CHAPTER SIX
After a couple of hours of getting pretty well acquainted in bed, we finally ventured out to the dining room for food. I sit next to him as his housekeeper places a breakfast platter at the table. It is piled high with pastries, fresh fruit and a variety of cheeses. Since I'm starving, especially after our acrobatic morning, I begin to load up plate with all sorts of delightful carbs.
"Oh my goodness, this cronut is so good..." I say after I take a huge bite of the sugary and flaky pastry. "I think it's definitely something that I've got to add to my menu at the cafe."
Dominic looks up from the newspaper he's reading and begins to laugh as soon as he sees my face.
"You're a mess," He says affectionately as he brushes the crumbs off my face with his napkin. "You practically swallowed that cronut whole."
"You're lucky that you have these pastries here. They actually save this brunch platter from being a sad state of affairs," I retort as I break off a small piece of my second cronut and pop it into my mouth, hopefully improving my crumb situation.
"What do you mean?" He asks with a quizzical look on his face and one eyebrow raised.
"I'm totally forgiving the fact that there's no bacon, no breakfast sausages, no eggs. You get what I mean..." I explain as I point to the platter. Dominic just laughs at me some more.
"You worked up an appetite, did you?" He says with lascivious look in his eye.
"I would think you did too," I reply defensively as I fight the blush creeping up my cheeks.
"Ye have such little faith," Dominic responded with a cryptic smirk.
As if on cue, his housekeeper returns holding a covered platter. She set it down next to the pastry platter and lifted the lid up, revealing a rasher of bacon, slices of ham, round sausages and fluffy looking scrambled eggs. The salty and savory smells cause my mouth to water. I immediately begin making the breakfast sandwich of my dreams, as I slice open a cronut and begin piling on the meat and cheese.
"I stand corrected," I admit as I spoon some of scrambled eggs onto my cronut sandwich.
"You really outdid yourself with the brunch platter this afternoon, Gertrude. It's outstanding." Dominic compliments his housekeeper with an appreciative smile. She appears pleased with his comment.
"Thank you, Mr. Dominic. Is there anything else that you need?" She asks him earnestly.
"I have everything I need, but what about you Rose? Any requests?" Dominic inquires, before taking a sip of his coffee.
"Please don't be shy, Ms. Rose," Gertrude chimes in, providing me with a warm smile. "You can request anything you'd like and I'll try my best to provide it for you."
"Well, to be honest I wouldn't mind a mimosa to go along with all this wonderful food," I tell her shyly, as I'm not very accustomed to bossing around servants like Dominic is. "But only if you join me."
Gertrude's body shook with her joyful laughter and she patted me on back afterwards.
"Some mimosas coming right up, Ms. Rose," She says before she disappeared into the kitchen.
"She's very friendly..." I said with an impressed smile.
"Yeah, she's probably very excited to finally see a girl stay over," Dominic explains as he turns a page of his newspaper. "She's been bugging me for the past few years to get a girlfriend..."/
My hearts begins to beat wildly when I hear this. Did Dominic just say that he considers me his girlfriend? Before I could obsess over Dominic's statement, Gertrude returns carrying a serving tray with three empty champagne flutes and large jug shaped pitcher filled with an orange juice and champagne mixture. She garnished her flutes with blueberries, raspberries and a curly orange rind. She sets the serving tray down and pours each flute with the cocktail. She places one flute next to Dominic's coffee and he mutters a quick 'thank you' as his attention is engrossed with the newspaper. She then comes over to me and hands me one of the flutes.
"Estrovia!" She cheered as she held her glass up. I think it must mean'cheers'.
"Estrovia...?!" I join in and clink my glass with hers. I take a sip, enjoying the bubbly and tart beverage. My jaw drops open as I watch her shoot back the entire contents of her glass down. I had no idea that shooting champagne was a thing.
"Wow, Gertrude. You don't mess around," I say with awe and I can hear Dominic chuckle in the background.
"Gertrude drinks vodka with her breakfast," He says with a smile of admiration, as if he were proud that she knock back so much liquor without flinching. It was clear that the two of them were close and enjoyed each other's company. She probably got to see more of his softer side. The side that I was just beginning to see.
"This was nice, we'll have to do this again," Gertrude said with a big grin on her face. "But I have to go now. I can't miss anymore of my afternoon soap operas."
"Sure, sure. I'll see you later..." I reply and she then exited the room with a curt wave.
"You'd think with the Netflix subscription I got her, she wouldn't need that afternoon break for her soaps anymore. But old habits die hard I guess," Dominic mutters as he picks up his own mimosa and takes a swig.
