Chapter 93: Like A Brother

**Rosalie‘s POV

My necklace was beautiful, I couldn‘t help but stand and stare at it in the mirror. While I‘d every reason in the world to pawn it the way that I had and try to get Ethan out of my life forever– after the confession her had made to me the night before, I knew the necklace was back where it belonged.

The only problem was, I couldn‘t let anyone else see it.

Seraphine had been there when I‘d pawned it, so she‘d want to know how it had curiously gotten back around my neck, and Lola had probably found out that I‘d sold it as well. If I tried to lie to them and tell them I‘d gone back and bought it back, they wouldn‘t believe me.

So… I‘d have to hide it.‘ But for now… I could stand here and admire its beauty and think about the handsome man who had given it to me– again.

I still couldn‘t believe all of the things that Ethan had said to me the night before in the garden, how he‘d poured his soul out to me and told me how he‘d felt when I‘d left.

How he‘d talked about his pain, and how he’d told me that he‘d thought he‘d never be capable of feeling anything again until he‘d met me.

He‘d said that he loved me….

“I believe she‘s in her room,” I heard Lola say, and I realized that the other set of footsteps I heard echoing in the hallway belonged to Soren. Quickly, I took my necklace off. As much as I wanted to keep it on always, as I used to, I couldn‘t take the risk.

Once it was off, I slid it into the top drawer of my dresser under some clothing and pretended to be brushing my hair. “There she is, my beautiful flower,” he said, extending a bouquet of pale yellow jasmine to me.

“Oh, those are so lovely!” I said, the scent of the flowers filling the room. “Thank you!”

I met him halfway across the room, and he kissed my cheek as I wrapped one arm around him and took the flowers with the other.

It seemed a bit strange hugging Soren now. Not that I‘d ever considered him anything more than a friend, but with Ethan back in my life, hugging him seemed… misleading.

It just felt wrong

When Soren gave me a kiss on my face– which I was used to and which he probably didn‘t mean as anything more than a kiss for a dear friend– I just felt like I was doing something wrong to Ethan,

“I‘ll just take these into the other room to put them in a vase,” I said, and he followed me,

I noticed that the window in the living room was open, and it made me smile.

“You look so beautiful today,” he said. “There‘s something.. different about you.”

“Thank you,” I replied as I reached the kitchen and opened a cabinet to get a vase out. “I got a lot of sleep last night.”

I wasn‘t lying. I had actually gotten much better sleep for the first time in days. Thinking about Ethan and wondering when I might see him again made me feel happy and safe.

I found a spot for the flowers near the kitchen window. I had been keeping all of the flowers that Ethan gave me hidden in my room because I didn‘t want anyone else to see them and realize they didn‘t come from here.

“What are your plans for the day?” he asked me.

We talked about how I was hoping to finish the blanket I‘d been working on, get some crocheting done, and maybe work in the garden. He said that he had a few meetings and phone calls he had to make. It all sounded painfully boring to me, but I knew he had so much responsibility as the leader of the island.

We moved into the living room, and sat down.

“It sounds like you have a lot to do,” I commented as Lola brought us some lemonade.

“I do,” he said with a sigh. “I can‘t stay long, but I wanted to come and see you.”

I noticed he had bags beneath his eyes, and his clothing was wrinkled a bit and not as well–pressed as it usually was. It was odd for Soren to ever look out of sorts and not completely put together.

I was beginning to feel a bit worried about him.

“Are you all right?” I asked him, my brow furrowing as I studied him more carefully. “Have you been sleeping enough?”

He chuckled under his breath.copy right hot novel pub