

### SHIT KICKERS & STILETTOS

### Rita Sawyer

Copyright © Rita Sawyer 2013

Published at Smashwords

Cover Design by Rebecca Sawyer 2013

Cover Photograph by Jenn LeBlanc/Illustrated Romance

Edited by Rebecca Sawyer 2013

Electronic Publication Date: February 2013

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in whole or part without permission, except for use in reviews.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the internet or via any other measures without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized editions and do not participate in electronic piracy. Your support in the author's rights is appreciated.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, places, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

For more information about this or any of the author's other works please visit **http://www.RitaSawyer.com**

### Dedication

To my husband David, for having enough faith in me to encourage me to follow my dreams. Without your support I would still be telling myself stories instead of letting others read them

### Acknowledgements

Many thanks go out to those who helped with the creation of this book. Becca, Matt, and Rachel you guys rock.

# Chapter One

Rosie Crestmont, heiress to the Crestmont Hotel conglomerate, sat alone in the back of the black town car that turned onto the half a mile driveway. It led to the big old farmhouse that used to be one of the happiest places on earth for her. Now she wasn't sure how she felt about it. Maybe someday, once she got past the pain she'd find the joy she'd always experienced when she visited. Right now the place was too full of memories to think about anything but getting through today.

Her uncle had truly loved the place and practically rebuilt it from the ground up. Restoring the house, the stables, and the beautiful little guest cottage had been his passion before she came along. He had shown Rosie the photo albums he'd kept during the restorations. The property itself was fifteen well maintained acres with plenty of wooded trails for riding and hiking.

The house had been a mere shell when he started and now had lots of upgrades. It was her uncle's main showcase. It was a three story Victorian style farmhouse. On the first floor when you walked in you found yourself in a massive foyer. To the right was the dining room which led to the kitchen. On the left was the staircase that curved like a snake all the way to the third floor, and the doorway to the huge living room. Further down the entryway was the door to the library/study. There was also a bedroom that her uncle had turned into an office of sorts, and a bathroom.

The second floor had four large bedrooms. Two with their own bathrooms and the other two shared one. The third floor had three rooms and a small bathroom. One room was used for storage. The others were empty the last time she looked, but that was five years ago. There was no knowing what her uncle might have done to them since then.

She looked out the window and through her tears she saw the huge Weeping Willow tree the driveway looped around up ahead. An old memory flashed into her mind. Her uncle had taken her for a weekend while her parents went away to check on one of the hotels the family owned. He'd hung a swing on the thickest branch of the tree. He pushed her for over an hour, both of them laughing themselves silly. At seven years old she hadn't known any better and had insisted on pushing him too.

Back then he hadn't had the heart to tell her no, hell he still had trouble with that. The rope had been strong enough to hold her, but snapped under his weight. The board and her uncle had slammed to the ground. They both laughed, but she clearly remembered the way her uncle had hobbled around for the rest of her visit. Never once had he complained, or blamed her for the pain.

The car rolled to a stop and Rosie pulled her mirror from her purse. She'd managed to hold back the tears throughout the wake and funeral, but once she was alone in the car she'd let them fall. She dabbed her cheeks with a tissue and stuffed it and the mirror back into her bag. She took a deep breath and slid her sunglasses on to hide the damage the tears had done. There was no sun out to shield her eyes from, but the glasses would keep anyone from noticing how red her eyes were.

Her parents would be humiliated by her public show of emotions. They'd be alarmed by any show of emotions since they preferred not to show them ever. Unlike her uncle, who always showed his emotions, and any he needed to manufacture to convey the feelings he wanted others to see. But she'd never seen him in a truly somber mood. He believed in living life to its fullest and having fun while he did it. Her cell phone buzzed and she scrambled for it.

"Sweetie, you doing okay?" Her friend Sophia asked in her ear.

Rosie gave such a slight shake of her head that her long blonde waves of hair that hung well past her shoulders barely moved. "No, but only time will change that and it's something I just don't have."

"Hold tight honey this day won't last forever. Tiffany, Nicolette, and I are waiting right inside the door." Sophia assured her.

"I'll be there in a minute." Rosie disconnected the phone on a sigh.

Damn she wished they could have driven with her. Maybe then she would have been able to keep it together. The door opened and she accepted the drivers hand and let him help her out of the car. The staid black dress she'd chosen to wear slid easily across the leather seat. Her four inch heels sank into the ground as she walked to the stone path that led to the house. With the first step on the stones the loud click of her heel had the heads of the people standing on the porch turning in her direction. There had to be close to a hundred people there today. Luckily only a dozen or so were milling about outside.

She was used to the attention and usually was prepared to deal with it under normal circumstances, but today wasn't supposed to be about her. It was about her Uncle Teddy, whom she'd never see again. She felt the tears threaten to fall again and she paused in the middle of the walkway. Rosie closed her eyes and tilted her face up toward the sky hoping gravity would help keep them from spilling.

A big hand slipped on her lower back and a soft deep masculine voice said, "I know for a fact that Teddy told you no tears today. So suck it up, Baby Girl, paste that amazing smile on your lips, and get your ass in there and charm your uncle's friends that he bragged about you so much to."

Hearing her uncle's nickname for her she did smile. Before she could thank whoever had tried to bolster her reserve he gave her a little shove forward. Rosie practically marched along the stones and up the stairs. As promised the second she stepped inside the house her friends flanked her sides. They escorted her into the main living room where a lot of the guests had converged.

There were actors and actresses, business people, and her uncle's closest neighbor, a major rock star and his band mates there. She looked around at all the pictures of her uncle that had been spread around the room. Some were from his acting days, others with prominent political and business people. Everyone was laughing and telling stories about him. This was the type of send off he would have wanted.

She looked to where her mother and father sat across the room acting. Lillian and Joel Crestmont looked as if they were holding court, a normal position for them. Rosie knew they wouldn't approach anyone. They'd sit there and wait for people to come to them.

Rosie let out a very soft unladylike growl. It was one of only a handful of times her parents had even come to her uncle's house and they could have tried harder to fit in. She knew they would have preferred to have his funeral in the city, but thanks to her uncle's advanced planning they had no say in the matter.

"I need to find Dade and thank him for getting this all organized." Her heart felt like someone was squeezing it in their fist. "I should have been here."

"Rosie, don't beat yourself up. Nobody could have seen that accident coming. Dade and Teddy know you had to be there at the dedication, but more importantly present for the board meeting afterward. Heck Teddy is the one who placed you on the board in his stead." Tiffany was right, but it still hurt that she wasn't there to take care of Teddy's final wishes herself.

"So is this Dade cute?" Nicolette asked trying to lighten the mood.

"Um... I'm not sure." The last time Rosie had seen him he was riding a horse across the pasture, and the time before that he'd been covered in mud.

"He lived with your uncle for fifteen years, and you don't know what he looks like. What about all those times you came here to visit?" Sophia asked.

"He was away at school for a while and then whenever I came Teddy said he was off handling business of one kind or another." She'd never pushed her uncle for more information. "He was his right hand man and that must have kept him pretty busy."

"I think it's kind of weird that you and him never met." Nicolette gave a shrug of her shoulders.

"I didn't say that. We met when he was younger and yeah I think he was cute then, but I haven't actually seen him in years. We've talked on the phone at least once a month, and email three or four times a week." She left off that she figured if his deep sexy voice was anything to go on he was probably a damn good looking guy.

At that moment her uncle's attorney Mr. Grest started walking her way. The man was on the shorter side and balding, but his smile gave him a pleasant air.

"Ladies," he said with a nod in their direction. "Ms. Crestmont can I see you for a few moments in your uncle's study?"

"Sure." She handed her purse to Sophia and started to follow him down the hall.

"Rosalind Jane." Her father's strident voice brought both her and Mr. Grest to a halt.

"What?" She managed to hold back the groan that usually came afterward.

He glanced at the lawyer and then back to her. "Where are you going?"

"I've asked your daughter for a moment of her time." Mr. Grest gave her father a look that she couldn't read.

"Is this something that we should all be aware of?" She should have known her father wasn't concerned for her, but more afraid that he might miss something.

"No. This is a matter that involves only Rosie and Mr. Sebastian."

"Sebastian? What could you possibly have to discuss with my daughter and that man? They barely know each other."

"Be that as it may this is between the two of them. Now if you'll excuse us." With his dismissal he waved his hand in the direction of the study and Rosie didn't look back as she walked away from her father.

Mr. Grest opened the door and she walked inside. She stopped short when she spotted the guy sitting behind her uncle's desk. His hair was short, dark brown, and it seemed there might be a slight curl to it if it wasn't cut so short. The material of his charcoal gray suit was stretched across his wide shoulders. He lifted his head from whatever he was reading and their gazes met and held. Neither of them spoke, but his lips curved up into a smile. He went from ruggedly handsome to sinfully sexy in a heartbeat.

The lawyer came in behind her and closed the door. The loud click broke the connection between them. The guy, who she assumed was Dade Sebastian, got to his feet and rounded the desk. He was a good two inches taller than her, okay six if she was barefoot.

"Dade, glad you're here. I'm not sure if you two have met. Rosie, this is your uncle's assistant Dade Sebastian. Dade, this is Teddy's niece Rosalind Crestmont."

"Nice to see you again." Rosie offered him her hand.

His big hand wrapped around hers. "You too."

Rosie gasped more because she recognized his voice from when she arrived, than the tingle she felt from his touch. Both were enough to make her ease her hand out of his grip. She glanced down needing a second to get herself under control. Rosie noticed the shiny black and gray cowboy boots he had on and remembered that her uncle had a similar pair.

"Why don't you two have a seat and we'll get right to it." Mr. Grest waved his hand at the two empty chairs as he took a seat in her uncle's chair.

Dade waited for her to sit before he did. Good looking and manners, so far the guy had two things going for him. The lawyer pulled a stack of papers from a folder on the desk and flipped a couple of pages. He smiled and tapped a spot obviously finding what he was looking for.

"It seems that Teddy has decided to do things a little differently, which to anyone that knew him won't come as much of a surprise." His friendly chuckle had her relaxing a little.

She smiled and glanced at Dade, who hadn't even cracked a grin. Rosie wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign. Dade had spent more time with her uncle than anyone she knew. Sure, whenever she came to visit he'd made himself scarce, but she always figured he was somewhere close by. Her visits had been few and way too far in between lately, but she had made sure that her and her uncle talked at least once a week by phone or video chat. Teddy hadn't talked much about Dade other than to say 'that kid is the best, almost as good as you'. He must have been otherwise her uncle wouldn't have trusted him the way he did.

"I thought we weren't reading the will until tomorrow?" Dade finally said.

"See that's the tricky part. Teddy left two versions of his will."

"Why would he do that?" Rosie asked.

"Your uncle has a special request for you and Mr. Sebastian, if you decline then I've been instructed to go ahead with the second reading tomorrow."

"He knew damn well he wasn't going to need that second adaptation." Dade's response made it sound like he was ready to do whatever it was her uncle asked.

Rosie figured he was right, but she knew her uncle wouldn't put her in any position without giving her a choice. "What does he want us to do?"

"Actually I'm going to let him explain it to you." The lawyer got up and walked over to the TV.

He pressed a few buttons on the remotes and her uncle's image filled the screen. Blond hair, lightly tanned skin, and fabulous smile he was such a handsome man. He'd been a movie star in his younger days, and had still made random cameos right up until his death. It never failed to strike her that her father and uncle looked so unlike. Opposite sides of a coin, light and dark. Still maybe if her father smiled more he'd be just as handsome.

"Baby Girl." She thought she'd never hear the deep cadence of her uncle's voice and the tears it brought to her eyes stung. "I know you're sad, but I don't want you to be. So please try to be happy, and don't worry I'm going to help you."

Rosie was pretty sure she thought she heard Dade groan. She chose to ignore him and focus on her uncle. "I'm not going to be the only one either."

"Dade, I know you're there too since I made sure you'd be seeing this together. I hope you managed to find a couple of showgirls or something to liven things up." She glanced at him and he quickly shook his head.

Too bad she would've loved to see how her parents handled that. "So I need you two to keep quiet until I'm finished. You both mean the world to me so when it came time for me to decide what to do with my money and my company it was simple. I decided that I want both of you to have it. My proposal is this, the two of will live here at the farmhouse for six months. You'll be able to leave for no more than forty-eight consecutive hours at a time, unless it's an emergency and the other goes with you. All decisions, business and personal will be made together."

Rosie hadn't had to answer to anyone for a really long time. Hell, she had people that answered to her. Dade had worked for her uncle so he might be used to reporting back to someone, but just looking at his stoic profile she didn't think so.

Her uncle went on to say, "Dade has been running the business side for the past few years while I goofed off learning to play golf, and Rosie you've handled all the charities and foundations so between the two of you there shouldn't be anything you can't handle together. If either of you fail to meet the requirements or just doesn't want to do this then Grest has been instructed to destroy this codicil and proceed with the reading of the will."

Mr. Grest pressed the pause button the DVD remote. "I'm supposed to step outside and give you two exactly ten minutes to talk things over and come to a decision."

A dozen thoughts rushed through Rosie's head. It came as no surprise that her uncle wanted to leave half his estate to Dade. She'd actually thought he was going to get it all, which would have been fine with her. Though she was sure her father would have had an issue with that. Especially once her father learned her uncle had business dealings he was totally unaware of. Her parents were going to be furious when they found out about her uncle's request. If Rosie spent six months at the farmhouse it would be a welcome vacation from them since they had no reason to go there.

She could work from the house just as well as anywhere else. The two day rule would allow her to go to any of the charity functions she needed to attend.

Rosie wanted to do this for her uncle. She always tried to do whatever he asked her to do, but she wasn't sure about living with Dade. She'd never lived with anyone other than her parents and Sophia while they were away at school. Living with a sexy single guy could go wrong in so many ways. She didn't know squat about him. Was she going to have to deal with a parade of women traipsing around the place? Before she agreed they needed to discuss things and set some ground rules, other than the ones that her uncle had already set forth.

"Rosie," Dade reached over and took her hand in his much bigger one. "We don't have to do this. I'll back out and you can have it all."

She couldn't tear her gaze from his. Why would he give up half of everything? She didn't know anything about his financial status, but not many people would walk away from at least seven million dollars. She couldn't let him do it. Her uncle wanted them to share the estate and that's exactly what they were going to do.

"No. We're going to do as he asked. I can have my stuff here by Friday." She figured three days was plenty of time to pack up whatever she needed from her place and have it brought to her room here at the farmhouse. "What about you?"

# * * * *

He would be damned tempted to kill Teddy for putting him in this position if that damn truck hadn't already done it. The old coot was crazy if he thought that Dade and Rosie were going to be able to live and work together for six months. Hellfire, Dade was having enough trouble keeping his thoughts straight just sitting next to her.

Dade got to his feet and strode across the study to look out the window. The lush green land rolled for miles dotted with trees. The place was a gentleman's farm. A few animals for fun, but it didn't make a profit and Teddy had never expected it to. There were horses for leisurely riding, a few bulls that he'd bought just to roam his pasture. The chickens at least provided them with fresh eggs, and the pond was stocked with fish and ducks. This was Teddy's refuge from public life.

Rosie had come to visit, but she'd never stayed long. She was a city girl born and bred to live the high life. She had looks, style, and taste, but most of all she had money. Her options were endless. He'd be surprised if she stayed there for two weeks tops. It was too much to risk her inheritance on the possibility that she could stick it out.

Some people might question whether or not Teddy had lost his mind with this cockamamie last request bullshit, but Dade knew better. Teddy was a crafty businessman and he could be a master manipulator if he wanted something badly enough. Dade saw this for just what it was another move of his to align things more to his liking.

Dade glanced over his shoulder at Rosie, who was still waiting for his answer. He'd already learned right from the start that she was as stubborn as her uncle. He may as well determine if she had any patience. When Dade came to live with Teddy he'd given him a list of do's and don'ts, because Teddy had always said rules were made to be broken. The only rule he had given him was that his Baby Girl, Rosie, was off limits. That was the rule Dade had lived by for the past fifteen years.

It hadn't been easy either. Pictures of her were all over the house and as she'd grown from cute to dazzling Dade's infatuation had grown too. He couldn't help but notice as her voice went from perky and playful to a sexy elegance, though sometimes when she was excited that perkiness still came through.

She probably had no idea what her uncle was up to. For as long as Dade could remember Teddy had said he wanted her to find a man that could love her the way she deserved. Over the past few years that had changed. He wanted a guy that would not only treat her right, but that could and would stand up to her parents. Dade was afraid that he had decided that guy was him. The prospect frightened him, because as usual Teddy might be right.

Figuring he'd made her wait long enough he turned around and locked his gaze with hers. Her blue eyes were still a little red around the edges, but they weren't as puffy. He wanted to pull her into his arms and croon soft sweet nothings in her ear, but now wasn't the time. Dade didn't know if that time would ever come either and it pissed him off.

"Friday is fine," He didn't bother to tell her he already lived there and had for over two years. "But we need to discuss a few things first."

"I'm glad you brought that up. I have a few questions of my own." She stood and instantly he wished she hadn't.

Her legs might be a little short, but they were creamy and curvy. "Those shoes will have to go. You can't live here and expect to prance around like that."

"My shoes are perfectly acceptable. I know this because my uncle bought them for me and specifically told me to wear them when I came to visit."

The bastard was playing with fire. He knew Dade was a leg man. Heels like that were made to make a woman's legs look leaner and longer.

"Doesn't matter." He shrugged his shoulders. "They might be fine for your nights out in the city, and charity functions, but they're impractical here. Get a pair of sneakers, or sturdy boots."

She narrowed her eyes even though she smiled and Dade began to think he didn't have the upper hand even though they were on his home turf. "During the six months we have to stay here. I want full use of this study. You can have the office."

He laughed at her command, because he already did. "Fine. Have whatever you need sent over and we'll have it installed."

"I want to be here to make sure it's done right. Also I won't bring any men here if I can expect the same courtesy from you."

"I don't plan on bringing men here, or anywhere else for that matter."

She huffed out a breath and turned her back on him. "You know what I meant. I'd rather not have to meet any of the women you date."

He followed her to the desk stopping just a foot away. "Are you under the impression that I date a lot?"

"You're a set... single man I don't see why you wouldn't, unless there's someone special in your life."

Dade heard the question in her voice and chose to ignore it. It wouldn't hurt to let her wonder if there was a woman in his life and bed.

"So I can assume since you won't be having any company there's no one special for you right now." He didn't step back when she spun around.

Whatever retort was on her tongue she didn't say it. She looked up at him and blinked a couple of times. Her long golden lashes captivated him and he leaned closer instead of stepping away and giving her the space he should've. With her head tilted back he saw her throat move as she swallowed and the vein that pulsed in her neck. Dade wanted to nibble that spot to see how sensitive it was. Her hand landed on his chest and she pushed, but he didn't move.

"I'll be having plenty of company. My friends and I sit on a lot of boards and foundations I can't be out of contact for too long, so I expect them to stop in regularly."

"Tiffany, Nicolette, and Sophia are welcome here whenever they want." She seemed surprised that he knew their names. "Your uncle talks about you all the time and he's mentioned them on occasion."

Her hand, which was still on his chest fisted slightly on his shirt. "They're off limits."

Damn she was fiery and protective when it came to her friends, that was good. He covered her hand with his and eased her fingers open pressing them harder to the spot over his heart. "I'd never do anything like that. Rosie, we need to trust each other if this is going to work."

She eyed him for a minute before she said, "Agreed, but I don't know you well enough to trust you. So consider yourself on a real short leash."

The door opened behind them and Dade slipped away putting some much needed space between them. Mr. Grest was either oblivious to the tension in the room, or was so used to dealing with volatile situations that he chose not to ask if everything was okay. Dade waited for Rosie to resume her seat before he sat down.

Grest slid into Teddy's chair. "So have you made a decision?"

Rosie smiled and nodded. "We both accept my uncle's request. We'll be moving in on Friday."

"Good. There are few additional conditions of this request. No one except for the two of you and Miss. Crestmont's three associates are to know it exists. Tomorrow when I read the will I'm not going to explain any of this. Teddy has instructed me to tell everyone that the will is being held over for six months while we wait to see how a few business ventures turn out. The two of you will be appointed to see over the estate and run his business affairs until that time. You will be reporting back to me. Everyone will be contacted when the six months are up."

Dade listened to every word the lawyer said, but his focus was on Rosie. This was going to be the hardest or best six months of his life. It all depended on the gorgeous creature sitting next to him, and whether or not he could keep his hands off her. The odds were leaning toward not, but he was going to give it everything he had, and more if she let him.

"So I'll be expecting a bi-weekly check in call, unless something comes up," Grest said as he got to his feet.

Dade rose as well. Rosie started to stand then he heard a crack pop noise. She let out a little squeal and teetered to her right. Dade reached out and caught her as she started to fall. Once he had her righted she growled and stepped out of her shoe. She lifted it for all of them to see. The heel had snapped and was dangling.

"Well, I guess I don't have to worry about you wearing those shoes." Dade couldn't hold back his smile.

She stepped out of the other shoe too, and Dade was surprised just how small she was. He figured she was about five three, or four. The four inch heels had brought her up to about five-seven. Without another word to either of them Rosie turned on her bare feet and walked out of the room.

"Dade," Grest didn't sound very happy. "You do realize Teddy always hoped you two would get together someday, hit it off, and end up blissfully married. Since you both seemed disinclined to do it on your own this is his last ditch attempt to see if he could bring you two together."

Dade smiled and nodded. "I pretty much pieced it together. Let's not worry Rosie with her uncle's match making scheme. She's hurting enough as it is. I'll tell her when the time is right."

"You're a good man Dade." Grest slapped him on the shoulder then walked out of the study leaving Dade alone with his thoughts.

# Chapter Two

Rosie had made it through the past few days with two things driving her determination.

First was the fact that this was her uncle that had asked her to do this. However ridiculous it seemed he had to have had a reason or plan that required her and Dade to live together. Somehow she was going to discover what it was even if it that meant spending six months cohabitating with Dade Sebastian. Even the man's name sounded sexy. She wasn't going to let that sway her in any way, which was where her second motivation came from.

Dade Sebastian was a means to an end and nothing more. Especially since the man had seemed to seriously underestimate her. She knew he must have some good qualities, because her uncle wouldn't have kept him around for his good looks and sexy deep voice. His attitude confused her though. He'd been sensitive and self-sacrificing, but two minutes later when he hadn't gotten his way he'd gone all arrogant and bossy. Deep inside she knew he was probably feeling the hurt of losing her uncle just as bad as she did and that she should cut him some slack, but he'd pissed her off.

So her goal for the time she had agreed to spend with him was to uncover the real Dade. Was he the arrogant business man used to getting his own way? Or could he be using that façade to hide the sensitive caring man she'd briefly witnessed.

Either way he was going to learn a few things about her. She might look like a pushover, but she was anything but. Most people couldn't see past her blonde hair and petite stature. They thought she was an airhead they could easily boss around. Rosie always revealed in their shock when they found out just how wrong they were. She didn't brag about her brains or money, but she had more than plenty of both. As for her body, well, she had it there too. And though she didn't flaunt it, she was smart enough to dress to showcase her assets.

It was something most men noticed right away, but Rosie wasn't sure anything other than her shoes had registered on Dade's radar. His reaction to them told her he was straight as an arrow. The gay men she was friends with had called her shoes dangerous and fierce, never once had they called them irrational. Dade's command to get a pair of sensible sneakers or boots had irked her, yet made her want to laugh too. Did he really think she didn't own them already?

She worked out with her friends three days a week, and though she could probably keep up with them on the treadmill in stilettos she chose to wear a pair of her cross-trainers. She owned about five pairs. As for her boots she had three pairs of cowboy boots in red, black, and tan. They all had a three inch heel, and while not spiked like her shoes they gave her the lift she needed. They had all been gifts from her uncle.

The other two pairs of boots were totally impractical. One pair had four inch stiletto heels and was black, thigh high, and hugged her legs like a second skin. The other pair was similar, but they were white and only reached her knees. Even though she knew she wouldn't have any use for them at her uncle's place she added them to the box on her bed.

