by Maise, Ella
I forced myself to relax.
“You don’t have to explain anything to him,” I said, glancing at her.
Her mouth pressed into a thin line when her eyes met mine. “Yes, I do, Jack. Of course, I do.”
“I’m not listening to one more word from you,” Bryan cut in. “This is not happening. If you force my hand, I will fight this.”
With that, he strode out, making sure to bump his shoulder against mine.
Finally, Jodi got on her feet. “Well. Well. Our pretty little Rose finally does something interesting.” Her eyes took me in from head to toe as Rose let go of my arm. “Not bad, little cousin,” she said. “Not an upgrade from Joshua, but since you’ve lost him, I guess this one will do.”
When I arched my brow, she smiled as if she had a secret and shrugged. “Not my type. Too serious, too stiff, but oh, well who am I to talk about your fiancé?”
Stopping in front of Rose, she leaned in to kiss her cheek and I felt Rose stiffen next to me, pulling a little back.
“You know I don’t care about the property stuff, I got my millions and the home from the will, but you knew Bryan had his eyes set on this. I don’t think this little marriage scheme will change anything.” She lifted her hand and studied her pink fingernails. “May the best one win, I guess. It’ll be fun for me either way.”
Chapter Three
Rose
Present
I was trying to paint the wall behind the counter and doing my best not to fall asleep midsentence as I was talking to Sally, my very own employee. It’d been a long day, just like it had been a long day every day for the last week and a half, but I wasn’t complaining—how could I when it had been my dream to open my own coffee shop for so long? Not even attempting to stifle my yawn, I dipped the paint roller in more dark-ish green paint and ignored the humming ache in my shoulder as I kept painting.
“You sure you don’t want me to stay longer?” Sally asked, going through her backpack as she looked for her phone.
“You’ve already been here longer than you were supposed to, and I’m almost done for the day anyway. I only need another fifteen minutes or so just to add a last coat. Somehow I can still see a hint of red underneath it.” I sighed and it turned into a groan. “As soon as this is done, I’ll head home too.”
Glancing over my shoulder, I gave her my most stern You better listen to me look and watched her burst out laughing.
“What?” I asked when she looked at me with a wobbly smile.
“You have green dots all over your face, and I’m not even gonna point out the state your t-shirt is in—or your hair, for that matter. I’ll only say this: you’re officially a work of art now.”
I could imagine the mess I’d made on my t-shirt, but my face was news to me. “Oddly, I’m gonna take that as a compliment, and…well, paint splatters,” I mumbled with a sigh as I wiped my forehead with my arm. “Even my face muscles are tired—how the hell did that happen?”
“Beats me. My face is fine, but my ass is pretty sore.”
“Well,” I started, making a face. “I’m not sure what you’ve been doing when my back is turned, but…” Before I could finish, I saw Sally’s expression and couldn’t hold back my laughter.
“God, that came out wrong!” she groaned, looking at the ceiling. “We sat on the floor for almost two straight hours, it was inevitable—”
“I know, I know. My ass is hurting, too, and it’s not just my ass—every inch of my body hurts. I’m just heading toward delirious, so I’m gonna laugh like a lunatic regardless of whether what you’re saying is funny or not. Get out of here so I can finish and get to my beloved shower and bed.”
Sally was a dark-haired, dark-eyed, always smiling twenty-one-year-old and had been the fifteenth applicant for the barista/everything-else-I’ll-need-you-to-do job. It had been a love-at-first-sight kind of thing. To save myself from the headache, I’d opted not to post about the job online, or anywhere, really. I’d only mentioned it to a few friends so they could ask around to see if someone they knew needed a job, and I’d also asked a few other people I’d worked with at my last job as the manager at Black Dots Coffee House before I had quit when I thought Gary was going to let me use the place. Word had gotten out, and I’d ended up talking to a lot more people than I’d anticipated I would. None of them had felt like the right person, though.
