by Jody Kaye
Ross pushed inside of her, grunting, “Rose,” with a satisfaction she’d hadn’t heard from a man before, like he’d been waiting for this as long as she had. The cry that came from her was as familiar as the one that had emanated behind the wall of her nursery. There was a peace to it as her heart fell to pieces with conflicting emotions.
Ross waited for her body to adjust before drawing her right leg up, holding her thigh in his light grasp. Ross pulled out and pushed back in. Rose’s back arched up off the bed and she moaned with pleasure that encouraged him on. He caught a pink-tipped nipple between his teeth. Biting, blowing, sucking, soothing it between his lips. Her inner walls tightened around his cock and he withdrew again, not giving her the easy satisfaction she sought. He wondered if she’d call out his name as she came or if it would get choked back as he rode her to that peak.
Her eyes had fluttered closed again so he tucked his face to her neck, pressing his nose to her throat and tasting her skin as he thrust deep. He inhaled a simple floral scent, the tang of sweat now intertwining with the musk of his cologne as they moved together. The combination was an elixir, continuing to drug him into believing that having sex with Rose was right. She was his wife. He could’ve been taking her like this all along, feeling her body grip his, moving together as one.
His voice had been laden with honey when asking if making love was what she’d wanted all along. Although, Ross was unsure if it was for his benefit or hers.
Given the circumstances, it was difficult to ask for more when Rose made it clear from the start that their marriage was for their mutual benefit, not anyone’s satisfaction. Ross couldn’t be satisfied living with Rose this way. Sure he wanted her body, but not if it didn’t encapsulate her heart. He pushed away any belief that she’d give herself away like this to someone else and what was happening between them wasn’t more. Those feelings he’d deal with later, after he’d had the chance to take Rose this once.
Rose’s fingertips dug into him. One pair of nails clawed at his shoulder. The other spurred on his hips like needles pricking his ass. She almost forced the rhythm of their bodies, bringing them back together when they were separated too long and luxuriously for her liking.
Damn, she was demanding. Ross pulled out all the way to prove that point. Rose whimpered then screamed as he forced himself back in to the hilt. He stayed buried there enjoying the sensation of her taking all he had left to give.
“Ross.” The quietest whisper escaped her throat as the orgasm rolled in a hard wave over her. He rolled his hips lifting himself to his elbows to allow her lungs to expand. After she sucked in full breath, Ross kissed her again, demanding the lips he’d denied himself.
He rolled, shifting his weight, wrapping his strong arms around her back and pulling Rose on top of him without breaking their connection. She sat on his lap with her legs wrapped around his waist. Their chests heaving while both stared at the other in disbelief. He tangled his hands up into her long blonde hair and then let it fall down again as his knuckle grazed her cheek softly.
Rose jolted awake at the tinny pitching sound of her left hand clanging against the scrolling brass head frame. She shot up in bed, clutching the covers to her bare breasts.
Daylight peered through the curtains. The apartment was eerily quiet and moreover, it was clean.
Glass from the shattered beer bottle was cleaned up and the liquid stain had begun to fade, seeping into the floorboards. However, her bridesmaid’s gown was hanging on a peg by the door mocking Rose with a large brown stain on the front that had set in overnight. Ross’s coat was missing. So were his bags and packed crates of clothes. The weathered Steinbeck novel no longer sat on the lonely shelf he’d built, awaiting company.
Each of the four chairs had been pushed underneath the table. Beyond that, the bathroom door was closed. The counters were clear. No wallet, watch, or keys. The only thing that remained, tucked in a corner by the sink and the dish soap, was the word of the day calendar that didn’t even have the correct dates. It was as useless to Ross as Rose was. It was as if he’d washed his hands of her and left the past behind him.
Rose slid off the side of the bed, pulling the sheets along with her. Her feet hit the icy floor and she lifted the curtain. There were no stirrings outside. The white truck was missing as if it had never been parked in the stable yard. Rose understood that it hadn’t belonged here the same way she hadn’t belonged in the mansion anymore.
She let out the breath she’d been holding.
They’d made love for hours and she’d known by the way Ross held her that he’d be gone before sunrise. Rose’s heart hadn’t wanted to believe what her brain already understood. She’d always wanted her marriage to be more. He was a good man and she’d hardly given more than a casual glance at trying to become a better woman until she met him. They were far too different and Rose couldn’t fault Ross for cutting his losses. Ross should have the pretty wife and the beautiful life in the little house on the outskirts of town.
Rose was so very tired of wanting that dream for herself. Exhausted, understanding what others failed to see; sometimes keeping a grasp on that silver spoon was so close to sweeping cinders that the princess was the servant and the servant was free.
The springs squeaked as she climbed back into in the antique brass bed. It hadn’t lost all the heat from overnight. She burrowed into the warm pillows and looked one last time around the room. All traces of Ross had vanished. And Rose had nothing to comfort her except the smell of his body that lingered on her skin.
She shut her eyes and pulled the blankets over her head, hoping that if she slumbered the remnants of peace she’d found for those few months would weave themselves back into her dreams.
