Caught Between Brothers

Chapter 6 - Who is she?

Rose POV

It was a big decision but I thought about it really hard. Jace had been really sweet and I wanted to return the favor. It would only be for one dinner, so I didn’t think it would be much. I also had time to prepare for that day. It was not a popped-out-of-nowhere kind of thing.

Jace was really happy about my decision. I was sure of it as I saw him almost skipping to his car. He made a fist bump again that made me laugh.

I had the whole house again to myself, so I did what was supposed to be done - cleaning and laundry. The dust in the house wouldn't stop from settling, would it?

The day went on as usual as I sat down on my chair and hit my keyboard. Before I knew it, Jace was back for the walk.

“Have you already given Baron a bath?” Jace asked as we walked around the park.

“No, not yet,” I answered with a groan. Of course, it was part of the package of why I was in my parents' house in the first place. In addition to giving Baron a bath, I should also clean the fish tank. The good thing was, I only needed to give the German Shepherd a bath once while I needed to clean the fish tank once a week.

“Okay, here’s the deal. I will give Baron a bath one of these days. I’ll check my free day. Or maybe we can drop him off at a groomer, then you’ll accompany me to buy a gift for Mom. Will that be okay with you?” He took me by my shoulder to get me closer to him but his hand never left it.

“Fine with me. I should get a gift for your Mom, too, anyway.” I gave my shoulder a look then decided to ignore it. I shouldn’t give any malice to all Jace’s gestures.

“Great!” He then took out his phone from his pocket and proceeded to check his schedule. “Monday is usually hectic for me. How about Tuesday?”

“I’m okay with Tuesday.” That would mean I had to do an advanced chapter.

“It’s settled then.”

When we got back home, I got sad as Jace wouldn’t be able to hang out. He had an early morning the following day. I didn’t give any indication I was feeling rather low, but it looked like he picked up on it.

“But I will be here; don’t forget that. I will be bringing your food.”

“Right! I forgot about the food,” I gave him a grin so he wouldn’t worry.

I was anticipating the time he would finally say goodbye. He missed again, but the kiss only brought more butterflies in my stomach. It was like a slow motion as he looked directly at my eyes after he kissed the corner of my lips.

“Good night, angel,” he said as he lingered for a few seconds with his face only a couple of inches away from mine.

Why, God? Why?

I inhaled deeply as I bid my farewell. “Good night, Jace.”

.

.

.

The following morning, Jace came to deliver my food but had to go as soon as he dropped them off. He was not supposed to be the one doing the delivery as he had staff members for that. He was probably doing my dad a favor as he was the one who ordered the food.

I missed Jace terribly for most of the day. My hands were itching to text him, but I wouldn’t want to disturb him. Tuesday was my day with him anyway. Mom’s garden made me busy as well as writing. Jace came by that night but had to go home as soon as we were done with the walk. The kiss became a habit of his and the thrill of experiencing it wouldn’t go away either. This had to stop soon. But would I want it to?

Tuesday came and I woke up early to prepare, only to get disappointed by a text from Jace.

Jace: Good morning, angel. Somebody else will deliver your food today as I have an emergency in the kitchen. I will update you soon about our shopping today.

I might have been disappointed, but I was worried, too. Something bad must have happened.

Rose: Don’t worry about me. Hope everything is okay.

By nine in the morning, there was still no word from Jace. I began to sulk as I held on to my phone. There was nothing else to do as I was done with reading and replying to book comments and done with promotions as well. I tried to write but nothing was coming out of my mind.

We were supposed to be at the grooming shop by eleven and I was wondering if I should call to cancel the appointment.

It was already ten and I was ready to give up hoping that Jace would come. I was about to text him to inform that I would cancel the appointment when a message came in. The first two words got me agitated.

Jace: So sorry I was not able to update. I suppose you are pretty mad at me. But I’m finishing up here. I’ll pick you up in thirty minutes. See you, angel. I’m all yours today.

