13. Dante
DANTE
The front door clicks shut behind Luca and Rose when they leave, and I can take the first deep breath since this day began.
The scent of Rose lingers in the kitchen where I stand with my palms braced against the marble counter with my eyes closed and head bowed.
That’s when I hear the soft clearing of her delicate throat behind me.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to intrude, but I just wanted to confirm delivery timelines with you before I leave, now that I have estimates from Luca on the fixes and repairs needed before I can begin. But I can always send those over via email when I get back to my room.”
I lift my head and open my eyes to see Rose standing in the arched doorway, looking uneasy and less confident and self-assured than I’m used to seeing her.
I have a strange urge to ask her about the conversation between her and Luca that I overheard this morning when I stepped away to take a phone call from my boss.
“Sit. Let’s go over the timelines now.” My response comes out more like a command, but I’m too tired to soften my tone. I barely got any sleep last night and then had to spend the whole day trying not to touch the beautiful, tempting flower in front of me.
Rose pauses a beat before complying with my command to sit. Instead of joining her on the stool next to her, I take the opportunity to soak up her essence and stand behind her, leaning over her right shoulder to peer at the timeline on her laptop screen.
“Oh!” she squeaks when she turns her head toward me and finds my body just a hair’s breadth from pressing into hers. “So, um, the things, the, uh, work I have for Luca should only take about a week or so to complete.” Rose has lost some of the professional polish of her tone with my nearness.
I find myself leaning closer to see how far I can push her polished exterior and unleash the fiery brat I know is dying to come out.
“And what will you be doing while he completes his work?” I’m too close for her to make eye contact, so she focuses her attention on the spreadsheet in front of us.
“Well, I had planned to head back to the city to start coordinating orders and deliveries. I also have a few new items to source now that you’ve provided your feedback on the preliminary designs.”
That won’t do. Now that I’ve had this woman in my space, not having her in my presence for a few days, let alone weeks, is out of the question. Not to mention, I’m supposed to provide an update to my boss on my own delivery timelines.
“No.” Think, Dante, you need a reason to keep her here.
“No?” Rose turns her head slightly to catch my eye, clearly waiting for more information other than my clipped “no.”
“No, I’d like you to start having items delivered either here or in town and begin on the rooms that don’t require additional work.
I want to finish this job as quickly as possible.
” I don’t know if the job I’m referring to is her work or the job I’m doing for my boss.
“Have you been able to secure an offsite delivery location as we discussed?”
“Considering you only made that request yesterday, I haven’t had a chance.”
There’s the fire and sass I was looking for. I can tell by her wide-eyed expression that she didn’t mean to say that snarky response out loud.
“I’m so sorry. That came out wrong. What I meant was that I haven’t had time to make any inquiries with the businesses in town and had planned to accomplish that while Luca completed his work.”
“I see.” I find with Rose that the shorter my response and the more silence I allow to sit between us, the more she tends to reveal with her ramblings.
“I promise it won’t be an issue, Dante. I’ll work something out and begin placing orders immediately.
I just need to extend my room at the motel since I had planned to check out in the morning.
So as long as there aren't any issues with that, then I can remain in town. I guess I could always drive back and forth from the city if there aren’t any rooms. And I could always transport items myself if necessary.
” I don’t hear anything Rose says after my name passes through her lips.
I think this is the first time she has said my name, and it makes me want to find more reasons for her to say it.
“So, I better get going and try to catch the motel manager before he leaves for the night.” I clearly missed several bits of information as I mused over her use of my name, but I’m knocked out of my daydream when Rose closes her laptop and begins to slide from the stool.
She brushes against my chest as she goes to pack the rest of her belongings.
“Stay here.” Did I really just ask her to stay here? In my house? With me? Great, Dante, that will definitely make this obsession with her go away. Maybe she will think I meant for her to stay right now, not forever.
“Stay here? Like in your house? I don’t think that would be a good idea, let alone very professional.
Plus, you don’t have any furniture.” She adds the last part with a small smile.
“Speaking of which, where have you been sleeping? There isn’t anything in any of the rooms. You don’t even have a couch. ”
“The basement,” I say with a smirk. I get some satisfaction knowing the thoughts in her brain that must be swirling with my vague response. And even more satisfaction that she might be thinking about me sleeping.
“Oh.”
Have I finally stunned this woman into silence? That would be quite a feat, considering she seems to constantly offer a stream of thoughts without fully processing them first.
“I didn’t realize you had a basement. I mean, I saw it on the building plans and final blueprints for the permits, but you didn’t cover it during our walkthrough, so I figured it was left unfinished.
Can I see it? Will I need to provide furnishings for that area as well?
Where is the door to the basement? I don’t have it marked on my updated layout.
Luca didn’t know much about it either. Not that I asked Luca about it.
” Her eyes widen slightly, knowing she is oversharing but can’t seem to stop.
“He just mentioned it and that you did the majority of the work for it. Not that we talked about you. I only asked how you were to work with because you can be a bit intimidating. Not that I’m intimidated by you. I’m shutting up now.”
Her words come faster with every realization she shares, as if she can erase them by adding more.
That’s my little flower, letting me hear all of her internal thoughts she can’t seem to keep in her head.
Interesting to know that she and Luca spoke about me.
I had thought they would have spent their time catching up, but instead, she asked about me. I smile with that final thought.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. I’m only interested for purely professional reasons.”
“Hmm.” The sound I make conveys my skepticism but also my willingness to let go of her admission.
“Well, I think that is everything I needed to cover for today. I’ll send over the final timelines for your review and approval.
” Rose slowly backs out of the kitchen and inches toward the entryway as I remain standing in the spot behind the stool she just occupied.
“Thank you again for trusting me with this project. I promise you won’t be disappointed. ”
“See you later, Rose.” I plan on seeing her sooner than she thinks.
With that dismissal, she turns and leaves through the front door, gently closing it behind her.
With her absence, I feel the sense of quiet and calm that I used to crave for myself but am starting to doubt is what I actually need or want anymore.
Instead of addressing those thoughts any further tonight, I decide it’s best to monitor Rose and ensure she makes it back to her room. This town is seemingly safe, but you can never be too cautious.
Settling into my office chair in front of my monitors, I press the space bar on my keyboard once to light up the screens and input my encryption key and passcode.
I’m tempted to immediately pull up the feed from Rose’s vehicle, but I want to give her some privacy, so I settle for tracking her progress on GPS.
In less than fifteen minutes, she is back at the motel near town, and I can see her phone moving toward her room.
I tell myself I will only check the cameras I put in her room to ensure she makes it in safely and locks the door behind her, but my skin starts to crawl when I don’t have eyes on her for an extended period.
And apparently that time period has now shrunk to under fifteen minutes.
I feel pathetic as I pull up the appropriate surveillance feeds, shaking my head at how whipped I am for this woman, when the image of her typically brings a smile to my face.
The scene on my screen in front of me drains all the blood from my body and replaces it with ice.
I’m reaching for my phone and dialing Rose’s number before I can even blink.
The first time the call goes to voicemail, I grab my keys and head up the stairs to my car, calling her phone again with no response. “Rose, now is not the time to ignore me!” I yell into the surrounding forest, not out of anger but another emotion: fear.