"You might want to add some clothes to those boxes." Sophia Foster, her best friend and partner in crime for the past fifteen years, tossed a pair of skimpy black lace panties in the box.

Her friends had insisted on coming to help her pack, but so far Tiffany and Sophia had only helped themselves to a bottle of her wine. Nicolette was on her computer looking over their schedules to see which one of them could cover for her on meetings if she couldn't make it, which she didn't think would happen. Still since at least two of them sat on the same boards or foundations it shouldn't be a problem for them to fill her in on anything that might come up.

Tiffany Craig was the youngest in their group and came from a very important family. Her father and sister owned and ran a super successful technology and software corporation and her mother was a brain surgeon. Her family was smart, but when it came to feelings they didn't seem to have a clue on how to deal with them. Tiffany claimed she had fallen far from the family's tree of intelligence, but none of them really believed her. Yet during her extremely short stint in college she'd found herself in some trouble with the media. Sophia and Nicolette had been there, since the media event was sponsored by one Sophia's father's companies, and they came to her rescue squashing any talk before it really got out. After that they'd sort of taken her under their wings. Between the three of them they helped her make her way onto the right path. Nicolette was her mentor, and acted more like a big sister to her than her own did.

Nicolette fit the role so well, because she came from a big close family. She had three older sisters that had all gotten their chance to boss and mother her. She looked at Tiffany as her turn to be in charge. The Burgolinni's owned a beauty conglomerate and Rosie always thought if Nicolette wanted to be the face of the company she had the looks for it, but instead she agreed to represent her family on numerous charitable boards and foundations while working on her own secret projects. Some day she might let her family in on the secret, but Rosie didn't see that happening any time soon.

"I still don't get it. What exactly are you supposed to do while you're sequestered as your uncle's place?" Nicolette asked.

"I don't know yet. We're supposed to keep working as usual, and get to know each other's jobs." She didn't know how long it was going to take to figure out her uncle's real plan.

Rosie glanced over at Tiffany and could tell she was just waiting to add her two cents, or in her case it was more like two dollars. "Then why would he need you two to live there? I think your uncle is up to something. Or maybe it's Dade. Though he's so yummy I don't think he'd have to come up with a ruse to get a woman."

"Not that I'm agreeing with you," Nicolette shrugged her shoulders. "But I don't think Dade would either."

"He didn't." Rosie confirmed. "He seemed just as surprised by the request as I did. And he did offer to forfeit his share so we wouldn't have to go through with this arrangement."

"That's all dory that hunky was so nice, but he must have done or said something to piss you off." Sophia waved her glass of wine in the direction of the boxes.

Rosie groaned. "Can you please come up with a new nickname for him?"

"Nah, we'll wait for you to come up with one." Tiffany's cheery tone didn't help dissipate the ire Rosie was feeling.

She turned to her closet and started sliding her clothes back and forth on the pole. If she was out for seduction she knew just what she'd take. Then again if she wanted to make sure he didn't look too deep or too long she'd have no problem picking what to pack. But since she had no idea what her goals were how the hell should she know what she wanted to bring?

Seeing her indecision Sophia shot to her feet and joined her in front of the closet. "Rosie you're only going to be two hours away. If you forget anything we can bring it to you."

"I know. It's just I'm not sure about this."

"You've already committed yourself and we all know that you won't back out, so what's really bothering you?" Nicolette asked as she draped herself across Rosie's bed nudging the boxes out of her way.

Rosie slapped her hands against her thighs. "The odds aren't fair."

"What odds? Is there some kind of bet riding on the outcome of this?" Tiffany asked curiously.

"If so no one told me, but that's just what I mean. Dade knows more about me than I do him, and about what my uncle might have been thinking when he planned this." Rosie didn't like not having all the details.

"We've warned you that there was going to come a time when you wouldn't be the smartest person in the room," Sophia said and Tiffany and Nicolette laughed.

"I didn't say he was smarter. I said he's better informed," Rosie grabbed her robe and slippers tossing them into her suitcase.

"What are you going to do about it?" Nicolette asked.

"I'm going to pretend everything's okay and dig around until I know just as much as he does." Rosie added a few sweaters, T-shirts, jeans, and dresses into the suitcase.

"And then?" Tiffany asked.

"I don't know yet," Rosie smiled at her. "But I can promise you that I'm not going to be played with."

"Too bad." Nicolette teased.

# * * * *

Dade paced the living room. He should have known she'd have him waiting around all day for her to show up. Out of common courtesy she could have called to let him know when to expect her. He had about a dozen other things he could be doing right now. If he hadn't been raised to be a gentleman he would have gone about his business and leave her to get herself settled in.

He dropped onto the couch and picked up his laptop. With an impatient growl he opened the first of the three reports that he needed to go over before his meeting tomorrow. A loud bang came from somewhere in the house. He put the computer on the coffee table and went to search it out. Another bang came from right above his head. He raced up the stairs and came to halt. Rosie was standing in the hall bent over a large box she was trying to maneuver along the hall.

The jeans she had on were stretched across her ass, which those fucking shoes of hers helped to display. "How the hell did you get in here?"

She didn't stand as she glanced back at him her ponytail flopping over her shoulder. "Duh, through the door."

"I was downstairs..." He almost confessed he'd been waiting. "I didn't see you come in."

"The back door is closer to the stairs, and they lead right up to my room." He walked over and nudged her out of the way and picked up the box.

Dade carried it into her bedroom and placed it at the end of the bed with the other four. "How did you get these up here?"

"I carried them." Her tone was becoming more condescending with each thing she said.

Still he did his best to keep the surprise from his voice. "You could have come and asked me for help."

"Or I could have carried them up here by myself." She picked up a small box turned and walked into the hall.

He followed her unable to take his eyes off the sway of her hips. "Where the hell are you going now?"

"I'm hungry. I didn't have time to hit the store so I thought I'd go order a pizza." Dade grimaced as she marched down the stairs wondering how the hell she managed not to fall.

Rosie didn't seem like a pizza type of girl, unless it was some gourmet goat cheese tomato piece of crap. "There's plenty of food in the fridge. I had it stocked, because you were coming."

He hoped she didn't take that the wrong way. He realized that on one hand he'd gone out of his way to provide for her, but on the other he made it sound like some kind of chore. Still she hadn't asked for him to do it so maybe she'd ignore his lack of tact. If she didn't find anything she liked he could offer to drive her into town, but she had her own car. It was going to take him a while to adjust to having her there.

She hit the light switch with her elbow as she walked into the kitchen. He heard her soft sigh as she put the box down. The dark cherry wood on the cabinets and granite counters gleamed. She ran her fingers along the counter top as she headed for the fridge. Dade froze in the doorway wondering how it would feel to have her run her fingers over him. His body stiffened and he had to shift his stance. She opened the fridge and he heard a light groan that accompanied her frown. He didn't know why. He'd bought all that crap women liked, vegetables, low-fat butter and cheese, even the salad dressings were low calorie. The worst offense in his opinion was the skim milk. In his mind it was like drinking watered down milk that tasted gross. There was no way he was drinking that shit, he just couldn't do it.

She closed the door and walked over to the phone on the wall. She must have known the number for the pizza place they always ordered from was programmed into the phone, because she didn't ask for it. While she waited for them to answer she glanced at Dade and asked him if he wanted anything. He shook his head knowing he could eat right now. Rosie ordered her pizza, a large which surprised him and a bottle of orange soda. She approved the charge on the house's account adding a healthy tip for the delivery driver. That didn't surprise him at all. Teddy had always been a good tipper and it was nice to see that she kept the tradition.

He watched her come back to the counter and start unpacking the box. There were strange looking utensils that he'd never seen before. She put a couple small appliances on the counter. After she moved some around in the drawers she lifted two stacks of material out of the box and placed them in the drawer.

"Do you need help bringing in anything else?" He asked more or less to fill the awkward silence.

"No, I'm done. I'm going to go start setting up my stuff in the study." He stepped back willing to let her pass him, but she paused in the doorway with about six inches between them. "Can you let me know when the pizza gets here?"

Dade couldn't talk, hell he was having enough trouble breathing with her this near. He nodded and she smiled up at him. Damn she was dazzling from a distance, but up close she was almost literally breathtaking. He knew that just because something came in a pretty package didn't mean it wasn't dangerous. He'd seen dozens of pictures of her splashed across the media with her cozied up with just as many guys. He didn't want to be just another conquest of hers.

Rosie Crestmont, Teddy's loving niece and all, wasn't the type of girl that settled down for the long haul. Dade wasn't a plaything for her to pass the time with, so he knew it would be smart to keep his distance whenever possible. Thanks to Teddy that wasn't going to be easy. He went back to the living room and his reports. Not more than five minutes had passed when loud music drifted down the hall.

He dropped his head back against the cushion and stared up at the ceiling. Was she trying to get his attention, or did she not care if she was bothering him? Dade decided in that moment that he wasn't going to let her get away with it. He put the computer down and strode down the hall. Without knocking he opened the door ready to give her a piece of his mind.

The music was so loud Rosie hadn't heard him. She was curled up on the love seat with a picture frame clutched to her chest. He knew from the silver frame that it was the one of her and her uncle that Teddy had kept on his desk. Her eyes were closed, but tears streamed down her cheeks. It only took him a second to realize the music had been to keep him from hearing her cry. Before he thought twice about it Dade walked over sat down next to her and pulled her onto his lap. She didn't fight him as he tucked her against him and slowly stroked her back.

"It'll get easier." That was the only promise he could make her.

Anything else would be hinged on lots of hope and prayers. She sniffled and looked up at him. Dade could drown in the sadness shimmering in her blue eyes. He wasn't going to let her get sucked in by the grief. It was too damn easy. Teddy had kept him from sinking in his despair when his parents died and he owed it to him to do the same for Rosie. Maybe that had been part of Teddy's plan. The loud chime of the doorbell had them both tensing.

"My pizza is here." Her voice trembled, but she managed a small smile.

He helped her to her feet. "Come on the food will do you good."

She paused to put the picture back on the desk. Dade held out his hand and she slid hers into it. Together they walked down the hall. Dade had to admit it felt good to touch her even so innocently.

# Chapter Three

A week. They'd been living together for over a week already. She couldn't believe two people could live together and yet be so separated. They'd passed in the hall a few times and exchanged hellos. He'd come into the living room one night while she was watching a movie and had joined her. They'd laughed together, but neither of them had taken it beyond that into a conversation. When the movie ended they said goodbye and headed off to their bedrooms.

Whatever her uncle had in mind when he asked them to do this Rosie was pretty sure this most assuredly wasn't it. Neither of them seemed inclined to make the first move to get them started. She jumped under the desk at the knock on the study door. Her head hit the underside of the desk with a thud. She rubbed the spot as she popped out from under the desk.

"Lose an earring or something?" Dade joked as he walked into the room.

"No." She didn't bother to tell him what she had been doing under there.

"Are you attending the gallery event tonight?"

She wasn't surprised that he didn't push her for an explanation. "Of course. We're one of the main sponsors."

He stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed his booted feet. Rosie had noticed his affinity for boots almost rivaled her obsession for stilettos. Every time she'd seen him no matter what he had on for clothes he'd had on a different pair of boots. Some were scuffed up, others shined as if he'd just taken them out of the box. She even noticed that sometimes he switched them during the day. Today he had on jeans and faded black boots.

"I'll be attending too." His comment tore her out of her musings.

"Really?" Her voice actually squeaked.

He nodded. "Teddy wants us to work together. I think it'll be good for me to get a firsthand look at what it is you really do."

Since he made the first move it was only fair that she reciprocate. "Does this mean you're going to show me what it is you actually do?"

"You'll probably find it boring. Basically I read a lot of reports and decide if TC Corp should possibly invest and how much. I have a few meetings coming up that you can sit in on."

"Good." She nodded. "So you also choose the amounts we can donate to various programs like this event?"

"I do, but that depends a lot on your input. I'm guessing that's one of the reasons your uncle wants us to start working closer together." He paused as if choosing his next words carefully. "Along with all the regular business matters we need to deal with at the end of the six months a few more issues will come up."

"Such as?" Rosie asked, but she really wasn't sure she wanted to hear his answer.

"Well, Grest didn't mention it," Dade took a deep breath and shrugged his shoulders. "Probably because he couldn't, but with his passing your uncle made you the beneficiary of his life insurance policy. You'll inherit a substantial amount of money yourself, but I know he also left a huge amount to be dispersed at our discretion."

"Why did Grest tell you and not me?" She heard the edge in her voice and hoped he understood the anger wasn't directed at him.

"He didn't. I was the witness on the policy."

"Oh. I see." Teddy had trusted him enough to live with her why not witness his life insurance policy. "Did you witness the will as well, or did this request come to a surprise to you too?"

"Unfortunately he left me in the dark there." He didn't sound happy about that. "Now that we're here we may as well make the best of it."

"Agreed." She nodded strangely relieved that he hadn't known.

"Good. Do you have a date for this evening?"

She planned on meeting the girls there and handling business, and dates were not conductive to the kind of business she did. "No."

"Good, then we can go together. What time are we leaving?"

Wow. He'd gone beyond making the first move. She kind of liked his take charge attitude even though she wasn't sure she should. "I figured I'd get ready at my apartment so I wouldn't be all wrinkled by the time I got there. Would that be okay with you?"

"Sure. I can take my suit and get ready there too." He would be the first man other than Nicolette's cousins, her father, and her uncle to be in her apartment.

She told herself to think about anything other than him getting naked in her place. "Would you like to grab dinner before the showing?"

"If you'd like to, that would be fine with me." He smiled.

"Then we should leave around three." That should give them plenty of time to get there, eat, and go back to her apartment and get ready.

"I'll meet you in the driveway." He got to his feet and left before she could say anything else.

Rosie was no fool, but she wasn't sure if Dade knew that yet. After her initial surprise by his appearance, she'd slowly noticed how calm and even rehearsed he'd been. Attending the showing hadn't been a snap decision. Dade Sebastian was up to something and he didn't want her to know what it was. It was okay, well not really, but she was going to let it be for now. She had too many other details to focus on. Later though she'd figure him out.

Sophia's tinkling laughter came from the speaker on her desk. "So you have a date after all?"

"It seems that way." Rosie clicked on her mouse and images appeared on her computer, including Sophia's smiling face. "I've confirmed everything with the valet service, caterer, and the gallery. All three pieces we're auctioning off have been delivered and are being prominently displayed. Of course no one will know which three pieces we've chosen until we start the auction, so we need to talk up everything in the gallery to keep people guessing."

"I'll fill Nicolette and Tiffany in on everything. Don't worry we've got this under control until you get here. You just focus on enjoying your date." The teasing note in Sophia's voice made Rosie smile.

"I'll try." Rosie would and she'd use their time together to see what information she could wheedle out of Dade about what him and her uncle might be up to.

"If you want him off his guard wear that red dress you bought last month." She should have expected Sophia to read her mind.

"I only bought it because you told me I had too." Rosie quipped.

"Please. You never let that sway you before. Admit it you bought it because you looked hot."

"There was that too." Rosie laughed feeling better than she had in days. "Still I wouldn't want Dade to get the wrong idea."

"I should be so lucky to have a gorgeous guy get the wrong idea about me." Sophia's time would come and Rosie would tease her just as mercilessly as she knew they would her if she ended up getting involved with Dade.

# * * * *

Though neither of them had talked much during the two hour drive into the city Dade still felt confident that he was doing the right thing. Rosie surprised him when she directed him toward a part of the city he hadn't expected her to live in. He'd figured she'd live in, if not the same exclusive neighborhood her parents did, something similar. This was as different as it could get. It was clean and welcoming, but instead of big opulent houses this area was full of old warehouses that had been turned into lofts. There were lots of small shops and boutiques mixed among the buildings.

They parked his car in a spot a few feet away from the front of her building. Dade took the bag with his suit that he'd hung in the back seat and followed Rosie into the building. They took the elevator to the third floor. The doors opened and he stepped out. He found himself in a long wide hallway with a door at each end. Rosie headed to the right and again he followed. She opened the door and stepped back motioning for him to go first.

The apartment was basically one huge room. Living area and kitchen were separated by a shelf that you could see through into the other room. It kind of looked like a bunch of cubes stacked on each other. There were books in some and pictures and knickknacks in others.

The place was minimally furnished, but with class. Her couch and chair were white leather, but the pink chaise really stood out. Even more than the large flat screen TV hanging on the wall. Book shelves lined one entire wall. She had a small dining table that would seat four in the open space between the kitchen and living room. All in all, the place was feminine and girly and totally her style. He'd pay big bucks to go upstairs and check out her bedroom. She was up there right now getting ready. It would be easy to come up with some excuse for needing to talk to her.

A long time ago he'd read an article that said you could learn the most about a person by looking around their bedroom. More than twice back at the house he'd been in her room, but he'd been too perplexed to think about really checking it out. It had only been her room when she came to visit, so he wasn't sure it would even count, but sooner or later he was going to get a good look and hopefully a sneak peek at the real her.

It hadn't taken him long to change so he took advantage of the time alone to look around. He'd seen enough to determine from her photos that the most important people in her life were Teddy, and her three friends. They were everywhere. However she only had two pictures of her parents, and they were smaller than all the rest. He walked over and stopped in front of the windows. Dade stood there in her living room and watched the people below walk along the sidewalks. It didn't take more than a few minutes before he could picture Rosie walking along the sidewalks.

"I was thinking Italian would that be okay with you?" Dade turned around and looked up at her.

Her blonde hair was pulled back from her face but hung in loose waves down her back. A large section was pulled forward over her shoulder and draped along her breast. The red halter dress was a stunner. It hugged her breasts and looped up around her neck leaving her arms and back bare. It was tight around her midriff right down over her hips and thighs, but just above her knees it was cut at an angle with a slight ruffle. So each time she descended a step it flirtingly flashed him some thigh.

His gaze followed her legs down to the shiny red spiked high heels. He should have expected them, and what they did to him. Couldn't she just do him a favor and wear a T-shirt, pair of sweats, and sneakers just once? Hell he'd still probably find that too sexy for words. She stepped off the last stair and it was all he could do not to reach for her. His confidence in having the situation in hand slipped just a little.

"Should I take your silence as a no to Italian? There's a steak house down the road, about a mile away." She walked over and put her purse on the table.

"Italian's fine. My silence was because you look absolutely amazing."

"Oh. Thank you." He noticed the slight pink tinge that spread across her cheeks. "You look nice too."

"Thanks." He'd chosen a black suit jacket, slacks, and white dress shirt like about ten other guys would be wearing tonight.

"I'm glad you agreed to Italian, because Gino's has the best manicotti around, and it's within walking distance." She actually sighed when she said it.

Minutes later they were both ready to go. As they exited the building Dade's manners kicked in and he offered Rosie his arm. She looped hers through it and they walked down the sidewalk. He didn't miss the fact that he thought she looked as good on his arm as she felt. Dade truly wanted to know why she'd picked this neighborhood to live in. They walked along in comfortable silence all the while he was mentally running through possible ways to start a conversation without it sounding like an inquisition.

When they reached the restaurant he opened the door for her. Instantly a man rushed forward to greet them. Dade knew it was his job, but he guessed the guys quick attention probably had a lot to do with how hot Rosie looked tonight. He showed them to a table and within seconds a waiter was there taking their drink order.

"So do you come to this place often?" Dade asked as he walked away.

"About once a month. It's a special treat for myself."

"Your loft is great. Did you decorate it yourself?" He asked not wanting to let them lapse back into silence.

She nodded. "I had some help from my friends."

"What made you choose this area?"

"I was helping a friend find an artist loft space and this neighborhood came highly recommended. When we looked at mine I bought it before she could." She laughed and it sounded so natural all he could do was join in with her. "Of course it helped that my father wouldn't be caught dead here."

"They can't be that bad." Though he wasn't sure, so he had no idea why he was sticking up for them.

"They're not. In their own way they love me," She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "They just want what they think is best for me."

"I'm guessing it's not what you want?"

"Most of the time no." She shook her head. "Trust me I'm not ungrateful. My parents have given me everything."

"Never crossed my mind. So do your parents live close by?"

The waiter returned and interrupted her from answering. She took her time ordering asking the waiter questions in Italian. He had no idea she spoke anything other than English. The second the waiter walked away Rosie surprised him by jumping right back into their conversation. She explained that her parents owned a house in Weston Massachusetts about a half hour out of the city, but they traveled all the time.

Dade understood that. Owning a string of hotels they needed to make appearance at them from time to time. Not to would be irresponsible. Teddy and Rosie's two great aunts had often visited them as well since it was a family company.

Dade mentioned that he'd seen photographs of her at some of the locations too, and asked which one was her favorite. She thought about it for a couple of minutes. He smiled when she said her favorites had changed over the years, but the one they had on the coast of northern Maine was really hard to beat any time of the year. He'd chosen a good topic and they'd spent the rest of dinner talking about the places that they had visited, and wanted to go to someday.

They chose to walk to the art gallery since it was close by. Rosie explained that she was going to be milling about the room most of the evening and that he didn't have to stay glued to her side if he didn't want to. She wanted him to enjoy himself, but if he needed anything all he had to do was ask. Her friends were already there when they arrived.

He only got a few minutes to check the place out. Most of the walls were painted a stark white or flat gray. The ceiling was a good ten or maybe even twelve feet high. There were floor to ceiling columns in some areas. In others there were waist high white and black pedestals with sculptures and other works of art on them. He'd been to a few galleries and this one had the best lighting designed to really showcase the work.

With one final glance around he said, "This place looks terrific. You ladies did an amazing job."

"I won't take your surprise as an insult." Rosie's smile told him she was just teasing.

Rosie called her friends over and made the introductions. These four beautiful women together were intimidating, but knowing just how powerful they really were would have warranted any fear he might feel, which he didn't. He was impressed though. Still Dade got the distinct feeling that they weren't going to judge him just yet, which he appreciated. He liked the idea that he had a chance to make a good first impression.

He started off by asking if there was anything he could do and her friend Nicolette had no problem putting him to work. She led him to the back and had him shuffle some boxes around. His gaze was drawn back over and over to a painting sitting in the far corner. He couldn't wait to get up close and really check it out.

The catering crew was rushing around in a section of the back room and Sophia was there overseeing every little detail. Tiffany and Nicolette headed out to the front to greet the people who had started arriving. Rosie and Sophia joined them as he came out of the storage area. Soon the place was filled with people milling about. Going by the chatter and laughter everyone seemed to be having a good time, which hopefully meant they'd be in a buying mood.

Rosie waved him over and insisted on introducing him to some key people. Once he was comfortable she abandoned him to go see to the other guests. Dade watched her with a growing respect, but every guy that smiled at Rosie instantly became the enemy. He knew it was her job to schmooze the guests into hopefully bidding on the art work and she was doing it, so he was more than willing to stand back and just watch her work her way through them.

It seemed to be a pretty diverse group of people. Some of them were swathed in diamonds. While others were just as elegant, but in a more understated way. Then there were the photographers and critics. They were making good use of their time to make as many connections as possible. Dade knew networking was important in any situation if it were possible.

The only problem with seeing Rosie in this environment was that Dade was forced to face the accuracy in his assessment. She was a total city girl. Deep down he wondered if he'd insisted on coming in hopes of convincing himself he was wrong? If so he had made a big mistake, because this only proved him right.

Still, when she looped her arm around his something told him it wouldn't matter in the long run. As they meandered around the room he felt as if he could conquer just about anything. Every so often she would leave his side and meet up with her friends. They'd chat for a few minutes then break apart and head off to charm someone else. Since he was observing them all he couldn't help but notice that Tiffany was never more than an arm's length away from Nicolette. Sophia never stopped moving. She was as attuned to the crowd as Rosie was. With almost imperceptible motions Rosie and Sophia communicated with the head of the catering staff. They kept the drinks and trays of finger foods flowing steadily around the room.

A few hours into the event Rosie announced that shortly they were going to unveil the first of the three pieces to be auctioned off. People started to settle into place before the small dais where Sophia and Nicolette would stand. Dade glanced over at Rosie and noticed a guest, someone she knew well if her friendly smile was an indication, touched her arm and Rosie casually moved away. After a moment or two the guy inched closer Dade noticed that Rosie's smile was less friendly now. Instinctively he knew she could handle this guy on her own, but he was there so why should she have to?

