Beautiful Rose

by Missy Johnson

  What the hell was I even doing? He not only had a girlfriend, he had possibly the worst girlfriend in the history of the world. She would rip my head off and spit down my throat if I even looked his way. Why was he even with that psycho? I tried not to be a judgmental person, but that chick had some serious issues. She made me look sane.

  I followed Darcy over to the sofas down near the stage.

  “Wow. That was epic.” She giggled. “Seriously, I’ve never seen Harmony so pissed off!”

  Harmony? Of course her name was Harmony.

  “Do you think Jack was annoyed at me? I mean, she is his girlfriend,” I added, still nervous that I’d taken things too far.

  Darcy waved her hand. “Harmony is a bitch. Besides, the way Jack was looking at you…” She whistled, before bursting into another round of giggles. I laughed, my body beginning to relax. I didn’t lose it often, but if someone pushed me far enough, I didn’t hesitate to fight back. When it came to people like Harmony, I didn’t need much pushing.

  “Why is Jack with her?” I asked. “I mean, he’s hot, friendly, and I’m sure he could have anyone he wanted.”

  “It’s weird. He knows what she’s like, and it’s almost like he’s with her because of what she’s like.” Darcy thought for a moment. “Does that make sense?”

  I nodded. It made perfect sense.

  “I remember Benj telling me about Jack, back when he first came over here. He was pretty messed up. Drank a lot, and played guitar—that was pretty much all he did. No women at all.” Darcy glanced over at the guys. “A guy like that always has women, you know? Fuck, I don’t even know what I’m trying to say.” She laughed. I joined in, her words rolling around in my head.

  What had hurt him so much that he felt like he deserved someone like Harmony?

  “So, do you live around this area?” she asked me.

  “Just temporarily, at the moment. I’m looking for somewhere more permanent,” I replied, taking a sip of my wine. Not a lie. I was looking for somewhere more permanent. I just left out the fact that I was planning on sleeping in my car until I found that place.

  “Oh, really? Are you thinking of sharing, or living by yourself?” she asked. “I know someone who might be looking for a roommate.”

  “Really? Yeah, I was thinking of finding a room somewhere. I couldn’t afford to live by myself,” I chuckled. My quick look through the classified ads this morning had confirmed that.

  “It’s my friend’s apartment. She lives in the same complex as Benj and me. I’m not sure if the room is still available, but I’ll find out.”

  “That would be fantastic.” I smiled. “I’ll give you my number and you can pass it onto her, if she’s still looking.” I waited as she pulled out her phone, and then gave her my number.

  “Did you work here before Jack took over?” I asked her.

  “Yes, I’ve worked here for about two years now. It’s how I met Benj.” Her face lit up as she glanced back over toward him. I smiled. I’d only known her for two seconds, but I could already tell we were going to be friends.

  “You’re lucky, to have someone like that,” I said, an edge of sadness to my voice. I'd never had anything like that. Sure, I'd had boyfriends, but that was ‘Rose trying to act normal’ not the deep unconditional devotion I could see these two had.

  “I know I am.” She smiled at me. “I take it there is no special guy in your life? Or girl,” she added, giggling.

  “Nope, no one. Not yet anyway.” I forced myself to smile.

  “Not yet, huh? You have your eye on someone then?” she asked mischievously.

  I blushed. “No. I mean . . .” I covered my face with my hands. I wasn't ready for this kind of conversation. Darcy laughed and glanced back at Jack, shaking her head.

  Oh shit, was it that obvious? Did she even need to ask who it was? God, if she knew then Jack had probably picked up on it, too. I groaned, suddenly feeling sick.

  “Relax, Rose, it’s not that bad. I’m a pretty perceptive person. And if you ask me, it’s not just you.” I lifted my head, my brow furrowing. What did she mean by that? Before I could ask, Benj came over, followed by Ash, and then the others. I tucked away my anxieties, my eyes on Jack as he, too, walked over. What the hell had she meant by that?