I heaved a sigh, not being in the mood at all to go out. However, I had to remind myself that Jace’s life didn’t revolve around me. Dragging myself out of my bed, I began to fix myself again.

“I’m really sorry. It was a hectic morning. Is Baron ready to go?” Jace got inside the house and looked down at Baron, who circled at his feet.

“He’s ready,” I replied curtly. Not wanting Jace to feel worse, I pushed myself to talk. “How was your emergency? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything is now okay. It was that my staff forgot to put in a big order. We only got to know when the customer messaged to confirm the delivery. We didn’t have some of the needed ingredients, so someone had to go and buy them.” He talked about it further while on the road.

“That would have been a huge mess. It was fortunate that the client sent a text. Otherwise, it would have blown up," I said gently.

I understood where Jace was coming from. It would be a massive blow to him and his business if mistakes like that happened. So, I let him rant all the way to the groomer. After we dropped Baron, which was only around the mall, we went straight shopping.

Jace wanted to give his Mom jewelry, which was one of the things I had suggested, so we went to a well-known jewelry shop.

A sales lady immediately stepped forward and gave Jace a big smile.

“How can I help you, Sir?” she asked.

Too perky, I noticed.

“I’m looking for a gift for my mom’s birthday," Jaced answered right away, looking at the display.

“Hmm… how many kids does your mom have?” the sales lady inquired.

I looked at her oddly. It was already a personal question to ask!

“Two,” Jace answered. I looked up at him with surprise. But he looked serious, probably thinking it was a valid question.

“I have just the right stuff for you! This is one of the shop’s new designs which came out only last week.” She went to one of the glass panels and took a tray of rings. “This is called the 'Mother's ring'. This is 14k white gold." She then pointed to the stones one by one. "The stone in the middle will be for the mother's birthstone then on each side will be the birthstones of her kids.”

I suddenly felt small for judging the lady. Her question was indeed valid! However, I was still irritated at how she was throwing flirty smiles at Jace.

“What do you think?” Jace turned to me and at the same time took my hand in his. After taking one of the 'Mother's ring' from the tray, he put the ring on me.

“It looks beautiful. And unique as well. You should get this one,” I whispered to him. I turned to face the sales lady, who suddenly went silent. I saw her pursing her lips, seemingly irritated, but it all changed when Jace turned back to her when I asked her a question. “Are the birthstones all available? The birthday is on Friday and we need to have it by then.”

“Yes, they are all available. If you purchase today, we can have the ring ready for pick-up tomorrow.”

“I’ll get one then.” He gave the birth months first and then we had to wait for Jace’s dad to tell him his mom’s ring size.

While waiting, I went around the shop. There was no intention of buying, but I was mesmerized by all the stuff. It would surely help with research too, as my male lead was about to get the female lead a gift.

I didn’t notice that time had passed. It was only when Jace approached me telling me he was done that I became aware it had been half an hour since we walked in. It was a good thing though that Jace had been quick in deciding which item to buy.

“Thank you, Sir. Have a good day,” the saleslady said on our way out of the shop. And she wasn’t finished at all! “See you on Thursday.”

This Wednesday thing was probably a whole day event if he couldn't pick-up the ring.

I then cringed when we got out of the shop as the sales lady's voice rang in my head. Jace laughed at me.

“She’s not that bad. She needed the sale.” He grabbed me by my shoulder as we strolled.

“Oh yeah. More like she needs you in her bed.” I mumbled.

“Jealous much? We shared a couch, remember?” Jace teased.

Annoyed at him for thinking I was jealous and for me acting indeed like a jealous girlfriend, I shut myself up. I didn’t need another embarrassment.

“Hey. Are you okay? You have been quiet.” Jace followed me as we went from one store to another. We had been looking for my gift for his mom but had been unsuccessful. “Why don’t we eat first? You’re probably hungry. It’s almost one.”

I nodded in reply. There was nothing that had caught my eye yet. If not expensive, everything held no significant value. I wasn’t the type who would just give just some stuff to say I gave out a present.

