Page 8 of The Rhino's Rose

It’s more information than I should’ve shared, but I had to give a reason, and rejecting her again wasn’t anoption. Not sure I even could, with the mating pull hitting me hard.

Now I have her full attention for a subject that isn’t about our never-to-be-resolved mutual attraction. A safe distraction. Everyone in town will know about the new store and its owner soon anyway, and when will I get another opportunity to spend innocent time with Rose? Possibly never, since I make a conscious effort to keep physical distance between us.

“Connection to a natural underground water supply,” I answer, keeping it vague as possible.

“Different from regular plumbing?”

“Vastly. That’s probably all I should say. Don’t want to ruin the grand opening surprise.”

Continuing to stand as close as the rock I’m holding lets her, she blinks her big blue eyes up at me. Eyes that are so innocent, yet swimming with desire that’s anything but. “Do you know when that’ll be?”

“I don’t.” I also don’t know how much longer I can endure her lush breasts grazing my hands before I turn this rock into rubble. “But I better get back to work.” Taking a step back, I tip my head toward the cups she’s holding, and call up the general friendly tone I use for clients. “Thanks for the drink. Very considerate.” My experience with human women is limited, and none of it has been personal, but I’ve spent five years obsessing over the young woman in front of me. I know what disappointment looks like on her face. In her posture. And I know I’m often the reason for it, including in this moment.

Defeated frown in place, she turns and moves to the window ledge I indicated earlier. The sill is low, requiring she bend over to set down my cup. The above-the-knee pink dress she’s wearing slides up the back of her shapely legs, stopping just shy of her round bottom.

Gods, what I wouldn’t do for a gust of wind right now.

The air has been still all day, but my silent prayer is answered with a sudden breeze that catches the edge of Rose’s dress and lifts it high enough to give me a view of her full hips and juicy ass, barely covered by a pair of tiny, pale-pink panties.

Fuck me. That vision is getting pinned to the top of my memories, to be replayed on a loop, especially when I’m alone in my bedroom tonight.

The show ends as quickly as it began, her dress dropping naturally into place as she reaches around to reclaim her modesty.

I avert my gaze before she turns to face me, acting as if I’ve been contemplating the rock pile the entire time. “Heading back to Rose’s Garden now?” I ask, looking at her when she moves toward me.

“I guess I am.” More disappointment laces her soft voice, and again, I’m the one who put it there.

Can’t be helped. As her adoptive father has said many times, his sweet little Rose deserves a full, happy, human life. I’d give her the world, but I can’t give her that.

ROSE

By the time I step inside the flower shop, I’m stomping rather than walking, and the heat in my cheeks has as much to do with angry frustration as it does embarrassment. Fortunately, the only person in the store is the woman who sent me on the ridiculous mission.

“Whatever spell you put on me forced me to make a total fool of myself. The worst ever. At least when I clam up around him, I’m not making humiliating comments like I did just now, before he politely dismissed me. At least he didn’t laugh in my face. Though I’m sure he was busting a gut internally.”

From her position near the window, Lexi tilts her head to one side, then the next, her black eyebrows pulling toward the bridge of her nose. “First of all, I didnotput a spell on you that forced you to do anything. Goodwin witches may play loose with the old-school rules of magic, but there are lines we never cross, and restricting or influencing free will is one of them. And you’ve known me long enough to be very aware that I amall aboutconsent. So, whatever you said to Cornelius, it was entirely because you wanted to.”

“Then what was that swirly woo-woothing you did in front of my open mouth, if not a spell to loosen my tongue?”

Lexi’s eyebrows dart up so fast and high, it’s a wonder they don’t shoot right off of her face. “That was a breath-freshening spell!” First, she snorts, then full-out laughs, the kind that comes from the belly, which she holds with one arm while rocking with unbridled delight.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“I do love a good teasing, but I never twist the truth.”

“Ugh, I know,” I say, sighing. “Want this? My stomach is so twisted up, I don’t think I could keep it down.” I hand her the untouched drink, then drop into a chair behind the counter and lean forward, burying my face in my dress. “Hey!” I jolt upright and point at her. “What about that out-of-nowhere wind that whipped my dress up? Did you do that?”

Leaning on the opposite side of the counter and toying with the drink straw, she shakes her head. “I had nothing to do with it. Could’ve been someone else’s magic, or just nature’s perfect timing. Either way, it definitely worked in your favor. Cornelius’s tiny eyes nearly popped right out of his head. He couldn’t stop staring at your ass!”

“He did not stare at it.”

“Oh, he most certainly did, Rose. I was watching the whole time. That big hunk is definitely attracted to you. Now tell me—what delicious things did you say to that horny man?”

“Lexi! You do not know he’s…horny.”The last word comes out as a squeak.

Once again, Lexi’s free-spirited laughter fills the store, then she makes a hand-job type gesture in front of her nose. “Does he not have a big, thickhornprotruding from the middle of his face?”

“Oh, well, yes.” Pretty sure my face couldn’t get any hotter. I’m probably as red as the romantic long-stem roses in the cooler behind me.

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