  Chapter Six

  Jack

  "What the fuck was that about?" I yelled, slamming the door shut. Harmony stood in front of me, hands on hips, her lip curled up into a sneer. I was so damn sick of all this drama. It was one thing after another with her, and I was nearing the end of my tether. Even the sound of her voice was beginning to drive me insane. It was just a constant whine in that high-pitched fucking voice. And the way she just went off at Rose for no reason? That wasn't cool.

  "You're the angry one?" she gasped, her face animated with anger. "What about that little slut downstairs? Did you hire her so you can perve on her ass all night? Is that it? Give you something to think about while you're fucking me up the ass? You didn't even say anything when she said that shit to me!"

  "I didn't say anything? Harmony, you attacked her! I've known her for ten seconds and you attack her for flirting with me? I don't blame the girl for fighting back. I sure as hell would've," I smirked. I couldn't believe she was behaving like this.

  "You should have been on my side," she said through gritted teeth. Her voice was low, almost a growl. Yep, I could see it; slap a collar on her and she was my dog.

  "You're being fucking ridiculous! Is this even about her, or does this come back to the fact that I didn't give you the job?" I asked. Harmony had never had a problem with other girls being around me before. She'd never said shit about Darcy, and she was cute—in an emo, schoolgirl kind of way.

  She laughed harshly. "You think I give a shit about your job? Fuck you, Jack and fuck that skanky little slut downstairs."

  "You don't know anything about that girl downstairs! I've known her for ten fucking minutes and I can already tell she has more intelligence in her little pinky than you do in our entire head! And class?" I tried to keep my breath even, and lowered my voice. "Tell me something, Harm. Do you ever wonder why men treat you like you're nothing but a piece of ass? Let me enlighten you---it's because that's all you are." I grabbed her purse and tossed it toward her, giving her an invitation to leave. "The next time you go attacking an innocent beautiful waitress, why don't you stop and think about keeping your mouth shut before someone slaps a muzzle on that filthy and disgraceful trap of yours." Harmony stared at me, mortified, before clutching onto her purse and storming out the door. I made no attempt to stop her.

  The silence rang through my ears as I rested my head on the kitchen counter. My heart was beating so fast that I could feel the blood pumping through my veins. God, I was shaking. I was so angry with her, and annoyed at myself for asking her over. I should have seen this coming.

  I thought it would be easier, having someone in my life who I could never love like that. But maybe it was easier not having anyone in my life at all. If only I could trust myself not to fall in love. I laughed to myself. That was it. Harmony wasn't my girlfriend. She was more like a guard dog. The only reason she was here was to stop love getting in. And I couldn't have been more obvious with the emotions that were starting to build for Rose. Snapping at Harmony was the first sign.

  Holy shit, I was in trouble.

  I gave it ten minutes before I headed back downstairs. There was no way they hadn't heard every single words of that fight. I felt embarrassed, and foolish that I could call someone like her my girlfriend. The guys were going to give me shit. I could handle that. What I wasn't looking forward to was facing Rose. Harmony's words echoed in my head as I pushed through the door. Skank, slut, bitch. I cringed, knowing I owed Rose an apology. I wouldn’t be surprised if she told me where to shove my job.

  The guys stood gathered around the bar, their mouths hanging open. Rose and Darcy sat down the end, their faces just as shocked.

  "What the fuck was that?" Ash finally
asked, shaking his head.

  "That was one pissed of girlfriend...Or maybe ex-girlfriend....Hell I don't know. Someone get me a beer." I leaned against the counter, rubbing my head. Ash jumped up and raced over to the tap. Moments later he pressed a beer into my hand.

  "That didn't sound very good." Rose smiled sympathetically. "I get the feeling I've stepped on her toes."

  "You heard all of that?" I asked, tension wrapping around my stomach.

  Her eyes met mine. She blinked, and looked away, embarrassed. "Yeah, it was kind of hard not to," she replied, wincing.

  Shit. I turned around and walked forward, toward the stage. This was not good.

  "I'm sorry if I exacerbated the situation. I really hope I didn't make things worse for you with her."

