Anything for Her - Complete

Chapter 37

"I really like him," Frankie confessed, blushing red as she and Rose walked around outside, far out of hearing range of the house. The second Frankie and Christian walked in for dinner it was apparent something had happened. Rose wasted no time suggesting she and Frankie go for a walk to check out the garden while Christian helped Dimitri cook.

"Did you...?" Rose asked.

"Yes..." Frankie whispered. "And it was amazing. I know he's married and I should feel ashamed because of that... but..."

"You're falling in love with him?" Rose finished as the two stopped to look where Dimitri wanted to put in an herb garden.

"I think so," Frankie replied in embarrassment. "I didn't mean to..."

"I didn't when it happened to me, either," Rose said, grinning as she recalled the early days with Dimitri. "Does Christian feel the same way?"

"I think he does," Frankie responded, thinking on everything Christian had said, and all his clues. After their lovemaking, Christian had held her so tight, kissing and caressing her as they shared tender words. While love had not been said, she felt it had certainly been implied. "He asked me to be his guardian and travel with him," Frankie admitted, embarrassed to be mentioning something so scandalous.

"Do you want to go with him?"

"I do. He's married, but I don't care. I want to be with him."

"Then do it!" Rose encouraged.

"People will call me a slut and 'the other woman'" Frankie predicted.

"Those who know you will be happy for you, and as for others, you don't have to let them know you're more than guardian and charge if you don't want to," Rose reasoned. "It's no one else's business, besides with the whole Lissa thing, Christian will want to be discreet."

Once upon a time, if a female Guardian had a male charge, everyone assumed something was going on between them. But trailblazers like Rose's mother had helped dispel those ideas. Janine had been Lord Szelsky's Guardian for years, and it was well understood there was nothing romantic or sexual about their relationship.

"Even if it doesn't work out between us, I want to travel, and it would be a good step career-wise..." Frankie acknowledged.

Rose paused, choosing her next words carefully.

"If you're not sure, don't mess him around. Christian has already been through so much. He wouldn't have asked you if he didn't have strong feelings..."

"I know you and Dimitri care. I'm not going to hurt him," Frankie promised, giving Rose a nervous smile.

"I think you're good for him," Rose declared, based on her admittedly limited observation of them together. "You don't let him wallow, and he can be himself around you in a way he never could around Lissa. With her, it was always him bending to be what she needed, and I don't think she ever considered what he needed from her. It seems more equal between you two."

"You don't mind? I know she was your best friend even before she met Christian... Won't it be weird to see him with someone else?"

"No. Seeing them together at Jill's wedding was weird," Rose laughed. And it had been.

"They didn't look very happy, did they?" Frankie joked.

"Were you watching them?" Rose teased.

"I didn't take my eyes off them all night!" Frankie admitted with a pretty blush.