He grabbed two glasses of red wine from one of the waitresses and walked over to the small group. Rosie looked up at him with a smile. Dade pressed one of the glasses into Rosie's hand. Then he slid his arm around her waist with a fake show of familiarity he was sure neither of them felt.

She didn't pull away, but she didn't lean into him like she had earlier either. "Dade Sebastian, let me introduce you to Walt Fletcher, and Mia Lang, and Carly Timmons."

"Nice to meet you all." Dade said with a nod.

"I need to go see if Sophia and Nicolette need any help." She put her hand on Dade's shoulder. "Will you be alright?"

"I'm fine. Go do your thing." He let his hand slide from her hip and across her back as she walked away.

The second she was gone Mia and Carly excused themselves leaving him alone with Walt, who wasted no time trying to learn about his competition. "So Dade what is it you do?"

"I'm CEO of TC Corporation," Not many people knew Rosie's uncle owned TC, they all assumed he was happily living off his royalties and the chain of hotels like the rest of the family. "And you?"

"Well, I'm a writer," Walt said.

"Anything I may have read?" Dade doubted it, but he figured it was polite to ask.

Walt laughed. "I doubt it. How long have you known Rosalind?"

"Oh Rosie and I have known each other for years." Totally honest, and from the look on Walt's face fairly surprising.

"I've never seen you at one of these events." Only because Dade did his best to blend into the background, but he didn't tell him that.

"No. I usually prefer to focus my time behind the scenes, but Rosie and I decided to attend together." Dade knew from Walt's rapid blinking that he'd hit his mark.

"Together, as in a date?" Walt's voice had risen a few octaves.

Dade shrugged. "I don't know if it's considered a date when people live together, or if it's just going out."

"You moved in with Rosalind?"

"No." Dade missed the way the other guy's shoulders lost some of the tension. "Actually we moved into her uncle's place."

Walt nodded. "He passed away recently. Did that bring you two together?"

A straightforward answer would break the rules so Dade kept it vague and shrugged. "Working so closely on the projects we've got going on has shown me another side to Rosie. It's damn hard to ignore someone with qualities like Rosie's."

"True, but living together is a serious move." Dade nodded, because Walt was right.

The music faded away and Sophia and Nicolette took the stage. Rosie and Tiffany stood just off to the side. Walt excused himself and Dade decided since he'd already made his purchase for the night that it was okay if he stepped outside for a few minutes. When he came back in —not more than five minutes had passed, he was sure of it— the atmosphere had changed. He didn't know if anyone else sensed it, but he did. Dade scanned the crowd until he located Rosie. Their gazes locked and her eyes narrowed, but her smile never faded. Before he could move she made a beeline for him.

Her fingers grasped his jacket and she tugged on his arm. "Come with me, and for both our sakes smile."

He followed her into the back room. Once they were out of sight of the guest she shoved him into a room the size of a closet. If it wasn't for the desk he would have swore it was one. He leaned against the desk and waited for her to say whatever was on her mind.

"Are you going to say something before you explode?" Goading her might have been the wrong way to go.

She stopped in front of him and jammed her fisted hands on her hips as she stomped her foot. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"What I did?" He didn't have a frigging clue.

"Yes, you." She stabbed her finger in his direction. "You told the nosiest society reporter I've ever met that we are living together."

"I didn't know we were keeping it a secret." He couldn't see how it could be such a big deal, unless there was a man in her life he didn't know about.

"We're not, but I like to keep my personal life private. Beside just because we're not keeping it secret doesn't mean we needed to broadcast it."

"I didn't mean to broadcast anything." Okay he'd said it to irk the guy, but he didn't know the creep was a reporter.

"Maybe not intentionally, but you did. Within seconds of you telling him the news made its way around the room like wildfire. And where the hell did you go?" She raised her voice and Dade pushed himself to his feet.

"Don't make the mistake of thinking you're the only one who could have issues if this gets out." He was just posturing, but there was no way she could know that.

"Really?" The accusation in her tone rubbed him wrong. "Then why the hell did you toss it out for public consumption?"

He closed the distance between them. "I made a mistake it doesn't happen often."

"Exactly." She tensed looking up at him. "So why now? What did he say to get you to just give him the information?"

Dade growled. "God damn it. He didn't say anything."

"Fine, whatever." She turned to walk away.

Dade wasn't going to let it end like this so he grabbed her arm and pulled her back blocking her exit. "I didn't like the way he was trying to get touchy-feely with you, so I wanted to make sure he knew to stay the fuck away."

He waited for her to respond. She had to have something to say. When she didn't Dade lost it. He grabbed her by the shoulders and leaned into her space.

"I'm sorry." His tone was soft, but rough with the emotion he was trying to hold back.

Rosie blinked a few times then leaned in and pressed her lips to his. Dade pulled her against him as her lips parted under his. Their tongues darted and stroked each other in an insane game of tag. She put her hands on his chest and he thought for sure that she was going to shove him away. Instead she pushed him against the wall. Dade's hands went from her arms to her hips. The silky thin material of her dress only encouraged him to slide his hands to her ass. She made a sexy moaning noise against his lips and his dick reacted hardening even more than it already had. Dade let her have control of the kiss, because every time he tried to move in more she'd start to pull back.

The door opened behind them, but neither of them noticed until they heard the loud gasp and the slam that followed. Rosie lurched away from him. She covered her face with her hands and shook her head.

"That was... Dade..." She lowered her hands and looked at him. "I just can't deal with this right now."

"I understand." And he did, because now wasn't the time to figure out what the hell had just happened. "Should I leave?"

"No. You need to go out there and pretend like nothing's wrong. We both do." She sighed. "You go first I'm going to duck into the ladies room. I'll be out in a minute."

Dade nodded and started for the door. He wasn't a very good actor, but he hoped he could pull this off. If not, at least he could have a word with Walt.

"Dade," He stopped with his hand on the door knob and she said, "Do me a favor and stay away from Walt."

Shit! Could she read his mind? He nodded. The night had taken a serious nose dive. But she had kissed him, even though it had been in a moment of insanity. They were going to talk about it at some point, and hopefully try it again. It seemed his plan to keep his distance had been blown to smithereens.

# Chapter Four

Her phone rang again and Rosie knew she couldn't ignore it any longer. She slid her hand out of the blanket and snatched it off the night stand.

"Hello." Her tone was clipped and most people probably would have hung up.

"Morning sunshine." Nicolette sounded way too cheerful.

"What are you trying to get out of?" Rosie kind of hoped that she needed her so she'd have an excuse to get the hell out of there without seeing Dade.

"Nothing." Nicolette laughed.

"Really? Then what's up?" Rosie asked as she pulled her spare pillow into her arms.

"I drew the lucky straw to call and see how things went last night after you left." She knew one of them would be calling, but figured it wouldn't be until later in the day.

Rosie felt her face heat just thinking about it. "They didn't."

"What happened? Did he just take off or something? Should I call my cousin Mario to go have a talk with him? He can be there in twenty minutes." Her concern was touching, but totally unnecessary.

"Thanks for the offer, but there's no need." She sighed not wanting to talk about this with anyone yet.

"Are you sure?" Nicolette didn't sound convinced.

"Yes. Dade was a gentleman. I was the one—"

"You hit on him again?"

"No— Jeez I lose it once." That her friends knew of, Rosie shook her head. "Dade wanted to talk about what happened, but I asked him to give me some time. He stopped asking if I was okay, but I still had to listen to him apologize for leading Walt into thinking we were a couple and worse telling him we lived together. He had no idea what Harold would do with that information. I had to pretend to fall asleep to get him to stop talking."

"Hey, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. We've all had those stories written about us that we wished hadn't been." Nicolette was right, but she didn't know the whole story.

"You're right, but this is my fault. I should have warned Dade. I guess it's my turn to say I'm sorry, especially after I kissed him like that." She sighed wishing she was wrong. "Listen I'll call you later okay?"

"Sure, but try to take it easy. I don't think Dade minded you kissing him." Nicolette was still laughing when she hung up.

Rosie groaned as she dropped the phone onto the bed. She knew Nicolette was probably already calling Tiffany and Sophia. She'd be lucky if the three of them didn't show up sometime today just to make sure she was okay. It was her own damn fault for not being better prepared to take that call. Last night hadn't gone exactly the way she'd hoped either. Far from it actually. She hugged her pillow a little tighter knowing full well that she couldn't hide in her room all day.

Unlike her friends Dade didn't know her well enough to know her melt down had been a fluke. And that kiss, she had no idea where that had come from. She was normally in control of her emotions. If she'd had more time she had no doubt she wouldn't have imploded when she'd heard what Walt had been telling everyone.

The minute they got home she went to the study and checked her computer to see just how bad the damage was. She saw the picture splashed across the internet claiming her and Dade were live-in lovers. Her muffled scream had been enough to make him come running. The way he'd found her last night hadn't been pretty, and it had only gotten worse.

She'd been walking around the study cursing up a storm. Then before she noticed him standing there she'd slammed a few things, but not hard enough to break anything. Finally totally drained she'd collapsed into her chair and he made his presence known. She'd told him to leave, but he refused, which pissed her off even more. She let her anger loose and told him what a huge mess he'd made of everything. Dade hadn't fought back, which made her feel like shit. When he pulled her into his arms, and begged her to forgive him her emotions were so out of whack she'd almost kissed him again. She knew he noticed her moment of indecision when his arms tightened around her. Rosie pulled back and the intense look in his eyes made her feel like she was going to burst into tears.

With the way night had been going she decided to run before it could happen, which left Dade to think whatever he wanted about her. Rosie knew right then that she owed him an apology. Probably some sort of an explanation too. She tossed the blanket aside and forced herself from the bed. Her feet hit the cold hardwood floor and she quickly stuffed them into her slippers.

She really didn't want to face Dade without taking a shower first, but coffee or maybe some tea might help her to keep her eyes open so she wouldn't drown. She tugged her robe on as she headed down the stairs. The scent of coffee was missing from the air so she guessed she'd be going for tea this morning. She turned the corner and bumped into a wall of muscle. Before she could regain her balance she fell onto her ass. Dade spun around so fast his plate tipped and Rosie found herself warding off a stack of pancakes dripping with thick sticky syrup.

"Shit." She sputtered as Dade just stared down at her.

Rosie didn't even try to get up. She just stared at him in total disbelief. Her wide eyed gaze turned to a glare when she saw his lips quirk. He quickly put the plate on the bar section of the counter. His hands latched around her arms and he pulled her to her feet. The plop noise the pancakes made as they fell to the floor must have been his breaking point.

His deep rumble of laughter only pissed her off more. Chin up she turned to walk away with what dignity she did have left. Only, with her chin up, she didn't see the pancake she stepped on. She squealed a little her arms flailing at her sides as she started to slide. Dade came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her to keep her from falling again. His hands settled on her boobs his palms covering the sticky wet spots of syrup. Her body reacted to his touch and she groaned hoping he wouldn't notice.

She knew with their height difference he probably hadn't planned it, but she still slapped at his hands. Dade didn't let her go right away, which was good because she most likely would have fallen on her ass. When she was steady on her feet he let her go and took a big step away from her. She wondered if he expected her to lash out at him. Rosie looked up at him not sure herself how to react. Any trace of his smile was gone, back was that intense stare she was just starting to get used to.

It seemed neither of them had anything to say. Rosie lowered her gaze down to her feet and sighed. Her favorite green googly eyed monster slippers —the ones her uncle had bought for her— had drips and dobs of syrup on them. Irrational tears threatened as she stepped out of them and tiptoed her way around the gooey mess on the floor. The second she was clear of it she ran to her room. Once again she'd left Dade to clean up after them. At least this time he'd caused the chaos.

"Unbelievable." She walked into the bathroom and carefully stripped not wanting to get anything else sticky. "Did he use the entire bottle of syrup?"

Rosie tossed her clothes into the hamper and turned the shower on. They were going to have to come to some kind of arrangement if they didn't want this kind of thing to keep happening. She stepped under the spray and pulled the door closed. The warm water relieved her tension, but nothing was going to erase the feel of his hands cupping her breasts. She loaded the bath poof with body wash and proceeded to try and ignore the memory. After all it wasn't his fault her body found his touch pleasurable. It was hers, but really his touch had been firm and though he hadn't done more than hold her up her mind instantly filled with lots of things they could do.

She stuck her head under the water hoping to drown out the images. Rosie was super careful about the men she got involved with, and Dade wasn't her type. She preferred men who were so into their careers that they didn't have time for entanglements. The dates she normally went on were to business or charity functions. Never anything personal and no man had seen her in her pajamas since college. Sophia said Rosie tended to choose men that were no risk to her independence. After just one night with Dade she was thinking maybe she was right, because Dade could pose a serious threat.

She wasn't going to let this drive her crazy, at least not alone. Rosie stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a big fluffy towel. She wrapped a smaller one around her head turban style and walked into her bedroom. It was time to call in reinforcements. It was something she hadn't planned on having to do, but things had taken too many twists for her to believe this was going to be as easy. She grabbed her cell and hit the number, which instantly started ringing.

Sophia answered on the third ring with a cherry, "Hello."

"When are you guys going to be here?" Rosie demanded.

"What's wrong?" Sophia asked picking up Rosie's distress.

Rosie didn't know where to start. "Everything."

"We'll be there by six."

"I'll make dinner." It would give her a reason to go out and then she'd be so busy in the kitchen she wouldn't have time to talk to Dade about what just happened.

# * * * *

Dade had two thoughts running through his head as sat in his office and tried to get some work done. First, the one that he couldn't get out of his head was that Rosie hadn't been wearing a bra. She'd been in her pjs so he wouldn't think she would be, but he also hadn't thought he'd be palming her round firm breasts either. With just the thin material of her T-shirt between them he'd felt the way she reacted to his touch, just before she'd tensed up in that instance of panic.

He'd felt it too. That moment when the contact was too intimate, yet not enough at the same time. Wanting more. Needing to end the feeling before it went any further. Doing the right thing had never been harder. With the way she tore out of the house not long after the incident he didn't have to wonder if Rosie was as flustered as he felt. Still she could have at least given him a chance to apologize.

That brought him to the second thought, which was more of a question. Was she going to run every time they ran into a problem? For any two people getting to know each other they were going to have a few rough spots. He really hoped that she wasn't the type to run at the slightest snag, because he wasn't the type to hold back to keep the peace.

If something bothered him he'd say so. He expected her to do the same. Six months was too long to be walking on eggshells. Tiptoeing around each other wasn't his idea of the best way to start a relationship, even if it was just business. Since Teddy wanted them to be more than associates they were going to have to be honest and put themselves on the line to make things work.

A door slammed somewhere and Dade got to his feet. It was about damn time she got back. Seriously where the hell could she have gone for three hours? He got up and walked to the office window. Rosie was leaning into the trunk of her car. The colorful flirty short skirt she wore barely covered her ass. Dade swallowed hard as he let his gaze roam over her. Slowly he moved down her thighs to her shapely calves ending at her ankles and another pair of those damn shoes.

She pulled out a shiny red bag with a fancy logo on it. Shopping he should've guessed. She leaned back into the trunk, but came out empty handed. He watched as she lowered the bag and carefully set it on the ground. Rosie lifted one leg and put her knee on the bumper and stretched further into the car. What the hell! Was she going to climb in to get what she wanted? Dade wasn't about to let her get hurt on his watch. He didn't run, but he moved damn quickly.

"Are you trying to hurt yourself?" Dade grabbed her by her hips and lifted her off the car.

She gasped as he set her on her feet. "No. I was doing just fine you know."

"Yeah, I could see that." He turned to the car expecting to find bags from the local boutiques and shops, instead there were bags of groceries. "Not happy with what I chose?"

"We're having company for dinner tonight." She picked up the bag from the ground and held out her arm for one of the three in the trunk.

He handed it to her and grabbed the others. "We?"

"I was hoping you'd join me and my friends. They need to see everything is okay here so that they won't worry too much about me." She headed for the house and he followed.

"Is everything okay?" He wasn't so sure.

"We've gotten off to a rocky start, but I'm sure things will get easier. Especially now that the entire world thinks we're a couple in love." The smile she flashed his way made him hope she was right.

He put the bags on the counter and stepped out of her way as she began to unpack them. "I never said anything about love. People can live together without being in anything more than like."

"I've done my best to keep from being linked to anyone so since you've broken my streak love will probably be the word getting tossed around. I was thinking we could just call and demand a retraction—"

Dade didn't let her finish that thought. "No we can't. It would lead to questions about why we're living together, and we can't answer them. We'll have to let this play out for a little while."

"If you had let me finish I was about to tell you that I came to the same conclusion."

"Oh." He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Nope. Just go back to doing whatever you were doing while I was gone." She shooed him out of the room and not wanting to make waves he went.

He didn't get far when he heard soft sultry music start to drift down the hall. Dade snuck back to the doorway. He watched Rosie for a few minutes. She'd put on a black and pink polka dotted apron. She danced and swayed as she unloaded the bags. With a twirl she went to the fridge took some stuff out and added it to her piles on the counter. Dade smiled realizing he was seeing another part of her. One he wouldn't have seen if they hadn't agreed to Teddy's request. Teddy had told Dade she cooked for him when she visited, but he hadn't said she enjoyed doing it.

Dade had thought it was just her being nice to her old uncle. Obviously he was wrong. He turned and headed back to the office. Teddy hadn't bragged about it the way he did all her other accomplishments, so there was a chance that even though she enjoyed it didn't mean she was good at it.

Dade knew he should get some work done only he was more interested in being prepared to meet her best friends. He decided it was time to check them out, just like they had probably already done with him. It was hard for him to get information about them. Sophia's father owned a media empire. Print, TV, and radio he had a finger in everything. Nicolette's family owned a beauty conglomerate. Tiffany was what some people would call nouveau riche. Their wealth had been accumulated over the past few decades.

Dade didn't believe half of what he read, but he felt a little better knowing something of their backgrounds. It didn't take him long to realize her friends weren't coming to the house just for dinner. If he had to guess this visit was some sort of strategy session. He wondered if he was going to be allowed to sit in on it, or if they'd try to find some way to get rid of him.

Dade wasn't willingly going to let that happen, but he knew he couldn't put up too much of a fight either. He'd love to use the time to dig deeper into Rosie's background, see what her friends were keen to tell him. He stewed in his office as long as he could before the amazing smell coming from the kitchen drew him out. His mouth was already watering and he didn't even know what she was making. Whatever it was he hoped it would taste as good as it smelled. Before Dade reached the kitchen he heard the mixture of feminine laughter drifting down the hall.

"Dade," Rosie walked over the wrapped her arm around his and led him into the room. "I was just about to come and get you."

"Ladies." He said in greeting as he sat in the chair Rosie gently shoved him into at the small kitchen table and smiled up at her. "What smells so great?"

"Mmm... lasagna," Sophia said.

Tiffany shook her head. "It's the cheesy garlic bread."

"All I smell is chocolate. Can we have dessert first?" Nicolette asked.

"No," the three other women said.

Dade got the feeling he wasn't seeing the polished facades Rosie and her friends showed the world. Their playful banter seemed way too genuine to be faked for his benefit alone. Dade was more than willing to sit back and let them be themselves. He was honored that they were willing to let him in. Especially after the mess he'd already created. Rosie brought platters of food to the table. She put the lasagna in the center of the table and he found himself moaning right along with her friends. Damn it looked as good as it smelled. She walked away and returned with a big salad she put on one side and garlic bread she put on the other.

Dade kept his mouth shut while they loaded their plates and discussed what Rosie should do about Walt. They all agreed that a small dose of revenge was due. Dade wouldn't mind delivering a physical dose of punishment, but he knew it would only make things worse. He was going to have to let Rosie decided exactly what they were going to do and go along with it. After all this was her field of expertise. She'd been dealing with this crap her whole life.

If he hoped to become a part of her life, even just as a friend, he needed to learn the rules. There was no one better to teach him the ropes than the woman herself.

Dade loaded his fork with a chunk of steaming lasagna and lifted it in front of his mouth. He gently blew on it before sliding it into his mouth. The tang of the sauce hit him first, but mixed with the meat and cheese added to the flavor and texture. He closed his eyes and sighed as he swallowed. God, it was the best thing he'd ever tasted.

"You like it?" Rosie asked.

"Like?" Couldn't she tell just be looking at him that he loved it. "That is an understatement."

"Complements should really go to Nicolette's grandmother, it's her recipe."

"Hers is amazing too," Nicolette said with a smile. "But your version has something special."

They ate and laughed. Rosie's friends held nothing back even though he was a perfect stranger to them. Dade was surprised to learn that Tiffany had an affection for animals big and small. Rosie explained that the rest of her family was allergic to most animals people had as pets, so she never got to have one growing up. Though he assumed Rosie had already done it he extended an invitation to come and enjoy their stables whenever she wanted. He promised to leave word with the stable manager to give her whatever she wanted. Sophia teased warning him that she'd probably move in.

Rosie and the girls started discussing their schedules for the next few weeks. A lot of their appointments were covered by at least two of them, if not all. Dade listened and when they asked him what he had on his plate he jokingly said nothing and helped himself to more food. The entire meal was amazing, company and all. He'd never had thought he'd feel so comfortable being surrounded by four wealthy gorgeous women. Whoever was lucky enough to catch one of them better hold on tight, or he was a damn fool.

"If you can handle it I'd like you to squeeze me into your schedule." His comment caused an instant silence to settle over the room.

"For what exactly?" Sophia asked before anyone else could.

"Well, I've seen a few glimpses into your world and it's only fair that you see mine." He gave a shrug trying to make it seem like it was no big deal, but to him it kind of was. "I've scheduled those meetings we discussed."

"I guess you're right. Teddy said that we should learn as much about each other's roles in the business as possible."

"So you'll give me some time?"

"She will," Sophia and Nicolette said in unison.

# Chapter Five

It took three attempts, but Rosie finally managed to spare some time to sit in on the meetings. They weren't with the companies he originally chose, but Dade was okay with that. Mostly because he'd worked in a meeting with her uncle's pet project. He was glad he was going to be able to introduce her to the owners. Dade knew she wasn't blowing him off on purpose. The cause of the delay was another big event coming up. This one was Nicolette's baby, but they all chipped in and did their part to make it amazing. These four women were busier than some of the most committed executives he'd worked with.

She and Dade both agreed that in order for her to really be able to give Dade and the meetings her full attention she needed to clear a day on her schedule. Today was that day. She'd given a perfunctory knock as she walked into the office. Dade looked up at her and had almost choked on the bite of muffin he'd just taken. Her light pink T-shirt was almost sheer and he could see the pink bra, just a shade darker, that she wore under it. She turned her back on him to set the folders she had on the desk. Dade let his gaze coast down the length of her. The black jeans weren't skin tight, but they'd clung to her curves.

The first meeting had gone well. It was a conference call and he'd given her the files to go over last night. This morning she had a few questions. They were damn good ones too. Dade answered them and then they went over what he wanted to ask the group. He told her to jump in at any point.

Once the conference started he'd introduced her to everyone and it went by pretty quick. In the end they decided to invest a small amount, but if the company grew at the rate Dade expected they'd recoup that and much more. More than once Dade had gotten distracted by Rosie's smile as she talked.

The next meeting hadn't gone as well. It was with a company they had already invested in. Dade knew ahead of time he was going to be turning the request for more money down, unless they were given more control of the direction and staffing of the company. On the upside they wouldn't be pulling out like some others who had lost faith in the management had.

It was why he had chosen to do this as a video conference instead of just an audio call. He figured it would be good for her to see that his job wasn't always easy. This time though he told her not to say anything. Rosie was nervous. He could tell by the way she kept fidgeting in her chair she kept crossing and uncrossing her legs.

He couldn't have her doing that during the call or he'd never make it through it. To make her stop he reached over and laid his hand, palm flat, on her thigh. She gasped and covered his hand with hers. Their gazes locked, but neither of them spoke. A deep chuckle came from the speaker on the desk beside his computer. He turned his attention from her to the screen. He didn't take his hand away and she didn't push it off her leg either.