Sally, however, was a complete stranger who had just been walking to her apartment after a dreadful blind date and had seen me struggling to carry boxes from the curb into the shop. She had offered to help, and in return, at the end of the day I’d offered her the job. It didn’t hurt that we had bonded over our mutual love of and obsession with coffee mugs, puppies, and New York in winter. If those things didn’t prove we were a perfect fit, I didn’t know what else would.
If there was one thing I wanted the most for Around the Corner—my coffee shop!—it was for it to be inviting, warm, and happy. Popular wouldn’t hurt anyone either. Even though I was well aware I was going to be the boss, I didn’t want to work with people I couldn’t get along with just because their resumés were impressive. If we were happy and friendly, I believed it’d have a different kind of pull for the customers, and Sally’s personality and cheerfulness checked all the boxes for me.
“You got it, boss.” She wiggled her newly found phone at me in goodbye and backed away toward the door. “Oh, when do you want me to come in again?”
I put the paint roller down and groaned as I straightened back up with my hand on my waist and gazed at my almost finished work. “I think I’ll be fine on my own this week, but I’ll text you for next week if I have a lot of stuff going on. Would that work for you?”
“Are you sure you don’t need help with the painting this week?”
“Yeah, I can handle it.” I just waved her off without turning because I didn’t think my body was capable of doing anything that complex at the moment. “I’ll call you if anything changes.”
“Got it. You be sure to go home before you drop dead.” With her lovely parting words, she unlocked the door and opened it. Before I heard it click shut, she called my name and I glanced at her over my shoulder, which took some serious effort on my part.
“Only two weeks or so now,” Sally said, grinning. “I’m so excited,” she squeaked, bouncing up and down.
I gave her a tired but genuinely happy smile and managed to pump my hand halfway into the air. We only had five years of age difference between us, but I was feeling every single one of the years I had on her. “Yes, definitely yay! You probably can’t tell from my face right now because I can’t move it much, but I’m excited too. Can’t wait. Woohoo.”
Her body disappeared behind the door, and all I could see was her head. “It’s gonna be great!”
“I’m crossing my fingers in my mind because I don’t think I can do it in real life.”
After she gave me an even bigger grin, her head disappeared too and the door slid shut. Since we’d boarded the windows up, I couldn’t see outside, but I knew it was already dark. Reaching for my phone in my back pocket proved to be harder than I’d expected, but I was able to check the time. I was pretty much moving in slow motion, but who needed speed on a Monday night?
Eight o’clock.
I knew I shouldn’t take a break, but my legs, feet, back, neck, arms, and everything in between were killing me. Left with no other choice, I slid down behind the counter, right where the cash register would be in just a few days, groaning and whimpering the entire time it took my ass to reach the ground. Then I dropped my head back with a loud thud and closed my eyes with a heavy sigh. Now, if I could only manage to get up, finish the last coat on the wall, and make sure I couldn’t see any damn red anymore, I could lock up then move my feet enough times to get to the subway so I could get home and step straight into the shower. If I didn’t drown myself in the shower, getting into my bed would be nice, too—and food. At some point, I’d need food.
Then it hit me ag
ain. If you ignored that I was dying a slow death from all kinds of aches, Sally was right—I was getting really close to the opening day. Ever since I had taken a job at a local coffee shop when I was eighteen, I knew I wanted to open my own place. Something that belonged just to me. Not only that, but it would also be where I belonged. And that would be a first as well. As cheesy as it sounded, there was something about the idea of my own place that had always lifted my heart when I daydreamed about it.
Just as I felt myself drifting off, the front door opening and closing with a soft click jolted me awake. I had completely forgotten that I hadn’t locked it after Sally left. Thinking she had left something behind, I tried to get up. When my legs didn’t want to cooperate, I had to get on my hands and knees with much effort and then held on to the counter to pull myself up.
“What did you forget?” I asked, and it came out half as a groan and half as a whimper.
