Beautiful Rose (13 page)

“Right. I’m addicted to ice-cream, I hate shopping and I have an irrational fear of butterflies.” She nodded her head, as if she were happy with her answers.

“Butterflies? But that’s like being scared of kittens!”

“Butterflies are evil little creatures, thank you very much. They stalk you, then wait until you’re vulnerable and then BAM! They attack.” She shook her head sadly. “Don’t look at me like that,” she accused, noting my expression.

“Like what?” I asked, amused. “Like you’re insane?”
Great choice of words there, Jack.
I groaned internally. Rose seemed oblivious to my slip up, poked her tongue out at me.

“Hey, I’m not the closet
Project Runway
fan,” she retorted. Fair point. I glanced at my phone. Shit! It was nearly three in the afternoon. Time sure flies when you’re having fun. I should have been at the bar, getting ready for tonight, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave her.

“I guess we better go, hey?” she said, sighing. “I do have a job to get to, you know.”

I paid, and we walked outside to my car. The drive back to her place was quiet. I pulled up out the front, and waited for her to get out. She flashed me her smile. My heart pounded as I stared at her mouth…those lips. God I wanted to kiss her.

“See you later,” I said as she let herself out. She leaned against the window.

“Thanks Jack. I had fun. And your secret? It’s safe with me.” She winked, then walked toward the front entry. I smiled wistfully as I watched her go. Now I felt more confused than ever. Somehow, I didn’t think this ‘friendship’ was going to end well.

Chapter Thirteen

Jack

It was the end of the second week after
The Chill Bar's
opening, and things were going well.
Really
well. Nearly every night the place had been booked out and, as of yesterday, we were fully booked for the next six weekends. A few of the entertainment sections in some big name newspapers had given the bar a great rap, which I'm sure was part of its success.

Not that you would know it, looking around the place now. Wednesday nights were shaping up to be our quiet night, and most of the staff was standing around trying to look busy. I'd already sent two of the part-timers home, and now it was just Darcy, Ash and Rose.

“Look, there’s no point all three of you guys being here. Two of you can go, if one of you doesn't mind staying back to helping me clean up.”

“Ash and I will go. Rose can stay,” Darcy piped up.

Rose and I both turned to her, eyebrows raised.

“What? She needs the money more than us.” Her eyes twinkled as she spoke. Ash, oblivious to whatever was going on in Darcy's head, shrugged and grabbed his keys.

“Need a lift?” he asked Darcy. She nodded, and raced over to the bar to grab her purse.

“See you later,” she called out.

I turned to Rose and shook my head. “Sorry, I have no idea what that was about.”

Bullshit Jack. You know exactly what Darcy was trying to do.

“Me neither.” She smiled awkwardly. We hadn’t really spent any time alone since our trip to the beach. I’d missed her more than I was ready to admit.

“So. We still have an hour till closing, and the place is empty . . .” I raised my eyebrows suggestively.

Her jaw dropped, just as I realized how inappropriate that sounded.
Bloody great, now she thinks I was propositioning her for sex.

“God no, I meant music. I thought I could play and you could sing.” I explained.

I wanted to crawl under the nearest table and die. Why did I always sound like such a dick around her? If there was one thing I did well, it was play it smooth. Not with Rose though. She laughed at my embarrassment.

“Okay. I'm okay with that,” she said, laughing.

“Okay.” I grinned. “Good.”

“Oh hey, I got you something,” she piped up suddenly, reaching for her handbag. I watched as she pulled something out and hid it behind her back. “Hold out your hands.” I did what she asked. In them, she placed a DVD.

I chuckled when I read the title. ‘
Workout with Heidi Klum’
“Nice one,” I said dryly as she giggled. “Just wait until I infest your car with killer butterflies.”

“God no, please don’t!” she gasped. She was genuinely terrified. I laughed. As if I’d actually do that.