Dade had made a quick switch from besotted fool back to business magnate if the blink of an eye. Or at least he tried to. Seeing the owner of the company flirt with Rosie —even though it had been totally innocent, and maybe all in Dade's head— Dade had briefly reconsidered pulling their funding. He told himself he wouldn't have done it, but he wasn't one hundred percent sure. Lucky for the guy he'd jumped on Dade's offer to help him find better management options, so he had one more chance with TC Corporation.

Dade and Rosie had a two hour break between meetings and she insisted on making them lunch and quickly fled the room. Dade gave her a few minutes then joined her in the kitchen. She was wearing another of the frilly aprons she liked. This one was black with a colorful cupcake and the words EAT ME embroidered on the bib. While she made turkey and bacon club sandwiches she asked why he'd offered to help the struggling company, when he'd been dead set against giving them money.

Dade explained that in his experience when some people saw a problem and they didn't know how to fix it their basic instinct was to throw money at it and hope it got better. The thing was Dade knew this was one of those cases where money wouldn't work. Truthfully in general he never thought it did. At best it usually turned out to be a temporary bandage. Rosie seemed to agree.

"This next meeting should go pretty smoothly." He helped her clean their plates from the table.

She leaned her hip against the counter and waited for him to wash his hands. "From what I understood of the file you gave me it's just a routine check in."

He nodded. "The company sends me quarterly reports and they've been growing steadily, which is a good sign. We're going to go over their plans for another small expansion. They're not asking for anything."

"You're smiling," she said.

He hadn't realized it. "Was I?"

"Yup." She put her hands and on the counter behind her and hopped up onto it. "You should do it more often."

"Really?" He asked and she nodded.

"It makes you look a little less intimidating."

"Maybe I like looking tough." He hung the towel on the rack and walked over stopping in front of her knees. "Besides you and your friends don't seem to be scared of me."

She slid down from her perch. His body instantly reacted to her nearness, which was just inches apart. For him it was a little too close for comfort in some areas, because one glance down and she'd see exactly what she did to him. Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing. One of them had to be the strong one and it turned out that whenever she got near him it wasn't going to be him.

"I have no reason to be afraid of you. Neither do my friends." She tilted her head and gave him one of her sexy little smiles.

She was right about her friends, but he wasn't so sure about her. "I guess I'll take your word for it."

"Not mine," Dade watched her hair sway from side to side as she shook her head. "Teddy's. He wouldn't have gotten me mixed up in anything with you if he didn't think I could trust you."

God! She truly had no idea what her uncle was up too. Dade knew he should tell her, but the selfish part deep inside him begged him not to. Though he'd been against Teddy's plan in the beginning he'd quickly come around to at least entertaining the idea. It didn't hurt that Rosie was more amazing than he could have wished. And now all he wished was that he could get her into his bed, or keep her in the kitchen until the six months was up.

He wasn't ready to tell her that yet either. "We should head back to the office."

This meeting was going to let Rosie in on a little known secret. He had purposefully held back what the small manufacturer made, but only because he wanted it to be a surprise. Dade hoped it would explain a little about him at the same time. Alaina Derringer and her husband Chuck came on the screen with big happy smiles. Dade made the introductions and as he hoped Rosie was stunned when she found out her uncle owned a big stake in a company that made cowboy boots. She claimed it answered a few questions she'd had.

Alaina gave them both her condolences on losing Teddy and surprised them with a small tribute. She had designed a pair of red and black boots called TC's. They had the flash and style her uncle had always strived for. Dade could tell Rosie was touched from the tears that glistened in her eyes.

Still it took about twenty minutes for Rosie to slip back into her habits. The smiles and leg crossing were so damn distracting he kept losing his train of thought. Dade started to wonder if Rosie knew just what she was doing to him. He wouldn't be able to prove it, but why else would she do things to irk him the way she did.

# * * * *

Spending the entire day with Dade had been exhausting. Rosie had gotten a much better understanding of her uncle's respect for him. She actually had her own now, but he definitely had a commanding presence. He came off as a man who liked to be in control, and yet Rosie was getting to the point where she wanted to see what would happen when he lost it. She'd never felt the urge to push someone to their breaking point before. Well, other than Sophia, and that felt totally different from what Dade was making her feel.

Dade was making her feel a lot more than she'd expected to. Rosie wasn't going to be the only one dealing with her feelings. If Dade brought emotions out in her she was going to do her best to bring something out in him too. The way he smiled over lunch she thought she might already be on the right track. She hadn't been lying when she told him he needed to smile more, but it wasn't because it made him look less intimidating.

When he smiled he got a kind of sexy vibe she wanted to explore more. She knew it was damn dangerous to play games with a man like him, but Rosie was finding it irresistible not too.

Just like teasing him had been. At first she was just doing it to have fun and try and loosen him up. Dade kept glancing at her legs —which she always thought were way too short— so she couldn't help but move them more. Every time he looked at her she wondered if he was attracted to her, or just distracted by her. Sadly she didn't know which one she wanted it to be. The only thing she knew was that she really liked the way he kept looking at her.

# Chapter Six

Rosie knew once her parents heard about her and Dade living together they'd show up to find out what the hell was going on. Since they had been out of the country on business when the news went public it took them two weeks. It had given Rosie time to plan what she was going to say, but there had also been enough time for the story to get fully blown out of proportion. Society and tabloid bloggers alike had taken the original story and ran with it.

Speculation about an upcoming wedding had been bandied about for days. Some wondered if there was possibly an announcement of a pregnancy on the horizon. Mostly everyone wanted to know how long the relationship had been going on. Many asked how they managed to keep it under wraps. Rosie knew better than to respond, and she'd made it perfectly clear to Dade that he wasn't to comment on anything either. She could tell he was frustrated by her restraints, but Rosie needed him to trust her on this.

They were standing in the living room arguing over whether or not they should attend Nicolette's upcoming fundraiser for the children's hospital when her parent's gold SUV pulled up in front of the house. Rosie was a bit shocked to see it, because she had expected to get a call demanding she come to them when they were ready to confront her. From the way Dade moved to her side she could tell he noticed her surprise. She didn't know if his closeness was meant to protect her or himself.

If he knew what she did, it would have been for him. Her father had never liked Dade. He'd never given a reason for it, but Rosie thought it was because through him her uncle had gotten the son neither of them had. Pure jealousy drove her father at times when it came to her uncle, and try as he might he just couldn't hide it.

She reached down slid her hand into Dade's and gave his a squeeze. "Let me handle this."

"No promises." Dade's retort was a mere whisper as her parents entered the house.

"Rosalind what on earth is going on?" her mother exclaimed as they stormed into the room.

Rosie knew better than to try and answer before her father said his piece. "We know exactly what's going on Lillian. It's all over those trash rags."

"Joel, we agreed to get Rosalind's side of things before we pass any judgment." It was nice of her mother to try, but Rosie knew her father had already formed an opinion.

Her father ignored her mother. "This behavior is totally unacceptable."

"I agree." Rosie took a fortifying deep breath, because what she was about to say needed to be done quickly. "If you want to stay here and discuss what has been happening you'll do it civilly or you can leave."

"Rosie, I'm sure your parents are just surprised by what they've been reading." It was sweet of Dade to try and be the peacemaker, but it was useless.

Her mother nodded. "He's right dear."

Rosie ignored them both and waited for her father to make his decision. He gave her a short and snappy nod agreeing to her demand. Her father took her mother's hand and led her to the couch. Rosie waited for them to sit down and get comfortable.

"Dade and I attended a charity function together and it seems a reporter got wind of the fact that Dade and I are living here together. Nothing more or less." Rosie knew it was a lot more, but admitting that to her parents would only make things worse.

"Did you at least try to stop the story before it got out?" Her father's tone was more even, but still full of anger.

"It spread way too fast. Rumors are fiercest when you give the fuel. This will die down if we ignore it." Rosie knew there was nothing to do but ride it out.

"Or you could just move back to your apartment." Her father groused. "Better yet come back to live at home for a little while until this blows over."

"I'm staying here." Rosie knew they weren't going to agree with her right away.

"I'm afraid the longer you are together the more people will talk." Her mother might be right, but Rosie had committed herself to six months and she wasn't backing out no matter how hard things got.

"Mom, I've never let the media push me around before and I'm not going to let them now." Rosie hoped she could get her mom on her side, because Rosie knew no matter what she decided there'd be no changing her father's mind.

Her mother was so quiet Rosie was about to give up, then she said, "I guess we're going to have to trust that you know what you're doing."

"It's not Rosalind I'm worried about." Her father turned to Dade. "Whatever you have going through your mind where my daughter is concerned I want you to know even if you do manage to seduce her you'll never get your hand on even the slightest piece of Crestmont Hotels."

Dade laughed. "If I decide to seduce your daughter getting my hands on your hotels will be the last thing on my mind."

Her mother's cheeks grew red, and so did her father's whole face, well before it turned a purple-ish color. His dislike for Dade had never been subtle, but now he was just being rude. Not many people stood up to him though. Most people held their tongues and kept their notions to themselves most likely to avoid having to argue with him. Not Dade though, he hadn't thought twice about speaking his mind. She liked that about him.

That Dade had actually laughed at him surprised her, but Rosie didn't think her father's behavior was funny in any way. Even her mother, who always went along with her father, looked stunned. She couldn't let her father get away with acting like this. Then again she shouldn't let Dade talk about seducing her like it was some type of game.

"Dad you owe Dade and apology. And you," She turned to Dade and stabbed her index finger at his chest. "Owe me one."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that the way it sounded. I don't plan to debauch you." He flattened her hand against him and leaned in so only she could hear him. "Unless you want me to."

Flustered she pulled her hand away and turned her attention back to her father. "Damn it! I haven't done anything I need to apologize for."

"You accused him of trying to use me to get Crestmont."

"Crestmont is a family company. He might have thought marrying you would make him family, unlike being Teddy's ward." It didn't come as any surprise that her father's first concern was for Crestmont Hotels and not his daughter's heart.

"Not that we're getting married," Rosie wanted to make that perfectly clear. "But that would make him family. I would think that you'd want me to settle down and have kids so there's someone for the company to go to. Or do you want it to end with me?"

"Rosalind," Her mother tsked like she'd spilled something. "Of course your father and I want you to settle down and give us grandchildren. He just wants you to have the best."

"In case you missed it I'm not what your mother and father consider the best." Dade's warm breath brushed her cheek as he whispered. "I hope you at least give me a shot before you make up your mind."

Rosie jabbed her elbow into his side. He would choose now to flirt with her. She felt the heat bloom on her cheeks and hoped her parents didn't notice.

"I'm sorry," her mother said with a shake of her head. "But yes Dade is not the kind of man we had in mind for you."

Rosie dreaded the answer, but she had to ask. "What kind of man would that be?"

Her father snorted. "Rosalind, you've dated millionaires, minor royalty, and high powered businessmen. We are not going to stand by and let settle for your uncle's personal assistant."

Settle? She was about to tell them how wrong they were when Dade's hand closed around her wrist. Rosie looked over at him and he shook his head. Could her parents really not know Teddy had his own company? She knew it wasn't public knowledge and her uncle had done his best to keep his name from being linked with it, but she assumed her father would have at least figured out something was going on over the past twelve years. Boy, were they in for a big surprise when Mr. Grest read the will.

"I think everyone is overreacting. Mom you and Dad should go home. I'm not going to defend my choices, and Dad's not going to admit he was wrong and apologize to both me and Dade." She was mad, but not enough to ban them forever. "I'll call you in a few days after we've all had time to calm down and we can have lunch or something."

"Joel we're leaving." There was no heat in her mother's tone as Lillian got her feet and walked over to Rosie and kissed her cheek. "You're such a smart girl."

"Then you should try to trust me enough to know what's best for me." Rosie walked them to the door.

# * * * *

Dade stood in front of the window and watched Rosie's father walk to his car. Her mother lingered on the porch probably making a last ditch attempt to warn Rosie away from him. The old bastard glanced at him and Dade smiled and waved. It must be killing Joel that Rosie had stuck up for him. Dade's smile got broader, not because he was enjoying getting between her and her father —that was just a little bonus. He was smiling, because Teddy had always said her father was never going to accept any guy unless he could completely control him and he was right.

Dade was the farthest thing from that and it seemed that they both knew it. So had Teddy, which had to be a contributing factor in his request. Maybe Teddy had wanted to stick it to his brother one final time. At the same time Dade knew he was trying to take care of Rosie even though he wasn't there.

Rosie waved goodbye and Dade figured he had about three minutes before they were out of sight and she came in the house. Not much time to decide on what his next move should be. Oh, he knew what he wanted to do. She stepped inside and slammed the door behind her.

Her gaze landed on him and Dade held his hands up in the air, the standard sign of surrender. "I was an idiot. I'm sorry."

She narrowed her glare and shook her head. Her heels clicked on the hard wood floor as she headed for the staircase. Dade followed not ready to let her go without thanking her for sticking up for him. He reached out and grabbed onto the back of her jeans. Either she hadn't been expecting it, or her shoes were as dangerous as he thought. She stumbled and he lunged forward wrapping his arms around her waist. With a twist of her hips she turned to face him.

Dade took one look at her eyes and lost all control. He crushed her lips under his. She moaned and parted giving him the entrance he demanded. He swept his tongue along her hers loving the sweet way she tasted. Her arms slid around his neck and they clung to each other desperately eager for the intimacy the connection gave them. Dade pressed his pelvis against her letting her feel what she did to him. She felt so good in his arms that he didn't want to let go, but the damn pesky part of him that still had some honor urged him to pull back.

"Rosie," He took a second to catch his breath. "I want you, but I'm not sure you're ready for this."

"Okay, this is the second time today that you've hinted that I don't know what I want. You really need to stop doing that." Her smile confused him.

"So you're saying?" He needed to hear the words.

She tugged her shirt over her head and dropped it to the floor. "That we can discuss everything I want later. Right now how about you show me what you want."

He didn't need to be told twice. With a quick bend at his knees he leaned forward and slung her over his shoulder. He carried her upstairs. When he reached the top he had a brief moment of indecision. His room or hers? Now was a good chance to check out her room, but there were condoms in his room. She reached down and grabbed his ass and he made it to his room in three long strides.

Dade lowered her to the floor letting her body slowly slide along his. He wanted their first time to be something they'd both remember for a long time. Slow and easy savor every touch and taste that had been his plan until she reach for the button on his jeans. The two of them tore at each other's clothes as he walked them toward the bed. Of all the things her uncle had wanted for them Dade was sure wild raging lust wasn't on his list. They fell onto the bed in a tangle of limbs.

It was damn obvious neither of them was in the mood for slow and easy lovemaking, but Dade was still going to make sure this was good for her. She was breathing heavily as he kissed along her neck down, nibbled here and there, until he reached the swell of her breasts. He slid his hand from her now bare breast down her side. He stilled for just a second when she squirmed under his touch and giggled. Ticklish. He tucked that little tidbit away for later and continued his journey.

When he reached her hip his palm settled on the generous curve. His thumb rested on that spot where there was a dip that would lead right to where he wanted to be most. Dade rolled himself off her enough to give him access. He slid his hand between them, his fingers parting her curls. She was soft, wet, and welcoming.

Dade ran his fingers along her silky folds enjoying the way she squirmed under his touch. She moaned as he slid one finger inside her. She was tight and he realized instantly he was going to have to be gentle with her at least at first. Rosie moaned as he toyed with her. The louder she was the harder he got. Damn, he was going to lose it soon if he didn't get her off. He added another finger to her tight passage and she pushed against his hand. Dade pressed the hard part of his palm to her mound and added pressure. He let her own movements drive her pleasure higher.

Rosie reached down and put her hand over his pressing it harder as she squeezed her thighs together. Dade knew she had to be close. He closed his lips over her nipple and suckled giving her everything he had.

# Chapter Seven

Dade paced around the office trying to decide what he should do. It was downright scary how good he and Rosie were getting along. Since the afternoon two weeks ago when they had sex they had slept together every night. Some nights they were in her bed, some in his, even a few on the couch when they'd fallen asleep watching TV. The truth was he was getting used to sleeping with Rosie.

Maybe he was growing a little too comfortable, because the idea of them staying together wasn't as crazy as it once sounded. And it wasn't just the sex making him think it either, because sleeping wasn't the only thing they were doing together. They'd taken to living like an actual couple. Somewhere between the sheet and the breakfast table a change had taken place. Suddenly they were in a new place. Rosie told him all kinds of things about her life and asked him dozens of questions about growing up with her uncle. He told her stuff that no else, not even Teddy knew.

Dade had never considered what it would be like to have anyone know him so intimately. Probably because he hadn't wanted anyone enough yet to really put himself out there. Rosie hadn't given him a choice.

It wasn't hard to want Rosie. Just being around her he felt lighter than he ever had, even before his parents had died. She was always smiling at him. When she wasn't in the study working he could find her in the kitchen. She was either cooking or baking, so the house smelled amazing. Dade figured he'd gained about five pounds. He was going to have to start watching how much he ate, or start really working out. It was worth it though, because he loved watching her prance around in those purely feminine aprons.

When she left —he was sure she was going to at some point, because even though she was happy there he'd seen her in the city and she loved it there— the place was going to seem emptier than ever. Teddy had always said the house needed and deserved to have the laughter of children carrying throughout the halls. Sadly both times Teddy had found love it hadn't lasted long enough to give him that. Dade wondered if he moved out and let Rosie have the house if she would ever make Teddy's dream a reality. He knew the only way he'd find out was to ask her.

There would be a possibility she'd give him an answer he didn't want to hear. It occurred to him that it could go even worse and she might feel as though he was pressuring her for a commitment to him. He was pretty sure neither of them was ready for that.

"You're going to end up with some serious lines if you don't stop frowning." Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"How long have you been there?" Dade asked.

Rosie walked into the room as if she belonged and sat in his chair. "Long enough to see that you're worried about something."

He didn't know what he wanted to say to that. He watched silently as she popped her feet up on the desk and crossed them at her ankles. She had on another pair of those stilettos she favored. This time they were a leopard print. She waggled her foot and he wondered if she was waiting for him to make a comment. There were a few that sprang to mind, but he held them back.

"You wanna talk about it?" He appreciated her offer.

"Not really." He glanced at his watch. "Are you still planning on going to meet Sophia for dinner?"

"Yeah. That's what I came to talk to you about."

"What's up?"

"I'm not sure. All I know is Sophia needs to talk to me about something. So I have no idea how long I'm going to be. I just wanted to let you know if it's late I'll probably stay in the city for the night, but I'll call and let you know for sure."

His first thought was she might be tired of sleeping with him, but then he figured it was probably a smart idea not to drive back out there if it got late. "Okay."

"That's it, just okay."

"What else can I say?" Was he supposed to demand that she be home and in his bed by midnight?

The smile that curved her lips made them even more kissable. "You could say you're gonna miss having me."

"I thought that was obvious." He meant it wholeheartedly.

"Nothing with you is obvious." She tipped her head and narrowed her eyes as she stared at him. "Is that what you were frowning because you were thinking about me leaving?"

He nodded and she laughed. "Liar. You were probably thinking about work."

"Nope, my mind has been on you since lunch."

"More like your belly." Dade knew she might be a little right with that assumption, but there were other parts of his body that made him think about her even more. "I bet you were wondering what you were going to do for dinner. Don't worry it's all set in the fridge. I taped the directions on top take them off before you put it in the oven."

He sighed. "You didn't have to do that."

She shrugged and her cheeks took on a pretty pink tinge as she blushed. "I know, but I wanted to."

"Why aren't you married yet?" The question just came out without him really thinking about it.

"Whoa!" She leaned way back in the chair and held up her hands, and Dade feared he'd made a big mistake.

"I'm sorry." Truly he was because this was a dangerous direction to take their conversation in right now. "You don't have to answer."

"I don't, but I'm going to. The easy answer is no one's asked me." She took a breath and sort of huffed it out. "If I dig a little deeper I guess that's because I haven't encouraged anyone to want more than I'm willing to give."

"Or maybe it's just that no one has come along that made you want to settle down?" Dade wondered if he was projecting his own issues on her.

"I'm only twenty-five. It never seemed like there was any rush."

"There still isn't. You still have plenty of time." They both did, or at least they had before Teddy's request.

"What about you?" Rosie asked.

He knew turn at some point she'd turn this back on him. "I'm only thirty, I have time."

"No," She laughed and shook her head. "Why haven't you gotten married?"

He cocked his head to the side and pretended to think of an answer. "Well, no one has asked me."

"Are you expecting some woman to walk in off the street and propose?" The question was in jest, but he noticed that her foot had stopped waggling.

"Maybe?" He gave her a one shoulder shrug.

"And you'd consider saying yes?" If she was looking for encouragement he'd give it to her.

He nodded. "If she had the right qualities."

"This I need to hear. What is it you're looking for in a woman?" Dade walked over and eased his hip onto the desk by her feet.

"She needs to be caring, giving, and able to deal with me working all the time." He put his hand on top of her foot and slid it toward her bare ankle.

"That's all?" Her voice was a little shaky.

"If she was sexy as hell it wouldn't hurt." He lifted her foot in his hand and slipped off her shoe. "And now that I've gotten used to having a wonderful cook feed me she'd have to be passable in the kitchen."

"Not asking for too much huh?" She sighed when he pressed his thumbs into her arch and rubbed in little circles.

"Nope." Dade really didn't think so.

"What about kids?" He stilled his ministrations for just a few seconds.

"This might sound strange, but I'd prefer she have mine." He gave her a wink and she laughed.

"That's not a bad thing, but I meant how many do you want?"

"I'd have to discuss it with the lucky woman." Rosie wiggled her toes making the blue polish on her nails sparkle.

"So already having a kid is a deal breaker huh?"

"Not totally. If she had enough of the other qualities I might bend a bit on that last one. You hinted to your mother that you want kids. How many?"

She shrugged her shoulders and glanced at the floor then back up at him. "You know I was an only child, which was good because I don't think my parents could have handled more than that. Growing up I was bored most of the time. I'd like to have a couple of kids, maybe three, so they'd have someone to play with on rainy days."

"I remember my grandmother telling me once that my parent's tried for years to have another kid. They finally gave up and showered me with all of their attention, and bam my mother got pregnant. Unfortunately she died before she could have the baby. Sometimes I wish I had a brother or sister to share the memories of them with." Man that was sappy. What the hell was she doing to him?

"Here we are wishing for siblings, when I'm ninety percent sure the reason Sophia's spazzing is because her little sister has done something to freak her out again. And poor Tiffany, her and her sister are like night and day. They barely talk unless it's about business." She tugged her foot from his hands.

"Are you saying having more than one kid isn't necessarily a good idea?" Dade picked up her shoe and held it out.

She took it and slid it back on her foot. "Not at all. I've seen Nicolette's family in action and though they argue and tease each other it's done with love."

"So you think it's a good idea?"

She laughed. "I'm saying no matter how many kids you have you need to raise them with love, affection, and discipline. It might be hard not to give them whatever they want if you can afford it, but it's important not to spoil them. From what I've seen mostly kids just need to know they're loved and be taught right from wrong."

Dade considered what she said. Not some much the words, though she made sense, but it was the passionate way she said it. He knew she was speaking from personal experiences. Any kids were going to be lucky to have her for a mom. He hoped the father would be worthy of her too. It bothered him more than it should that he might not ever be in the running. Suddenly he didn't want to talk about this anymore.

"So when are you leaving?" He asked hoping to switch the subject.

She shrugged, and sighed as she got to her feet. "Now is as good a time as any."

"I'll walk you out." He laid his hand on her lower back and they headed for the door.

They paused by the door and he picked up the black leather overnight bag. Neither of them spoke as he walked her to her car. He opened the driver's door and tossed the bag onto the passenger seat. He stepped back and she slipped in between him and the car. Dade hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. Her hands went to his chest. He lowered his head and covered her mouth with his. She yielded to him allowing him to ravage her mouth. Dade kissed her until he could feel the pressure in his chest telling him he needed air.

He eased away. "Have a nice visit."

Rosie nodded. He wanted to tell her he'd miss her, but instead he just turned and walked away.

# * * * *

Rosie pulled up in front of Sophia's townhouse and shut the car off. She sat there for another minute or two, not that she thought it was going to help her. She'd just spent two hours listening to the radio and trying to decide what this thing going on between her and Dade was. Was there even a name for what they were doing?