The morning Rose finally left Ross’s bed for good was soggy and raining. Smudges of black mascara stained the pillowcases. The bedding had begun to smell of sweat from her fitful inability to sleep, animal dander and the hay and oats from the times she’d perked enough to attend to Lavender.
She balled up the sheets, trudging through the barren fields up to the mansion to wash them and took a long shower to clean herself for the first time in days. Her hair was a knotted, tangled mess that she wanted to cut off, but she dried it and pinned it back up.
Staring at her reflection in the mirror Rose hardly remembered herself. Her eyes were bloodshot and thick black circles encased her eyelids. Her cheeks were gaunt from not eating and her tongue was fuzzy and dry from not drinking. The smell of fresh-baked banana nut muffins wafting from the kitchen reminded Rose she should be hungry. The next step on her road to uncovering who she was meant to be may be eating, though, she’d find something else entirely. Rose moved the laundry into the dryer with an empty stomach that allowed her to disregard the hole in her heart.
If Ross hadn’t come back yet, he wasn’t going to. And if he did, she didn’t want him to have another reason to be angry with her. To be hateful and call her spoiled. If he’d been gone this long, Ross wasn’t going to come back pledging his undying love.
She loved him. She always would and she wanted him to be proud of her still. But what she wanted more than anything was to be proud of herself. Rose lay on that bed realizing each time she put Lavender first it made her a better person. Soon she understood that, with Ross’s help, she’d overcome something that seemed insurmountable at the time. She had enough drive in her that the attack was slowly but surely fading into an experience from her past and it showed Rose that she’d get over the next hurdle. She hadn’t thought anything would be worse than enduring Lathan, until her feelings for Ross grew stronger and she was forced to experience the loss of her one true love.
She’d get over this too. It would take a lot longer and she worried that the first time she saw him it would set her course back.
Rose picked through her closets and packed a suitcase. She bagged the clothes she never wore and labeled them for charity. She found a wrench and piece by piece she hauled the things she needed of her own and wh
at she valued down the circular stairs, out the manse’s front door and drove them down the road to the apartments.
On the last trip down the staircase with the clean sheets an exhausted Rose placed her checkbook on Eric’s desk. She’d withdrawn enough funds to keep Lavender and stop by Richardson’s Market to fill her pantry. The rest she’d figure out.
Unsure of how to fold a fitted sheet Rose decided to remake the bed. Lifting the mattress to tuck the swath of fabric under, her hand touched a piece of metal. She pulled it up more to find Grandy’s ring and slipped it on her hand.
It dawned on Rose that she’d missed Christmas and the New Year was days away.
“May I please see the Edwards’ contracts?” Rose handed a manila folder back the secretary as she poured over the latest Kingsbrier financials.
“Certainly, Ms. Kingsbrier. Is there anything else?”
“No, ah… Yes! Do you like chocolate, Thandie?” she inquired, looking up and poking a pencil eraser into her tight French twist to scratch an itch.
The woman stared back at her, dumbstruck.
It was the same look that the office staff gave Rose on January second when she’d shown up for work at the holding company, assumed the empty office next to Eric’s, and asked to see the most recent contracts her father had negotiated.
“I can get you chocolate?” the assistant replied, unsure of the request.
Rose probably shouldn’t have used their jump-when-called mentality against them, but whatever get-it-done driver Eric instilled at Kingsbrier Holdings had allowed her significant leeway. They seemed to do their jobs efficiently and without much supervision or intrusion on the part of middle management. She’d be surprised if Eric had been apprised of her new-found role. Which was fine with Rose. She couldn’t have gotten this far without knowing that her father’s frequent travel meant not only his absence at the ranch, but also in the office.
Rose pointed her pencil. “You. Me. Three-ish. Coffee and Godiva. Reserve the lounge, so we can get to know one another where it’s not so stuffy, okay? And unless you have a preference, can you please get the dark stuff?”
“Sure.” Thandie smiled, at ease. “I’ve never had a principal ask me to coffee before, or buy me chocolate.”
“Then you’re lucky to be stuck with me because we’re going to do this a lot,” Rose said, scribbling a note on her blotter to buy the surprise herself next time. The accounting department had her sign a half-dozen documents so she’d have a paycheck.
Rose’s cheek bunched at her newfound confidence. While what she’d done to get behind this desk was devious and underhanded, her pride in what she’d accomplished since shone through.
Initially somewhat intimidated by her presence, the staff scurried about gathering all the information Rose requested, never once questioning her authority to do so. And with Eric out of town, again, their can-do behavior had given Rose three days to pour over the six months’ worth of documentation she’d missed out on when Eric stopped leaving the holding company’s balance sheet on his desk at the mansion.
After annotating her copies and double checking line items for accuracy, the numbers aligned and Rose forgave her father for becoming mistrustful. He did have every right to be angry at her duplicity. She’d surely get an earful when he returned to the Houston office. Despite that, Rose was done permitting Eric to either push aside her talent or use her for his financial gain. If he turned her away, he’d have to do a significant amount of damage control with their employees.
