Page 96 of Arrogant Playboy

Ivy’s brows pull together. “I know you can. Rosie is young, she has plans and I guess I was worried that you might derail them.” Oh. I’m not sure how to respond to that. “I’ve noticed the way your face lights up when you see her.” She has? “You seem to get on well and I’ve heard from the other girls in the office that you pop in quite regularly to have lunch with Rosie.”

“She’s a busy woman, it’s the only time we can meet to discuss the cottage,” I argue.

“I know.”

“But you’re still asking me not to pursue anything?” I question her.

Ivy stills. “Do you want to pursue something?”

“Maybe,” I tell her honestly.

Her brows raise high upon hearing my answer. “And you think Rosie wants that, too?”

How do I answer that without giving away what we are? “I don’t know.”

“I’ve never seen you not confident about a woman before,” Alex adds.

“Because he likes her,” Ivy says, staring at me in amazement.

“I think I might,” I confess.

“Fuck,” Alex curses, running his hand through his hair.

“Don’t be weird, guys, especially not you,” I say, pointing at Ivy.

She holds up her hands and shakes her head.

Then Lauren walks into the kitchen. “Do any of you know how to fix a car? Rosie’s seems to have died.”

36

ROSIE

“Leaving so soon?” Lauren asks as she sees me packing my car.

Shit. I was hoping to disappear in the early morning light back to London before anyone woke up. I crawled into bed with Daniel last night after spending hours running over all the pros and cons of the situation, and when the pros outweighed the cons, I went to his room, and true to his word, his door was unlocked, and he was passed out. I contemplated going back to my room but then he would have thought I didn’t want him, and I do, so very much. I didn’t even want sex. We had so much of it earlier in the night, but what I truly wanted was to be in his arms. I slinked over and got into the bed, he mumbled a bit, then sighed and said my name in his sleep as he pulled me in closer to him. As soon as he wrapped his arms around me, I fell asleep, the anxiety that had riddled me for the past couple of hours disappeared. Then he woke me up sliding himself into me, it was hot,so hot,and I was warm and relaxed and turned on. Then he said those three little words,I love you,and everything changed.He can’t love me.Panic raced over my body, and I sat there until he fell asleep again then jumped up and ran back tomy room where I showered and packed. And now I’ve spent the last hour trying to get this stupid car to work. When I tried to call the rental company, they weren’t open.

“I wanted to, I have a ton of stuff to get done, but I’ve been here for an hour and the car won’t start.”

“Shit,” Lauren says, scratching her head.

“I know. I’ve called the rental company, and they aren’t open.” I want to cry but I hold it in.

“I think Alex is up, should I go get him?”

“Yes, please. See if he can start it enough for me to get it back to the rental company.”

Lauren smiles and heads back inside. Moments later, Alex, Ivy, and Daniel come out.

No.

“What’s going on?” Daniel asks.

“The car won’t start,” I tell him. He indicates for me to get out and he tries, but it does the same thing, and the car still doesn’t turn on.

“Doesn’t sound good,” Alex adds.

“Maybe you should call the hire company and get them to sort it out,” Ivy suggests.

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