She had a friend who lived with her boyfriend for years before they'd finally gotten married. Rosie's mother always called her 'the one who was playing house'. She wondered if Dade thought that was what they were doing. They were acting like a married couple to a point. Dade had even managed to breach a few of the walls she purposefully had in place to keep most people at bay.

She didn't have time to sit there and dwell on her situation with Dade. Rosie had a little over three months to figure things out and right now Sophia needed her. She got out of the car and started for the steps, but a pizza delivery boy got there first. Rosie started to follow him. A noise behind her had her looking over her shoulder. A young man was coming up behind her with a takeout bag from the Chinese restaurant down the street. Rosie groaned, but kept moving. She reached the top step as the door opened and Sophia appeared.

The kid handed her the pizza and took the cash she held out. Rosie took the box from her as she went inside and waited for Sophia to pay the other delivery guy.

Once the door was closed and they were alone Rosie said, "It's a double delivery kind of problem?"

"Worse, but I stopped myself from ordering anything else." Sophia walked into the dining room and started unpacking the food.

There was no doubt in Rosie's mind where Sophia's angst was coming from. "What did your sister do this time?"

"Gina has decided she wants to give back." Sophia rolled her eyes.

"To who?" Rosie asked.

Sophia snorted with a toss of her hair. "I don't think she even knows."

"Okay" Rosie wasn't going to look at this like a problem just yet. "So we'll find her something to do where she can't get into too much trouble."

Sophia dropped into a chair and groaned. "It's too late she already signed on to do some cooking competition. If she wins the charity will get twenty-five thousand dollars. Five if she loses."

"So she's guaranteeing them five grand. I'm not seeing the downside yet." Rosie might not, but she knew it was there.

"It's going to be televised over a series of weeks, and my father has decided I should watch over her." Sophia snatched up a piece of pizza. "You can imagine how well that went over."

"So what was her threat this time? Is she running off to live in the mountains again?" At least Gina's ultimatums kept them entertained.

"Her idea of the mountains was a chalet with her friends in Aspen, on daddy's credit." Sophia laughed.

"What about the time she threatened to cut off all her hair if your father didn't get her an appointment with Haviar."

This time Sophia came to her sister's defense. "She was only twelve."

Rosie knew that Sophia was always going to be on her sister's side no matter what happened. Right now she just needed some support.

"Things have gotten progressively worse as she's gotten older." And Sophia always bailed her out. "So what's she holding over your head this time?"

"Nothing. She willingly gave me the contracts to read. Not that I can do anything now, because she already signed them. In a month she'll be assigned a professional chef as her partner and then we'll know more."

"So for a month she's going to let you wonder what she's going to do to screw up." Rosie wasn't about to let that happen.

"No. For a month I need to keep her from getting in trouble." Which they both knew could be a full time job at times. "Then for the span of her time on the show I'll have to be at her beck and call."

"What the hell was your father thinking?" If he had been thinking about anything but avoiding a showdown with Gina Rosie would be surprised.

"Don't get mad at him. You know that he hates putting me in these positions," Sophia sighed and reached for her drink. "It's just that he knows that no one else can control her."

"Nobody else even tries." Rosie wanted to take the words back as she said them, because the last thing she wanted was to make Sophia feel even worse. "Okay new plan. You check out the contracts. Hopefully there are no issues, but if there is maybe someone is involved that we've had contact with in the past and we can get it fixed. As for your sister what if we give her some kind of project."

Sophia perked up a little at that suggestion. "Like what?"

"What's she good at?"

"Shopping." They both said and started laughing.

"Oh... I've got it. We're sponsoring that Keep Kids Warm program again this year. We need someone to make calls to the director and get numbers for how many coats, hat and glove sets, and pairs of boots we need. We did twenty five hundred last year. I think it'll be higher this year since they've opened it up to more schools. We could give her the information and have her start shopping by age."

"It could work," Sophia didn't sound totally sold on the idea. "But I don't know if she'd be interested."

"Listen she's saying she wants to give back this will show her you're willing to believe her. If she's says no then you'll know there's something else going on."

Sophia twirled her fork in the Lo Mein. "I guess. I just wished she'd talked to me before she agreed to do this."

"That would have given you the power to shoot it down." Rosie shook her head. "We both know she'd never willingly give you that much control."

"This has to work." Sophia took another huge bite of her slice of pizza.

Rosie had no idea how Sophia's parents had managed to raise two such different daughters. One serious and one... well flaky was the only way to describe her sister Gina. Sophia managed to shy away from the limelight, while Gina did her best to find her way into it.

"It will. We'll make it work. Who knows maybe she really does want to make a change." It wasn't likely, but it was possible.

Sophia looked at the food spread out on the table. Rosie saw the regret in her eyes. She only ordered takeout like this went she was upset. Normally she picked up salads, stir-fry, or other healthy stuff. Rosie knew if she went to the fridge right now she'd find eggs, cheese, water, mayonnaise, a bag of baby carrots, maybe milk, and soda. The soda was Sophia's one guilty pleasure and she limited herself to having it once or twice a week. There was bread and tuna in the cabinet.

"Don't do it." Rosie commanded. "Guilt is not an option. You're allowed to splurge every now and then."

"It's not guilt. I'll work it off tomorrow. I was just thinking that pizza and Chinese are Gina's favorites. My subconscious might be trying to tell me something." They both laughed.

"Yeah, that someday you're going to need to stop letting her get to you." Rosie and Sophia took what was left of the food and the bottle of wine Sophia had opened and migrated into the living room.

"I'm working on it. Now let's talk about something totally different. Something that has nothing to do with my family." Sophia put the stuff in her hands on the coffee table and walked to the shelf of DVDs.

She held up a romantic comedy that had the new sexy Scottish actor. Since Rosie was missing Dade he might be able to get him off her mind for a while. If not they'd at least get a laugh or two out of it. Rosie nodded and Sophia stuck in the DVD player.

"What would you like to talk about?" Rosie asked.

Sophia dropped onto the opposite end of the couch sitting facing Rosie. "How about you tell me how Dade is in bed?"

"Whoa," Rosie said around her mouthful Lo Mein. "Sophia, what the hell?"

"What?" The look on Sophia's face portrayed innocence, yet guilt at the same time.

"You had to know I was going to ask."

Rosie had, but not like this. "I thought you would have eased into it."

"Does he ease into it?" The way Sophia drew out the word ease made Rosie laugh.

Rosie finally caught her breath and said, "Sometimes. God, I can't believe we're sitting here talking about this."

"Why not?" Sophia seemed genuinely surprised. "We always talk about this stuff. What's different this time?"

"For one I'm on the receiving end." Rosie pressed her hand to her chest.

"You've been there before. Even though the rest of us think there were far too many times in between." Sophia's long term memory was too damn good.

"Yeah well, it's easier when I'm the one doing the questioning, not being the one who has to answer." Rosie quickly stuffed more noodles into her mouth.

"Quit stalling. All that sex should have you relaxed, but you're not. So why don't you tell me what's got you so tensed up." Sometimes her friend read her too well.

"Everything." Rosie dropped her fork into the box with a sigh. "I mean the whole way here I was trying to figure out exactly what the situation between me and Dade is. We're living together, sleeping together, doing just about everything together, yet we're not together. Does that make any kind of sense at all?"

Sophia shrugged. "Sometimes the best things don't make sense. I think part of your problem is you're thinking too much. You need to shut your brain off and just enjoy him."

Sophia was probably right, because at some point this was all going to come to a crashing halt. Rosie had been pushing that thought out of her head for days. She knew that when it came time to leave Dade it was going to be one of the hardest things she'd ever have to do. Her friends would be there for her. Which was a good thing because she had the feeling she might need a little help to get past it.

"Stop thinking," Sophia groused. "I can practically smell the smoke leaking out of your ears."

"Shut up and watch the movie." Rosie said and they both laughed.

# Chapter Eight

Between work and soothing her friends ruffled feathers Rosie had spent most of the last three days on the phone or computer. She was at the point where she wanted to hop in her car and drive into the city. If she wasn't spending her free time with Dade she would have done it already. She just wasn't ready to give that up yet, even though she knew Dade would understand her need to go be near her friends.

She had explained to him that most of the time her role within the group was the sounding board. Whenever one of them had a problem she would listen to them talk it out. Sometimes if they were lucky they'd come up with at least a temporary solution. It seemed like since her visit with Sophia last week everyone had gone into a tailspin of sorts.

Nicolette wasn't talking to two of her cousins, which was a huge deal in a family as close as hers. Sophia said it was because they had teased her about her lack of skills with kids. Rosie knew it was a sore subject for Nicolette. It wasn't that she didn't like kids, or that they didn't like her, she just didn't have many in her life to really learn how to take care of them. Rosie had once heard her sisters tell her it was no big deal, because she could afford a team of nannies. Nicolette was determined that she would never let it come to that. When Rosie talked to her earlier today she'd said she was going to find a way to prove them all wrong, which kind of scared her. A determined Nicolette could be dangerous.

Then there was poor Tiffany. Things had been a little intense past few months between her, her parents, and sister. Her parents were pushing her to further her education and Tiffany wasn't firmly against it. The issue seemed to be coming to a head, and though Nicolette and Sophia promised to be there for her Rosie wanted to be on hand.

Sophia, well she was usually the most together one of them all, but she was still dealing with the situation Gina had created. Hopefully the idea they'd come up with would work, but only time would tell. Rosie had already done what she could to get things moving.

When she was at home in her apartment and felt stressed or cooped up she'd take a stroll through her neighborhood. The sights and sounds always managed to calm her. She had no idea if it would work there but she decided to go for a walk and give it a try. She grabbed her cell phone off her desk just in case anyone needed her and headed for the back door.

Dade had gone into town early this morning for some supplies and hadn't returned yet, so she stopped in the kitchen and left him a note. She wanted to make sure he'd find it right away so she put it on the counter next to a plate of leftover cinnamon rolls that she'd made this morning.

Once outside on the porch that wrapped around the house she just stood there looking out at the yard. The idea of tossing rocks into the pond didn't appeal to her like it had when she was a little girl, but she found herself walking toward the gazebo anyway. She ignored the bench and leaned against the post and stared out over the pond. The water was still and the few ducks floating on the surface were silent. Not for the first time since she got there she felt like something was missing.

It was more than her uncle. She missed him like crazy and wished he was there with her, but it was more than that. Like something was missing in her life. A part of her she'd yet to find. She wondered if she would have felt it in the city if there hadn't been so many things to distract her. She felt the tears building up and didn't even try to hold them back. Her uncle was always trying to teach her something.

She closed her eyes. An old memory of her and Teddy lying on a blanket staring up at the stars popped into her head. She had been around eleven, or maybe even as old as twelve. He had been pointing out the constellations and telling her stories about them.

He paused and after a few minutes he'd said, "Baby Girl, someday you'll come here to think and I want you to remember this."

"Why?" she had asked.

"Because I may not always be around to tell you how much I love you. You need love in your life, or it won't really be any fun. Look for a man who makes you smile on the inside and on the outside."

She opened her eyes, wiped her cheeks and said, "Oh Teddy. I don't know if I'm ready for this."

Teddy's reply would have been, "You'll never know until you try."

She'd always taken that to heart and tried her hardest at everything she did. Sometimes she failed, but it was with the knowledge that she'd given it her all. And there were some things like roller blading that she thought she'd never be able to do. With a little hard work and patience she had surprised herself and gotten the hang of it. She couldn't help but wonder which category Dade would fall into?

# * * * *

Dade stayed away from the house as long as he could without it being too obvious. The last thing he wanted was for her to realize that he was avoiding her. He just needed some space to get his thoughts in order. While she seemed able to focus on work and everything else that came her way he couldn't stop popping into the study to see if she needed anything, or just to say hi. So when the stable manager asked him about ordering some supplies in town Dade had jumped on the chance to drive in and pick them up.

Once he'd done that he decided to waste a little time. He grabbed a quick lunch on his own. The turkey and Swiss club sandwich hadn't tasted nearly as good as the ones Rosie made. Even though the diner had been packed it was too damn quiet without her there to talk with. Then he hit the bookstore, bank, grocery store, and stopped to visit a friend of his. His buddy Nick was happy to see him, or maybe anyone might have done at the time. Nick's five year old twins Hank and Holt had woken from their nap and without him knowing decided to take their dog Molly and her eight puppies out to play in the yard. When Dade had shown up Molly and Nick were chasing the puppies and the boys around the yard trying to round them all up.

It had taken over an hour, but Dade had helped them get everyone inside and calmed down. The puppies settled in much quicker than the boys. Once their mom laid down it was feeding time and they all pounced on her. The boys got angry because they weren't done playing with them yet. Dade watched Nick negotiate with his kids better than some of the business men Dade had to deal with. Dade asked a few questions about the pups.

He knew they were yellow labs. Nick said they were almost six weeks old and all but two already had homes they'd be going to in just two weeks. Dade had no idea how Rosie was going to feel about it, but before he could stop himself he claimed the last two. Both girls, one was a touch bit lighter than the other, but Nick said that could change as they got older. Dade visited for a little while longer then decided it was time to go home and tell Rosie what he'd just done. He snapped a couple of pictures of the pups, tentatively named Baby and Girly until he got Rosie's input and left.

Some people might see it as irresponsible of him to take on not one, but two puppies when so much of his life was still uncertain. He guessed that might be one of the reasons he'd done it. There was a damn good chance he was going to lose Rosie. The puppies wouldn't replace her, but at least he wouldn't go back to being all alone. A sick and twisted part of his mind told him he might be trying to see how she'd deal with him for doing this without asking her first. No matter what happened he'd love and care for the dogs and provide them with the best home he could.

Dade pulled the truck up to the barn and started unloading it. One of the boys from town that worked in the stable came running out to help him. In no time at all they were done and Dade had no excuse not to go find Rosie. He checked the study, her bedroom, his bedroom, and finally the kitchen. There on the counter sat a plate of gooey sticky buns. With one hand he grabbed a bun, and with the other he picked up the note resting against the plate.

She'd gone for a walk. It was only four-thirty so it would be light out for a few more hours. Still he wanted to make sure she was okay. He'd been in the barn so he knew she wasn't there. Still he walked over that way to see if she'd taken one of the trails. Not finding any sign of her he started back for the house.

He climbed the porch steps and turned to take one more look around. A dark shape on the gazebo caught his eye. Dade walked over and found her sitting there staring out into the woods. He had no idea why and from the concentration lines on her forehead he wasn't sure he wanted to ask.

"Hey there, everything okay?"

"Fine." But she didn't look up at him

"I've got some news to share," His voice sounded a little too chipper so he toned it down. "If you want to hear it?"

"Is it good?" Dade noticed the slight droop of her shoulders when she asked.

"Um... I think it is, but you might not." Honesty would hopefully gain him a few points.

"I'm willing to think positively. What's up?"

"I stopped by my friend Nick's while I was in town. His dog, a purebred yellow lab had puppies about six weeks back. I bought the last two. They'll be ready to come home in about two weeks." It came out in such a flash that he would almost admit to it being the closest thing he'd ever done to babbling.

"Puppies?" He couldn't tell if she was excited or anxious, so he just nodded and waited for the rest of her reaction. "Boys or girls?"

"Both girls. I know I should have asked since we're sharing the house, but it was kind of a snap decision. I really didn't want to take a chance on someone else claiming them before we could hash it out. I've always wanted a dog, but Teddy was allergic." Dade realized he was trying to justify what he'd done. Then it hit him that she could take after Teddy when it came to cats and dogs. "Shit! You're not allergic, are you?"

"No. I've been around dogs and never once had an adverse reaction, but my parents were too busy to consider pets when I was younger. I guess I was just nervous about taking one on."

"You don't have to take care of them. I'll do it all."

"No," She shook her head and smiled. "I'd like to help if you don't mind."

"Not at all. I'm going to have to do some shopping and get things ready around here before they come home."

"We can do it together."

# Chapter Nine

Rosie knew it was wrong and she truly tried to stop herself, but she'd spent the past four months pushing Dade's buttons. Sometimes he deserved it. Others had mainly been just for her gratification. The thing was he let her get away with it. Oh he'd done some pushing of his own, but nothing she couldn't handle. It was the strangest relationship she'd had with a guy. It retrospect she came to the startling realization that it was really similar to the one she had with Sophia, just with added benefit of awesome sex.

All the teasing was a perverse type of foreplay. It wasn't what she had intended, but she wasn't complaining. And since Dade wasn't either she could go on enjoying the rewards. After all it wasn't hurting either of them. Still Rosie was going to make an effort to see how long she could go without saying or doing something that would demand a response. She kind of wondered how long it would take Dade to make a move of his own without her egging him on.

Would the passion that roared between them die down without them pushing each other? She hoped not, yet at the same time it would be good to have things fizzle out naturally so they could end on good terms. They only had two months left. He was going to be busy training and house breaking the puppies, and they both had tons of work to keep them occupied. It might be good if she actually started to initiate the beginning of their end.

The phone rang and it took her a few seconds to find it among the papers scattered on top of her desk. "Hello."

"Feel like coming to dinner tonight?" Nicolette asked. "Sophia and Tiffany are coming."

"Yeah I could use a break." Maybe her friends could help her straighten her focus.

Nicolette made a noise then said, "Will Dade mind?"

Rosie didn't like that her friends thought their relationship had progressed to the point where he had any say in what she did. "No. He'll probably be glad to have the house to himself for the night."

"Good, because we're having dinner at my grandmother's house, and I already told her you would all be there."

"Nicolette, are you up to something?" Rosie would still go she just wanted to be prepared.

"I'm not going to ask why you all asked that, because I'm not sure I want to know the answer." She sighed and Rosie knew it wasn't just for effect. "I was just thinking that with you all there maybe we'd have a civilized meal for a change."

Rosie thought it was a wise decision not to remind her of the night that her grandmother had balled out her cousin Joey in front of everyone when she found out he'd cheated on his girlfriend. "I'll head in soon and hopefully get there around three so I can handle a few things at the gallery before dinner."

"Call me when you get in and I'll meet you there. I've been working on something new and I have a couple of things I want to show you."

"New?" Rosie couldn't believe she'd been holding back on her. "I thought you decided to take a break and let your creative juices build up."

"Yeah, well the muse struck and I decided to go with it."

"Oh." This had happened once before. "Does this muse have a name?"

"No." Nicolette laughed. "It's not like that. This is something totally new for me. I'm actually a little nervous to show it to you."

"Well don't be." That made Rosie curious, because Nicolette had never been worried before. "You know I'll take a look and give my honest opinion."

"I know that's why you're the only one who knows the truth about this."

"That and the fact that I'm your only friend who can keep a secret." They both laughed.

Rosie ended the call and went looking for Dade. Once she told him she was leaving she could pack up her stuff and get on the road. He wasn't in his office, or anywhere else in the house. It was totally hypocritical, but she was surprised he left without telling her. They weren't that type of couple yet, and unfortunately she didn't think they would have enough time to get there. Worse she was beginning to think that was exactly what she wanted. She called his cell phone and left a message for him to call her back as soon as he could, but that nothing was wrong.

While she waited she packed a bag and went back to the study. She gathered the files she'd need for the night and stuck them in her bag with her laptop. There were a few things she wanted to run past the girls and get their opinions on. She walked over to one of the bookshelves and slowly ran her hand along the books.

Her uncle had an extensive collection of mysteries and who' dun' it's. Most of them had cracks on the spine proving they'd been read over and over. Her finger lingered on the rare one without any marks. It was the one she sent him just a few weeks before the accident. She pulled it out and stroked the glossy cover before pressing the book to her chest. What was she going to do without him?

She turned to slide the book back in place, but froze when she noticed a big yellowish envelope stuck in the back behind the other books. Rosie dropped the book to the floor and began pulling others out until she could free the envelope. With it in her hand she dropped onto the couch and stared at it. She flipped it over and over. Something inside slid from side to side. There was nothing written on it. If her name had been on it she would've ripped it open already.

Her options were pretty clear. She could open it and not tell anyone else. Or she could wait for Dade and they could open it together. Mr. Grest would probably need to be notified if it turned out to be something important, but something told her if her uncle wanted him to know he would have given it to him. She got up and walked over to the window. She stood there tapping the envelope against her thigh fighting with herself.

This room had been her uncle's private domain. Dade knew that. She decided it was only right as his niece that she open it. Her fingers trembled a bit as she flipped the clasp. She pulled the edges apart and looked inside as she walked over to the desk. Rosie carefully dumped the contents onto the desk calendar. There were four photographs, and two thick envelopes. One was addressed to her, and the other was addressed to Dade. They were both in her uncle's handwriting.

She picked up the pictures. The first was of her and her uncle a few years ago in front of the Christmas tree. The next was of him and Dade each holding up a beer toasting whoever was behind the camera. They were both smiling. Rosie laid it on the desk and moved to the next one. It was of her uncle dancing with her at one of the charity events she'd been a part of.

God, he looked fabulous in a tux. Rosie remembered that night half the women there that night had made large donations trying to catch his eye. It was a great picture of the two of them. She put the picture aside deciding she was going to have it blown up and hang it on the wall behind the desk for everyone to see. The last picture was bigger than all the rest. It was a party of some sort and Dade was staring across the crowd to where she was standing with her uncle. She had no idea when it was taken, or by who. Her uncle was smiling at her, but Dade wasn't.

Rosie didn't know what her uncle was up to. She decided she wanted to. Still her hands shook as she picked up her letter.

' _Baby Girl,_

If you're reading this I guess you and Dade either didn't follow through with my request, or things didn't work out the way I hoped. I'm sorry to have left you at all, but I thought I was at least leaving you in good hands. Dade is a good man, the best I know, and I had the highest hopes for the two of you.

I hid this packet knowing the only way one of you would find it was if you were packing my things away. I had hoped so many times over the years that you and Dade would spend some time together and fall for each other. It would have made things so much easier.

I know deep in my bones you two are perfect for each other. Forgive me for trying to push you two together to make you see it too. If I had more time I would have found another way, but if you got this then something stopped that from happening. I thought you just needed to get to know him better. I've seen the way he looks at you and with just a little nudge I was hoping he'd do something about it. Since you're reading this he must not have, or he did something to screw it up. He can be a blasted fool sometimes. All men are at some point. If that's the case do me a favor and cut him some slack, and give him a chance to make up for it before you do something rash like walk out on him.

If things just can't work that's fine too. Thank you for at least thinking about doing this last thing for me. Remember forever Baby Girl that I love you, and I hope you can forgive an old man his follies. They were done with love in mind.

With all my love,

Uncle Teddy'

Rosie's tears rolled down her cheeks and landed in fat plops on the paper. Emotions rolled through her. She knew trying to control them would be impossible. Her uncle couldn't have known he was going to be in an accident, so why the letters and pictures? She wiped her face off and picked up the phone. Mr. Grest might have some answers.

Twenty minutes later the tears only fell harder. Mr. Grest hadn't known about the letter, but he hadn't been surprised. He told her that Teddy had always hoped the two of them would run into each other someday, hit it off, and end up blissfully married. Since you both seemed disinclined to do it on your own this arrangement was his last ditch attempt to see if he could bring you two together. She'd found out that her uncle re-record that video every six months just in case one of them met someone or something.

Then Mr. Grest had surprised her by telling her he'd already mentioned all this to Dade. How could he have gone along with it? Worse how could he have not told her what was going on? Well, damn it, she was going to find out. Then she was going to tell him exactly what she thought about it and him.

# * * * *

Dade limped into the kitchen. His whole body ached. He tossed his cell phone on the counter and made his way to the sink. So much for being unbreakable. The screen was smashed and the back had cracked so bad it was barely holding the battery in. Luckily he had insurance on it. He added it to the list of calls he needed to make. Dade washed and dried his hands and face. He tossed the towel on the counter with a groan as his shoulder protested every movement, even the slightest.

The living room was the closest room with a soft surface he could stretch out on. And the fact that he could avoid climbing the stairs made it even more suitable. With slow easy measures he lowered himself on the couch. As slowly as he could he eased back against the cushions and told himself after a few minutes he'd lie down. He heard the click of Rosie heels coming his way and found the strength to smile.