Rose was making choices about her life. It was time to take the bull by the horns. The losses she’d suffered brought Rose to her knees, but there were good people out there who’d inherited less bootstrapping their way to success. It was about time she stopped playing victim to circumstance. There’d be no more moping about. She wasn’t Rapunzel in a tall tower. Her intelligence was her rope to escape and Rose was determined to use it to save herself. That was the lesson the knight in shining armor taught her. He hadn’t been there to love her, but to show Rose how to love herself.
On the second day, Rose arrived and politely asked Thandie, who seemed to be about her age, for her help. By five o’clock the stack of papers she’d brought Rose made her eyes cross. Rose left, quickly changing into her riding gear when she got to her tiny apartment. She and Lavender zig-zagged the fields at breakneck speed with a sense of freedom that Rose never felt before.
The following morning Rose fingered the engraved lettering on a nameplate that appeared on her desk. Her index fingers resting on the r in Kingsbrier. There was so much more to her than that name and so many letters that everyone should see on the end of it.
“What do I call you now… Ms. Kingsbrier-Cavanaugh?”
In a girlish fashion, Rose had fallen for her new name the moment it spilled from Ross’s lips. It was modern and elegant, though, she’d prefer ‘Mrs’. to ‘Ms.’.
Thandie, who’d left on her mission to find chocolate, all of a sudden ducked her head back in.
“You’re father’s here,” she whispered with excitement.
Rose square her shoulders and stood to straighten her suit. She pressed a hand to her updo to make sure that there were no errant hairs escaping.
Eric strolled in rather nonchalantly and closed the door behind him. He took in her appearance, seeming relieved that she appeared professional, and offered for them to sit.
Rose licked her lips, prepared for battle.
“You disappeared again,” he remarked unfazed at the scatter of proprietary documents fanning over the desk.
“You could have found me, Eric, had you cared to look. I’ve lived in the smaller apartment at the stables for months now.”
He inhaled through his nose, “And I take it you’ve decided to work here now? What does your husband think of this?”
“We’re no longer together.”
“What do I owe him?”
“Nothing more than you agreed upon in the first place. A reference. His good name. He won’t take your money. I haven’t seen him since before the holidays. It’s none of his business what I do. I’m my own person. I’m here because I need a job. I need a purpose that’s more than what you’ve given me.”
“And so you’ve decided to look for it here?” he remarked as if this was another whim.
Rose leaned forward. “You’re damn straight I’m looking for it here, Daddy. This is mine to build on and I know more about this company than you choose to believe. I’m its future. No one else. You can teach me what you think is important or you can leave me alone stumbling to find my way. That’s your choice. But every day when you walk by this office and I will be sitting here. If you’d like me to earn my paycheck then give me something to do of value to Kingsbrier.”
“You should be at home.” Eric shook his head.
“I belong here. If you stopped fighting me you’d understand that I’m not suited for marriage.” She winced.
Eric’s brow furrowed. He reached into his breast pocket. “I found your bank book.”
She held up her hand. “Were you ever poor, daddy? Did you ever have less than everyone else or have you always been a member of the club?”
“I earned my membership,” he conceded “though, I’ve never known hunger.”
“I like my little spot. My horse.” She huffed and let out a small laugh. “I like coming here and contributing. Maybe someday that will change, but for now what I need from you is to respect that. Keep my trust money. There’s over two years until I’m twenty-five,” she conceded Eric’s point from the fall. “You said yourself you should have waited to give it to me until I was older. Let me prove I’m responsible.”
“I get the impression you have nothing to prove to me,” he remarked candidly.
“I don’t. But if you want a shot at leaving a legacy to someone and a relationship with your daughter than what you say right now will prove it to me.”
“We’ll try this. On a temporary basis.”
“Thank you…”
Negotiations accomplished, Rose jumped up to shake her father’s hand. “We need to speak about the Edward’s agreements.”
“I’m meeting Edward tomorrow,” Eric straightened his cuffs.
“Then we’ll have plenty of time before you leave for Kingsbrier tonight. Will Lathan be attending?”
“He does, it’s good for business.” Eric’s lip quirked at her interest in the younger man.
“Edward’s business or ours? I’m suggesting that we go offsite. I’ve heard murmurings that the younger Mr. Edward makes the female staff uncomfortable.
“I find that hard to believe. Lathan’s a gentleman. We had a delightful dinner with him and his father.”
“You’ve never once considered why I disappeared that night, have you? If I was having such a good time, how anything evolved to the point that I’d elope with—” she couldn’t say Ross’s name. Missing him hurt so much. “Why now that it’s over I still prefer the solitude near the stable… Eric, I am the one who is taking over Kingsbrier when you retire. I won’t fight over it anymore or let you diminish me the way Lathan tried to. I will show up tomorrow and the next day and the next. I will find a way to see every contract and report that you hide from me. And I’m advising you, before we have an incident where the police become involved, that Lathan Edward is not to be trusted or welcomed at this office.”
Eric swallowed. “It’s a significant accusation to make against a man in good standing.”
“It is. You can call me a liar. We’ve never seen each other for who we really are. I’m sure my past transgressions caused uproar, albeit no permanent damage to this company. If you allow Lathan here are you positive that his, shall we call them ‘lapses in judgment’, won’t ruin our reputation or that of our employees?”
“I’ll think about it.”