I chuckle at his comment and I get back to my assembling my sandwich. Just as I'm almost done putting the sandwich together, Marge and Braden enter the dining room. Marge's arms are filled with an assortment of shopping bags and Braden is holding two heavy duty briefcases, one in each hand. Marge walks by Dominic and places a petite black paper bag with silver tissue paper peaking out next to his plate. There is simple image of a diamond emblazoned in sliver on the front of the bag, which indicates that it is from the jewelry store. I take a break from sandwich assembly to stare at the little bag but Dominic quickly picks it up from the table and sets it next to his feet.
"I got the flat-iron, salon hair products and Marc Jacobs make up as requested, sir," Marge reports as she takes the seat across from him and Dominic nods at her. It is only then I noticed that Gertrude had set the table for four.
"Ooooh, mimosas!" Marge exclaimed with delight, as she grabbed the pitcher and poured the orange juice concoction into her empty water glass.
"This is just what I need right now," She said with a small smile after her first sip. Then she proceeded to make a plate for herself.
Braden sat directly across from me and eyed my sandwich warily.
"I don't know if that's most disgusting breakfast sandwich I've ever seen or the most delicious," Braden comments as he places his briefcases down on the floor.
I take a bite and it's as awesome as it can be. I know how to do brunch like a champion.
"My vote is for delicious," I retort, but my voice is slightly distorted because my mouth is full of food. Marge looks at my plate and her nose wrinkles in disgust.
"You should really put more fruit on your plate. You have a tight dress to fit into tonight," she instructs before she forks a cube of melon into her mouth.
It was then, I break out the love haze that I've been in and I remember why I'm really here. I'm not Dominic's girlfriend, I'm not even his guest, I'm not anything to these people. I'm just a girl that they ran into, that happened to resemble Amelia, thus I am able to help them retrieve some stolen documents. I promptly lose my appetite and push my plate aside.
"You're not going to eat that anymore?" Braden asks, pointing to my discarded sandwich.
"No, I filled up on too many cronuts, I guess," I fabricate with a frown.
"Well, don't let your masterpiece go to waste. I'll take that off your hands for you then," He requests with a charming smile. The slight change in his expression, lights up his entire face and it just reminds me how devastatingly handsome Braden is. If I wasn't so wrapped up with Dominic, Braden would be real contender for my heart...
"I hope you enjoy my masterpiece," I tell him with a friendly smile as I hand over my plate to him. You just can't take that customer service side out of me.
He takes a humongous bite out of the cronut breakfast sandwich and gives me a thumbs up.
"Best. Sandwich. Ever. You should consider leaving the cafe business and open up a sandwich shop," Braden informs me after he's done swallowing. The look in warm brown eyes is genuine and his smile is sweet. I return his smile.
"It's not bad idea. It would mean that I could sleep in more," I say with a nod. I laugh and I feel a little better than I did a few minutes ago. Dominic watches our exchange with a worried look in his eyes. He clears his throat and begins to fold his newspaper up before he gets up./
"Rose, it looks like you're done with eating breakfast. Please join me in the study, I need to discuss something with you in private," He informs, not exactly giving me room to refuse.
"Meh, not like I have choice here," I reply indifferently, as I'm still a little stung from before.
I quickly wipe my mouth and hands with a napkin before I leave the table. He picks up the gift bag that Marge left him and walks out of the room. I follow him down a long hallway, toward the back of his house. We stop in front of a heavy oak door, which he opens and signals for me to enter. I go inside and find a miniature library filled with leather bound books with a fancy wooden desk at its center. He guides me into one the of the two leather chairs placed before the desk and then he sits into the luxurious black leather chair behind it. There is a tense moment between us as we hold each other's gazes.
"Rose," He murmurs softly, leaning forward in his chair as he rests his crossed arms on the desk. "You know from the moment I caught you in my hotel room, I haven't stopped thinking about you. And it wasn't just because you slightly resemble Amelia..."
"It wasn't?" I ask with surprise. I had thought everything between us was motivated because of my supposed likeness to Amelia.
"Not at all... There was a spark between us that I haven't experienced with anyone else before," Dominic revealed and I knew exactly what he meant. "But it was something that I chose to ignore and I have been trying to bury these feelings I have for you ever since."
"Why?" I inquired with great curiosity.
"Come on, Rose. Isn't it obvious? It's because it made it easier for me to pressure you into posing as Amelia for a few of my business rivals," He explained, his gaze almost apologetic. "Or maybe I needed to give myself a legitimate excuse to pursue you..."
