Page 80 of A Royal Arrangement
Chapter Twenty-Six
Rosalie
Rosalie had eaten an entire pan of Gloria’s cinnamon rolls over the few days since she had last talked to Colin. His kiss told her he had feelings for her, but his words when they were out on the boat were contrary to that.
She didn’t know which to believe.
There was one thing she never had to second-guess—that Gloria’s cinnamon rolls would be flaky, gooey, sweet perfection. Men were much trickier to understand.
She readied her heart to see Colin as she walked downstairs for dinner. But when she reached the landing on the first floor, she didn’t see Colin. It was Isabella’s parents who were walking out of the opposite stairway toward her.
“Bev? Richard?” Rosalie walked over and pulled Beverly in for a quick hug. “Are you staying for dinner?”
When she stepped back, Beverly wore a downturned smile, her lips pressed together and her eyes full of remorse.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Rosalie looked between Colin’s in-laws, searching for an answer.
Beverly gently patted her arm. “You should really talk to Colin, dear.”
“We hope to see you again soon.” Richard smiled at her.
“I hope so too.” Rosalie made her best effort to return the smile.
Beverly gave her arm one more gentle squeeze before walking over to her husband and wrapping her arm through his. They waved one last goodbye to her before leaving.
Rosalie took a deep breath once she was alone. Whatever Bev thought she needed to talk to Colin about must have been big and serious. The sad look on her face had told Rosalie that much, but she didn’t know what to expect.
It’s not like there can be anything worse than him kissing me and then telling me he didn’t know what our relationship would look like moving forward.
While she walked to the dining room, her body buzzed in nervous anticipation. She searched for a happy memory, trying to calm her racing heart. When her thoughts landed on her kiss with Colin, the memory did its job by filling her with hope and a swell of happiness, but it did nothing to calm the rampant beating of her heart. She wasn’t sure her heart would ever beat normally while kissing him or eventhinkingof kissing him, because their chemistry was simply that explosive.
As soon as she stepped through the doors and saw Colin sitting at the table, she couldn’t help but stare. In her opinion, he was the most handsome man to walk the earth. But her attraction to him ran far deeper than just his looks. It was the way he bit his bottom lip while concentrating during a game of chess. It was all the times he’d called her sunshine. It was watching him sit down at a tea party with his daughter. It was him speaking to the Edgemont people with such kindness. It was the way he noticed the little things. It waseverything.
As she approached the table, she took in the dark bags beneath his eyes. The expression he wore on his face looked apprehensive for someonewho normally had so much confidence. Rosalie hated to add more to his plate when it already appeared he was going through something that was keeping him up at night, but she needed to talk to him for her sanity.
“Colin, could we talk before we eat?”
He took in a long breath through his nose and slowly exhaled it before responding. “Sure.” Colin got one of the servants to sit next to Addie as she ate her dinner before they walked to a nearby room. He walked to the wall opposite them and thrust aside the curtains, letting light flood the room.
She stood, shifting her weight back and forth while she waited for him to join her. As soon as he stood across from her, Rosalie couldn’t contain her question any longer. “What’s wrong?” she blurted.
“I’m not sure what you mean." His words sounded more like a question than a statement.
“I ran into Bev and Richard on their way out. They seemed upset, and when I asked what was wrong, they suggested I talk to you.” Rosalie clasped her hands behind her back to keep from waving them wildly in the air as she spoke.
Colin rubbed the back of his neck as his gaze moved to the floor.
“Is it something between us? What happened?” she said the words in a whisper, emotion raw in her throat.
Colin looked up at her with a sincere look in his eyes. He moved a few steps forward and took her hand in his. “It’s not you; it’s me.”
She pulled her hand back and crossed her arms across her chest, trying to hold herself together with every ounce ofstrength she had left. “That’s what everyone always says when they’re trying to make the other person feel better.”
“I truly mean it.” Colin looked at her with so much intention that she almost believed him. “I care about you, Rosalie.” He ran his hand along her cheek so tenderly that she could barely feel it at all.
“I feel like there’s abutcoming.” He didn’t say anything, so she continued talking. “Why did Bev say I needed to talk to you? Why were they here?”
Colin sighed as he rubbed his chin. “Addie overheard me talking to Wes yesterday. When she was on her weekly call with Richard and Bev, she asked them to define a word she heard me say.”
