…”
That voice. It makes my stomach drop and my jaw set. I hate that I still have to hear it. I hate that he won’t leave me alone.
I close my eyes, keeping my back to my office door as I sort through the files Junie and I organized earlier. “What do you want, Malcolm?”
“You.”
He says it so simply I almost don’t register his meaning. My hands pause on the papers in front of me and I slowly rotate to face him.
He stands with one hand shoved in his pocket, another holding a brown bag, and his head tilted just slightly, with a gentle—almost genuine—look in his eye. His auburn curls are crisp and neat, like he just stepped out of the shower moments ago, and his navy suit jacket pulls at his broad shoulders in a way I’m sure his tailor purposely altered it to, because it makes him enticing to me, even now.
But it’ll never be enough. Not anymore.
“You don’t get to have me.” I hold his gaze firmly and shake my head. “Not after what you did.”
He sighs with almost a smile and steps forward to place the bag on the desk. “I was stupid and young—”
“It was like six months ago,” I interject.
He lets his smile fully break free like this is funny to him, then he pulls out the chair across from mine. “You know I wouldn’t have done it if I were thinking clearly. I was hammered.”
I raise a brow as he sinks into the chair. This is a new one. He’s never used alcohol to explain away his cheating. And I don’t buy it. “It doesn’t matter if you were stone-cold sober or twelve drinks in, Malcolm. Beer didn’t sleep with her. You did.”
Ignoring me, he opens the bag, pulls out two take-out bowls, and uncaps them to reveal their contents. The aroma hits me instantly. It’s the shrimp bisque from a little cafe on 8 th . It’s insanely rich and decadent, so I hardly ever get it, but it’s my favorite dish in the city, and Malcolm knows that.
He slides the bowl toward me and places a plastic-wrapped spoon next to it. “Eat up, before it gets cold.”
With my jaw still set, I cross my arms and tap my foot. “I didn’t ask for lunch.”
“Yet, here it is.” He gestures to the spread.
“I don’t appreciate you just showing up unannounced like this. I’m not hungry and I didn’t invite you.” My stomach growls as I say it.
He takes a bite of his own and sits back casually. “You’re still just as stubborn. Sit down and eat your favorite soup, Rose.”
I glance at the hearty liquid which is sending a gentle steam into the air above it. My mouth waters and my knees give way as I sink into my own chair and begin to unwrap my spoon.
Malcolm speaks again. “I am sorry, Rose. For what I did.”
I lift my eyes to his and find an attempt at true regret there, but I’m struggling to understand why he wants me back so badly. Our relationship was largely a disaster.
“I don’t think I fully grasped what I had when you were mine.” He sighs. “I didn’t treat you like I should have. I thought I could just coast through our relationship on autopilot because it started so easily. Those first few months with you…” He smiles like he’s remembering a perfect, long-lost love. “We were so happy, weren’t we?”
I drop my gaze to my soup again and stir my spoon through the bits of shrimp. In a way, he’s right. In the beginning, we were new and fresh and excited to be together. We were happy back then. I was happy… back then . Before I knew how happiness could really feel.
“Let’s find our way back to that,” he says softly. “I made the worst mistake of my life, and I regret it every day. Please give me another chance. I know you have it in you to give me a little grace.”
I furrow my brow at a small slice of carrot. Who is he to think he knows what kind of grace I have to give? Because even if I do, he doesn’t deserve any of it.
“I want to start over with you, Rose.” He reaches his hand across the table like he wants to take mine, but I pull it back.
“I’m seeing someone,” I blurt out quickly.
He retracts his hand slowly. “You are?”
I finally meet his gaze again and nod.
The gentleness in his expression vanishes as irritated confusion replaces it. “Who?”
“It doesn’t matter.” I sit perfectly still, carefully gauging his reaction.
He feigns indifference and straightens his lapels with raised brows. “Do I know him?”
I recall the day they met briefly right here in this office, but that hardly matters. “No.”
He presses his lips together and eyes me closely. “Is it serious?”
My mind travels to the moment just days ago when Nate asked me to be his girlfriend. We have a label, so yes, this is serious. And I suddenly realize if I take a bite, I’m going to have to tell Nate I agreed to lunch with Malcolm today, which might just ruin our weekend at his cabin. And that’s the last thing I want because I’m pretty sure we’re about to make things even more serious.
So, that’s when I decide I need to stop this lunch before it continues. I should have never sat down in the first place.
I press my hands to the table and rise with a deep breath. “That’ll be all, Malcolm,” I say, like he’s a client who I’ve just finished a meeting with. “Thank you for lunch, but I have work to do.”
He doesn’t move. He just nods and raises his brows. “Wow.”
I step back from my desk and gesture toward the door.
Malcolm chews on his lip and stands slowly. “Do your parents know?”
“Please leave me to get my work done,” I reply simply.
He actually has the audacity to laugh. “ Ah, got it. Well, don’t worry. I won’t tattle.” He winks at me. “Give me a call once you’ve gotten that out of your system and you’re ready for a real man again.”
A real man.
I almost laugh in return, because he has no idea how ironic he is.
“Have a good afternoon.” I lift my chin.
He leaves his half-eaten soup on the table and retreats to the door as he glances at me one last time. “Have a little fun, Rose. You deserve it. I’ll wait.”
“Goodbye, Malcolm,” I reply firmly.