"So, that's all well and good, but what about now? What's changed?" I demand as I cross my arms, only slightly annoyed.
"You know last night, when I heard a noise coming from your room... I thought that maybe you were in danger because a couple of these business rivals of mine are ruthless and dangerous," He said and his blue eyes were focused on me. They were filled with concern. "And I kept thinking that you would never know how I felt about you and it would be too late."
"But I'm safe right now," I say softly, uncrossing my arms and reaching out to him. He gave me a half smile as he linked our hands together. He gave my hands a small squeeze.
"As you can imagine, I was deliriously happy by what I saw instead," He said with a playful smile but his voice was slightly husky.
"I bet," I say with a small laugh. I knew I was already blushing.
"It meant that we had another chance to be honest with each other," He said and then his smile became slightly more mischievous. "You would admit that we were very honest about how we felt about each other this morning, no?"
"That's one way of putting it," I agree as I return his smile with a mischievous one of my own.
"But this complicates things for me greatly," He says as he begins rubbing slow little circles on my inner wrist with his thumb. I can't help but enjoy the sensations of him stroking my inner wrist.
"So, as of right now you are no longer required to assist me and my team in retrieving my stolen tender bids from Roy tonight," He finally says and he promptly lets go my hands.
"But what about Juliet's blackmailer?" I ask, not knowing how I feel about this new proposition just yet.
"Don't let that be factor in your choice. I will help you with that regardless because it's the right thing to do and I have the means to help you," Dominic states, his face serious.
"Does this mean that Amelia gets away with stealing your tender bids?" I ask, feeling bad for him. It's obvious that he has worked hard for everything that he had in life and to let it go like that wouldn't be easy for him.
"I'll find another way. There's always another way. You posing as Amelia is the quicker way, but I still have some guys searching for her," Dominic replies with a shrug. "It will take much longer because she was my assistant for quite some time, so she'll know how to stay off my grid. However, that's not for you to worry about."
A few days ago, I would have taken him up on his offer. I would have been happy to go back to my old life, telling myself that ignorance is bliss. However, after getting to know Dominic and having our own blissful experiences this morning, I know I can't go back to my old life so easily. I truly want to help him if I can.
"Dominic, you did say this was my choice now. I could actually choose to stick around and help you," I assert as I stand up, leaning forward on my palms on his desk. His concern for me was touching and I wanted to help him now, of my own volition. "And I want to help you! I don't want you to be cheated of what you've earned."
"Are you certain? This is not exactly safe..." He warns me and he gets up too so he can hold my hands in his. "I'm obviously going to provide you with the best surveillance and I will protect you with every inch of me, but I have to caution you that Roy is a wild card."
"I'm so certain," I tell him as I look up into his gaze. I could almost melt under the intensity of his blue eyes.
"Wow, this is such a change in attitude from a week ago..." He replies, looking slightly shocked. "But thank you for doing this for me."
"Well, thank you for helping me with Juliet's blackmailer," I told him. "I've spent too many nights awake thinking about how to solve this. Now I can rest a little bit easier."
"Not too easy, I hope," He replies, giving me a wicked grin. I just shake my head at him.
"You know, I can still change my mind, right?" I joke and he looks contrite.
"Well, I didn't know what your answer would be, but I was still hopeful," Dominic says and he sits back down in his seat. "But maybe this will reassure you."
He picks up the little black bag and fishes his hand inside the artfully fluffed silver tissue paper taking out a small white gift box. The small box has an elaborate silver ribbon tied in bow around it and he handed the gift box to me. I take the box from him as I sit down because I feel like I need to sit to open it. I tug at the ribbon and open the box, only find another smaller black velvet lined jewelry box inside. I flip the lid of the box open and find a gorgeous piece of jewelry nestled in the velvet at its center. The piece of jewelry looks like an open rose in bloom, the gold petals are exquisitely lifelike as they surround a beautifully cut gemstone. I gasp at how lovely it is.
"It's so beautiful, I didn't know they could make something like this..." I say with astonishment.
"It's more valuable, than it is beautiful," Dominic tells me. "It's a brooch that will allow me to watch over you tonight. That gemstone in the center is actually a camera. It'll be like I'm right next to you, making sure that you're safe."
"It will definitely look good with my Wayne Cooper dress," I quipped as I held the brooch up to the light to look at the fine details. Also, I couldn't tell that there was camera inside which I guess was the point.
"Still interested, I see?" Dominic ensures. "Haven't scared you off yet?"
"I don't scare easy, Dominic." I reassure him. "We're going to get your stolen bids back."