“Well you better make it up to me,” I said as I walked over to the stage with her following right behind me. We reserved the bands for weekends only, because it just wasn’t worth having them here during the week. Reaching for my guitar, I sat down on the edge of the stage. With my foot, I maneuvered a stool so it sat in front of me. I motioned to it. She smiled and sat down, her hands pressed under her thighs. “What do you want to sing?” I asked. She smiled shyly.

“Losing You? I mean, it is kind of
our
song,” she whispered, her lips curving into a smile. I nodded. That sexy little smile had my stomach tingling. Just for now I wanted to give in, and not push these feelings away. For one moment I wanted to fully experience just what falling for Rose felt like. I began to strum my fingers over the strings.

“You take what you want from me, there’s nothing left to give

I can’t pretend it’s all okay when I’ve lost the will to live

Why do I need to feel when all I feel is pain

Without you by my side things have never been the same

I keep pushing you away, because with you their comes confusion

If I try hard enough I can convince myself my love’s just an illusion

But it’s only you I long for and you’ve left me feeling so low

Why do good things always have to end, I just can’t let you go…”

I listened in awe as she sang over the last chord, her sweet, raw voice carrying through the entire bar. Tingles ran up and down my back like they were competing in a cross-country event. I couldn't take my eyes off her. If I’d thought she was beautiful before, the moment those words flowed out of her mouth, I was completely gone. There was no hope for me now.

Aware of my attention, she smiled and lowered her head. “Are you going to say anything?” she finally chuckled. “You're making me nervous.”

“Are you serious? You sounded incredible. You gave me goose bumps. Look.” I shot my arm out in front of her, as if to show her the proof. She ran her fingers along the length of it.

“Definitely goose bumps,” she confirmed softly, her eyes locked to mine.

I hooked my shoes around either side of her stool and slid her close, so close our bodies were almost touching. My hand found its way to her face, wiping away a strand of hair, and wrapping it behind her ear. As my fingers curved around her neck, I gently tugged her closer to me. My lips met hers as my tongue carefully nudged her lips apart.

My mouth crashed against hers, my lips desperate for whatever she would give me. I was acutely aware of her hands, which were resting on my thighs. My cock began to throb; having her so close to me was fogging up all my senses. I could feel myself falling into her, losing myself. We continued to kiss, my tongue exploring hers and my need to have her increasing rapidly.  

“Will you play me a song?” she asked suddenly, her lips millimeters from mine. I tilted her head and nestled my face against her neck, my lips exploring…wanting. She brought my face up to hers and crushed her lips on mine. There was something so erotic in the urgency of her actions.

“As in one of my own?” I mumbled, unable to keep myself from kissing her. She stood up suddenly, kicking the stool out of the way. She moved between my legs, placed my arms around her back and crushed her lips against mine. I pressed my body up roughly against hers, my hands cradling her neck as my mouth ravished hers. God, the sweet taste of her lips was incredible. My erection pressed hard up against her, aching, and begging to be satisfied.

For weeks I’d been thinking about this, how much I wanted her. So often I’d thought about kissing those sweet little lips, then spreading her legs apart and fucking her. Only I’d fought it, because only one other girl had ever left me feeling this way, and that ended badly.

I didn’t deserve happiness. The best I could hope for was not to feel, because feeling meant getting hurt again.

“No,” I growled, pushing her away. “I can’t do this, Rose. I’m sorry.”

She tugged at the hem of her skirt, disbelief in her eyes.

“It's not you,” I said quietly. “I promise it’s not you. I'm sorry, I just don't think this is a good idea. I shouldn't have done that.”

“Jack—”

“You better go, Rose. It's almost closing time anyway.” She stood there for a moment, her eyes showing the pain and confusion she was feeling. I cursed myself for leaving this amazing girl feeling so rejected.
If only she knew just how badly I wanted to be with her.

 Finally, she nodded. Her eyes hardened as they swept over me. I followed her over to the bar and watched her gather her things. With a final glance back at me, she turned around and walked toward the exit.

This time, she didn't look back.

