Moving On (Cape Falls) (6 page)

Chapter Seven

Peter waited for Rose to leave before turning his attention to Laura. He fisted his hands at his sides staring at the woman he’d been in love with for as long as he could remember.
Her beauty had grown with age, and she looked more beautiful each day. Even as he thought this, his body didn’t respond to her again.

There was no tightening as he looked at her. She smiled at him.

“Hi, Peter.”

“What are you doing here? Is everything okay?” he asked, moving toward the kettle.

“Everything is great. Rose is a beautiful woman. I love her hair. She’s got pretty hair.”

“Are you here to talk about my woman’s hair?” He poured himself a strong coffee.

“She’s your woman?”

The question made his pause.

“Yes, Rose is my woman.”

He turned back to Laura and waited.

“Rose doesn’t know she is. She doesn’t know what she is when it comes to you.” Laura stood, going toward him. She put her cup on the counter, staring at him.

“Why are you here, Laura?” he asked.

“Rose thinks you’re in love with me, Peter.”

“That’s not new. Everyone in Cape Falls knows I’m in love with you.”

Laura cocked her head to the side, looking at him. “Do they?”

Sipping at the warm liquid he waited for her to continue.

“You’re not in love with me, Peter.”

He laughed. “You’re going to tell me how I feel?”

“Okay, I’ve beaten around the bush because I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but you’re getting old. It’s time you had a wakeup call. You’re the only person in Cape Falls, in our little outcast circle, who thinks you’re in love with me.”

“This is going to be good
,” Peter said, ignoring her last words. Laura angry was actually quite comical.

“You’re not in love with me
, Peter. You haven’t been in love with me for a long time.”

He shook his head.

“You don’t get hard for me. For a couple of years you tried to hide your erection whenever you touched me. I saw it and never mentioned it. For the last couple of years, even before Dean got his cancer, you didn’t try to stop hugging me completely. You’ve been flaccid, Peter.”

He listened to her explanation. Peter couldn’t remember when he’d stopped responding to her
, only that he had been unresponsive to her. Her body was amazing. He adored her curves, but in his mind he saw Rose’s curves. At the thought of Rose his cock started to stiffen.

Frowning, he cut the thoughts of Rose out of his mind and stared at Laura. His cock started to
go. What the hell was happening to him? He never wanted to analyse his lack of response to Laura. Loving her was the only thing he knew how to do.

“You’re not interested in me. Your love for me has changed, Peter.”

She stepped up close to him. Grabbing his hand, she pressed it against her breast.

“What the hell are you doing?” he asked, trying to pull out of her grasp.

“I’m proving something to you.” In the next breath her lips were on his, and Peter did everything he could to fight her.

This is your chance. Kiss her.

Cupping her cheek, Peter tried to deepen the kiss, but every time he did, he couldn’t help but feel sick to his stomach.

This wasn’t right.

Dropping her hands, Laura stepped back.

He felt nothing. Peter wasn’t disappointed or upset by his lack of response.

“Why did you do that? What is Dean going to think?” he asked, wiping his mouth.

Laura laughed. “Dean was the one who ordered me here. He felt it was time you realised the truth
seeing as you were more than happy to stay blind to it.”

“What truth?” Peter asked, feeling all wrong for kissing her.

“Your love for me is not like the love of a man for a woman. You see me as your friend or as your sister. Nothing else, Peter. In fact, I’m grossed out right now because I see you as my brother.” Laura wiped her mouth, looking as grossed out as he felt.

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” he asked, hating the truth blaring in his face.

“You weren’t taking the hint. You’re hiding behind your feelings for me, and it needs to stop.”

Laura pointed up at the ceiling. “There’s a woman upstairs who feels more for you. You should give her the time of day, Peter, before you lose every chance.”

“Tell Dean’s he’s fucked in the head for letting you do that.”

She laughed. “I will
, and I’ll be telling him off for making me do it. I love you, Peter, and I want to see you happy.”

“I love you
, too.”

And he did
, but now that love was different. He recognised it and smiled. Peter felt free for the first time in the last ten years. He’d not been responding to her, and now the crushing pain had eased. His heart was free to love again. Peter was free to love Rose.

“I’m going to go. Go and get your woman, Peter
, and don’t drive her away. This is your chance to get your happy ending.”

Laura left minutes later. He called Dean giving the guy a talking to and letting him know Laura was on her way home.

Locking up his home, Peter made his way upstairs. He found the guest room door open. Stepping inside he found Rose curled up on the sofa near the window.

“
How is Laura?” Rose asked. The room was too dark, and he flicked the switch on.

“She’s fine
, and she’s made me realise a lot of things.” He moved closer, taking a seat next to her.

Her fingers were white from holding her legs. She appeared to be holding onto herself. Reaching out, he took one of her hands in his
, but she shrugged him off.

Her cheeks were flushed
, and he saw the hurt in her eyes. “You’ve been crying.”

“No, I haven’t.” She wiped at her cheeks
.

“You’re lying.” He reached out, wiping the tears from her eyes. When she didn’t push him away, Peter pulled her onto his lap.

“Why did you kiss me when your heart belongs to another woman?” she asked, shocking him.

Closing his eyes, Peter tried to find the right words. “I’m not in love with Laura. I thought I was
, but I’m not.”