She paused in the hall and called his name. "Dade?"

"In here." Darn, just calling out hurt.

She came into the living room and stopped in front of him. Normally his manners would have dictated that he got to his feet, but his body demanded he stay right where he was. She propped her hands on her hips and tapped the toe of her shiny hot pink shoe at him. He wasn't in the best mood for whatever was about to happen, but one look at her and he knew he wasn't going to be able to avoid it either. It was best to just let her get it out of her system.

"Have you been crying?" He did his best to hide his pain from her.

"Where the hell have you been?" She asked not confirming or denying his assessment.

"Out." He wasn't about to dump his horrible day on her when she was obviously already upset.

"I tried calling you to tell you that I'm going into the city."

"Sorry I'm having trouble with my phone." It was true, but a major understatement. "You're leaving?"

"Yes." She nodded.

Dade knew he looked okay as long as he didn't move. Still he had kind of hoped she'd see him in this condition and offer to take care of him, but that meant he'd have to tell her what had happened. With her uncle's accident still so fresh he assumed she'd be really angry that he'd been so reckless. In his own defense he hadn't meant to flip the quad runner over. He knew he was lucky to walk away without any serious injuries. Dade assumed he was going to be sore for a few days and most likely be sporting a couple of nasty bruises, but every once in a while it was good for the soul to go a little wild. It might be best for him to recuperate a little before she found out

"How long are you going to be gone?" He wished he had the balls to say don't go.

"I was thinking just for the night, but maybe longer." She lowered her gaze to her feet making him wonder if she was hiding something.

He didn't like her tone. "But not more than the allotted time?"

"Yeah," her gaze snapped back up to his. "I'll be back in plenty of time."

"When are you leaving?" He didn't want her to go at all, but at least she wouldn't be there to see him limp around.

She didn't answer as she walked over to the big bow window, then back to him. "Did you know before Mr. Grest told you?"

"Told me what?" He was too tired and sore to play head games.

"That this whole thing," She waved her hands in the air. "Was my uncle's attempt to get us together? Were you in on it?"

"No. Well, I had an idea what he was up to, but Grest confirmed it at the funeral. Did he tell you?"

"No. I found an envelope hidden in the back of the bookshelf behind his books. It had pictures and a letter for each of us." She stomped away her heels tapping out a quick rhythm.

Dade hoped she didn't expect him to jump up and follow her, though he probably would of if he could've. Instead he sat there until she came back. She held out a couple of pictures and a letter with his name on it. The muscles in his back, arm, and neck protested, but Dade lifted his hand and took them from her.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me." Her accusation was full of contempt.

"How would you have liked me to do that? Should I have just said 'hey Rosie your uncle is making us live together hoping we'll fall madly in love and stay together forever'. You would have thought I was crazy. And just remember that I tried to stop you from doing this right from the start."

"Does his wanting us together have anything to do with what has been happening between us?"

"Hell no! I don't think your uncle planned for us to be boinking like rabbits without some kind of commitment." Dade didn't hold back his grin when he added, "Actually I'm pretty sure Teddy would have kicked my ass, or hired someone to do it."

"But you knew he'd approve so you went along with it?" It was the first time he heard anything like a whine come from her.

"No." He let out a heavy sigh. "I tried like hell to fight it. Teddy warned me you were a force of nature that no man could resist. I guess you proved him right."

"Please." She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. "I didn't do anything."

"Exactly. You didn't have to do anything besides just be who you are."

Rosie shook her head. "Are you going to read that?"

"Not yet." It would take more energy than he had right now. "I've had a busy morning I'm going to go take a shower. When are you leaving?"

"Now. I already have my stuff in the car." That bite in her tone he didn't like was back, but harder this time.

"Can I call you tonight?" Asking felt funny after how intimate they'd been lately.

"Why?" With that one word she pierced his heart.

"Because if I don't hear your voice before I go to bed, I won't be able to sleep." Damn as he came up with the excuse he realized it was true. "I'll be up all night worrying about you, instead of dreaming about having you in my arms."

"Fine. You can call," She gave him her permission, but she didn't sound happy about it. "But I want you to know that this charming act of yours isn't going to get you off the hook. You should have told me so we were both going into this knowing full well what Teddy's plan was. Things have changed and I'm going to use this time to reevaluate what's happened and where I think things should go from here." With that she turned and started to walk away.

Dade shoved the pain out of his mind and pushed himself up off the couch. It took him three long painful strides to reach her. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to a stop. She turned and looked up at him. The blue in her eyes seemed brighter, and there were streaks of red on her cheeks. Whether with passion or anger it gave her a fierce sexy edge.

"I don't like the way that sounded." He closed the distance between them making her tilt her chin up higher to keep her gaze locked on his.

"Too bad. You've kept something important from me for four months. We're going to be together for another eight weeks. Then who knows what is going to happen. I'm not going to sit around and wait to see what my uncle has planned for us. I'm going to be ready with a plan of my own."

"Damn it Rosie. Us living together was his idea, and it turned out to be a good one. He couldn't have manipulated our emotions, or pushed us into having mind blowing sex. Unless we were both willing none of this would have happened." Dade had figured out a couple of weeks ago that going with Teddy's plan made falling for her unavoidable, but he'd keep that tidbit to himself.

"Willing or not I feel duped." Her lips formed a kissable pout.

Dade instantly decided he wasn't going to let her lay all the blame on him and Teddy. "You're not that naïve. You had to wonder what Teddy was up to."

"I did," His gaze dipped to her breasts as they rose and fell with her sigh. "And you knew and didn't tell me."

Rosie reached out and put her finger under his chin and pushed his head up. Dade brought his gaze to hers.

"I'm sorry." He knew he was going to be saying that for a while.

"Yeah, so am I." She tugged her hand free and walked away.

Dade wasn't in any condition to chase after her. And he figured it was probably best if he didn't. He headed for the stairs. A hot shower and tube of pain relieving cream might help ease his tight muscles. Tonight after she had some time to calm down he'd call her and plead his case again. When he reached his room instead of going to the bathroom he went to the window. He was just in time to see her car drive way.

He closed his eyes and rested his forehead on the cool glass. Teddy might have screwed him by asking him to agree to this one last request. He had to know they'd both say yes. And he had to know that Rosie was smart enough to figure it all out sooner or later. It was hard to believe since he hurt everywhere, but his heart ached most of all. As he walked to the bathroom he wondered if he'd lost Rosie before he really had a chance to win her.

# Chapter Ten

Rosie refused to cry. It would be a waste of good tears on a bad boy. Nothing good ever came from that. Still she had to admit Dade hadn't really lied to her, because she'd never come right out and asked him what her uncle's plan was. She might have tiptoed around it though. So basically he'd only omitted what he'd known. And he hadn't tried to use it against her in any way. Her dilemma lied in the fact that she wasn't sure about his feelings for her. Could he really be doing all this out of reverence for Teddy? Or did he really have feelings for her? Rosie needed to find out the answers to her questions, and damn quick too.

As promised she called Nicolette as she pulled up in front of her building. She left her stuff in her car and walked the six blocks to the gallery. A black town car pulled up just as she reached the door. The driver got out and opened the back door. Dressed all in red from her boots to her leather jacket Nicolette emerged from the car. She smiled at the driver and he tipped his hat.

"New man?" Rosie asked not recognizing this one.

"I was visiting Nana and she insisted her driver drop me off. I think she was aiming to do a little matchmaking."

"He is cute." Rosie might be hooked on Dade, but she could appreciate a little eye candy.

"I'm looking for something... more." She opened the door and they both entered the gallery.

They exchanged cheery hellos with Monica and Francine the attendants. Nicolette led the way upstairs to her private office. It was also her work space. She walked over to an easel covered with a white sheet. Nicolette tugged it off and stood back letting Rosie get the full view. Rosie moved from right to left just a few feet getting different angles. Three little girls were tossing a ball and another was jumping in the spray from a sprinkler.

"Wow. It's stunning." Rosie stepped closer, and had to remind herself not to touch the canvas. "You really did go in a new direction. Where did you find the models?"

Nicolette picked up a small picture from beside the painting and handed it to her. Rosie read the info on the back and gasped. She looked back to the easel with awe. She knew her friend was a good artist, but she always found new ways to amaze her.

"That's you and your sisters. It's so... personal and beautiful. You always avoid anything like that so no one will find out that you're N.B. Harriet."

"I know, but I wanted to give it a try. If I ever decide to come out of the closet I can give this to my parents."

"You can give it to them anyway, just tell them you had it commissioned." Rosie would handle it all, because her parents deserved to have this.

"Maybe. Now tell me why you look so pale. Have you been holed up with Dade and not getting any sunshine?"

The damn tears she'd willed away earlier flooded her eyes, so she quickly turned away. "I've been getting plenty of sun. I just put on a little too much powder."

Nicolette grabbed her arm and dragged her over to the desk and practically shoved her into the chair. "You only put too much powder on when you've been crying. What happened? Did he get angry because you were coming to spend the night with us? Should I call and give him a piece of my mind?"

"No. Listen I'm going to tell you everything." From the way Nicolette pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes ever so slightly Rosie knew that she didn't believe her. "Really I am. I just wanted to wait until Sophia and Tiffany were with us too so I only have to go over everything once."

"Grab your stuff." Nicolette pulled her cell phone from her pocket.

She called Sophia and Tiffany and told them to get to Rosie's. Rosie let hurricane Nicolette run her course and did whatever she told her to. As they slowly walked to Rosie's building Nicolette would pause now and then to look at something in one of the shops along the way. It gave Rosie too much time to think about what she was going to say. It wasn't like she was going to hold anything back, with them she never did. She was going to tell them everything. Hopefully they would give her some ideas on how to deal with the whole crazy situation. Rosie just needed to decide where to start.

Rosie was relieved when they finally reached her place. They stopped at her car and grabbed her bags. It felt kind of bittersweet to be coming home without Dade. If this is how it felt to leave him for a few days how was it going to feel to leave him forever? She unlocked the door to her loft and let them in. By the time she had her laptop and folders unpacked Nicolette had pulled the cork from a bottle of wine and put it on the counter to breathe. She and Nicolette had just started talking about a few of the ideas Rosie had for the Gallery when Sophia and Tiffany showed up.

Sophia got right down to business. "What's going on? We weren't supposed to meet until four?"

"Rosie is having problems with Dade," Nicolette said as she took Tiffany by the arm and went into the kitchen.

"If you're having problems I'm guessing things have gotten serious." Sophia sat down and leaned to the side as Tiffany put large wine glasses on the table.

Nicolette put one in front of her and Rosie and started to pour the deep red wine into all four glasses.

Once Nicolette and Tiffany were seated at the table Rosie said, "I found an envelope hidden in my uncle's office. His plan was for me and Dade to fall for each other. Dade knew."

"And he didn't tell you?" Sophia shook her head. "Big mistake."

"Did you give him hell?" Tiffany asked.

"Yeah, but now what do I do? I mean he sort of lied to me, but that's not what's got me so..." She waved her hands in the air in front of her unable to put how she felt into words.

"Do you love him?" Nicolette asked.

Rosie gave a little shrug of her shoulders. "I have strong feelings for him. I'm just not sure what they are yet."

"Does he love you?" Sophia asked and Rosie shrugged again. "Has he said it?"

"Not exactly, but even though I was as riled as a wet kitten he asked if he could call me tonight. He said he wouldn't be able to sleep without talking to me first. I think he might have just been trying to use that charm of his to get out of trouble."

"There's only one thing you can do. Nothing." Nicolette sounded confident, but Rosie had no idea what she meant.

"Nothing?" Tiffany asked saving Rosie from doing it herself.

"Yeah. Nothing. If you're not sure how you feel about him then do nothing until you are." Nicolette had a point.

"Or until you're sure how he feels about you," Sophia added.

"Living with Dade for another eight weeks and not falling back into the easy routine we have is going to be really hard." So hard Rosie wasn't sure she'd be able to hold out.

"Yeah, giving up all that hot sex is going to be really rough. I guess you'll need to make a decision and damn quick if you don't want to spend what time you two have left at odds. There is an upside to this course of action. If it's going to be hard on you just think how hard it'll be for Dade. And I'm sure if you decide that you want to keep him that you could come up with a few ways to make it even harder." Nicolette winked at her and Rosie groaned.

"If he loves you, and isn't just trying to fulfill your uncle's last wish, he won't be able to hold out very long." Tiffany could be right.

"We're not saying ignore him completely, but it might not hurt to cool things down until one of you figures out how you feel," Sophia explained. "You were probably thinking you were going to rush home in the morning. Well you're wrong. You have forty-eight hours and you're spending them with us."

Nicolette added, "I'd say you're not allowed to even think about him, but since we all know you'd do it anyway use the time to think about what it is that you like about Dade."

"It might help you figure out what your feelings for him are before you make him confess his." Tiffany picked up one of the folders and started flipping through the documents a sign that she was ready to get to work.

Rosie still had one lingering question. "Should I answer if Dade does call tonight?"

Her friends all looked at each other, but no one answered. Of course they would leave this choice up to her.

# * * * *

A couple of hours after Rosie left Dade was feeling a little better, well his body was. The aches and pains were dull reminders that he'd made a careless mistake. One he'd like to say he would ever make again, but he wasn't going to lie to himself. Just like he wasn't going to lie to himself and pretend everything was going to be okay with Rosie. He'd messed up and knew better than to expect her to forgive him right away.

She was right to feel like he'd broken her trust. He could've, and should have been honest with her right from the start. His excuse was lame. It didn't matter that he hadn't wanted to add any more pressure to what she was already under. Rosie might not have let things go the way they had if she'd had all the information he did. Or maybe she would have. Hell she might've taken it even further. There was no way to know what might have been. It didn't matter because Dade couldn't change things. All he could do now was try and make up for it somehow.

On the positive side everything he'd told her about himself and everything else was one hundred percent true. Whether or not she believed it would be up to her. And he hadn't lied, he'd just left out something. Something that possibly could've been inconsequential if it hadn't come out the way it did. Dade had to wonder if Grest hadn't told her that Dade had known about Teddy's plot would she have told him. Of course she would. The real question was how long would it have taken.

The phone rang and Dade groaned a little as he stretched to pick it up off the coffee table. "Hello."

"Hey," Nick said. "How are you feeling?"

"Like a jackass. Actually more like I've been kicked around by a couple." He laughed, mostly because it was true.

"Well, I have some good news that should make you feel better." Nick's cheerfulness sure in hell didn't.

"I'll take any I can get." With the way his luck was going Dade wasn't kidding.

"The pups passed their physicals. They're in perfect shape and have had their first set of shots."

"Great." Dade hadn't really been worried, but it was still good to know they were healthy.

"Yeah, the thing is I was hoping you could wait to pick them up until Monday. Maybe while the boys are at school. You know give them the weekend to say goodbye and not be here when they leave."

Dade totally understood where his buddy was coming from. "You sure you're not just feeling sorry for me and giving me the weekend to recuperate?"

"Well, there is that, but no this is for the boys. Still dude you took a really hard hit. You kind of bounced as you rolled." Nick's concern was sort of negated by his laughter.

"That explains how I got bruises on both sides of my ass." Dade joked not wanting Nick to start worrying about him later.

"You're damn lucky all you got was bruises."

"I know." Dade had been thinking that since he'd flipped the ATV and Nick and Lyle had helped him to his feet.

"Good thing you've finally got a woman to take care of you." His buddy would pick now to bring her up.

"Nah, she's out of town for the night." Unless she decided not to come back at all, which after the way she tore out of there she just might.

"Too bad, but I'm guessing it's no big loss." Nick couldn't know how wrong he was, and Dade wasn't going to tell him. "I mean it's not like you're up for anything more than lounging around tonight."

"True. Hopefully by the time she gets home tomorrow I'll be ready for something more." Like groveling at her feet.

If she was still mad he'd be taking a risk of her stabbing him with the heel of her shoe. He'd get a better feel for the situation when he talked to her tonight.

"Good luck." Nick laughed.

"Thanks." Dade knew he was going to need it, and he hoped his luck would change before tomorrow. "I'll give you a call Monday before I head over."

"Sounds like a plan."

Dade finished the call and tossed the phone beside him on the couch. His gaze landed on the damn letter Teddy had left him. He was going to have to read it sooner or later. He wasn't ready yet. It was only seven o'clock, which was too early to call Rosie, so he picked up the remote looking for a distraction. After going through over a hundred channels three times he pressed the button shutting the entire system off.

As he got to his feet he snatched the letter off the table. He stuck it in his back pocket as he headed for the kitchen. Maybe a snack would get his mind of Rosie for at least a couple of minutes.

The cookie jar on the counter was full of a variety of Rosie's homemade cookies. There was a strawberry crème cake under the glass dome cake holder right beside it. Dade went for the fridge instead. He scanned the shelves and this time his groan had nothing to do with his accident. Each shelf was loaded with plastic containers full of leftovers, or things Rosie had prepared in advance to be tossed in the oven at any moment. Everything had labels that were facing front. Did she have to be so damned organized? It made him feel like a slacker.

He grabbed a beer and slammed the door. Rosie was everywhere in the house even when she wasn't there. He went back to the living room, but paused in the archway. The small plush pillows and the comfy blanket on the couch were new additions thanks to her. He turned for the stairs planning on hiding in the solace of his room. Yet when he reached the top of the steps he turned to her bedroom.

The door was open so he walked in. He wasn't sure he wouldn't have gone in if the door had been closed. Again he was taken by her space. He'd expected pinks, ruffles, and lots of frills. Instead she had used cream and rust colors through the room. Her bed wasn't made, but he knew that was her way. Right before she went to bed she would make it. It might be quirky, but she had said she couldn't get comfortable if the sheets weren't straight.

Dade walked over and picked up a picture of her and her friends. He sat on the edge of the bed and took a sip of his beer staring at the photo. The four of them were wearing similar red dresses that ended at their knees, which was as far as the picture went. Dade didn't need it to go any lower to know Rosie was wearing a pair of those fucking shoes.

It was the only way she could be almost as tall as her friends. They were each holding some kind of award. Dade didn't know what they were for, but after seeing how hard they had worked over the past few months he had no doubt that they had earned them. He took another sip from the bottle and dropped the frame on the bed beside him. This room like the rest of the house screamed Rosie was here.

Dade decided in that moment that if they didn't end up together he would leave and let her have the house. Even if she only used it as a vacation home she belonged in it. He wasn't going to live there and be reminded of her every moment of the day. He glanced over at the slightly open door of her closet. It was like a beacon calling to him. Unable to resist he put his bottle on the nightstand and walked over to it. He nudged the door open wider with his foot.

He knew it was big, but it turned out to be huge. He walked in and stood in the middle. He turned in a slow circle taking a long look at her stuff. Like the fridge and study it was completely organized. Everything had its place, including her shoes, all seventeen pairs of them. He ran his finger along the upper shelf that had dozens of boxes lined up on it. Dade was tempted to pull one down and peek inside. It would be an invasion of her privacy and he was in enough trouble as it was. So Dade did the right thing and got the hell out of there.

He stopped by the bed and pick up the picture and his beer. Dade put the frame back the dresser instead of leaving as he planned he reached for a much smaller frame. He guessed it was three by five inches, and the other was at least eight by ten inches. He hadn't noticed this one earlier. It was a picture of him and Rosie, a recent one maybe two weeks ago. He didn't remember her snapping the picture, but he remembered what they been doing as if it just happened.

They were sitting on the couch watching a movie. She was texting with Sophia and kept laughing. He asked why and she wouldn't tell him, so he tried to take the phone. They ended up in a wrestling match for it, which turned into something else all together. Sometime during their playful struggle she must have snapped the picture. At least she'd have a memento of their time together, if she didn't throw it away.

He took the photograph with him to his office. Careful not to damage it in any way he took it from the frame and put it in his scanner. He dug through the drawer beside it and found a sheet of photo paper. A few minutes later he had the picture printed and tucked in his top desk drawer. He went back down the hall to her room and put the original back in its spot on her dresser. Not caring anymore what time it was he dialed her cell phone number and waited for her to answer.

"Hello." The voice on the other end was unfamiliar, and he supposed he was lucky it was female.

"Hi, is Rosie there?"

"Is that whose phone this is?" The person laughed and shouted, "Rosie there's a really hot sounding guy on the phone asking for you."

Dade heard lots of laughter. And it seemed like her phone was passed from person to person before it finally reached her.

"Hello." She sounded breathless, but cheery.

"It's me." He waited to see if she'd recognize his voice, and if she'd hang up on him.

"Hi." She giggled then in a soft tone close to a whisper she said, "I wasn't expecting you to call until later."

"I figured that. I know you probably can't talk right now, but I wanted to hear your voice." Not knowing what to say next he took a deep breath. "The house is empty without you."

"You're sitting around the house alone on a Friday night?" She sounded surprised.

She wouldn't be if he told her what happened, but he wasn't doing that. Playing on her sympathy wasn't the way he wanted to get her back. She'd find out soon enough. Besides even if he wasn't hurt he wouldn't have gone out tonight.

"After the way you left I didn't feel like going out." It was true.

"Dade." He didn't like the tone of her voice when she said his name like that.

"Hey, I didn't mean to make you mad again. I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I've thought about what you said and you were right I should've told you what Teddy was up to. I'll let you get back to your friends."

"I accept your apology," It sucked that he couldn't see her face to see if she really did, because if Dade had to go by her tone of voice he wasn't sure he believed her. "But I still think we need to think about what's been going on and where it's going."

He didn't want to discuss that over the phone. "Have you decided when you're coming back?"

"Not yet," she said.

"Okay, I'll call you later to check in and see if you firmed up your plans." He hung up without saying goodbye, because it seemed too final, and he didn't want her to start thinking that way if she already wasn't.

Dade dropped the phone to the bed, and pulled the letter out of his pocket. He couldn't think of a reason to put it off any longer. Hopefully Teddy was smart enough to realize Dade might be in trouble and bestow him with some final insight on how to deal with Rosie. He unfolded the paper and his gaze misted a little when he spotted Teddy's familiar scrawl.

The soft-hearted fool hadn't typed out the letter, or had it dictated. He'd hand written it. The deep creases probably meant no one else had seen it, unless Rosie had read it. That could be one explanation for why she had wanted him to read it in front of her, but another could have been she just wanted to know what it said. Dade was torn between wanting to know and wanting to send it through the shredder.

' _Dade,_

Since you or Rosie found these letters I'm guessing something went wrong with my plan. Damn, it wasn't very good, but that's because I couldn't bring my ace in the hole in on it. So without you helping me find a way to get you two to spend time together this was the only thing I could think of. So let me start by saying I'm sorry. You know I would never have done this if I had any other options. I apologize for putting you in the position I did, but that I truly believe that it was the best thing for both of you. Not just personally, but for the business too.

Over the years I have watched you grow from a sad, hurt, and angry kid who'd just lost his parents into a fine man. I couldn't be any prouder. You've earned everything you've gotten, don't ever forget that, or let anyone try to tell you differently.

Now I'm going to tell you my hopes for your future. All I really want is for you to find a woman who deserves what you have to offer her and settle down, even if it turns out not to be Rosie. Though it would be wonderful if you two managed to fall in love. Start the family that you've always wanted. Fill your house and heart with love, and children.

And if you wouldn't mind do me a favor. Check in on Rosie from time to time. She acts like her independence is really important to her, but I think she's just waiting for the right man to come along and capture her heart. Help her find someone who won't try to take her independence away, but be there to support her. My Baby Girl deserves that, and I want her to get it.

I'm sorry I won't be there to see you find the love of your life, but never give up on the knowledge that she is out there somewhere.

Love Always,

Teddy'

The old man wanted too much sometimes, but Dade knew he only wanted the best for him and Rosie. So even though it would be a peculiar type of torture Dade was going to do as Teddy asked and make sure she found the right guy for herself, even if it wasn't him. Dade couldn't do it until he figured out what he wanted and how Rosie fit into that. Then he needed to find out what Rosie wanted. Maybe the stars would collide, lightning would strike, and they'd want the same thing.

