Chapter 25Rose
Chapter 25
Rose
I ’d been distracted this past week-and-a-half. And by distracted I meant sidetracked from my usual customary and regimented life by this non-relationship thing I had going with Rafe.
A thing that involved not only body-and-mind-blowing sex but also the little things I didn’t know I’d been missing in my daily life.
Like starting the morning with a hot breakfast and a hotter kiss. Like hearing Rafe let loose and laugh like crazy when Pirate and Princess got the zoomies. Like handing out Halloween candy with Rafe agreeing—albeit grudgingly—to wear the angel halo headband while I stuck on the devil’s horns.
Like each of us claiming an end of the couch to sit and read—not talk, not kiss—just read (well, maybe a kiss here or there). Like taking the dogs out for that last walk before bedtime…and talking away as we headed to the park—or maybe I was doing the talking and Rafe was doing the listening.
Yeah, little things like that.
Yet still, I never expected that Jen and Mateo would take advantage of my distractedness to start the ball rolling on security systems for both the café and my house.
I should have suspected something this morning when I’d ducked under my bed to retrieve my stilettos—and discovered Dad’s bat was missing.
Was their partner-in-crime sharing my bed?
Sure, I’d been dragging my feet on getting a professional alarm system for the Chocolate Lab. Right after the break-in, I’d met with a couple of security companies Jen had recommended from her contacts in the real estate community. She knew people who knew people since she staged homes for sale.
Since then, I hadn’t had the bandwidth to compare options and make a decision. More to the point, I hadn’t wanted to fork out the money, given all my other struggles to keep the café going.
So that little project had been put on the back burner.
Or so I’d thought, until today, when I came in lugging café supplies to find Mateo standing with the rep from one of the companies. The guy had a clipboard with an order form and was making notes like mad. They both turned when I fast-walked over, big smiles on their faces. Jen saw my face and jumped up from one of the tables to join us.
Before I could say anything, she headed me off with, “Rose, I’m so glad you’re here. We Protect You has offered you a huge discount for installing security systems in both the Chocolate Lab and your home—it’s their two-for-one, end-of-the-year special. And a discounted monthly monitoring fee is part of the package deal!”
Mateo put in, “I know you’ll like this too—I threw in coffee service at our special friends-and-family rate for their call center. Right, Bert?”
Jen hurtled right on. “They even have an opening in their schedule in a week and can install everything in one day. Right, Bert?”
Mateo didn’t lose a beat. “We’ve worked up the specs for here, and Jen is meeting Bert at your place this afternoon for the same thing. We wanted to save you the time and trouble.”
Jen wound up the pitch. “They’ve promised to have a contract ready for your review in a couple of days. Right, Bert?”
Of course, Bert, being no dummy, was nodding like a bobblehead doll. He also knew when to make an exit and quickly said his goodbyes.
I soon realized we were going to have this “discussion” in front of several attentive parties with their ears pricked up—and those were just our regular customers, let alone their doggos. Feeling all those ears and eyes on us, we headed back to the meeting room for some privacy. To give them credit, the pair had their arguments ready.
Mateo went first. “Rose, you know it’s wise to protect all this café and roastery equipment from vandalism. And now you’re going to have this huge coffee bean inventory on hand with the contract for the grocery stores. It makes good business sense.”
He added, looking all hurt with those puppy-dog eyes, “I thought you gave me the responsibility to make these decisions when you made me café manager.”
Jen stuck her oar in. “Girl, I get worried about you living alone in that big ole house. Burglaries and home invasions always ramp up this time of year.”
Then they hit me with the double—actually this time, triple—whammy.
Jen took the lead again by saying firmly, “Finn is expecting you to have the alarms in place by the time he comes home for Thanksgiving. Your mom and dad would always put your safety first over finances. And you can’t count on Rafe living nearby after he leaves in December. Let us help you get this done!”
I opened my stubborn mouth to argue and…shut it. It seemed that the stress of the last several months was messing with my brain. I clearly, clearly remember Mom getting on my case about trying to do everything myself.
Needing help is not a weakness, sweetie. Giving people a chance to help is a sure sign of strength. Just say “thank you.”
For Jen and Mateo, even though they’d ganged up on me, I added huge hugs to my thank yous. Afterward, I crossed the hall to the roastery to confront their accomplice.
I leaned against the locked roastery door, arms crossed, waiting for Rafe to finish the loud roasting cycle. His back was to me, and he had no idea I was there. After he dumped the hot coffee beans into the cooling tray, he started to turn around—and that’s when I caught him by surprise.
But Rafe being Rafe, he didn’t jump or jerk or portray shock like any other normal human being. Huh. Probably all that army training. Instead, he stopped, raised an eyebrow and got a big grin on his too-tough-but-handsome face.
Until I said, “You know, there’s usually a punishment for theft.”
His grin dropped like a lead balloon, his entire face pulled into a frown, and I swore he turned white under all that stubble.
Did he think I was serious? Did he feel guilty? Did he think I was mad at him? Whatever was going on, I needed to set him straight.
In my haste to get to him, I stumbled. Luckily, he unfroze in time and caught me in his arms. I looked up into his stricken face and gently pressed my hands to his cheeks.
“It’s okay, Rafe. Really it is. I’m not upset at you for stealing my dad’s bat from underneath the bed.” I’d started babbling and couldn’t stop. “I forgot I put it back there. You’ve moved in, at least for now, and I won’t need it. At least for now.”
Rafe narrowed his eyes at that, and I went to town. “No, no, what I mean is that I won’t need the bat at all, thanks to the new alarm systems. And I know you had a hand in working with Jen and Mateo to get that all going. And to strong-arm, er, negotiate such a good price. I’m grateful, and…and…”
Rafe pushed his fingers against my lips and said, “Rose. Stop talking.”
I did, but only for a moment. I had a diabolical idea. “My idea of punishment is actually something pretty sweet.”
He leaned down to kiss me hard before saying, “Go on, talk.”
I had to laugh, like he was going to ever stop me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled his head back down to me.
After giving him a peck on the lips, I started, “I know you generally don’t eat pastries or cakes or candy or pie or sweets of any kind.” The man either didn’t like the sugary side of life or had freakishly strong willpower.
“Therefore,” I paused to swipe the tip of my tongue across his lips, “your punishment for grand theft bat will be…”
I went in for a full-contact, tongue-twisting kiss before continuing. Or trying to continue, because Rafe was getting the idea and starting to “help.” When I wrenched myself away, we were both a little breathless.
“…will be to undergo a chocolate-truffle-tasting challenge, all in service of our holiday gift tins.”
Rafe angled back down and grumbled against my lips, “Where and when do I need to report for this so-called punishment?”
I was able to gasp out, “Next Tuesday, right here in the roastery, after we close and lock ourselves in,” before he invaded my mouth.
I happily stopped talking and settled in to enjoy our non-verbal communication.