Chapter 22

22

I t's moments like this, I wish I could breathe fire and incinerate everything. Fucking asswipes who think it's funny or cute or get off on scaring and hurting others—primarily women. People who terrorize and remove freedom and choices from others. I know I'm being petulant. I know everyone is worried about me, and with good reason. I know Stone is trying to keep me safe, even going so far as to disrupt his own life and infuriate his brother in the process.

I know Loomis and my father, and honestly, everyone else agrees with the plan because it makes the most sense. I know all of this.

But it doesn't mean I'm happy about it.

It doesn't mean I want it.

I barely survived ten days at sea with Stone, and the thought of living with him for the next three months…

Is he high? Does he not realize the severity and potential impact of entering into this?

A fake engagement. One that will be monstrously public. I'll have to smile and touch him and act like I'm in love with him. All of that is a nightmare, but then there's the flip side of this. The private side.

He can say whatever he wants about separate bedrooms and wings and space. It all sounds good, neat, and tidy, even when it's anything but. It's a recipe for disaster. We don't know how to be around each other without it getting physical. I think at this point, we've proven that.

My relationship with him is complicated enough, but being his fake fiancée and living with him will take this to the next level. I don't know what I'm more afraid of—this copycat stalker or getting my heart seriously and irrevocably broken.

Without another word, I storm off down the hall in the direction of the wing he mentioned would be mine. I need a minute. It's clearly been a day, and my head is not on straight. I plow into the first open bedroom door, slam it shut behind me, and lean against the wood. It's a big bedroom. All clean lines, white linens, and… a nautical theme complete with a strange tower-like thing that has multiple tiers of fabric beds and a body out of white rope. I don't even know what that is, but nope. Not this room.

Spinning around, I open the door only to practically plow straight into Stone. Ugh.

"Move!" I push him aside as best I can and squeeze past him, heading for the other bedroom I know is here. "What kind of single man has all this space?" I gripe, passing room after room and finally opening the door for the next bedroom. I like this one. It has a big bed, more white linens, and nothing nautical to be found.

I go to shut the door behind me, but he's there, pushing it open and crowding me inside before he takes the liberty of shutting the door for me.

"You're being a brat."

I roll my eyes, proving his point, but the brat in me doesn't care. "Are you going to spank me to get me back in line? "

His eyes darken. "Is that what you need to stop acting this way and let us help you?"

Is it? Argh. This is the problem. I want him to freaking spank the brat out of me.

"You know what? Men suck. You're all exes and stalkers and former lovers and fathers and studio execs and agents and people who generally believe they have dominion over my life. I'm going to buy an island and fill it with champagne, charcuterie, vibrators, dirty romance books, and fucking peace."

Honestly, that sounds amazing, and I might have my assistant start looking into that.

He picks me up by my hips and sits me on the bed so he can stand over me. This is not a smart move. I can already feel the heat we can never seem to escape crackling between us.

"I get it," he barks, angry and frustrated and hella annoyed with me. "This sucks. I won't pretend otherwise. I don't want you living here because that means you're fucking here when avoiding you and keeping my distance were the only things keeping me sane. Having you here is a pain in my ass, and pretending to be your fucking fiancé will be nothing but a headache and a constant strain."

I scowl. "You're doing that honesty thing I hate again."

He leans forward, his hands planting into the bed on either side of my hips, forcing the upper half of him into me. I angle back, not wanting him this close. "Let Vander and Lenox work their magic. Let the FBI do their job. Amp up your security. And with any luck, you'll be out of my hair and back in that warehouse with your new stalker buddy in jail. But the one thing I can't have is you out there putting yourself at risk simply because you like the way I fuck you a little too much and it scares you enough that you don't want to live here."

I snort. It's unladylike and weird-sounding, but again, I don't care. "Oh, and you don't like fucking me a little too much for me to live here with you? "

"I never said I didn't. But I'm willing to put all that aside if it means no one can get to you." He searches my face, serious yet earnest. His forehead meets mine, and he breathes out a harsh breath, his eyes closing. "I can't let anything happen to you. Not when I can do something to stop it. If you were anywhere else, I wouldn't sleep, little rose. I'd be sick with how much I'd be worrying about you. Don't you get it? This isn't a joke."

