Page 115 of Rosabel and the Billionaire Beast

“Business?” Hazel peered at me with a smirk. “Is that the only thing between you two?”

Spots appeared in my vision. “What does that mean?”

“I’ve lived here for a few years now, and I like to work in my tower. Gives me the best view of the lake since I didn’t purchase a lot with the lake in my backyard, you know? And I see things sometimes. Wow, does that sound creepy or what?”

I laughed and slowed my pace, staring down at the lake to our right. A boat skimmed across its surface, causing ripples.

Hazel slowed as well, and together, we speed-walked.

“And you thought we were together?”

Eudora had thought the same thing. Maybe Duncan and I gave off that vibe to everyone who saw us. The women at the office, Duncan’s family, Eudora, now Hazel. Maybe some people just had a connection they couldn’t hide no matter what they did.

“Looked that way to me.”

I shook my head. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this…but…” I hesitated.

Hazel was no spy. She’d lived here longer than Duncan had. It wasn’t like she’d bought her house just to snoop on him. Something told me she was a friend.

“What is it?” Hazel asked.

“Things between Duncan and me have changed almost overnight. I don’t quite know how to handle it.”

“Changed how?”

“Less like boss and employee and more like?—”

“Boyfriend and girlfriend?” She had a little too much amusement in her tone.

“Yes! This is so different. So unexpected. I don’t really know what to do.” I couldn’t really explain the rest of the situation. How he’d treated me the way he had for so long because he’d been trying to keep me away from him, to protect me. How the man who’d threatened his friends and the women they’d fallen for could now potentially be after me next.

“But you like him, right?” Hazel asked, picking up the pace again.

I followed, jogging closer to the line of trees as a car crawled past.

“I do,” I said, experiencing a surge of freedom at the admission. Hazel wasn’t anyone from home who knew me on a personal level; she wasn’t someone from the office who’d throw my relationship with Duncan in my face at the first possible chance.

“Then what’s the problem?” Hazel veered off down a sharp turn beyond the trees and together we ran along the opposite side of the lake.

I didn’t know how to explain the nature of my relationship with Duncan. It had been on eggshells, partially because of the attraction we’d both been feeling for so long and neither of us had allowed ourselves to admit to.

Thoughts of The Pact aside, how could I go along with this change between us and trust him to stay the way he’d acted yesterday? How could I trust him to be someone I could stay close to?

His family were cold and distant to one another—I didn’t want a relationship like that. Cold and heartless could be his default setting. I couldn’t let my heart get close to him only for the flame to douse and be replaced with icebergs and bitterness. He wouldn’t go back to acting that way, would he?

“I want to make sure it’s going to last,” I said.

That seemed like the best way to summarize what I couldn’t quite put words to.

Hazel slowed to a walk again and rested a hand on her hip. I captured my breath and glanced at my watch to check my steps.

“Sounds like you really want to,” Hazel said, staring at the treetops.

I attempted to slow my breathing as we rounded the final bend that would lead us past Hazel’s and Duncan’s houses once more.

“I—yeah. If I’m getting into something, I do. I want it to last.” It hadn’t with Pete. But Duncan was so different from that relationship. His attention and affection was a force to be reckoned with, and now that he let himself show both, I realized he’d been holding himself back and trying to hide his feelings for so long.

Granted, he’d picked the worst possible way to hide those feelings, which was another reason I was so hesitant to accept things at face value.

---