Page 47 of Rosabel and the Billionaire Beast

A gasp escaped. I rotated the other direction and scooted closer to the window for a better look.

“What now?” Duncan muttered.

“That house!”

“You’ve never seen a house before?”

“Shut up,” I said. “This one is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

At least, not in person.

I couldn’t get enough. It was a Queen Anne Victorian, buttery yellow with crinkle-cut siding, a tower situated atop its circular porch, and burgundy gables. The elaborate dream home was encircled by a low wrought-iron fence above a stone retaining wall.

Longing brimmed within me. I craved a view of the interior. Or better yet, to sell the small bungalow I’d lived in for the past twenty-seven years of my existence, pack everything up and haul it here to take up residence instead.

That could work for Dad. Or…maybe not. But it’d work for me, that was for sure.

Even as we passed, I rotated in my seat, not wanting to let the structure out of my sight.

Too soon, it was behind us.

“Oh, my goodness,” I said, patting Duncan’s knee repeatedly. “Did you see that house? I’ve seen places like that in pictures, but in person? It’s stunning.”

Duncan didn’t reply. He was too busy staring at my hand, which had apparently settled on his leg.

I jerked my hand away and spoke to the driver.

“Clive! Turn around, we have to go back!”

Clive chuckled from the driver’s seat, but Duncan shifted and cleared his throat. “My family is expecting us,” he said with his attention back on his tablet once more.

His voice sounded slightly off. Patches of red climbed the sides of his throat.

What was his deal? Was it because I’d touched his leg?

Or was he really just annoyed that I wanted to take a minor detour?

I gave him a playful shove. “I can’t believe you’re this impartial. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me there was a house like that on the way to your parents’, after I gushed over housesjust like that oneon the way here.”

Then again, apparently, there was a lot he was keeping from me.

Duncan’s lips betrayed the slightest trace of amusement. His eyes twinkled at me.Twinkled.

“That’s not the only one around here. Just wait until we go downtown.”

Excitement speared through me. There were MORE?

“Let’s go,” I said. “Right now.”

I was probably overdoing it, especially since this was Duncan I was trying to connect with, but still. That house. I couldn’t get over it.

He held my gaze with a bemused tenderness that I wasn’t used to. It caught me so off guard that it locked me in place. So we sat there, staring at each other.

It took longer than it should have before I managed to look away.

Clive drove through the rest of the small town, turning at a fork in the road marked by a series of electric poles providing power to nearby buildings and a large sign that saidStuart’s Grocery.

After a few more miles, we pulled into a lengthy drive hidden from the road by its own personal forest. A two-level, statuesque Colonial home was the destination, dated, but in excellent condition. Flower boxes spilling with begonias and popcorn-like hydrangeas lined the cobblestone sidewalks’ edges.

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