Finding my cousin, Bryan, just on the other side of the counter was not the best surprise I could’ve wished for. At his unexpected appearance, I tried to come up with something to say, but I was completely tongue-tied. He tapped the counter with his knuckles and took a good look around. So far, I had ignored every single one of his calls and had even turned off my phone when his threatening texts had started to get a little out of hand.
“Bryan.”
His eyes only moved to me when he was done with his perusal and you could easily see that he wasn’t happy.
“I see you already got comfortable,” he said, the anger obvious in his voice.
“Bryan, I don’t think—”
“Yes,” he interrupted, taking a step forward. “Yes, you don’t think. You didn’t think. I’m not going to let this go, Rose. Surely, that’s obvious. You don’t deserve this place. You’re not family, not really, you know that. You’ve always known that. And having that lawyer behind you will change nothing.” His gaze fell to my hands. “I see you’re not even wearing a wedding ring. Who do you think you’re fooling?”
I gritted my teeth and balled my fists behind the counter. If I could just hit him once. Just once. Oh, the pleasure it would give me.
“I’m working. I’m not gonna wear something so precious to me while I’m painting. This is pointless, I think you should leave, Bryan.”
“I will when I’m ready.”
“I don’t want to argue with you. You don’t see me as family so that makes us strangers. I don’t have to explain myself to a stranger.”
He shrugged. “Who is arguing? I only wanted to drop by to let you know that you shouldn’t get comfortable here. We’ll be seeing each other more. Your lawyer might have managed to stop me from taking this place from you, for now, but I don’t give up that easily. Since I already know that your marriage is nothing but a lie, all I have to do is wait and prove it.”
“I know you think—”
“Good luck with that,” someone said and with a jolt, I turned my head and locked eyes with Jack. The one that was my husband.
Oh, jeez.
It was not my night, that was for sure. If Jodi had walked in with bouquets of roses in her hands to congratulate me on the coffee shop, I didn’t think I’d have been as surprised as I was. I had successfully continued to ignore the memory of the day I’d gotten married to this specific stranger, and since he hadn’t been in the city for eight or nine days, it’d worked well—up until now. To be fair, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. We were, in fact, married so I knew I’d eventually have to see him again, but his timing was the absolute worst. If I’d had the option to choose, I’d have much preferred a phone call where I could make my case much more easily before we had to face each other.
Before I could say anything, he focused on Bryan. “Since I don’t think you’re here to congratulate us, I’m asking you to leave my wife alone.”
Bryan had to take a step away from the counter when Jack almost got in his face.
“So you do know you have a wife then. From what I heard you weren’t even in the country.”
“Excuse me, Mr. Coleson, my apologies. I didn’t know by marrying your cousin I’d have to share my schedule with you as well. I’ll remedy that as soon as possible.”
I really wanted to snort, but managed to hold it in.
Jack continued. “Since you’re already here I like to take this opportunity to repeat what I told you before. I noticed that every time you’re around my wife you’re making her uncomfortable and unhappy. I really don’t think I like it, Bryan. I’m not sure how many times you need me to repeat myself. But I’ll say it again: I don’t want to see you around her.”
Since I couldn’t see Jack’s expression with his back to me, I watched the muscle in Bryan’s jaw twitch and then he forced a smile onto his face.
“I was just on my way out anyway. I said what I came here to say, right, Rose?”
I said nothing.
Jack said nothing.
Bryan let out an insincere chuckle. “I’ll leave you two love birds alone. And later you and I will have a chat, Jack.”
Jack followed Bryan all the way up to the door and made sure to lock it after him.
Groaning, I closed my eyes.
“This was a good lesson on why I should never forget to lock the door.”
I opened my eyes and he was standing right there. Right in front of me where Bryan had stood only a few minutes ago. I wasn’t sure if he was the better option.
“Rose,” Jack said as a greeting. Just Rose.
