Page 26 of Roses for Rosie

He is not the type to settle down with a small-town girl like me. He isn’t even the type to pause long enough for breakfast after a one-night stand. He sounded serious when he said I should call him, but what are the chances that he’s going to follow through on his promise to be there for me?

If he is going to disappear on me, I don’t want everyone to pity me. I don’t want to have to explain where he is and why I fell for his lines. Embarrassment at the mere thought of being left waiting for him like a lovesick puppy washes over me.

That isn’t me. I’ve never been in love before but when I do fall in love someday, I’m going to do it with a man who is more like me, a man I actually have a chance with. I am totally not Adam’s type. There is no way the two of us would ever work.

A third part of me wants to hug this delicious secret to myself because it is so magical, so special. My night with Adam fills me with hope unlike any I’ve felt for years. His touch set me on fire and I can’t stop thinking about it. The feeling of his lips on parts of my body that no man has ever seen, let alone touched haunts me. Thoughts of intimacy with Adam consume me.

It’s not just his physical touch though, it’s the emotional one too. Vivian is right. Nobody has ever stood up for me like that. Seeing him take on my father at the bookstore and then again the next morning stirred something deep inside me.

I’m really good at doing things on my own. I had to be when nobody else was there to help. I pride myself on being a strong, independent woman. I support myself and my father. I am a great friend to the women in this room. I handle my father better than anyone else in town. I’ve managed this juggling act without dropping any plates for years now. Not many other people can claim an accomplishment like that.

Last night showed me that it doesn’t have to be that way though. I don’t have to do it all on my own all the time. It’s okay to accept help sometimes. The way Adam stepped in and took a piece of my burden away without asking for anything in return was amazing.

What if I don’t have to do everything on my own? What if having a partner in life was an option? I’ve never even considered getting married. It’s hard to get married when your dad won’t even let you date. But visions of the two of us together: in bed, at a fancy restaurant, dancing at a fancy event, at his next book launch, cuddled up on a couch watching a movie dance through my mind.

It’s like a movie I can’t look away from. This is a whole new future, different from anything I have ever imagined and I find that I like it. I like it a lot.

I can’t tell my friends that though. Imagine how they would laugh! Sweet, naïve Rosie falling in love and planning her marriage to famous, philandering Adam Smythe after one night together sounds too much like a plot from one of Adam’s books for even me to believe it. Nevertheless, a tiny part of me really wants it to be true.

I sidestep Vivan’s question, “Last night? Nothing much. Adam drove me home and carried my dad inside.”

“And?” Vivian prods.

I blush and look at the floor.

“I saw him drop you off this morning, Rosie. You’re holding out on us.”

“Oh, ah, that,” I stammer.

“Yes, that.”

“Adam didn’t think it was safe for me to stay at home with my dad last night after the confrontation at the shop, so he took me to his hotel for the night.”

I’m a terrible liar and I know it. I never get away with anything. When I try to deceive someone, I blink uncontrollably about a hundred times a minute. I can practically feel the breeze from my fluttering eyelashes now. Vivian’s eagle eye spots my tell.

“And you slept chastely in your own room all night?” Vivian asks.

“Not exactly.”

“And where did you sleep, exactly?”

“In Adam’s room?” I say, more like a question than a statement.

“In his room?”

“OK, fine. I slept in his bed.”

Jaws drop around the room. My friends stare at me in abject shock. Their friend Rosie who has barely even kissed a guy just admitted that she spent the night in bed with a man. Not just a man – Adam Smythe.

Susie is the first to recover. “Words. I need more words. Explain yourself.”

I explain about the knitters and the broken bed, about the dirty carpet and the worn mattress that dumped us together in the middle of it. They all listen in rapt silence, soaking in the drama which has consumed the last twenty four hours of my life.

“So you woke up, tangled up with Mr. Hotter than Hell and then what happened.”

“He kissed me on the lips.”

Joanne isn’t buying that as the ending to this romance though, “And then?”

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