  I turned around and smiled at Rose, who had followed me away from the bar. I sat down. "She shouldn't have spoken to you like that. I should be the one apologizing to you," I added, wetting my lips as she sat down next to me. My arm brushed past hers. She bit her lip and moved her arm closer to her body.

  She glanced at me, her eyes falling on my lips as my tongue ran over them. She looked away quickly. "Right, but I didn't have to push her buttons," she murmured, tilting her head toward me. Was she talking about...The thought of her lying in the bath, touching herself flashed through my head. "I'm just saying I could have handled that better,” she added, her cheeks flaming.

  "I don't know, I kind of liked the way you handled that," I chuckled. Our eyes met for a moment. She grinned back at me, like she had just caught a glimpse of the guy she spoke to for an hour yesterday.

  "Will you play me something?" she nodded toward my guitar.

  “Will you sing?” I asked her.

  She blushed. “No. I told you, I don't sing in public.”

  “It's not in public Rose. It's me, and them.” I jerked my head towards the guys. She shook her head. I shrugged and stood up. “Then I guess we'll have to wait until you will sing in public.” I teased.

  "Do you want something stronger?" Ash called out to me.

  "No." Ash glanced up at the sharpness of my tone. "I'm okay with beer," I added, forcing a smile. The truth was, I hadn't had a sip of anything stronger than beer in three years. Too much of my life had been consumed by scotch. I'd lost count of the number of times I'd woken up, remembering nothing of the night before with a random woman in my bed. What scared me the most was ending up just like my father; old and alone, drinking until he was unable to feel his emotions. Three years ago that was exactly where I'd been heading.

  "Okay, who’s up for poker?" I asked, ready to forget the last half hour had happened. Rose, now next to me, had followed me back over. I could tell she was annoyed that I didn't play for her. A little smile escaped my lips.

  "I'm always up for taking your money, Jack," chuckled Ash. He grabbed the poker chips and threw them on the table. I glanced at Darcy and Benj, who shrugged and nodded.

  "How about you guys?" I said to Alex and Rose. Alex nodded, setting down his glass. Rose made a face.

  "I've never played before. Why don't I watch?" she suggested, shooting me a smile.

  "You can spend the first few games watching me, then." I shuffled closer to her, trying to ignore the shortness of breath I was experiencing as I breathed in the scent of her shampoo. Coconut and Lime? Or maybe orange? I closed my eyes and breathed in. Definitely lime.

  It was official; I could not have looked like any more of a psycho if I’d tried. I moved away an inch, trying to get my head clear from the spell she seemed to put me under whenever I got close to her. I pretended not notice the way she swept her hair over one shoulder, or the way she played with her nails when she was nervous. Or that cute little smile that appeared when someone said something funny.

  I grabbed the two cards Ash had dealt me. I placed them flat on the table, and flicked up the edges so that only Rose and I could see. A king of hearts, and a ten of diamonds. I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, and wrote down the order of winning hands.

  “Keep this next to you. A pair is the lowest winning hand—well, technically you can win with no pairs and the highest card. The best possible hand is a royal flush. You'll get the feel for the cards the more you play, and trust me, working here you will play a lot. The aim is to get the best hand, or have your opponents think you have the best hand. You can have the worst possible cards, but if you can convince your opponents you have something good by betting high then you’ll probably win.” I explained, then motioned for Ash to start dealing.

  "So the way it works is the dealer deals two cards to every player. The key to a good poker hand is pretending you have a good hand, even if you have the shittiest combination possible, okay?" I asked, glancing up at her. Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she nodded. I chuckled. She looked as confused as hell.

  “From what I hear, Jack thinks he’s pretty good with his hands,” chuckled Ash, his eyes on Rose.

  “You hear that from your sister, hey?” I shot back. Everyone laughed.

  I turned back to Rose. "So, what we have here isn't a bad hand. You don't have to play every game, and if you're dealt something like a three and a seven off suit, then folding is probably your best bet. So after the initial two cards around the betting takes place. It's at this point you decide whether or not you want to play." I picked up two chips and placed them neatly in front of me.

