Page 54 of Rosabel and the Billionaire Beast

He drummed his fingers on the door frame. Seconds passed before he angled his body toward me. “I couldn’t believe mymom emailed me in the first place, and that they actually spoke to me in there.”

He hadn’t expected them to talk to him?

“But they wouldn’t let you apologize for…whatever the mishap was?” I asked.

Assuming he’d been about to apologize. It’d sounded that way to me.

For Duncan, this must be serious. I’d never heard him utter the wordsI’m sorryin all the time we’d spent together. And here he’d said it three times in a short amount of time. First to Pat, then to his parents, and then to me just moments ago.

Maybe he really was taking my request seriously.

“It’s okay,” he said. “Today’s visit was the first attempt. That’s another reason I wanted to come here—and to have you with me. Remember the deal I mentioned to my parents?”

I nodded.

“There’s a house nearby that has significant sentimental value for my grandma. It kind of played a part in what happened between us, and I thought maybe if I bought the house for her, the gesture could be just what we needed to mend our relationship.”

So you do have a heart,I wanted to say.

But that probably wasn’t the best thing right now.

“That sounds really sweet of you,” I said instead, discounting the fact that he’d just told me he wanted to buy his grandma a freaking HOUSE for her birthday. Like it was a plant or something practical.

“I’ve been watching the location for a while now, and it was listed recently. I contacted the seller—or her assistant, anyway—and he said she’s agreed to meet with me while we’re here.”

“That’s fantastic.”

Judging by the release in his shoulders and his gradual slouch, his mood lightened. “Yeah, I think she’s really going to love it.”

I settled into the silence, smiling when Clive cranked up some “Day Tripper”. Singing along with the words, I allowed my head to tip from side to side, and basked in the oddity of meeting Duncan’s family versus how seeing my family after three years would have gone so differently.

My mom would have squeezed me so hard I wouldn’t have been able to breathe. Dad would have led me around the house to take in his latest Beatles paraphernalia, making sure I hadn’t forgotten his old electric guitar from his garage band teenage years. He would have hustled me into his study to pore over new books we’d each read and initiated a heartfelt discussion about world events or some author or another.

Tears stung my eyes. Had Duncan’s parents ever embraced him?

I couldn’t believe he’d never been hugged by them. What happened between them to make his parents—his ownmother—so cold?

FOURTEEN

rosabel

I didn’t wantto deal with Duncan yet this morning. Running helped me get my head in the game, and from the way meeting his family had gone yesterday, and then the complete contrast in having dinner with Nicole, Pat, and Clive and how friendly they were with us, I couldn’t handle anything else until I had my dose of adrenaline.

Plus, the lake was calling my name. Not to swim—but to explore, breathe in the mountain air, and take in some sights?

Yeah, I needed my run.

Still, avoidance was best. I decided rather than going out the front door, I’d slip downstairs to the side door that would take me directly to the driveway. Hopefully, I wouldn’t see him until well after I’d gotten back, showered, and had braced myself for the impact.

The house was quiet, aside from the sounds of Nicole and Pat in the kitchen, and I took that as a good sign. I padded down the carpeted stairs, energy pumping, feeling all kinds of sneaky as I crept to the second staircase that led to the house’s ground level.

A pool table sat in the center of the basement. The windows to its side overlooked a second deck whose base was covered with the morning’s fog. I passed the couches facing a silent flatscreen, passed the mini bar, and had the door leading outside in my sights when the sounds of something clanking stole my attention.

The door to the left of my exit was wide open. Light gaped from within. That door had been among the many that had been closed during my brief perusal last night before I’d gone to bed—I’d wanted to find a way I could sneak out without Duncan noticing.

Guess that had been wishful thinking.

This was a home gym with a huge mirror lining the back wall, a row of dumbbells and hand weights on stands in front of it, and Duncan pumping iron in front of that.

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