Stealing Rose (The Fowler Sisters 2)

“You didn’t tell me you tried to give notice,” she says, her voice soft. Deceptively calm. I’m sure she’s furious with me.

I sigh. “I knew you’d flip, so I kept it to myself.”

“But why? Why are you doing this? Why are you giving up so easily?”

“I have my reasons.” Reasons I’m starting to doubt. Why did I give him my notice anyway? And why did I send my lame attempt at giving notice to Daddy via an email a few days ago that I knew would make him so mad? It was a bad move. An impulsive move. And I’m rarely impulsive.

Funny, since I met Caden, I’ve become even more impulsive.

“What have you been doing anyway?” Violet asks. “Now that you’re no longer working for Fleur.”

I wish I could tell her. But I’ll probably shock the hell out of her, so I restrain myself.

Nothing much. I barely leave the hotel room. Caden is with me and we are constantly, and I mean constantly, fucking. He’s amazing. I’ve never had so many orgasms. We had to buy the economy-sized box of condoms and I got embarrassed when he set it on the counter at the drugstore. Oh, and he’s so sweet. Attentive. Funny. Infuriating. We argue; he says something stupid and I want to hit him. And then the next minute, I’m on my knees in front of him, kissing and sucking his cock and enjoying every single second of it, too. There’s nothing I like better than servicing my man.

Does that make me sound ridiculous? Wait. Don’t answer that.

Yeah. I can’t tell her what I’ve been doing. She’ll flip out.

“I’ve been exploring London,” I say. That’s code for “I’ve been exploring Caden’s body.” “I’ve learned a lot.” Like how he loves it when I lick his inner thighs. Well, he doesn’t really love it, more like he starts laughing because he’s ticklish there, and it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

“Like what?” Violet asks.

“Uh …” That goose bumps race over Caden’s skin right before he comes. That he truly enjoys going down on a woman, specifically me. Oh, and that he dreams about me sometimes. I heard him say my name two nights ago but when I answered him he didn’t reply, and I realized he was asleep.

“You’re with that Caden guy, aren’t you?” she spits out, shocking me silent.

Well. I was already silent because I was scrambling to come up with something to say, but now I’m really quiet.

“Your silence is as good as an admittance of guilt,” Violet says. “I’ve been talking to Whitney. She says Caden went to her apartment Sunday, grabbed all of his stuff, and hasn’t been back since. Hasn’t called or texted her, either.”

Damn right he hasn’t called or been back, because he’s with me.

Oh, dear. I sound ridiculously possessive. What has this man done to me?

“Does she think he’s with me?” I ask nonchalantly.

“She has no idea where he is. I love Whit, but she’s kind of clueless sometimes.” Violet’s voice turns brisk. “But that doesn’t matter. What matters is what are you doing, hanging out with him? You know nothing about him.”

“You’re right. I don’t.” I know plenty, but none of it is for public consumption.

“You don’t even know his last name,” she points out.

“I do, too. It’s Kingsley.” I clamp my lips shut, wishing I hadn’t said that. Not that she couldn’t have asked Whitney for that information, but now I’m afraid Violet will run off and do a Google search on him.

I should do a Google search on him, but I’m … scared. Of what I might find out. What if it’s bad? I’d rather exist in this blissful ignorant state. It’s nice here. Full of good food and sleep and lots of naked touching time. I like it.

I don’t want to end it.

You have to end it.

“Well, this Caden Kingsley person can’t be good for you. He’s encouraging you to ignore all of your responsibilities,” Violet says. “You need to come in to the office. I want to talk to you. Leaving Fleur is not the answer to your problems.”

“You’re the one who told me to let go and indulge in myself for a while,” I point out. “Now you’re nagging at me like an old maid.”

“I’m nagging you because I’m concerned,” she says. “You’re right. I told you to indulge in yourself and have a good time and all that nonsense, but I didn’t expect you to completely fall off the grid like you have.”

“It’s not going to be forever,” I say, my voice small, the sound echoing in the empty bathroom. “I plan on returning to New York … soon.”

“How soon? And are you going back to Fleur? Father didn’t take your notice seriously. He believes you’ll come back.”

That almost pisses me off, that Daddy didn’t take my giving notice seriously. But then again I shouldn’t be surprised. “I don’t know.” Plus, it all depends. How long is Caden staying in London? Is he eventually returning to New York? Would he want to—gasp—see me once we’re both in New York?

Probably not.

“Well, you’d better figure out a firmer answer than that, because that’ll be the first thing Father will ask you.” Violet pauses and when she resumes speaking, her voice is softer. Lower. “He has some news for you.”

Dread slithers down my spine, settling in an ice-cold pool in my stomach. “What sort of news?”