Page 40 of The Rose and the Hound (Ashes and Roses #2)

Gloria and I clinked our glasses together.

I’d begun to have a few drinks every now and then.

Dr. Warren assured me that interaction with my medication was highly unlikely but urged me to exercise caution and to avoid any excessive drinking.

A few sparkling wines wouldn’t hurt me, and as much as Gloria was a party girl, she knew my limitations and supported me in respecting them.

Today had been enlightening. I’d finished my Certificate I in Library Studies and decided to complete Certificate II in the hope that it would give me greater potential to land a role as a children’s librarian.

My record was sealed, a miracle according to Mara, and nothing would hold me back.

I was in no rush. I enjoyed my job and had a great relationship with my colleagues, so another three months of study would be good for me. Maybe one day, I’d tackle a diploma.

“To your man,” Gloria said seriously, holding up her glass. “He’s not my man,” I replied hastily. “Not yet,” she smirked.

When I approached Pete, the very casual receptionist at the learning center, about accessing another government grant for my next certificate, he appeared flustered.

With very little cajoling, he told me my “boyfriend” had paid.

When pushed on the description of my “boyfriend,” he described Ace perfectly.

For a man with very little interest in his job, he’d certainly taken a great deal of notice of Ace.

My Hound. He’d paid and not asked for any credit.

Gloria and I had painstakingly gone through my entire relationship with Hound, and she’d declared him one of the good ones.

He helped me, even behind the scenes when he stood nothing to gain from it.

He was the only person in my adult life to ever care for me so unconditionally.

I wasn’t walking away from him as punishment, or even as a gesture of righteousness.

I honestly thought I needed a fresh start, a way to be the best I could be.

But with Ace in my corner, I could be even better.

Even happier. So like teen girls, Gloria and I had bought window markers and I’d decorated Ace's car.

“Anonymous” gestures were our thing, and while I was a reformed stalker, I definitely seemed to have a kink for consensual, mutual stalking.

I was anticipating his next move when I heard a voice behind me.

“Hello ladies. Would it be okay if I bought you a drink?”

Ace stood behind us, looming over our small table. Gloria looked at me and raised one eyebrow suggestively.

“Not me, I’m out. Meeting someone else,” she said.

“Oh, and I don’t even want to know how you knew we were here.

” She directed the last part to Ace. “Bye Gloria, who works at the juice bottling plant and has a younger brother,” he said with a little wave.

She laughed and walked out of the bar, chuckling even as she left.

“Hi, my name is Ace, but you can call me Hound,” he said, offering his hand.

“Hi Ace, my name is Rose. I should warn you, I jumped out of the bushes once at a man while wearing nothing and wielding a chain.”

His smile widened. “Leave the chain out of it and you’ve just unlocked a new fantasy for me.”

He sat in Gloria’s abandoned chair and flagged down a waiter to order his customary whiskey. My drink was still half full. He pulled out a medium-sized velvet box. “I know we just met each other, but I got you a gift,” he said in a deep voice, pushing the box toward me.

How exciting! A face-to-face gift. I opened the box and saw the most beautiful pendant ever.

It was silver, and the oval disc had a raised silver rose on it.

“Look at the back,” Hound urged. I turned the pendant over and read Property of the Hound.

Is this what happiness felt like? What being truly wanted felt like?

I belonged to someone, and he belonged to me.

We knew each other’s dark sides and were still all in.

I immediately felt inadequate. I vandalized his car, and he bought me beautiful jewelry.

I said as much as I unclasped the necklace and went to place it around my neck. It felt heavy. Too heavy.

“I'll do it,” he offered. “It’s kind of heavy. Let’s just say that I now have an extra set of eyes on you.

” My handsome stalker was tracking me through a necklace.

Maybe the psychiatrists shouldn’t have advocated for me during court because this was the opposite of a red flag to me.

It was green. Greener than green. I was messed up in the healthiest way possible.

His whiskey arrived and he sipped it casually. We just stared at each other without talking. We probably looked very odd to outsiders, but this wasn’t weird. This was just us. Halfway through his drink, Ace spoke.

“You’ve never seen my house, Zahra. Would you like to? I promise I won’t lock you in. Well, I’ll promise I’ll try not to lock you in.” Another green flag in the world of the Rose and the Hound.

“I’d love to,” I whispered back. This was moving quickly. I was so cautious in everything, but I was being swept away. It was impulsive, but I’d mulled over my situation with Ace again and again, to the point that Gloria was relieved when we defaced his car because it was some kind of resolution.

When we were in his car, I pulled out my phone. I was only half serious, but it felt important to me.

“Hound, I need to ask you some questions,” I stated firmly.

“Of course. You can record my answers if you want,” he replied seriously.

“Do you have feelings for me?”

“Definitely. I am pretty sure I love you, Zahra,” was his steady answer. Wow, I wasn’t expecting him to say that. Rather than show how flustered I was, I pushed on.

“What is the evidence of your feelings?”

“Evidence? Well, I haven’t been able to leave you alone. I’d do anything to keep you safe and anything to make you happy.” Another positive answer.

“Is there any reason that you may lie to me about your feelings?”

“No. Actually, yes. I should lie and say I don’t have feelings given you were a client and we’ve been through so much together. But I’m not lying.”

“Thanks, Ace.” My voice was small. I’d never felt such emotion all at one time.

Me, crazy Rose, was in a relationship. I had a man who was falling in love with me and wanted to make me happy, even though he knew all about me.

There was darkness in Ace too, but his was very controlled, and I suspect part of his core being, not part of an illness as it had been for me.

“There’s another gift for you in the glove compartment,” Ace said, nodding toward the dash.

I opened it to find a small red gift bag. Inside was a beautiful pair of red panties with a hound embroidered on the butt. The sight set me off in fits of laughter, prompting a hurt look from Ace.

“If you don’t like them, I can just throw them out,” he said.

“I love them. I’m laughing because I love them so much and they’re perfect.”

He shot me a look of relief and laughed along with me. “I didn’t even try to get the old pair back. Probably lost in an evidence locker. I figured fresh start, fresh panties.”

Life was bizarre. I was in my boyfriend’s car, after a public “date,” heading to his house and we were laughing about panties.