“How can
you know?” she asked.

“I just know.” He couldn’t explain it to her.

“Why are you telling me this?”

He ti
lted her head back to see him. “Because I want to have something with you, and if I’m not mistaken I think you want to have something with me.”

She stared up at him, silently without speaking.

“Answer me, please, Rose,” he said.

****

Rose stared up into his eyes wondering how best to answer. How could he suddenly change his feelings about Laura? She didn’t know what to trust. It was all so confusing.

“
Tell me the truth,” Peter said.

“Yes, I want to be with you.”

“Then trust me. Laura is not an issue, and she hasn’t been for a long time.”

Licking her lips, she looked past his shoulder outside to where the rain was falling.

“Why did you stop earlier?” she asked, needing to know the truth.

“You’ve ne
ver been with a man, baby. I’ve never been with a virgin, and I didn’t know how to handle that. I want to give you everything, and at that time I couldn’t give you what you needed.”

Her cheeks had to be flushed with her embarrassment. She’d never spoken to anyone about her virginity. Rose recalled Brad’s demands of keeping her innocence
, and she wanted rid of it.

“I want you, Peter. Only you.”

“What about everything you’ve been through?” he asked, tucking hair behind her ear.

“I’ve not been through anything. My food was taken away from me
. Brad didn’t do anything to me. I’ve not been affected by it, and I don’t want to spend time thinking about it.” She tried to reassure him.

“We’ll take everything slowly. I want you to get used to your freedom, Rose. I’ll take you to Control tomorrow
, and William will talk you through your work.”

She nodded, nervous about going to somewhere different.

“You’re moving to my room,” Peter said, picking her up in his arms.

Rose squealed, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“I can walk.”

“And I want to
carry you. I like having you in my arms.”

She held onto his neck as he carried her out of the room.
He entered his room, which was next door.

His bed was large and dominated most of the
room. Everything was moving fast, but Rose didn’t care. She’d spent many months daydreaming about this one man, and now he was carrying her through to his bedroom.

“Nothing is going to happen tonight.” Peter tucked her in bed. “I’m going to take a shower.
You can fall asleep if you want. I’ll be back soon.”

She watched him walk into the en
-suite bathroom, and she became aware of his wealth. Peter had been disowned by his family, but he’d worked his way back up in the world. She wondered if all his money came from the club. Pushing the thoughts aside, she pulled the blanket underneath her chin, watching the door.

Hearing the water running, she imagined him naked in the shower. She’d never seen a man naked before
, and her curiosity was getting the better of her.

Stay in bed.

I want to see him.

Making one final decision, she shoved the blanket off her and padded toward the bathroom. The light was on,
and she pushed the door open. The glass of the shower door showed his naked body. His body was smeared because of the style of glass, and she couldn’t make him out.

The shower shut off
, and she knew she should turn away and get back into bed. She couldn’t move. Rose felt rooted to the spot.

The shower stall opened
, and Peter was climbing out. His body was hard, ripped, and made her mouth water. He had several tattoos on his chest and down his body. She saw a love heart painted black and several words she couldn’t understand.

“Rose,” he said.

She stared at him surprised. Rose wouldn’t have pictured him with tattoos. Gazing down his body she saw his cock thickening. Peter was getting hard before her very eyes. Licking her lips, she quickly returned her gaze to his.

He didn’t reach for a towel. They were both stood frozen staring at each other.

“I’ve never seen a naked man before,” she said, blurting out the words.

His gaze moved down her body. “Take your nightshirt off.”

The order left his lips, and Rose stared at him shocked.

“What?”

“You’ve seen me. I think it’s fair I see you.”

“
No, I thought you said nothing was going to happen?” she asked, unsure. Her hands itched to do what he asked. Rose always felt the need to please him.

“Nothing is going to happen. We can get naked without anything happening.”

She stared into his eyes and lifted the nightshirt over her head. Rose felt her hair graze her buttocks as it fell around her. She wasn’t wearing any panties with her nightshirt.

“You’re so beautiful,” Peter said.

“Why did you get tattoos?” she asked.

“I like the feel of the needle on my skin.” He took a step toward her. She held her ground refusing to back away.
“Do you like them?”

She kept her gaze locked on his. He stepped right up close to her. Licking her lips, Rose glanced down looking at each tattoo.

“They’re beautiful.”

“I love them. Touch them,” he said.

Jerking her gaze back up to his, Rose couldn’t be sure if she’d heard him correctly.

“You want me to touch you?”

In answer, he grabbed her hand and placed it on his chest. “I always want you to touch me, Rose. I’ve watched you putting books away, and I couldn’t stop myself from imagining what it would be like to have your hands on my body.”

Her hand was palm flat on his chest. She felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest.

“I never knew that,” she said, looking at him.

He felt warm. His chest was damp from the shower. Peter’s palms covered hers on his chest.

“Touch me, Rose.”

His hand moved hers up to his neck. She felt his pulse
pounding, and then he brought her hand down to his chest. First one nipple pressed against her palm and then the other. Biting her lip she followed the path of her hand, going down.

“I’m going to touch you now, okay?” he asked.

She nodded, not really listening to him. He reached out touching her face. She caressed his abs moving down to grip the hard length of his cock.