Page 76 of Monster Among the Roses (Fairy Tale Quartet 1)

“Have I told you I could live here?” I asked, abandoning her hair to run my fingers down the side of her arm. “I could so totally live in this pool house for the rest of my life.”

Her chuckle vibrated through my chest. “Yeah, you’ve mentioned it once or twice before.”

I turned onto my side to face her, our noses only inches apart. “I want to live here with you.” That was a new part of my declaration: the addition of her.

It made her cheeks radiate with pleasure. “Really?”

I started to grin over the daydream until something in her expression made me pause. I’d just been spouting wishes aloud, but the way she brightened had me wondering if she thought I’d just suggested we actually move in together. Freezing, I stared in her eyes, not sure what to say.

Living with her in this pool house would be an absolute dream come true. There was no denying that. But I couldn’t see how it could become a true possibility. First of all, it wasn’t my place to be inviting her to live with me here, and even if her father did allow us the opportunity, it would be a step down for Isobel and too big of a step up for me. I wasn’t sure I could handle being so far below her financially and socially. Which made me wonder how our relationship was going to continue at all. She might not have a problem with me being poor, but I couldn’t say I cared for being the destitute one, the one who couldn’t pull his weight. What if she began to resent me for dragging her down or started thinking I was some kind of gold digger? Not too long ago, I had thought my pride was dead, but it turned out, I did have some, and being so far beneath her didn’t sit well with me.

Then, there was my mother to think of. I couldn’t just leave her, even though I knew she’d financially be okay now.

As I looked into Isobel’s hopeful blue eyes, I had a moment where everything between us seemed absolutely impossible. Our future felt doomed. It sent a flurry of panic through me. I didn’t want to lose her. The world felt better when I was with her. We’d become a team, doing most of my handyman tasks around the house together. And I loved finally being able to touch her, and kiss her, and— But shit. I couldn’t picture a life between us, not where we could get married, have babies, and live happily ever after.

It scared me. It was only a split second of fear; I’m sure I would’ve gotten over it in the next breath, and been fine again. But Isobel saw it in my eyes. She saw my hesitation, and she knew I hadn’t been seriously suggesting we move in together.

The problem was I also knew she thought it was because I didn’t want to live with her. When she sat up and reached for her shirt to cover her chest, I sat up with her, another form of panic flooding me. I wanted to say something, reassure her, convince her I loved her with everything I had and wanted to be with her more than I’d ever wanted to be with anyone. But if I voiced any of my reservations, I feared she’d see them as excuses instead of reasons, and she’d think I wasn’t being honest about my feelings. What if she thought my issues and concer

ns were unsubstantial, and she tried to brush them off as no big deal? They were a big deal to me. I could suddenly picture this huge argument between us where she told me I was being an idiot—even though I already knew I was—and me denying it, and her wanting to throttle me, and me feeling more insecure, and all of it splitting us apart.

Except by remaining silent now, I think she assumed I didn’t care enough about her.

“Isobel…” I tried, reaching out to touch her back.

She stiffened against my hand. It broke my heart, but I didn’t give up. I scooted in behind her and wrapped my arms around her from the back before setting my chin on her shoulder.

“I don’t know how to show you how much you mean to me,” I admitted. I didn’t know how to fix this.

She turned her cheek toward me. “What?”

Realizing I was on her scarred side, I transferred my chin to her other shoulder, then kissed her cheek. “What’re we going to do today?” I asked as if nothing were wrong. “It’s almost eight.” Time to become the Porter Hall handyman.

She turned around to face me, and for a moment, I feared I’d see hurt in her eyes, but instead she grinned. “I think it’s about time I gave you the grand tour.”

Chuckling, I shook my head. “I think I’ve just about seen everything by now, haven’t I?”

Blue eyes glittered as if amused by my ignorance. “Ah, but you’ve never heard about all the history behind everything you’ve seen.”

I perked to attention. “History?”

Her smile said just you wait. “Yeah. Like the chandelier in the entry. Were you aware it came from Germany, where the Gestapo had taken it from a hotel in France during World War II?”

My mouth dropped open. “No freaking way,” I breathed. “I’ve changed lightbulbs in that thing.” I swear my fingers started to tingle, realizing I’d touched something Nazis had touched. My archeologist-loving heart began to beat a little faster.

Isobel watched me as if she knew exactly what I was experiencing. “Every piece in this house holds some kind of historical significance. Dad doesn’t usually buy anything unless there’s some kind of meaning or story behind it.”

No wonder why I’d always liked Henry. “It’s like a museum,” I uttered, flabbergasted.

With a laugh, Isobel began to pull her clothes on. “Pretty much. Dad allows school bus loads of children to come in every fall and spring to take a tour. It’s one of his charitable contributions to the community, along with giving out a high-risk loan to one worthy candidate each year.”

I met her gaze, and the look in her eyes told me something. Something I hadn’t considered before. “He knew he’d never see that money from my mother again, didn’t he?” I guessed.

She shrugged. “He rarely gets reimbursed from any of them, so he writes them off as donations.”

I shook my head. “But…he helped her out again, paid off the rest of her debt and…” I stopped talking when Isobel began to shake her head.

“Last year, he helped your mom out. This year, I think you were the candidate he chose to help.”

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