My heart shudders and quakes, but I push it back. Force the bitch away. And focus on his nickname for me. Little rose.

"What was Owen talking about?"

His eyes flash open and he draws back, and I take a deep breath because the air smells a little less like him.

"Nothing important to you."

Hmm. Okay. Maybe it's better if I don't know.

"I don't want to get my heart broken."

"I don't want to break your heart," he quickly replies.

"I have to run all of this by my PR people."

He folds his arms across his chest. "Go for it, but the wheels are already in motion, so I'm not sure what else they're going to have to say about it."

"I'm sleeping in this bed and not with you. No sex this time. I mean it."

He smirks. "Excellent. All the bullshit of a fiancée and none of the benefits."

I laugh and fall back onto the bed, shoving my fists in my eyes. "I hate this, Stone. I know I'm being a brat and I should be more grateful for all you're doing for me, and I am. But I'm tired of this. The walls feel like they're closing around me, and I'm getting claustrophobic again."

The bed dips beside me, and then he's gathering me in his arms and pulling me into him, my head over his heart. For a moment, I listen to its steady rhythm, and it soothes some of my brat into submission .

"Why are you being nice to me? If anything, you're the one who should be mad."

He chuckles, the sound vibrating against my ear. "I don't know, but I'm not. I'm partly to blame for the engagement stuff."

"I don't want to live here."

"I don't want you to live here."

"Can we ignore each other while I do?"

I can practically hear the smile in his voice when he says, "That was my plan."

His fingers drag through my hair, playing with random locks, and I get lulled into it. Into him. It's the dance we do. The one that feels as natural and right as breathing. The one I can't seem to stop no matter how many times I try to change the song.

"I haven't told you this, but I've been meaning to. Actually, I've wanted to tell you for a while." I lick my lips and swallow. "I'm really proud of you, Stone. You became the man and doctor you wanted to be."

His hand in my hair stills for a beat before it starts to move again. "You were part of that, you know. You saw something in me I didn't, and that made me start to believe in it too."

"Part of me wishes I could go back. Just escape to the boat, but that's not reality, and I can't run from this again."

He pushes me down until I'm staring up at him as he hovers over me. "No, we can't go back, and you can't run from this. No matter how much I also wish we could." His eyes flicker around my face and then drop to my lips before he slowly forces them back up. He takes my left hand and brings it up between us. I still have the stupid prop ring on, and he starts to play with it. "I'm going to get you a different ring."

"What?" It comes out as a bark and a laugh.

"This is your prop ring, not a ring I would put on your finger. If you're engaged to me, Tinsley Monroe, that makes you mine, and you'll wear a ring that I would buy you."

I squint at him. "I'm not letting you buy me a diamond, Stone."

He presses some of his weight on me. "Lucky for me, I don't have to ask for your permission. But you will wear it."

"Ah, there's the Stone I know and love. You don't get to tell me what to do, lover. Fiancé or not."

In a flash, he's on top of me and has my arms pinned above my head. "And there's the Tinsley I love and can't get enough of. Stop fighting me on everything just because you can."

"And to think, I was once so infatuated with you."

He growls and presses all his weight down on me. "Little rose, I'll always be infatuated with you. But that doesn't mean I plan to let you call shots in this fake engagement." He bites my bottom lip, kisses my forehead, and then climbs off me, leaving me reeling from that admission. I start to replay his words in my head—all the things he just said to me—when he grabs my hand and wrenches me up, snapping the thoughts sharply off when he smacks my ass. "Now move it. You have phone calls to make and so do I."

We exit the room, and I nearly trip over something as it goes scampering by me. A scream hikes its way up my throat, only to have Stone slap his hand over my mouth to stifle it.

"Relax. It's my cat, Doe."

My eyes pop out of my head, and I watch as the beautiful gray and white cat with bright blue eyes nuzzles against his legs. I speak against his hand. "You have a cat? You? A cat?"

He bends down and picks it up and it stares at me with a territorial look that says you better not steal my man . So it's like that, huh? I reach out and settle the argument for both of us, letting her know she can keep him as I scratch the top of her head around her ears. It does the trick, and immediately she starts to purr and nuzzle against my hand .

