Rose & Thorne

Chapter 03

Mr. Shirtless leads me back to his mansion in silence which, is just as well because I need to organize my thoughts before I try to get any more information from him. Somehow I know asking the right amount of questions is crucial if I want to make the right impression- the right second impression. Too few questions, and I'll seem like a pushover who will take anything he dishes out. Too many questions and I will seem like exactly what I am: an underaged girl who knows very little about how the world works. Some semblance of pride in me is resolutely opposed to either of those outcomes.

In other more ironic news, I am grateful for the rain now because it means that if I want to keep water from my eyes, then as I walk I have to look down and not at Mr. Grumpy's incredibly muscled back. What I can glimpse is my bare feet and his bare feet walking determinedly across the wet grass. Both of us together probably look like a modern Tarzan and Jane, you know, if Tarzan was in need of a serious attitude adjustment.

By the time I notice we are not reentering the mansion where we- very dramatically- exited it, I am wincing my way over beige gravel while he walks over them with ease. He stops at a door that is well concealed by a fence covered in climbing vines. Plain, flat and white, it is a far cry from the elegant front door.

A few moments pass while we both stand there, rain continuing to drench us in its steady rhythm.

Mr. Grumpy Face sighs in exasperation.

I cup my hands against my eyebrows so that no rain will get past them when I look up. Just as I do he turns around, and I get a full frontal of his gorgeously well defined pecs.

Holy marshmallows, my mind has never gone blank so fast. Rain streams over his smooth chest, and I find myself suddenly sure of what he would look like in the shower. Involuntarily of course. The thought leaves me feeling so inappropriate that I'm not even annoyed when he completely ruins the visual.

"I'm sorry," he stares up as if he is trying to recall something important. When he brings his hazel eyes back down to mine he says, "I must have missed the part of our agreement where I'm supposed to open doors for you."

My face tingles with fresh embarrassment. Stunned into compliance, I step around him and reach for the door knob. Geez does anyone around here know how to lock a door?

Swinging the door open I can see a hallway of exposed brick disappearing into darkness. I hold the door open with my body as he walks inside without bothering to put much space between us. I flinch as his huge bicep almost brushes my breast, however, he doesn't seem to notice.

"Close the door behind you, and come on."

I do as I'm told but there is one problem.

"Um, can you turn on the light? I can't see."

"That sounds like a personal problem."

"No, it's a professional one actually. If I can't see to do my job, then I can't do my job."

Wow, I'm so bold in pitch blackness. It doesn't last long. I collide right into what is unmistakably a bare back, my lips momentarily brushing against wet skin. His wet skin.

Of all.

The things.

That could.

Have happened.

Maybe he hasn't noticed...

I take another step back when I sense him turning around and am ashamed to admit that I can barely hear his breaths while mine seem to be roaring in the blackness around us. The moment stretches for too long, and I can practically hear his smirk when he finally speaks.