Eleven
Rose held Sarah on one arm, and Violet on the other. Violet was sleeping, while Sarah tried desperately to clutch at her shirt. In a few minutes, they’d be home. So it seemed more convenient to feed on a couch than walking down the street. And of course, if she could do it when Bryce wasn’t sitting there, watching her like a hawk, that would be nice, too.
“You’re mad at me,” he said.
“Yeah,” Rose answered. “Of course. You’re always hot and cold about this stuff. Just figure out what it’s going to be and stick with it, at least.”
He let out a long, low breath. “I understand.”
“Do you?”
Sarah got her fingers into the exact right—or wrong—position, and pinched hard. Rose let out a yelp. “Just a minute, sweetie. We’re almost home.”
As if the girl understood.
She obviously didn’t or didn’t think it was a good enough justification for not feeding her right that moment, because she went right back to trying to clutch at her mother’s breasts. Rose cuddled her in closer and let out a breath.
“So there’s something I have to say, and I’m a little… I don’t know. Nervous? That might be wrong.”
“You? Nervous? I can hardly believe it.”
He grimaced. “Of course I get nervous. I’m human, aren’t I?”
“Tell that to the rest of the world.”
His grimace almost managed to twist into a smile. “If I told the rest of the world, they might think that they could beat me.”
“But maybe they could. After all, you’re only human, right?”
“Who said anything about only?”
“Whatever,” Rose said grumpily. They turned onto the street. Two hundred yards, and the walk would be done with.
“It had to have been scary for you.”
“You think? Whatever. I’m not going to play these on-and-off games with you.”
“Is that what this is about? You’re angry about me being unclear?”
“Maybe,” she said. It felt appropriate to throw that back in his face, since it was only fair that he be allowed to have someone be totally unclear with him, after how unclear he was with her all the time.
“Don’t be like that, Rosie.”
“Don’t call me that. I hate that name. My mother calls me Rosie.”
“Okay. It won’t happen again.”
He said it with a tone that suggested that he legitimately might not do it again. It was a pleasant surprise.
“I just want to know what you want from me, Bryce. Just tell me what you’re thinking.”
“Look. I can tell this is important to you. I don’t know why you care so much about this company. It’s not something that I’m equipped to understand. The first company I built, I built from scratch. And when I did it, I set a goal. I wanted to make a hundred million dollars on it. It was ambitious at the time.”
“And, what? You still have your first dollar?”
“Why on earth would I still have my first dollar? No, I sold it. Hundred-fifty.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I’m not equipped to understand why you’d have trouble selling something. But I can tell that you do have reservations about it, regardless, and I’m not going to judge you for that.”
“Well, good.” She huffed. “I’m glad we’re not judging people.”
He strode a little faster to get past her and turned around. Rose kept her pace. She wasn’t going to play any weird games to compete with him. He was the one who competed. She just wanted to have a day off of all this craziness. But apparently that wasn’t going to happen.
“You wanted my help.”
“I did.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m mad at you.”
“For helping.”
“No, Bryce. Not for helping. Don’t try playing the martyr. It doesn’t suit you.”
“Then I won’t.”
“Good.”
“I’m not going to be a martyr for you, Rose. But I’ll promise you this. You run into trouble again with this pet company of yours, and I’ll be there to keep you from stumbling, okay? I’m not going to let you run it into the ground and spend money until it should have died years ago. I’m not suicidal. But I’ll do what I can to stop things hitting you.”
She turned up the driveway. He turned, too, stumbled for a second, and then caught himself. It was oddly endearing. And a very good reason not to walk backwards.
“You should watch where you’re going.”
He grinned. “You know, Rose Kilpatrick, I think it’s that attitude that’s got me loving you.”
“Oh yeah? Love, huh? Big word.”
“We’re stuck with each other. It’s better to get along and get to be happy with the situation, don’t you think?”
“You make it sound like such a storybook romance.”
“I’m not a storybook prince, Rose. I never promised you that. But I’ll do my best to keep you safe. And if I could make you happy in that time… well, I’m not hoping for any miracles, but I will take what I can get.”