I waited a few minutes before locking the front door. Then I walked over to the stairs, flicked off the lights and went up to my apartment, kicking the wall on the way.

Fuck!
Things should never have gotten that far.

Chapter Fourteen

Jack

Tuesday and Thursday nights were proving to be the most popular with the general walk in crowd; the open mic nights. Apparently, hearing the next big thing in music before it became the next big thing was a popular pastime. Even back when I was just working there, the open mic nights were always packed.

The speed with which the place had taken off had suited me perfectly, mostly because it kept my mind off of other things. Other, stunningly beautiful, long curly haired, brown-eyed things.

Who was I kidding? Nothing kept my mind off her but at least if I was working my mind couldn't dissect every second we spent together, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

Grabbing my phone and keys, I set out for some breakfast. I couldn't be bothered cooking, so I made my way down to the diner on the corner.

I walked in to the busy diner and found myself a table in the corner of the room. I’d been here before—they made good coffee—and the service was always fast and friendly. The interior left a lot to be desired, with its blue and white wallpaper and miss-matching tables, but it was typical of an American diner.

After ordering some coffee and eggs on toast, I pulled out the rosters I'd brought with me, and glanced over them. The fact that it had been so much busier than I'd anticipated meant hiring more staff. Luckily, I'd avoided the need for interviews, because Darcy and Ash both had a few friends who were looking for work. After they had assured me their friends were reliable and hardworking, I had agreed to give them a trial run.

Over the last week, they had proved to be hard workers and had quickly fit into our little team. Alex had offered to cover a few shifts if I got stuck, but the thought of him working the bar made me laugh. He was less than impressed by my reaction to his offer.

"Jack."

I glanced up to see Rose, her brown eyes wide with surprise. She stood awkwardly holding my coffee and eggs for a minute, then set them down in front of me.

"Rose. You work here?" I said, glancing around in shock. I wanted to punch myself. Of course she works here. What, does she randomly walk into diners and deliver food to customers?

"Just until I get enough money together to get back into college. My parents kicked me out after . . . I left the hospital," she explained, her cheeks reddening. "I'm only doing a few shifts, and it won’t interfere with the bar." She spoke fast, her expression almost pleading me not to react.

I nodded as if I understood, but my mind was rolling with thoughts, the least not being how similar this situation had suddenly gotten to Belle. I took in her fitted black tee, my mouth watering at the way her black pants hugged her hips. I swallowed. Thank god she wasn't wearing a uniform, because that would've sent me over the edge. Suddenly her words hit me as though I'd just heard them for the first time. She’d been kicked out of home?

"Why didn't you tell me? I could've helped you out with an advance or something . . ." My eyes lowered.

Or something? And what would that have been, a spot in my bed? My eyes met hers as I tried to figure out what she was thinking. She looked embarrassed, her cheeks reddened and her gaze fallen.

"I didn't tell you because you've done enough for me. You gave me a job. I didn't want to burden you with all my troubles." She glanced back at the counter. "Look, I've gotta go. I'm almost finished my shift." She smiled apologetically.

"Why don't you join me when you finish?" I said, my words surprising both myself and her.

She hesitated.

"It's a coffee, Rose," I added dryly.

She nodded, her smile reaching her eyes. The last thing I wanted was for us to be awkward because of last night.

"Okay. I'll be out soon."

#

She sat down next to me. I could tell she was nervous, and I didn't blame her. I'd been acting uncomfortably around this girl for the past two weeks and she deserved some sort of explanation. Especially after last night’s kiss.

"How was your breakfast?" she asked brightly, trying to ignite the conversation.

"Good. Did you make it?"

She smiled, covering her mouth. "Yes. If there is one thing I do well, its cook.” She grinned. “I had to learn to look after myself early, so…”

"I know exactly what you mean," I murmured. "Except we had a cook, a nanny, a cleaner…you can only imagine the chaos when I eventually moved out on my own." I laughed and she laughed with me. I tried to ignore how beautiful her face became when she smiled.