"I found her loitering outside the emergency department. A tiny, scrappy thing that liked to hiss and swat at me. She reminded me of you like that, and I knew I was rescuing yet another feral stray."

I laugh and smack his arm, obviously proving his point. "In my wildest dreams, I never pictured you as a cat owner. I don't think I could be more surprised than if I woke up and my hair was neon green like the Joker's. Why did you name her Doe?"

He shrugs. "I didn't know if it was a John or a Jane until I brought it to the vet, but any patient who comes through our doors without a name is a Doe, and Jane didn't seem right for a cat's name."

Stone has a cat. A cat he rescued. A cat he clearly adores since he's holding it close and petting it gently. It's insanely sexy and endearing in the worst of ways. I hate it when he does stuff like this. When he surprises me and makes me want him.

"That explains the weird, tiered thing in the other bedroom that looked like it was made out of rope and fluffy white fabric."

"She likes the light that comes in through that window, so I put her climbing tower in there."

"Stop talking," I demand, covering my ears like a small child would. "You're easier to tolerate when you're mute and unlikable."

His lips bounce up into a crooked grin, and dammit, these are going to be a long three months. I need Lenox and Vander to work a miracle and find this asshole and do it fast so I can get out of here. I scoot around him and march back out into the great room. I'll have to look around this place more. It's big, and I only caught glimpses of other rooms through the open doors.

Katy, Kenna, Keegan, Estlin, and Wren are all sitting on the floor around the coffee table, laughing with a half-eaten pizza, a bottle of tequila, and a bowl of limes between them. I join them, scooping the bottle up off the table and pouring myself a glass since there are extras. Wren takes the opportunity to drop a slice of pizza on my plate with a look that says don't get bitchy about the carbs, and I don't.

Tonight, I'm eating all the carbs.

"You two get it all worked out?" Keegan asks, snatching the bottle from me and refilling hers.

"Uh, yeah, sort of." Stone takes in the scene before him with furrowed brows. "What are you doing, and where is everyone else?"

"We're drinking. Obviously." Wren holds up her glass and swirls it in the air.

"And we suggest you do the same," Katy agrees.

"All the guys went to get Tinsley's stuff from the warehouse," Estlin supplies. "Loomis said he'd pack up your stuff and bring it back, and the guys went with him to take a look and see if they could find anything helpful. And to adjust some of the cameras."

"We were told not to leave until they got back," Kenna explains.

"Oh, and Forest called both of your phones twice." Wren scrunches her nose. "We didn't pick up, but he probably called because Grandma made a statement about your engagement."

"She what?!" both Stone and I yell at the same time, only mine comes out as a screech, and his is more of an incredulous bark.

Wren shrugs. "Take a look for yourself. It's all over Intertainment ."

"Fuck," Stone hisses and snatches his phone off the table. He unlocks it with his face and does a little search, and I stand, taking my glass with me, so I can see what Octavia said.

A video comes up of Octavia and Dr. Fritz Senior walking into some sort of event dressed up in gowns and tuxedos. All the Fritz children are there. Rina, Oliver, Carter, Landon, Luca, and Kaplan. And all refuse to acknowledge the press, let alone answer any of the questions being thrown at them. Especially Kaplan, since he's Stone's father.

"Octavia! Dr. Fritz! How do you feel about your grandson Stone being engaged to Tinsley Monroe?"

Octavia's face lights up. "I think it's wonderful, and we couldn't be happier about it. Tinsley is a very special person to our family, and she's been a very special someone to Stone for a long time. It fills my heart with joy to see them happy and engaged."

"Jesus, Grandma. Really?" Stone runs an incredulous hand across his face and through his hair. "What is she doing, and what the hell was she thinking doing it?"

"What about your other grandson, Stone's brother, Forest? How did he take the news?"

"Forest and Tinsley will always remain close friends, but that's all they've been for quite some time now." Octavia smiles, waves, and keeps walking even as questions continued to be hurled at her in rapid fire.

"Well, there goes my PR people putting a fast end to this." I glance up into his eyes. "It looks like we really are engaged now." No wonder Forest called each of us twice. This is getting out of hand quickly. "How will we ever undo this?"