Rose and the Thorn (Fallen Tales series)

Chapter 30

Chapter 30
Patrick
I watched Rose play with Curious from the top of the stairs like I had once two months ago. She sat on the tiles, with her legs stretched out. She clapped her hands and Curious jumped over both of her legs.
"Sit," she commanded and squealed and patted Curious' head when he did as he was asked.
"You're a clever dog, yes you are, yes you are," she praised making me smile.
God she was beautiful. Her brown hair was held by a simple band showing off her neck. The curve of her hips stood out as her black singlet clung to her body. Boot cut jeans covered her legs reminding me of when I was taking them off two days ago.
"Patrick, come down here!" she called.
I sighed feeling found and moved down the stairs.
"What's going on?" I asked as if I hadn't been watching her for half an hour.
"Watch this."
She repeated her moves. I smiled as her face lit up at Curious. She rubbed his ears making his tail go wild. I sat down across from her. Curious turned from her and looked for affection from me. I laughed patting his head.
"He likes you," she told me.
"He better, I can kick him out whenever I feel like it," I joked.
She laughed.
"I think Jenson knows."
Her words made me nervous. Jenson couldn't know.
"He's probably guessing," I said reassuring myself more than her.
"Guessing or not, I don't want him thinking I'm some sort of gold digger."
"He won't think that."
"Won't he, some nobody American entices wealthy Lord? The headline writes itself."
I knew she was being serious but I couldn't help but burst into laughter. Which was probably a bad thing.
"It's not funny Patrick!"
"I know, I know. I'm sorry. Don't you think you're making a big deal out of it?" I asked.
"No, maybe. I don't know. I've never done this before."
"And you think I have?"
"No but obviously you've had 'lovers', right?"
"By lovers you mean girlfriends, then yes."
"Well what did you do with them when you were getting serious?" she asked.
I frowned trying to think. That was such a long time ago.
"If you mean I kept our relationship secret, no."
Her eyes grew wide, "Your parents knew that you were sleeping with them?"
"What, no! They knew who I was going out with but they didn't know if I was sleeping with them," I explained better.
"And there's my point."
I laughed as I realized that she was right. But that was apples and oranges here. If my parents had on some level knew that I had slept with Sophie it wouldn't have mattered because we had been together. This was completely different. Rose and I weren't a couple.
"How many girlfriends have you had?" she asked.
"Ah, three or four. None that really mattered. But Sophie, she was the serious one."
"The one you slept with?"
"Yeah."
"What was she like?"
"Ah, well. Smart, funny, nice –."
"Was she blonde?" Rose buttered in.
"Yes."
"Oxford graduate?"
"Probably."
"British?"
"Of course."
"One more thing. Was she a virgin?"
That was probably the hardest one to answer. How to answer?
"Well –."
She burst out in laughter clapping her hands.
"I knew it," she cheered.
"Knew what?" I asked frowning. Why had she asked those questions?
"I knew that would be the type of girl you would go for."
I felt cheated as if I had been part of a practically joke or something.
"Okay what type of guys do you go for?" I asked.
"That's not fair."
"Why not?"
"Because I didn't have a lot of boyfriends. Drunken mistakes all the time."
"Fine, what type of guys are you attracted to?" I asked compromising.
"That's not fair again. I was drunk when I slept with them."
I frowned. Who was this girl and why was she different to the one I saw in front of me.
"Well clearly you've changed," I said looking her up and down. I couldn't see this Rose going to pubs and getting drunk then going home with perfect strangers.
"Well when you get your ass kicked a couple of times by your boyfriend it's kind of a wakeup call."
Guilt crawled through my body. I'm such an idiot. Of course she changed. If the person you were into hurt you more than once then of course you would change.
"I'm sorry, Rose. I really am."
She shrugged as if it didn't mean anything.
"I'm alive, aren't I. If I didn't want to get hurt why did I stay with him?"
"Because you probably loved him."
She shook her head, "No, I didn't."
I could feel my heart start to brake as tears formed in her eyes.
"After my father got sick, I was a mess. And then Kobey came along and he made everything seem so much brighter. He made me feel good. Made me feel wanted, special even. But I didn't love him."
"Rose..."
I couldn't do anything but pull her into my arms and hope that she wouldn't break as I held her tight. Her cries became uneven as she tried to breathe through the tears.
"It's okay. You're safe. He can't get you here. Not when I'm around."