For a brief moment, I didn’t know what to say. I was fairly sure it was the first time he had called me by just my name and not Miss Coleson when we were alone. When we had attended that meeting with Jodi and Bryan, I was just Rose, but the second he’d walked me to the elevators after we were done there, I was back to being Miss Coleson. I supposed since I wasn’t technically a Coleson anymore, using my first name was the appropriate choice.
Also, dammit, what a sight he was for my sore eyes. Despite the late hour, he was wearing a suit: dark grey slacks and jacket, white button-down, and a black tie. It was simple, but it still packed an expensive punch. Considering what I looked like in that moment, it was a pretty hard punch, too.
In that first glance, he was nowhere near being my type. I wasn’t into the broody and aloof who didn’t like using their words all that much, as if you weren’t worthy of a conversation in their eyes. Definitely wasn’t a fan of the fancy, rich types who came from money and grew up assuming they owned everything and everyone in their vicinity; I’d met my fair share of them living with the Colesons, and we just didn’t mesh well. Other than that, I had nothing personal against them. So, yes, Jack Hawthorne wasn’t my type. However, that didn’t mean I couldn’t appreciate how good he looked with stubble, that sharp jawline, his unique and captivating blue eyes, or the fact that he had a body that wore suits extremely well. No, my issue with my new husband wasn’t his looks—it was his personality.
That’s how the universe works: it gives you the one thing you said you’d never want.
“Jack…you came back.” Given my half-dead state, that was the best answer I could come up with, pointing out the obvious. Considering I hadn’t seen or talked to him since the day he left me in that car, I felt like I had every right to be surprised.
With the look he gave me, like I was so beneath him, a knot of dread formed in my stomach. I had plenty of self-confidence, but guys like him always excelled at making me feel less than. Dealing with Bryan hadn’t made things easier either.
“Did you think I would disappear? Was this the first time he showed up here? Your cousin.”
I nodded.
“Good. He won’t come back.”
That didn’t sound ominous at all.
“We need to talk,” he continued, completely unaware of my nerves.
Hands gripping the counter for support, I nodded again and tried my best to stand straight.
The guy didn’t beat around the bush, that was for sure. He wasn’t exactly a conver
sationalist, either, from what I’d learned so far. Thankfully, that would work in my favor this time around, because even though I had not been looking forward to seeing him, I’d been getting myself ready for this conversation ever since his parting words to me after the ceremony. A lot of mirror practice sessions had taken place. I was sure, he was there to tell me he wanted a divorce, and I was dead set on changing his mind.
“Yes, we do need to talk,” I agreed once I was sure my knees wouldn’t give out on me.
I didn’t know if it was because he wasn’t expecting me to agree so quickly or because of something else, but he looked taken aback. I ignored it and started my speech.
“I know why you’re here. I know what you came to say, and I’m gonna ask you not to say it, at least not before I finish what I need to say. Okay, here goes nothing. You’re the one who came to me with this offer. Well, I came to your office, but technically you were the one who lured me to your office.”
His eyebrows slowly rose. “Lured?”
“Let me say this. You started this thing. I was making peace with the situation, was even looking for a new job, but you changed things. Your offer changed things. I’ve come here every day since we made our deal. I’ve been working nonstop and now it’s too real to let go. So, I can’t do it. I’m sorry, but I can’t sign the papers. Instead, I have a different offer for you, and I really want you to consider it.”
With every word out of my mouth, his brows furrowed deeper, his expression turning murderous. I still pushed through before he could get a word in, call me on my bullshit, and mess up my thought process.
“I’ll go to as many events as you want me to go to, no limits—as long as it’s after I close the coffee shop, of course. I’ll also cook for you. I don’t know if you cook or not, but I can cook for you and save you the trouble. Free coffee,” I added excitedly when the thought randomly crossed my mind. How had I not thought of that? “Free coffee for two years. Whenever you come in, whatever you want, however many times a day. Pastries would be free, too. And, I know this is going to sound a little silly, but hear me out. It doesn’t seem like you’re the most…sociable person—”