“I treat you like I’ve treated all my assistants—”
“As a human being,” she finished, talking over him. She gave him a smile that was anything but friendly. “I like soft answers. I like being treated like I’m intelligent, rather than ignorant. I expect you to hold my door, ask how my day is going, gauge my feelings in each situation we’re in—act like you value me as a person.”
“Is that all?”
“Almost. I have one more. While we’re there in—where are we going?”
“Eureka Springs,” he said.
She paused at the name. The unusual moniker usually had that effect when he mentioned the town to people. “Okay, then. While we’re in Eureka Springs, you agree to an act of service. Something of my choosing, something that might put you in someone else’s shoes and bring you down a few pegs off your high horse.”
“I’m not on a high horse. I won’t have time for anything else but overseeing my lake house and handling my investments.”
“Those are my terms,” Rosabel said without backing down. She heightened her nose for good measure. “If you can’t do that, then I’m not going.”
“This is ridiculous.” He turned away from her, pacing, needing to think. Who did she think he was? What did she think he’d hired her for? First she made him a full twenty minutes late, and now she waltzed in with these … expectations? This wasn’t happening. He’d hired her. She had to do his bidding.
Apparently, she took his silence as an answer. “Fine.” She turned away and began rolling her suitcase back toward the parking lot.
“Wait,” Duncan snapped, loud enough for her to hear.
She halted and wheeled her suitcase back. Duncan met her halfway. Any minute now she’d face him; she’d relent from whatever power trip she was on and cater to his wishes.
She did neither.
Duncan resorted to circling to face her. Of all things, he found strain on her pretty face. That expression struck him like a javelin. Was the prospect of being near him so awful?
With a deliberate, conscious effort, he checked his tone. “All right. I accept. I will treat you with respect.”
“That includes good manners, Duncan. Show interest in what I have to say. It’s called being considerate. Like we could be friends.”
His brows drew together. Friends? He’d never considered her that way before. His only real friend these days was Maddox Hatter, and that was because Maddox was tolerable to be around. He put up with him and accepted Duncan as he was. “Friends,” he repeatedly dryly.
“I assume you have some. That owner of Wonderland seems to like you, though I can’t imagine why.”
His lips fought a smile. Banter was good; he could stand his own ground with her when she was like this. “Who’s being beastly now?”
She narrowed her eyes. The look obviously said, Watch it, without her needing to utter a single syllable. If anything, her expression amused him even more.
“Okay, Rosie. I’ll be your friend.”
“Rosie?”
He sensed he’d annoyed her again, which was completely satisfying. He needed an upper hand in this conversation. “Friends use nicknames, don’t they? Now, as for this act of service, what exactly did you have in mind?”
“I don’t know.” She gave him her own satisfied smirk. “I suppose you’ll have to find out when we get there.” Without another word, she strolled toward the plane, dragging her suitcase behind her.
Duncan lingered for several more moments. This was so … weird. What did she mean by accepting everything, just like that? He jogged to retrieve his awaiting suitcase and trundled up the gangway behind her, waiting for the bomb to drop.
6
Rosabel had never seen so many trees—and she was from Vermont. Duncan’s commissioned plane landed in Fayetteville about thirty minutes before, and while he was busy on his tablet tapping away and scribbling across the screen with his stylus, Rosabel’s attention gravitated to the window and the view outside.
The sun added its gold luster to farms and fields—many of which harbored a stereotypical red barn. The scenery reminded her of the musical Oklahoma!, with its fields, blue skies, and corn. They passed another farm where she could fully believe an elderly woman would step onto its wide porch, wearing an apron, and set a pie to cool on the windowsill.
During the entire flight in the seat across from Duncan, she’d relived their conversation and agonized over what she should have him do for an act of service. Worries for Dad under Sarah’s and other caretakers’ attention twenty-four seven also accompanied her, along with the dread at adding to the rumors of a supposed relationship between herself and Duncan—should Gale or any of the others at the office find out. Now that she’d here, though, and seen the surroundings, every single one of those worries slithered away beneath the quaint, rural Arkansas sky.
“How far is Eureka Springs?” Rosabel asked. She’d researched the tiny town during their flight as well. It seemed charming and historic, two of her favorite things.
Duncan scribbled on his tablet and spoke without lifting his gaze to her. “It’s about an hour from the airport. My lake house is on the outskirts of town.”
“Your—lake house? You failed to mention that.” Then again, he had mentioned something during one of their recent arguments. If the countryside was this stunning, she could only imagine what a house situated at the edge of its own personal scenic view would be like.
“It’s a recent investment,” he said, still looking at his screen. “I needed somewhere to stay when I come to visit.”
Because a hotel wouldn’t suffice. Sheesh. Billionaires.
“Do you plan on coming often?” If he did, said plans were news to her. Not that he passed everything by her, but he might as well, depending on how much business he expected her to help with.
“Hm?”
“Isn’t your family here?” she asked. The driver took another few turns as the road became more and more twisty. Her stomach began souring. She pressed herself against the seat.
“I thought I already told you that’s why we came.”
She squinted a single eye open in warning. He missed the action, and while she considered pointing out his rudeness, she chose not to protest. Her stomach wouldn’t let her.
Rosabel exhaled. She’d never been one to get carsick, but then, she’d never been on such a winding road either. Risking a glance, she inched up and watched the narrow road out the window and the sheer number of trees surrounding them. Her unease increased. “You never told me we were headed into the backwoods.”
“I said Ozarks.” He said this as though she’d left a few IQ points back on the plane.
Rosabel ground her teeth. She didn’t care how motherly she sounded as she snapped, “Tone, Mr. Hawthorne. You promised you’d be civil.”
That did it. Finally, Duncan lifted his attention from his device and glanced at her. Any other person would catch their faux pas and apologize. Either he didn’t get it, had never been taught empathy, or he was just plain disregarding her earlier request.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.