He hated to think about Teddy not being around to see either of them settle down, but Dade was going to do his best to make it all happen. Dade had always thought that when he did get married Teddy would stand up with him as his best man. Now that would never happen. But damn it, he could honor Teddy in another way. He was going find the lives Teddy wanted for him and Rosie. Hopefully Rosie would give him another chance for it to be with them together, but if not he was going to have to get over her and find someone else. It wouldn't be easy, because he had a bad feeling that he was going to compare every woman he met to her.

Still he wasn't getting any younger and he wanted to be a dad someday. His first born was going to be named in honor of his best friend and mentor. Of course whoever he married would have to agree to it, but his argument was a strong one and if she loved him the way she should she would agree.

He could worry about that later. Right now he had to focus on this situation with Rosie. Dade had six weeks and he was going to do whatever he had to do to repair the damage his deception, and Teddy's manipulation, had done.

# Chapter Eleven

Dade crouched down to undo the puppy's pink and purple rhinestone leashes from their matching collars. It wasn't as easy as it sounded. He had to avoid tails that wagged wildly, paws that waved inches from his face, and noses that dove straight for his crotch. Dade hoped to hell that they grew out of that phase damn quick. As he stood up they dashed over to the water bowls Rosie must have refilled while he was walking them, which meant in about an hour he'd be walking them again. He closed the gate behind him so the pups would stay in the mudroom while he and Rosie had breakfast.

"Morning," he said as he entered the kitchen.

"Good morning." From the sound of it hers had been much more cheery than his so far.

"Did you sleep well?" He sure as hell hadn't, and it had nothing to do with the two whining pups in their kennels beside the bed.

"Mmm-hmm." She carried two plates over and placed them on the table. "Eat your breakfast before it gets cold."

Dade sat down and looked at the scrambled eggs, bacon, and Rosie's special cheesy biscuit. "You don't have to cook for me."

"Don't be silly. I'm cooking for me it's no big deal to make you a plate." She dug into her food ending the conversation for now.

Dade picked up his fork, but he just moved the food around on his plate. Things between them just hadn't been the same since the night she went to dinner with her friends, and he didn't know what to do about it. She'd only been gone two nights, but it had been two really long agonizing nights for him. She'd been home for three days. The first one she'd spent reading him the riot act for the accident, and not telling her about the accident before she left. Since then he wondered if she was trying to kill him with kindness. It was basically like they were starting all over except she was being more pleasant than when she first arrive, yet at the same time she was detached. Never mind sex, she hadn't even kissed him. Damn, she hadn't even touched him. She had diverted all her affection to the two four legged bundles of love that followed her everywhere she went.

She walked around the house smiling and cooing at them like she used to with him. Not being able to touch her that was driving him insane. Seeing her cuddle with the puppies, she'd named Zsa Zsa and Ava, and not being in on it was making him ache to touch her even worse. He couldn't believe he was actually jealous of the dogs.

For once she wasn't doing anything to provoke him either. His head must not be on right, because he missed her antagonizing him. He needed to fix this mess between them, because in less than six weeks she was going to walk out of his life. Not for good since he was damn sure Teddy was going to have them running the company together, even though he hadn't managed to get them to fall in love. Dade didn't know if he could handle working with her and not having some kind of personal relationship.

Worse, what if she hooked up with someone else? It would kill him to see her smile at another man the way she smiled at him. She sighed and he looked over at her. Rosie stood there looking out the window.

Dade's instincts told him not to push too hard, but he was losing patience with them both. "Rosie, you said you accepted my apology."

"I did, and I do." She nodded.

"Are we ever going to be able to get things back the way they were?" His question came out a little gruffer than he meant for it to.

"Where were they exactly?" She asked pinning him with her gaze as if she was expecting him to say in bed.

It was true, but there was more to it than that, much more. And because of that Dade didn't know how to answer. "Um..."

He thought they had been going well. Neither of them had seemed to be in a rush to label what had been going on between them. He was now, he just didn't know how. They had been lovers, friends, and something more he couldn't describe. Was it love? It could've been a start, but he'd never let a woman get close enough to really know what it would feel like so he wasn't sure.

"What we had was really nice—"

"Whoa." He had to stop her right there. "Nice? Seriously? There were times when you had me so hot I thought I might spontaneously combust."

She smiled at him and Dade saw a flash of that sparkle in her eyes that he'd been missing. "That's sweet, but I've been thinking a lot about what happened with my uncle."

"I should have told you what he was up to, but I wasn't sure how I felt about it myself and I didn't want to add more pressure to what you were going through."

"Dade, relax. What I meant was he left us so unexpectedly. You never know when your time could be up. Playing house was okay for a little while, but I need to focus on my future"

"I see."

She shook her head "No, I don't think you do."

"You had fun getting to know me, but now it's time to find the guy mommy and daddy wants for you." He got up grabbed his plate and headed for the sink.

"Is that what you really think?" She asked following him.

He turned and crossed his arms over his chest. "No, but I'm too pissed to think up anything else right now."

"Good, you're being honest." The smile that curved her lips only pissed him off more.

"Damn it Rosie, I never lied to you."

"I meant about your feelings. I don't like the idea of putting myself out there and having you keep what you're thinking to yourself."

"Okay. Tell me what you've been thinking."

"Well I want to keep my stake in the business and actually I'd like to take on a larger role."

He nodded knowing she could handle it, but he was still hesitant about spending so much time with her if they weren't a couple. "We work well together."

"I also want to solidify my personal life and make sure it doesn't affect the company or my role with Crestmont Hotels."

"Solidify?" He didn't see how he could help her with that.

"I want a husband and kids. Living with you has shown me I can have it all."

"You made all these decisions pretty quick."

"Not at all. I've been thinking about since the first night we had sex and I didn't feel like running."

Not run, what the hell? "Excuse me?"

"I've always thought I couldn't have a man, and be the woman I wanted to be."

"That's bullshit." He knew Rosie could be whatever she wanted.

"No it's not. I've seen my friends meet men and all but drop off the grid except when they showed up in their arms at some event. You've shown me that it doesn't have to be that way."

"So now you're convinced you can have it all?" He could only be glad that she gained that new level of confidence.

"I was almost there," She nodded. "And now with the pups I'm even more sure. I mean I know they're not the same as kids would be, but I think I'd be a good mom. And I'm not going to sit back and wait for it to happen."

"What's that mean?" He asked even though he was almost sure he didn't want to know.

"I want a family. Sooner rather than later. The first step is—"

"Finding a husband." He finished for her. "Do you have anyone in mind?"

"Not all men are like you. It might take me a little while to find someone." That was a backhanded compliment if he ever heard one.

"Have you thought about where you'll live? Your apartment isn't really family friendly." She shrugged her shoulders and he knew the right thing to do. "Here. You should have this place. Teddy always said it was perfect for a big family."

"What about you?" She asked and Dade had to look away from the concern he saw in her eyes.

"I can find someplace else."

"Dade," She laid her hand on his chest and his heart thumped under her touch.

"That's so sweet of you, but I'm sure Teddy wanted you to have this place."

"No. He wanted us to have it. If there's no us then it should go to you." He fought back the urge to ask if they could be an us again, and turned and headed out of the room before he snapped. "I've got a few calls to make."

So she wanted a man like him, but not him specifically. Or could he still be in the running? Damn it, he needed to make her see he was right in front of her just waiting. The man he'd go to for advice wasn't there and Dade seriously needed someone to talk to. At this point the person didn't even have to talk back just listen. Since this arrangement was hush-hush neither of them was supposed to tell anyone other than Rosie's friends, so that left him with only one option.

Dade pulled his cell from his pocket and sent Rosie a quick message asking her to watch the pups while he ran out for a little while. He stood in the yard and waited until he got her okay then he fled.

Thirty minutes later Dade found himself driving through the familiar gate of Rolling Oaks cemetery. The sense of loss he always felt when he came here was intensely magnified. Everyone important in his life other than Rosie and a few friends were buried there. His mother, father, their unborn child, his grandparents, and the most recent occupant, Teddy. Even Teddy's two wives, whom Dade had only known briefly, were there too. They rested on either side of him.

This was why he understood Rosie's need to fulfill the goals she had. You never knew when it could all be taken away in the blink of an eye. There had been a time when he had wanted to do as much as fast as he possibly could, but it was Teddy who'd point out that if he rushed he'd miss the important little things that made life worth living.

He looked down and the rust colored marble headstone with the big engraved heart on it. "You old goat. She loves you. The question is could she love me?"

"They never answer."

Dade looked down at the young boy who had seemed to appear out of nowhere. He was about three feet tall, which Dade figured put him between six and eight years. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Dade assumed from the lack of dirt anywhere on him the kid wasn't there to play.

He glanced around and didn't see any other cars in sight. "I know, but you can still talk to them. Are you here with someone?"

The kid pulled the lollipop from his mouth and point down the row where a lady was fussing with some flowers. "Does it make you feel better? Talking to them?"

"Yeah." Especially when I'm pissed at him he thought, but Dade didn't say it because he didn't want the kid to think that was the only reason he came. "I like to think that even though he can't talk to me that he can still hear me. Kind of like when you say your prayers."

"Oh." The kid seemed to ponder that for a minute then pulled a lollipop from his pocket and held it out to Dade. "Want one?"

"Sure." Dade took the pop glancing back to the woman. She didn't seem concerned the kid had wandered off.

"Do you come here a lot?" the kid asked.

"Sometimes. More when I'm missing him."

"Then you come here to talk to him?"

"To all the people I love." Dade confessed.

"You sounded mad." The kid sounded surprised by that.

Dade didn't have much experience with kids, so it took him a minute to decide what to say. "It's okay to get angry sometimes. Just like it's all right to get sad when I miss him, or happy when I remember a good time we had together. You still love them the same even though they're gone. That never goes away."

"Never?"

"Nope. When someone touches your heart, even a little piece of it, you can hold onto them forever."

"Really?" The hope in the boy's eyes and tone touched Dade.

He got down on one knee bringing him down to the kid's eye level. "Really. Whenever you think of someone who is gone away it helps to keep them in your heart."

"What if you can't remember them?" It occurred to him that the kid was so young that he might not have the memories to call on.

"Then when you come here you can tell them about you. Things like your favorite toys, pets, or friends. They're probably missing you too and it would make you both feel better." Dade hoped that made the kid feel a little bit better.

"Robert!" the lady called out in a wavery tone.

The boy groaned and Dade asked, "Is that your mom?"

"No, it's my aunt." The kid waved at her. "I liked it when my granddad called me Bobby."

"Is that who you were visiting?"

"Yeah." The boy nodded.

"Well, maybe if you tell your aunt that you like Bobby better, because your granddad called you that she might call you it too."

"Good idea." The kid took off at a run.

Dade watched him go unable to take his eyes off the scene that played out in front of him. Bobby grabbed his aunt's hand and pulled her down to him. He said something, and then pointed over at Dade. The lady looked at him for a second before giving Bobby her attention again. Dade wished he could hear what he was saying to her. The lady pulled him into a hug and kissed his head. Bobby gave him a thumbs up as they walked away.

"Did you get all that?" He asked Teddy not expecting any kind of response. "Your niece has gotten me so twisted up I'm giving strange kids life advice. What the hell is wrong with me? Listen I'm going to find a way to make this work, as much for her as you, but if you could find a way to help me out it wouldn't hurt."

Dade sighed and ran his hand along the cold marble stone. "I love you, even though you are a crazy old bastard."

On the ride back to the house Dade thought more about Teddy and tried to consider what he might do if he was in Dade's situation. Teddy hadn't been what he or anyone else would call a ladies' man, but there had been women in his life at times. So since he had been his mentor and example for half his life, something about how to handle women must have sunk in.

# * * * *

Rosie put her cell phone on the counter. She shoved the lever on the faucet up and stood there watching as the water poured out. That hadn't gone the way she wanted. She wanted to have a nice breakfast and maybe talk a little, but things were still too tense. She could come right out and tell Dade she'd realized that she fallen in love with him, but she wanted to ease into it so she didn't scare him. She'd given him plenty of chances to make a move, but he'd been a pretty standoffish since she got back. The two of them were in a kind of limbo not knowing what the other was feeling.

Still she'd caught him staring at her enough to know he still wanted her, but sex and love were two totally different things. Her biggest fear was that Dade was physically involved, but not emotionally. That's why she'd decided to wait for him to make a move. When he finally did and asked about going back to the way things were she hadn't wanted to, but she needed to push him a little. She took it as a good sign that she'd gotten a little rise out of him.

Still it wasn't enough to determine if it was him being naturally protective, or jealous. Rosie hadn't expected him to declare his undying love, but she hadn't thought he'd buckle under and run either. After that disaster she was no closer to knowing Dade's real feelings.

Obviously she was going to need to do something more. She didn't have much time, and what they did have she wanted to use to strengthen what they had. Rosie had taken time to have brunch with her friends on Saturday before she headed back to the farmhouse and Dade. They had all agreed her and Dade were going to have to be strong if they were going to face her parents. She'd had plenty of time to think, but it hit her pretty quick that her friends had proposed this plan so both her and Dade would have to work toward a resolution.

If something didn't happen quickly she was going to have to come up with a plan of her own. She hit the button on the phone that dialed Sophia and then hit speaker. While she waited for her to answer she started to load the dishwasher.

"Good morning sunshine." If you looked up morning person in the dictionary you would find a picture of Sophia wearing a big dopey grin.

"Your plan sucks."

Sophia laughed. "Come on, you haven't even given it a real chance."

"Soph, I love him." God it felt good to say it out loud. "I shouldn't play games. What if I lose him?"

"Hon, you're not playing games. I know it's hard, but Dade is a man."

"I happen to like that about him," Rosie said and Sophia laughed.

When Sophia finally stopped laughing she said, "Think of it like this men hate to stop and ask for directions. Without a map or GPS unit they need someone to show them where to go. From what you've told me he seems like one of those types who will do everything, but tell you how he feels until it's almost too late. What you're doing is leading him to where he eventually wants to be."

"If I tell him that I love him he might confess his feelings for me, and we can get there even faster." Rosie suggested

"True or he might get nervous and pull back even more taking him even further in the wrong direction." Damn Sophia for being so logical.

# Chapter Twelve

Even if things between them were over Dade had a gift for her. When he'd bought it, somewhere in the part of his mind where he let his fantasies grow, he'd thought that it would be for both of them. Well, for wherever they chose to live. But if he couldn't have her then he didn't want the painting either. Having it hang on his wall would only remind him of her, and worse losing her. Only a true lovesick fool would force himself to stare at something daily when it only served to remind him of a woman he wanted, but couldn't have.

Of course he hadn't totally given up on having her just yet. Thanks to Teddy, Dade had come up with a plan to try and get what was growing between them back on track as he drove home from the cemetery yesterday. Dade couldn't remember exactly when, but Teddy had once said if he was unsure about something Dade should take a step back and appraise the situation before making a commitment. In a way that's what he was going to do. Actually he was going to put her in the position to evaluate things.

He'd wanted to try and put his plan in motion the second he got home yesterday afternoon. Rosie however hadn't given him a chance. She almost instantly disappeared into her office for the rest of the day. He wasn't sure if she was avoiding him, or just busy. There was a good chance it was the latter so he'd decided to let her be. He'd taken the girls for a walk around ten last night and while they were out she must have gone to bed.

Dade wasn't going to let her slip through his fingers today though. He'd gotten up extra early to walk and feed the pups. When Rosie finally came down he already had breakfast on the table. Her hair was sticking up in odd directions. She had her robe on, but open and untied with the sash flapping at the sides. The nightshirt that hit mid-thigh was presentable for any type of company and didn't really need to be covered anyway. She joined him and Dade noticed she barely looked at him. It could have just been that she was having trouble keeping her eyes open.

"Rough night?" He poured her a cup of coffee and slid it toward her.

She grunted and reached for the coffee. Dade hid his smile behind his napkin. Someone obviously hadn't slept well. He wanted to tell her if she slept with him it would have gone better, but he chose to hold back.

"I have a meeting I need you to sit in on today." He was damn proud of himself for pulling together at the last minute.

"What time?" she mumbled into her cup.

"They'll be here around ten."

"Someone is coming here?" Her eyes popped open and her gaze flew to his. "I thought you handled things online or in the city."

"Normally I do," He rarely had people come to the house. "But this is a special case."

"And you need me?" She squeaked.

"Yeah. It would be really helpful if you were present." He nodded hoping she wouldn't ask too many questions just yet.

"Fine. Do you have a dossier for me?"

"No. This one is more of an on the spot type of thing." He said and she nodded as she got to her feet and headed for the hall. "Where are you going? You haven't eaten anything."

She came back to the table refilled her cup and turned to leave again. "I'll eat later. I have a feeling it's going to take me a while to get ready."

Dade laughed. It seemed like in her fuzzy state she forgot that she was mad at him. Could it all be an act to try and teach him a lesson? If it was it worked, but now he needed to end her charade. Maybe his plan would work. He finished eating and cleaned up the mess he'd made. Once he was done he decided he had two choices. He could sit in his office and wait, which would drive him crazy. Or he could take the pups out in the yard to work off some of the energy they seemed to never run out of.

Two hours later Dade followed the two barking puppies in the house. They ran straight for the kitchen their feet slipping and sliding on the tiled floor. Dade laughed until he spotted Rosie sitting on the counter. Then he choked on that same laughter. Her bare legs were what caught his attention first. She had on another of those short flirty skirts she liked so much.

This one was dark emerald green to match her shoes —surprise— another pair of stilettos. He dragged his gaze up her past the snug black fuzzy sweater to her face. The sleep rumpled woman from this morning was gone. She'd pulled her long blond hair into a ponytail. The curly waves draped down between her shoulders. The pups bounded around her feet and she lifted them out of their reach.

"All right you beasts." Dade snapped his fingers and the pups paused.

They looked between him and Rosie as if they were unsure of which way to go. Dade walked to the shelf and lifted two of the training treats out of the container and held them up. Zsa Zsa came first, but Ava was right behind her. Dade put them in the mud room and closed the gate.

"Feeling better?" He went to the sink and washed his hands.

"Much. You make a great cup of coffee."

"Thanks." He walked over and stood in front of her. "Before we get into this I want to tell you something."

"I'm listening."

"Good. I know you think I deceived you, and I guess in a way I did, but that doesn't change how I feel about you." He held up his hands warding off the question he knew was coming. "And before you ask how I feel I'm going to be honest and tell you I'm not sure how to explain what it is I feel."

"Is what you're feeling really that foreign?" Rosie asked with a smile.

Dade nodded. "According to Teddy I've learned to keep myself apart from people so I wouldn't feel anything. It wasn't true, because I loved that old goat."

"So the way you feel about me, is it good or bad?"

"I'm not sure, but it scares the shit out of me. I care about what you think, want, and feel. Knowing that I hurt you in any way kills me. I want you in my bed. I think about you in here wearing nothing but an apron and a pair of those shoes."

Her cheeks went red and her eyes sparkled. "Dade—"

Before she could finish what she was going to say the doorbell rang. "Hold that thought."

# * * * *

Dade went for the door and Rosie followed. Was he fucking serious? Hold that thought. For how long? What could be more important than straightening this out right now? Either he loved her or he didn't. Surely the meeting could wait just a few minutes while they finished talking. Dade opened the door and Rosie spotted a lady and a man standing on the porch. Just one look and she realized maybe this couldn't wait.

Both of them were dressed in black suits and neither of them were smiling. Rosie got the feeling this wasn't like the other business meetings she'd sat in on. This was more formal and suddenly she knew she wasn't prepared for whatever was about to happen.

"Mr. Helks, Ms. Gennio please come in." Dade stepped back and the couple walked into the foyer. "I'd like to introduce you to Rosalind Crestmont."

"Call me Rosie please," she said as she shook their hands.

"Your uncle had mentioned you numerous times and I'm sorry we didn't meet before his passing." Mr. Helks said.

"You knew my uncle?" Dade had said there was nothing for her to know about this meeting, but obviously she should have had some details.

"Very well. We've been lucky enough to have him as a client." Her uncle was their client.

What the hell did that mean? Rosie glanced at Dade then back to Helks. "A client?"

"Yes. For many, many years. We're very pleased that he valued our judgment." The pride was evident in the guy's tone, but Rosie figured he liked the money her uncle paid them too.

"Why don't we move into the living room and everyone can get comfortable?" With a slight gesture of his arm Dade ushered everyone over the threshold.

As the foursome moved into the room Rosie noticed the sly look the woman cast Dade. It was clearly obvious that they knew each other. Rosie just wanted to know how friggin well. If she hadn't already made up her mind about her feelings for Dade her irrational jealousy would have forced her to come to a damn quick conclusion.

Rosie pushed her jealousy down deep vowing to deal with it later. "Mr. Helks, what is it that you did for my uncle?"

"We've authenticated, evaluated, and appraised dozens of pieces of art for Theodore." Mr. Helks place his briefcase on the floor beside the chair Dade had motioned for him to sit in. "He has a very nice collection and we wanted to make sure he got it insured for any possible outcomes."

Rosie wasn't totally surprised by that, but it only made the man's visit more confusing. "I wasn't aware he'd purchased anything new before his death."

"He didn't." The woman bestowed another smile on Dade. "Mr. Sebastian asked us to come today on his behalf."

"Your uncle trusted them, and I saw no reason not to believe in that trust." Dade might not, but Rosie thought it was sitting right next to him.

"Yes, Ms. Gennio informed me you were recently able to acquire a N.B. Harriet piece." Mr. Helks was positively glowing at the prospect.

Any worries about Ms. Gennio's interest were wiped out by the news that Dade had bought one of Nicolette's paintings. Nicolette was going to be so damn excited when Rosie told her about this meeting. Rosie had so many questions she wanted to ask. When and where had he gotten it? Which one was it? Since she was Nicolette's only confidant in this endeavor Rosie knew each one.

"I bought it a few weeks ago." Dade confirmed. "I'll just go get it."

He walked into the hall and Rosie sat down across from Mr. Helks. "N.B. Harriet is a newer artist is there a reason to have her work valued?"

"Oh yes." Helks nodded. "New or not the work is outstanding—"

"Of course," Ms. Gennio cut him off, which Rosie considered rude. "The reclusiveness of the artist might have something to do with the interest in the works."

Rosie marked that as another negative in her favor. "So you don't think they're any good?"

Ms. Gennio had the good sense to shake her head. "Oh no. I totally agree with my uncle the paintings I have seen myself have been amazing. It's just without knowing more about the artist it could be anyone. My question is why someone that good would hide?"

Rosie agreed that it was a reasonable question, but Nicolette deserved her privacy too. "I read an interview somewhere. You think that's hiding?"

"In a way. The artist talked about inspiration and techniques, but nothing really about themself. I mean we don't even know if it's a man or woman."

Rosie laughed at that. "I believe it's a woman. She talked about how the flash of a man's red leather jacket as he walked down the busy street as her muse for the painting 'Scoundrel'. In my opinion a man probably wouldn't think that way."

"Well until Harriet sets the record straight no one will know for sure." Ms. Gennio shrugged and Rosie decided it was something she'd have to take up with Nicolette.

"Here it is." Dade entered the room carrying a large canvas. It had been framed in a deep colored wood, maybe mahogany.

Rosie slowly got to her feet and waited breathlessly for him to turn it around and let them see it. The size was at least thirty-by-fifty inches, which told her it could only be one of about ten paintings. Nicolette had decided she didn't like the dimensions and moved on. This series had all been completed within the past year, and they'd all sold rather quickly. She had no idea how Dade had managed to get his hands on one of them.

He turned it around and Rosie breath caught in her throat before it bubbled out in laughter. Their gazes should have been on the painting, but everyone's heads turned in her direction. She focused on Dade and could see the hurt in his eyes. _Damn!_ Rosie cursed herself for not fighting harder to hold back her reaction.

"Ms. Crestmont?" Mr. Helks used her name as a question.

"Excuse me. I was just surprised and thrilled to see this painting." This was true because it was hers, or it had been until Dade bought it.

"Understandable." Mr. Helks pulled a pair of glasses from his jacket and moved closer as Dade set the picture down on the couch.

Nicolette had some serious explaining to do. Her paintings usually sold for between five hundred and two thousand dollars, but Rosie had offered her five thousand for this one, because it had sentimental value. Nicolette was supposed to be holding it back while she considered the offer. Had Dade out bid her, or was Nicolette up to some kind of subterfuge?

