“What?”
“I haven’t been honest with any of you for the last ten or so months.”
“What do you mean?”
“Things were bad, Louisa. I was struggling financially, to the point that I rung up credit card bills, lost the studio, and was behind in rent for the condo. I was barely having a meal a day and what I was having was peanut butter and jelly on one piece of bread.”
“Oh God, Rose, why didn’t you tell any of us? We would have helped you. There was no reason for you to have held back from us.”
“I was embarrassed and I felt like a loser. I was getting to the point where I thought I would leave town and then I get the call from Jimmy and you basically know the rest.”
“I can’t believe that you wouldn’t confide in me, or any of the others. We’ve been friends for years, Rose. You were there for each of us when we went through some crazy shit and even recently with our men and the dangers we faced.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I just really need to get myself together and last night at the event five of my paintings sold.”
“What?”
“Yeah. Mulgoff set them up on display while I modeled a fifty million dollar blue diamond.”
“Holy shit. What did that feel like?”
“It was nerve-wracking but I got through it.” Rose explained about the series of events and about the men she met but didn’t point out the concerns of her men. She knew that information wasn’t to be repeated and the last thing she wanted to do was piss off Mercury and his brothers or make any of them think she wasn’t trustworthy.
“Well, I need to get going. They’re bringing me on a first date since I kind of gave them a hard time about all the other stuff and never even going on a date with them.”
Louisa laughed. “Good for you. Enjoy tonight, and remember no kissing on the first date. Oh wait, you kind of bypassed all the bases and went for multiple home runs.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, wise ass. Good night.”
Rose looked around the cottage and when she stepped inside she saw a bunch of her personal belongings, including her art easel, some blank canvases, her paint supplies and other items she needed to use to paint. They were set up near the windows that overlooked the ocean and the back porch. The view was amazing, the lighting almost perfect, and she thought this spot would make a wonderful studio. She nibbled her bottom lip as her mind processed what she was thinking.
She smiled and walked to the bedroom. Her curiosity about the outfit Mercury had chosen for her to wear on their first date was getting the better of her.
As she opened the door she widened her eyes, shocked at the gorgeous black dress that hung from a hanger. It was sleeveless in a soft, clinging material that would hug her curves. It was classy and very vogue, and when she turned it around her mouth gaped open. The back was completely open and appeared as if it would hit right above her ass, and there was a sequin floral design all done up in silver and black flowers that would hug along the top of her ass, up one side of the material on her right and land at the top of the shoulder. Part of the appliqué appeared to just hang freely and she assumed when she put the dress on it would look like it was reaching out toward her spine. It wasn’t gaudy or overdone but classy, sexy, very rich, and it made her blush thinking that Mercury chose this dress for her to wear.
She looked at the shoe box on the floor and gasped. “Jimmy Choo? Holy crap.” She opened the box to find black matching heels, a bit higher than she was used to wearing, and they were stunning. She felt excited as she hurried to the bathroom to shower and prep herself. She wanted to look absolutely amazing and had no idea where they were going to bring her.
* * * *
“This is bullshit. She’s not staying in that damn cottage, and I’m not walking down there to get her. You two go and we’ll get the SUV,” Mercury said as he headed for the front door with his brothers and opened it. He stopped short.
Rome whistled low and Mercury swallowed hard. There stood Rose, her back toward them as she pressed her hand onto the SUV and fixed her high heel. Her hair was done up on top of her head and the back completely open and he thought she looked even better than he imagined she would in that dress.