Thoroughly annoyed with myself for being so affected just by a simple dream, I got up to my feet and looked for something I could wear over my panties. I left the simple short-sleeved thin grey t-shirt on and quietly left my room. The only positive thing for the night was that my nose wasn’t running at that particular moment, and it looked like I was over whatever allergic reaction or flu had crossed my path.
When I made it to the staircase, I paused and glanced toward Jack’s room but didn’t dare go anywhere near it. Slowly going down the stairs, I decided a cold glass of water would be just the thing to wake me up from stupid and pointless dreams, but then I saw the light coming from under the door of Jack’s study and turned that way instead.
Chapter Fifteen
Jack
The last forty-eight hours had been hell. I’d spent my entire Sunday at the office dealing with an unexpected crisis that took me away from Rose and when I had successfully handled that hoping I’d get to go home, I’d faced a much more annoying situation in the name of: Bryan Coleson. But it was done. Rose was done with them. I’d made sure.
As if that wasn’t enough for the day, before I could leave the office Joshua had showed up. Everything was piling up and I was slowly getting buried underneath it all.
So I was in my study at three AM, doing nothing but making myself miserable instead of going to bed…just a few doors down from her.
When there was a hesitant knock on the door, I snapped out of my thoughts.
“Come in.”
First, her head peeked in, her shoulders and body hidden behind the door.
“Hey, Jack.”
“Hey.”
“Am I bothering you? Can I come in?”
If I’d been sure it wouldn’t startle her, I’d have laughed out loud. She wasn’t bothering me enough—that was the problem.
Just in case, I closed the lid of my laptop, hiding the email I had just received.
“Please, come in,” I repeated, and she finally showed her entire body and stepped in, closing the door and leaning her back against it. I wasn’t sure how long I could keep my hands off of her or how wise it was to be in a secluded room together like this, but I didn’t care.
“I woke up,” she said, softly smiling at me. “Couldn’t go back to sleep.”
Rose was wearing black leggings and a light grey t-shirt that did nothing to hide her yellow lace bra underneath it. I had lost my tie somewhere when I’d walked into a quiet apartment, but I was still wearing the white button-up and black slacks I had put on that morning. She looked beautiful even disheveled, whereas I must have looked like a mess.
“What are you doing?” she asked when I didn’t say anything.
“Something came up that I had to deal with.”
She pushed herself off the door, slowly approaching with her hand behind her back. “You still have work to do?”
I gave a sharp nod.
“I didn’t see you today.”
Had she been hoping to see me? I didn’t think so. “I was at the office. There was a crisis with a client, but I dealt with it.”
“I thought you didn’t work every weekend.” She was a few steps closer, and I was aware of each and every one of those steps. Her gaze slowly took in everything in the room but me.
Rising from my seat, I rounded my desk and sat on the edge of it. I had to shove my hands into my pockets so I wouldn’t grab her, but I needed to be closer. I sat still on my perch and watched her slow movements as she walked up to the bookshelves and strolled the length of them, pausing once or twice to check a title, her fingertips softly grazing each spine.
“No, not every weekend. Did you need something?”
She stopped perusing the books and focused on me. “If I’m bothering you…”
“You are not bothering me, Rose. Did you want to talk about something?”
She lifted one shoulder in a shrug and kept her eyes on the books. “Nothing in particular. Like I said, I couldn’t sleep.”
“Okay.”
She turned to me, keeping her back against the bookcase. “Will you go to bed?”
“At some point, yes.”
“Good. That’s good. Sleep is good.”
With even slower steps, she drew closer to me, her eyes moving around the room.
“You have a beautiful apartment,” she murmured, and I frowned at her.
“Rose? Are you okay?”
She hated when I asked her that question. I knew that, but I loved her reactions too much to quit asking.
She sighed. “Yeah, sure. Why?”
“You’re acting weird.”
She waved a hand in front of her, dismissing my words. Then, standing next to me, she put her hand on my desk. “This is a beautiful desk,” she said.
Something was definitely wrong with her.