"It's stunning." Ms. Gennio pulled a small laptop out of her bag and started rapidly clicking the keys.

Rosie stared at the image with a secret smile hovering on her lips. The woman stood in the middle of French doors holding them open. It actually looked like the white curtains were blowing inward. Her long blond hair was coiled in long elegant ringlets that draped down her back, which was almost bare thanks to the nightgown she was wearing. Robins egg blue with white lace it had thin straps that crisscrossed over her back leading to the deep V shape just above her curvy backside. It fanned out on the floor behind her.

The seamless natural beauty the painting portrayed was anything but. That kind of perfection took hours of primping to arrange. Holding the pose long enough for an artist to sketch sometime felt like forever, even when they broke the sitting into days. Lucky for Rosie, Nicolette liked to take pictures, dozens and dozens of pictures, and work from those.

Actually to keep her alter ego a mystery she never worked directly with her models. Instead she had a young photographer do in depth photo shoots. They'd met Chyna a few years ago during one of their fundraisers. She had been taking pictures for a local magazine. Nicolette had seen her photos and instantly decided her talents were being wasted. She hired her to take her pictures, but made her sign a confidentiality agreement first. In return, along with paying her very well, Nicolette was helping her to become a fashion photographer.

"Rosie, you're awful quiet." Dade's deep timber broke her out of her musings. "Do you like it?"

"Very much." She nodded. "Where did you get it?"

He walked over to where she stood. "At the gallery, the night of the auction. I spotted it in the back. Sophia wouldn't sell it to me at first, but then Nicolette came in and said I could have it for five thousand and one dollars. That one buck seemed to be the tipping point."

Rosie looked over at Helks and Gennio, who were discussing the painting in low tones. "They seem to like it."

"I'm more concerned about whether or not you like it."

"Me?" Why would he care what she thought over the experts he was paying to tell them what they thought?

"I bought it with you in mind."

"Me?" Damn she sounded like a broken record.

"Well, you and me."

"I'm confused. You saw this painting," She glanced at it again and then back to him. "And it made you think of you and me?"

"I'll explain later." His lopsided grin pissed her off.

What the heck was up with his new obsession with talking later? "You realize you're going to have a lot of explaining to do, and don't think I'm going to let you blow me off."

"I won't. We need to clear up a few things."

Mr. Helks came over with the sheaf of papers that Dade had given him. Rosie assumed it was the bill of sale, and certificate of authenticity that Nicolette signed for every painting. There should also be the normal documents that the gallery included. Every piece that they sold, not just Nicolette's, came with an independent appraisal. They wrote up three copies. One was given to the artist, one went with the buyer, and one stayed in the files at the gallery.

"Other than the odd price everything seems to be in order. Though you paid five thousand and one dollars my niece and I agree that your insured price should be higher."

"Higher?" Rosie asked unable to keep the surprise from her voice.

"Yes. Of all N.B. Harriet works we've appraised and others we are able to compare with this one, this painting holds something more."

"Such as?" Rosie was relieved that Dade asked so she didn't have too, because she would have.

"While Harriet has a reputation for technically superior work this shows more... feeling than anything I've seen to date. I'd recommend, for now, the least amount to insure for would be ten thousand dollars. However I would suggest reevaluating in a year to see if the market has changed." He handed the papers along with his report to Dade.

Rosie had to force herself to stay still, when she wanted to run to the phone and call Nicolette. This meeting had gone from confusing to incredibly informing. She listened to Dade and Mr. Helks talk. Within a few minutes the four of them headed for the door. They made their goodbyes and Rosie and Dade were once again left alone.

# Chapter Thirteen

Dade closed the door and before he could say anything Rosie turned and walked away. He followed her into the living room. In a very rude and unladylike move she dropped into the chair and crossed her arms and legs. Her foot swung in a quick up and down motion, which probably came off as testy, but was more from nerves than anything else. Dade stayed on his feet. She watched him pace back and forth waiting for him to say something.

He ran his hands through his hair. "You're angry?"

"Not angry, maybe a little irritated." She shrugged.

"About the painting?"

"No." She shook her head. "I'm still a little confused about the painting, but I'm irritated about the way our earlier conversation ended."

"Okay. I'm going to start with the painting."

She never would have taken him for a coward, but she was thinking it now. "Fine."

"I'm not a coward." Had her thoughts been that evident? "I just want to get it out of the way."

She gave him a little smirk. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt."

"I'll take that for now. Anyway I saw the painting and liked it. The more I looked at it something about it made me think of you. I figured we could hang it here somewhere and share it. So I bought it." He shrugged as if it no longer mattered. "I've decided I want you to have it."

"Dade, I can't take it." She wanted to, but it wouldn't be right.

"Well I can't keep it." He sounded serious.

That made no sense since he bought it. "Why not?"

"Because it's only going to remind me of you." She noticed his grimace and frowned.

She couldn't help but ask? "And that's a bad thing."

"Yes."

"Dade you're not making any sense." At least not to her.

"When did things get so fucked up?" Dade rubbed the back of his neck.

"I don't know. Maybe you should sit down and try to explain it to me."

"When things went haywire?" He sounded as confused as she felt.

She shrugged. "Or why you no longer want the painting."

Dade sat down and stared at her for about five heartbeats, before he shot back to his feet. "I just don't think it would be healthy for me to keep it."

"If you're going to talk in riddles can we go back to our earlier conversation in the kitchen? I might be able to follow that better."

"No. We need to talk about the painting then we can get back to that."

"You know up until this very moment you had me thinking you were probably the most rational level headed man I ever met. For the past five and half months I thought I finally understood why my uncle had put so much faith in you." She paused and looked him in the eyes. "Are you having some kind of breakdown?"

She figured it was possible. Not everyone processed grief in the same way or time frame. Maybe he'd been holding back his emotions and finally snapped.

"Honey," His voice took on the rough tone she'd only heard in the bedroom, or on the way there. "If I am it's all your fault."

Rosie got to her feet and jammed her fists on her hips. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means with that face and body in those goddamn shoes and that fucking collection of frilly aprons you're enough to drive any man to the funny farm."

She could have chosen to take that as an insult —like she figured he most likely meant it to be— instead she chose to take it as a compliment, since she managed to get him riled up. It was probably good for him to get this all off his chest. The naughty imp side of her that rarely saw the light of day pushed reason out of the way and decided it was okay to see if there was anything else he was holding back.

"You know, except from you, I've never had any complaints about my shoes or aprons." Of course other than her friends and uncle he was the only person to see that particular fashion statement from her.

The animalistic growl Dade let out sent a surprising little thrill throughout her whole body. "Rosie now is not the time for games. Please, just say you'll take the painting."

"No." She delivered her refusal calmly and with a smile.

"Fine. I'll toss it in the fire place." Dade took a step toward the couch where it still sat and Rosie moved right in front of him blocking his path.

She slapped her hand to his chest and pressed hard enough to keep him from going forward without pushing her. "Why did the picture remind you of me? Be completely honest, because I really want and need to know."

"I guess the way she's standing or something. Or the way her head is tipped toward the sunlight. You do that sometimes." At Rosie's laughter he stepped back and her hand fell. "I don't know why you made me explain if you're just going to laugh. I never took you for the type to enjoy making someone feel like a fool."

"Wait. I'm sorry." As he started to walk away she grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop. "Really I'm not trying to make you feel like a fool. It's just there's something I need to tell you about the painting."

"You don't like it?" His tone suggested she'd be crazy if that were true.

"That's not the problem. I love it." She needed to explain without giving Nicolette's secret away.

"Then what is it?"

"Me," she said.

"What about you?"

"It is," She pointed at the painting then herself. "Me."

"You." He walked around her to the couch.

Dade stood there and stared at the painting. She gave him a few minutes to process what she'd just told him. His eyes widened as he saw it for himself. Then as he turned to her his eye narrowed almost with menacing glint.

"You posed for this?" There was a distinct tinge of anger in his tone.

Rosie wasn't sure why, but she didn't think he had a reason to be. "Yes."

"So you know the artist?"

"I do." Hopefully someday she'd be able to explain how.

"How well?"

Rosie instantly realized he might not be angry. It could have been jealousy that she'd heard. That would be a damn good sign. She could work with jealousy. A man in that condition was close enough to love that the fall was practically imminent, whether they knew it or not.

"Very well. We've spent a lot of time together." Rosie smiled when she saw the way his jaw tightened.

"Then you should definitely have the painting to remind you of that time since you won't be doing it ever again."

It took her a few seconds to come up with an elegant response. "Excuse me?"

"You won't be posing again." Dade straightened his shoulders and looked down at her.

"What makes you think that?" He might as well learn now that she didn't cave to intimidation. "If asked I would instantly say yes."

"No you won't." He tossed out confidently.

"Really why is that?" She asked pushing him to explain.

# * * * *

"Because I fucking said so," he said.

"Well let me remind you that I don't have to do as you say." She had no idea how close he was to proving just how wrong she was.

Dade decided to take the easiest route. "Unless you want me to hunt down the elusive artist and out him or her you will agree."

She sputtered a little then snapped her mouth shut. Her glare told him this wasn't over yet. Dade hadn't expected the conversation to go so awry. For about two minutes, before Helks showed up, he'd thought there might have been a damn good chance to salvage and repair their relationship. Giving her the painting was supposed to be a gift to bridge things. His threat to burn it was just that a goddamn threat, but now he was really considering it. No it held too many questions to just destroy something so beautiful.

How intimately did she know this artist? Were they just friends, or had they slept together? Dade wanted to go with the friend option, but he saw intricacies that the artist picked up on. They had to be really close friends for someone to notice them. He liked being the one to know those details about her. Knowing that someone else had been able to get that close a connection to her really bothered him.

Did whoever it was also known that she made a cooing noise when she snuggled after mind blowing sex? Hell did they know she liked to cuddle? He needed to not think like that. And he seriously needed to bury the thought so deep it never came out of his mouth.

Rosie cleared her throat and her toes started tapping. She expected an answer and soon, but the one he wanted to give her was harsh. He knew saying 'because he fucking said so' would certainly push her into a confrontational position, but asking her to promise would make him sound weak. Dade decided since he'd already made a bundle of mistakes he might as well go all the way.

"Do you love me?" He knew his question put her on the spot, but in the end it would be worth it.

She opened her mouth then closed it and took a visibly deep breath. "I don't see what that has to do with this."

"Damn it, it has everything to do with the whole situation we've managed to mire ourselves in. So please answer the question."

"You first," she countered.

Dade wanted to tell her that of course he loved her, but would she believe him if he said it now? Really wouldn't it seem a little forced? He groaned realizing he was stalling. Still he was unable to say the words just yet.

There was only one thing he could do. In a not so smooth move he reached out and wrapped his hand around her wrist. With a tug she squealed and wobbled on her spiked heels. She fell against him and Dade slid his arms around her to keep her from falling and escaping too. He didn't give her time to get away or realize what he was about to do.

Dade lowered his head crushing her lips under his. With a stroke of his tongue across her lips she opened for his assault. The kiss was rough and hot. Their tongues invaded and danced around each other. Of all the kisses they'd shared Dade was amazed that this one held so much more emotion and heat that it put all the rest to shame. When he felt that his lungs might burst from lack of air he started to pull back.

Letting her go was the last thing he wanted to do. Lucky for him Rosie refused to let go, though she did lift her lips from his long enough to take a quick breath. He took her reluctance as a sign she wanted more. His lips went from her mouth to cheek. Dade left a trail of kisses down her neck to the spot where it dipped before her collar bone. He nibbled and she giggled squirming against him.

Dade wasn't going to let this opportunity pass him by. He scooped Rosie up into his arms. She flung her arms around his neck and clung to him as he headed for the staircase. If the painting hadn't been on the couch he would've just taken her there, which wouldn't have been the first time. Dade was glad it was in the way, because he wanted her in his bed where she belonged. He didn't care how long it took he was going to prove to her that it was the right place for her to be.

If she didn't stop nibbling on his earlobe and playing with his hair for just a few seconds the minute it normally took to walk up the steps to his bedroom was going to take ten. He needed to put his mind on the task at hand so he wouldn't miss a step, which would send them both to the bottom. He wanted to tangle his limbs with hers, but he'd prefer neither of them be broken. That would really put a damper on his plans. He finally hit the top stair and spun toward his room.

One of her shoes fell to the floor with a clunk. "Grab that."

"It'll be there later." Dade kept going.

Instead of arguing —like he expected— she surprised him by laughing and kicking the other one off. She was barely on her feet when she started tugging at his clothes. Dade understood her eagerness and he was thrilled that it matched his own. It was hard but he forced himself to go slower and be a little more gentle than she was. It was torture when all he wanted to do was rip her clothes off. Thankfully there was much for him to remove. One tug of the zipper at her hip and her skirt fell to the floor. The feel of her soft skin pushed him past the limit of his control. Seconds later they were both naked and he was laying her on the bed. Dade followed her down his body covering hers.

Her hands stroked his back as he eased into her. Dade's groan was filled with pleasure and torment. The words I love you were on the tip of his tongue, but any man with half a brain knew that the first time you told a woman that shouldn't be while making love. He wanted to be with her for the rest of his life. Rosie lifted her hips meeting his thrust. In and out of bed they were perfect for each other. Why couldn't she see that? Dade shut his mind off and focused on making Rosie feel how much he wanted her.

Every move he made Rosie met or countered with one of her own bringing him deeper. Her hands stroked up his sides, and then she raked her nails down his back. She grabbed his ass and pulled him to her. Normally Dade wouldn't give up control so easily, but he wanted her satisfied and ready to talk. If she was so worn out that she didn't have the energy to run that would just be an added bonus.

Dade ignored Rosie's whimpers as he withdrew completely from her welcoming heat. He rolled them over stopping with her on top of him. Rosie brought her knees to his hips and pushed herself up so she was straddling him. Dade's hands were on her hips holding her steady while she got comfortable.

"Show me how bad you want it." He yielded control over to her.

Rosie smiled as she lifted herself until he was perfectly aligned with her. She lowered herself much too slowly until he was lodged as deep as he could get. Rosie did it a few more times and Dade thought he was going to lose it. Then she settled on his shaft and started to rock her hips. She was a little slow, but Dade bit back a curse as he waited for her to find a rhythm that suited them both. His finger dug into her flesh and Dade had to focus on not marring her delicate skin.

He slid his hands from her hips up her sides to her breasts. Rosie arched her back pressing her breasts harder into his hands. Dade squeezed her mounds as he ran his thumbs back and forth across her lust hardened nipples. Rosie picked up her speed and moaned. She moved faster and he sensed she was getting closer. He let go of her breasts and brought his hands around her back.

He clasped them over her shoulders. Dade pulled her down hard as he pushed his hips up. Rosie rocked even faster her hands were braced on his chest and her nails dug into his skin. She screamed his name and collapsed on his chest. Not done yet Dade held her tight and kept pushing into her. As he moved she made a little noise against his neck. She tightened around him as he pushed himself inside her as deep and fast as he could. He let out a satisfying grunt as she moaned his name again and began to tremble. He rolled them onto their sides still holding her. They both laid there panting neither of them able to talk, which Dade figured was a damn good thing.

# Chapter Fourteen

They had spent most of the afternoon in bed. Every time she tried to get out he pulled her back in and made love to her again. Neither of them had said much unless you counted the moans, grunts, and shouting of each other's names. Still Rosie wasn't really in a rush to leave. Lying in his arms she felt content, which was totally at odds with the urge raging through her to jump his bones again. The problem was that she was starting to get a bit hungry.

"You're thinking about bolting again." It wasn't a question, more like he was reading her mind.

"I'm hungry." And maybe a change of venue would encourage him to get back to their earlier conversation.

Dade rolled her to face him. "How about we take a shower then I'll take you out for a nice dinner?"

It was a nice offer, but her stomach growled shooting it down. "How about we just hustle on down and raid the fridge?"

She shifted to move out of his embrace, but he didn't let go. "Is there a reason you don't want to let me out of your bed?"

"I'm afraid I won't get you back into it." Though he smiled she sensed he was being totally serious.

"We can talk about that after we eat." She shifted again and this time he let her go.

She grabbed his shirt from the floor and put it on as she darted out the door. Rosie heard Dade fumbling around for a minute before his footsteps followed her. She went straight for the fridge and yanked it open. It didn't take her long to find something. She pulled out the airtight containers with leftover chicken and roasted potatoes. She glanced over at Dade who stood in the doorway. Bare feet and chest wearing unbuttoned jeans he casually leaned against the wall and watched as she popped them into the microwave.

She cocked her hip against the counter and stared right back at him. Dade slowly approached her and Rosie refused to run. He reached her and put his hands on the counter on either side of her. Without her shoes on she had to tip her head way back to look at his smiling face. She loved that sexy grin almost as much as she loved the man wearing it.

Sometime during their lovemaking —probably one of the five or six times when she was lying there trying to catch her breath— Rosie realized that leaving Dade wasn't an option. At least not without a fight. Only she wasn't sure how to fight for his love, and she wasn't about to accept anything less than that. Dade was about to find out that when she wanted something she could be relentless when she went after it.

His lips touched hers, but he pulled away much too quickly. Rosie would have grabbed his shirt and pulled him back, but since he wasn't wearing one she was out of luck. He leaned in again and she raised her hands. Dade grabbed her arms at the wrists and pressed her palms down on the counter. She looked up and he winked as he slid his hands down and covered her fingers with his.

This time she had no choice but not to touch him as he once again brushed his lips across hers. Over and over he teased her lips with his. There was enough room to fit another person between their bodies and Rosie wondered if he knew that would only make her want the contact all that much more. The microwave dinged and Dade let her go and stepped away. She blinked a few times.

Dade tipped his head toward the table. "Go sit down and I'll see to the food."

When she didn't move he tugged her from the counter and gave her a gentle shove. She walked over to the table and sat down. As she watched him ready their plates it occurred to her that even in his death her uncle had been trying to give her what he thought she needed. No, not needed, but deserved. In this case it was Dade. Teddy had been right too. As her parents had pointed out Dade wasn't a lot of things.

He wasn't famous, and he didn't spend his time trying to get his name in front of all the right people. Dade didn't need that kind of success. Rosie figured if he did want it he could have had it. None of that mattered to her, because he was perfect for her. The question was did he think she was the one for him?

Dade joined her at the table and slid a plate in front of her. Rosie picked at her food even popping a few pieces of chicken into her mouth.

"For someone who claimed to be hungry you're not eating much." He reached across the table to her plate and stabbed a chunk of potato with his fork.

Rosie moved her plate further from him. With that one bite he stole she decided she needed food more than she wanted to talk. Dade laughed as she dug in. He got up and went to the fridge. Rosie reached over and took a few pieces of broccoli off his plate and put them on hers. He came back with a soda for each of them. Dade settled into his chair and leaned back. Rosie looked up to find him staring at her. She slid the fork out of her mouth and chewed as she waited for him to say something. Instead he just winked at her.

Fine, she'd take the lead. "So the painting—"

"I've decided we'll hang it in the living room." She wondered exactly when he reached that decision.

Before she could ask he suggested they invite her friends over for dinner next week. A little thrown by his sudden change of topic she sat there and listen to him rattle on about things he wanted to change around the house. He thought they should spruce up the bathrooms and guest bedrooms. When she finally gathered her wits enough to speak she asked why he wanted her friends to come to dinner.

He just smiled at her. Rosie was irked that once again Dade seemed to be up to something. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes, which pushed Rosie to do something drastic. She laid her fork on her now empty plate and moved it aside.

"Ready to head back upstairs?" He waggled his eyebrows at her.

She shook her head. "Not just yet. I think it's time to talk about something I want."

His smile faltered for just a second. "Okay, shoot."

"Well I've been thinking, and I know this might not be the right time to say this," Dade didn't tense up yet like she thought he might so she went on. "I need to find a pair of fabulous white stilettos, sparkly with a good four inch heel."

Dade's eyebrows lowered making a deep V crease between them. "I thought you wanted to talk about us. What does your wanting new shoes have to do with us?"

Rosie didn't give him a direct answer to his question. "Well... I'm not sure I'll be able to find them locally so we might need to take a couple of trips. I mean I'm going to need them for the wedding. I have no idea how long it's going to take me to find them, but I'm guessing I should be able to do it within six months."

"Wedding? Who's getting married?"

Once again she ignored his question. "Of course I'll keep my place in the city, but I'm going to have to move the majority of my stuff out here."

"You're going to move in here?" He leaned forward resting his arms on the table.

She nodded. "Unless you don't want me to."

"No. I do." He paused. "There are a few things that have to change though."

"Such as?" She asked relieved he seemed to be playing along.

"Well to start with you'll be moving into my bedroom permanently. We can redecorate it and make it ours." His cocky smile made her stomach flip.

"Permanent is a mighty strong word." She tipped her head a little and tapped her chin with her index finger. "I'm not sure I see the benefit of that."

"Other than lying in my arms every night I can guarantee hot wild sex at least five nights a week."

"Only five." She asked with a smile.

"Okay. I'll kick it up. Promise to stay with me forever and I'll buy you a new pair of shoes every month." She laughed and he reached over and grabbed her hand. "Rosie I'm not kidding."

She linked her fingers with his as she slowly got to her feet. Rosie rounded the table until she was standing beside him. Dade scooted back and turned his chair. Rosie slid onto his lap and wiggled into a comfortable stop. She stilled when she felt him harden beneath her ass.

She leaned in until her breasts were firmly pressed against him and her mouth was near his ear. "Dade, just for the record I was never joking."

She pulled back and looked into his wide eyes. Before he could respond the puppies, which had been quiet until then, started barking and jumped on the gate. It crashed to the floor as Dade mouth covered hers. The pups ran over and started bouncing around Dade's chair. Dade was too busy kissing Rosie to reprimand them. Realizing they weren't getting the attention they wanted they ran out of the room. Rosie started to get up and go after them, but Dade pulled her back down.

# * * * *

Dade wasn't ready to let her go yet. He plied her with more kisses and slid his hand up under his shirt. His hand slid up her leg and he found out she'd left off her panties. If he had known that before he was pretty sure neither of them would have eaten yet. He probably would have taken her right there on the counter or floor. She moaned against his mouth as his finger dipped into curls finding the soft wet slickness he craved. Her moan suddenly turned into a scream and she pushed herself off his lap and out of his embrace.

"Oh. My. God." Rosie moved from side to side looking like she didn't know which way to go.

"Did I hurt you?" He shot to his feet and reached for her, but she shifted the other way.

She dove under the table and Dade got a glimpse of her perfectly rounded bare ass sticking out from under his dress shirt. He ducked to see what she was doing when Zsa Zsa came lumbering into the room dragging one of his boots along with her. He lunged for the puppy, but she was just far enough away that she managed to keep out of his reach. Rosie swore behind him he turned to see Ava dart by him. Rosie's shiny emerald stiletto was hanging from her mouth.

Dade decided he was going to get his commitment before this debacle came to an end. He dove on top of Rosie and pinned her under him. She looked up at him with a mix fury and confusion.

"What are you doing?"

"Will you marry me?" He asked wanting a firm response no joking around.

"Do you love me?" She asked.

"Yes. I think I have from the minute I laid eyes on you all those years ago."

She smiled up at him. "Good, because I love you too."

"So you're going to marry me?" He asked again, and would keep doing it until she said yes.

"I am." She pressed her hands against his chest and shoved hard. "Now please rescue my shoe."

Somewhere the puppies where no doubt chewing on his shit kickers and her stilettos. His boots may survive at least enough to be worn when he worked in the barn. As for her shoe he feared unless she wanted to hop around on one foot they were goners.

"I'm sure it's too late," Dade said with a smile. "I'll buy you new ones."

Then he proceeded to make love to his fiancée right there on the kitchen floor.

#

# The End

About Rita Sawyer

Rita Sawyer writes contemporary romances. Her stories vary in heat level from sweet to sizzling, but hopefully all have a hint of humor. _She grew up in Massachusetts, where she lives with her husband, three kids. More about Rita and her books can be found at_ www.RitaSawyer.com _._ _Readers can_ _contact her at_ ritasawyer2@yahoo.com _._

