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Rose shook her head. “There’s nothing to see until I work the magic on them. I guess I’d better head back.”
“Yeah,” I said, fighting the urge to touch her again, even briefly. Out here on the street, even with whatever magical precautions she’d taken, it didn’t feel safe.
Especially not when a slightly scruffy looking old man was striding down the street toward us, already glaring… at me?
No, at Rose. His eyes narrowed further as he came up on us. I’d seen him before, hadn’t I? At the town museum that one time. He’d left the archive room right when we’d come down to meet Rose. He’d looked pretty grouchy then too, but I’d assumed it was because of the room getting crowded. Maybe not.
He stopped on the sidewalk near us. “What are you doing out here again?” he demanded. “Don’t you have enough to keep you busy out there in your fancy estate?”
Rose gave him a quick, tight smile. “There are a lot of things in town I can’t get at the manor,” she said, keeping her voice gentle.
The old man huffed as if she’d insulted him. “Well maybe you should see about changing that. We don’t need your types intruding on this place. It belongs tous, not you.”
I thought I saw Rose suppress a wince. “I’m sorry you feel that way.”
My hands clenched. She was trying to diffuse the situation, keep everyone happy—and another time, maybe I’d have joined in. But this jerk didn’t deserve to be coddled at her expense, when she had so much else weighing on her. A sharper anger than I’d ever felt before flared inside me.
“A lot of us feel that way,” the man started in again.
“That’s enough,” I said, stepping forward so he had to back up, away from Rose. His gaze shifted to me, his face flushing. I barreled on before he could try to say anything. “You don’t know this woman at all. I do. And I promise you this town is better for every minute she’s in it. From the way you’re ranting, I don’t think anyone could say the same aboutyou.”
The old man sputtered, but my words seemed to have deflated his bravado. His shoulders hunched. “I was just saying my piece,” he muttered, and hurried away.
When I turned back to Rose, she blinked at me. “Wow,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fierce Jin before. Not that I mind.”
My face heated a little, but inside I felt more sure, more settled, than I had in days. “I guess I’m trying out lots of new approaches these days,” I said with a wink. And then, more seriously, “I mean it, you know.I’mbetter, every moment you’re in my life. I want to be everything I can be for you.”
Even though we were standing there in the middle of the sidewalk, Rose reached out and grasped my hand, just for a second. Emotion shimmered in her eyes. “You’re already everything I could ask for, Jin,” she said softly.
I might have done just about anything then. Might even, while there was no one else in sight, have dared to lean in for another kiss. But Rose’s phone buzzed in her pocket. Her brow knit as she pulled it out. When she saw the message on the screen, any remaining flush drained from her face.
“I’ve got to get back to the house,” she said. “Dad’s home early.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Rose
My hands gripped the steering wheel of the old Buick tightly. The car was the least fancy one in our garage, but that was why I’d picked it. I’d gotten my license while we were living in Portland, but I hadn’t had a whole lot of opportunities for driving practice. I didn’t want to be maneuvering a car I was afraid to dent along the roads.
Of course, it wasn’t the thought of denting this car that had my body tensed. It was knowing Dad was waiting for me on the other side of that stone wall coming into view up ahead.
I willed my fingers to relax and reached up to hit the control for the gate. The wrought-iron bars hummed open. I pulled the car through the second I could and drove right up by the front steps to make it easier for the porters to carry in my purchases.
Mrs. Gainsley appeared in the doorway right behind the porter who hustled out. A prickle ran down my back. I’d told Jin I wasn’t worried about her seeing the art I’d had him make, but I couldn’t say I was really keen on the idea of her inspecting it either.
My instinct was to grab that box and carry it up to my room myself. But that would only make her curious what I’d gotten that I was being so protective of. I dragged in a breath and smiled at the porter.
“You can put most of these in the corner of the dining room for now. This one should go up to my room. Thank you!”
He bobbed his head and hefted the first two.
“You’ve done a lot of shopping,” Mrs. Gainsley observed in her dry voice. “The manor is quite well-stocked already, from what I’ve seen.”
I shrugged as if I hadn’t thought all that much about the matter. “This is the first party we’ve hosted here in more than a decade. I figured a little updating for the occasion couldn’t hurt. With Dad’s business partners coming, I want everything to look as good as it can.”
“I suppose that’s an admirable sentiment.” She smiled at me, no cruelty in it. What was I to her—just a job?
I lingered by the car as Gabriel ambled over from the garage to collect it, even though I could have just left the keys in the ignition. I wanted to see with my own eyes when the porter took that last box. As he tugged it out, I handed the key ring over to Gabriel, giving him a smile I hoped looked suitably employer-ly. “I managed not to do any permanent damage—to or with her.”