Jace chose the restaurant for us. I would have been okay with fast food or with a table in the food court, but he said he wanted to feed me properly. It was his grand gesture to thank me for accompanying him.

As we got seated inside an Italian restaurant, he suddenly froze.

“Hi, Sir.”

I thought it was the waitress. My eyes almost rolled out of their sockets. Jace had been getting a lot of attention wherever he went. When I looked up, it was an attractive woman in a cropped shirt that showed off her big, fake boobs and her gorgeous waist and pants that hugged her butt perfectly.

“It’s nice seeing you here,” she added before Jace could reply. She then looked at me from head to foot then back before she gave out a smile, which was obviously fake. She was about to say something when Jace cut in.

“Nice seeing you here as well, Amber. Didn’t know you fancy Italian.”

It was odd seeing Jace uptight. It wasn’t like him the past few days I had been with him.

“It seems like we need to be re-acquainted then. I’ll ring you one of these days. Maybe we can meet up one Wednesday.” She waved her fingers to Jace before walking away. It seemed like she only followed Jace inside the place as she had friends waiting for her outside the restaurant.

“Who is she?” I asked curiously. For sure, she was one of Jace’s girls. However, I never thought Jace would get it on with a girl like her. She looked like a bimbo. “An ex-girlfriend?”

The man in front of me looked uncomfortable at my question.

“No. Just some nuisance I got to know.”

When I was about to ask about Wednesday, as Amber had mentioned the day, a waitress came to get our food order. Jace immediately mentioned a list of food. It was obvious he didn’t want to talk about Amber anymore. I kept myself silent then and placed my questions, and the bit of jealousy I was feeling, at bay. That Amber knew something about Wednesday.

“Why don’t you give Mom a copy of your book?” Jace asked as we started with our meal.

“I don’t have one at the moment. My copies are in my apartment.” That was the truth. I could get a copy ordered online though. However, my concern was, I could not imagine someone I knew reading my book!

“I can drive you there. You have me for the whole day." Jace offered.

No! Nobody else knew where I was staying. Even if it was Jace, I was not prepared to share with him the details. I was trapped!

“Let me see if I order online, if I will receive the order on or before Friday.” I took my phone out and ordered a copy of each book I wrote with available prints. It would arrive the following day.

I blindly chose that option as it was better than going all the way to my apartment, which was about an hour of travel from where we were at.

“All done. I got her all my books. They will arrive tomorrow." I informed Jace.

“You should give me your pen name. I’ll give them as presents to my kitchen staff. My assistant likes reading books.”

“I don’t think my books are good enough." I was ready to hide myself under the table. I would always get shy when talking about my books.

“No! Don’t say that! It’s like me saying my food is not good enough," Jace said in a reprimanding voice.

“I’m sorry. It’s just sometimes I don’t know if I’m in the right field. But I hate to go back to corporate work so I suck it up and continue to write.”

“You wouldn’t stay in this career if there are no people reading your books. I’m sure they are great. I’ll be glad to help you with promotions if you will let me.”

“Thank you, Jace. Sometimes the imposter syndrome gets to me." We talked more about my writing and promotions while eating.

After lunch, we took Baron from the groomer and went back home. Jace stayed and we both worked on our laptops. In the middle of writing my chapter, he stood up and said he would just make a call.

“Sure,” I said absentmindedly.

I typed away and had finished my chapter when I noticed Jace had not gone back to work. That call definitely took time. Standing up from my seat, I thought of checking in on Jace. My heart broke when I saw him lying down on the couch. My initial reaction was to check if he was breathing. When I saw his chest going up and down, I was relieved.

He must have been really tired. I sat on the floor and stayed with him as I hung out online using my phone. A few minutes later, I noticed the screen of his phone blinking. Someone was calling him!

I knew I shouldn’t snoop, but his monitor was big enough for me to see who was calling.

It was Amber!

The girl cut the call and a few seconds after a message notification came in.

“I can’t wait for tomorrow!”