  "So now more cards will be dealt?" She asked uncertainly, glancing around the table.

  I nodded. "That's right. The dealer will burn a card, and then placed three cards upright on the table."

  "He burns a card?" Disbelief filled her voice.

  I chuckled. "Not literally. In poker, burning simply means tossing aside." She blushed and I chuckled again. This girl was...I couldn't even put into words what I was feeling. I pushed aside those thoughts and forced myself to focus as Ash placed the three cards face up on the table. "So now there will be another round of betting. You don't have to raise, but if someone else raises you need to match their bet in order to stay in the game."

  "Yeah, and Jack's always raising," Ash smirked, winking at Rose. Laughter followed his comment, only I wasn't laughing. I was too busy giving Ash a death stare. "What?" he asked innocently, his blue eyes twinkling. "It's true. You like to raise don't you?"

  I threw three more chips in front of me, ignoring his comment. "We have a pretty good cards so it makes sense to raise. If you have a good hand you can hold off raising and let everyone think that they are holding shit. The beauty of this is that someone, probably Ash,” I said, glaring at him, “will try and bluff their way into buying the pot. Buying the pot means they will go in with a big bet to scare everyone into thinking they're holding something really good."

  "And then I can match that bet?" Rose asked, her brow creasing in concentration. She was so damned cute. I reached over to the cards she held in her hands partly because I’d forgotten and partly because I wanted another excuse to touch her. My hand overlapped hers, until she lifted them high enough for me to see.

  “Nice hand,” I whispered in her ear. She turned to me and grinned.

  “I’m going to assume you’re talking about the cards.”

  “Them too. You can raise. If you're feeling really confident, you can put him all in." Ash snorted at my comment. I glared at him. "Are you fucking kidding me?" I asked. "I mean, what are you, twelve?" laughter erupted around the table.

  "What can I say? Words like 'raise' and 'all in' make me horny," he teased. He grinned at Rose, who shook her head and rolled her eyes, clearly not falling for his oh-so-smooth attitude. My heart was pounding so loud it was all I could hear. I was glad she wasn't falling for Ash's charms. He was a good-looking guy, and he knew it. Ash was me three years ago. A different chick every night and everything was about fun. The thought of Rose falling for that—for him—made my stomach turn.

  She never would have fallen for me three years ago.

  "Save your sweet talk for tomorrow," I growled at Ash
. He shrugged and glanced at Rose, then back at me. I saw something in his eyes. Realization. That I wasn't fucking around. He had really pissed me off, and now he thought he knew why.

  Fuck him.

  Whatever he thought he knew, it was wrong. So I didn't want Rose ending up in his clutches. That didn't mean I wanted her. She was just some girl I was attracted to. So what? It didn't mean anything. But even as I thought the words I knew there was more to it than just attraction. I'd been attracted to pretty girls before. Hell, I was attracted to Harmony, but what I felt with Rose was different.

  The mood in the room completely changed. Suddenly it was serious, as everyone focused on the cards in front of them like they were the most interesting things on earth. I caught a look exchanged by Benj and Darcy and shot them a deathly look.

  "You play this hand, and I'll watch you," I murmured.

  She glanced at me, and nodded. God, there were so many things I wanted to watch this girl do, and playing cards was way down the bottom of that list. Unless the card game was strip poker. Now there’s an idea. A really bad one. We would all end up naked except Ash.

  After a few more hands, she seemed to have the hang of things. Enough for her to play on her own anyway. I moved my chair back. Our proximity was beginning to make me perspire. Fuck it was hot in here. I pushed my chair back. I needed another drink, and more importantly I needed a few seconds away from this girl. She was clouding my thoughts, and she was sending each and every one of my senses into overdrive. The scent of her perfume, the sound of her voice, the way I felt when her skin brushed past mine, and god, how I longed to taste those lips. I'd been in the same room with her for less than an hour and it was driving me fucking crazy.