Chapter 956 - I Think I'm In Love

"You look very confident that you can make me fall in love with you," said Rose with a smile.

Rune had never been in love before, and he had never had a girlfriend. However, he was sure that he would not let go of Rose, the mysterious girl who had caught his heart so quickly that he had fallen in love with her at first sight.

"Is being confident bad?" asked Rune.

"No, it is not." Rose shook her head. She smiled faintly as she said the next words. "I like confident men."

Ahhh ... when he heard that last sentence, Rune's c.h.e.s.t puffed up and he felt it was filled with warmth to the brim. 

"Okay." He smiled broadly. He was surrounded by impressive men who were married to the love of their lives, and those men were able to make their wives happy. He would talk to them and ask their advice on how he could make Rose fall in love with him.

"I only ask you one thing ..." Rose said suddenly, stirring Rune from his reverie. The girl touched Rune's hand and spoke with an earnest expression. "Please don't investigate who I am. Wait until I tell you about me myself."

"Ehh .. why?" Rune frowned in surprise. "So ... are you lying about your identity now? Is your name really Rose?"

Rose shook her head. "That's not what I mean. My first name is Rose, but the last name I gave you is not my real name. If I tell you my real name, you can immediately find out a lot about me. I don't like that. I think humans have it easy these days. They just have to find information on the internet for every single thing. It makes people lazy to connect on a personal level. What's your hobby? Oh, I'll just check your social media. Do you have friends? Ah.. Google said you are friends with this man and that man. No effort to make that connection anymore and only go find everything on the internet, even though, sometimes, what we read on the internet is not always true."

Rune was stunned at Rose's words. Ah ... shit. Earlier, he planned to send a photo of Rose to Nicolae and investigate who the girl really was.

So ... Rose didn't want Rune to investigate her?

Should he just keep investigating Rose in secret and hid it from her?

But .. that means he was being dishonest, right?

Rune felt he was in a dilemma. He was very curious to know who Rose really was and why she was so mysterious, but he felt guilty if he continued to investigate Rose secretly.

Besides ... what if he get caught? Surely Rose would be angry, and Rune will lose his chance to get close to Rose.

"To be honest, the guy I met before you used various means to find out my real identity before we actually met. You should see, his face looked so proud when he said my full name. He thought I would be impressed that he managed to find out who I am ... tsk tsk. "Rose rolled her eyes. "He apologized over and over again when I said I wanted to cancel dinner and go home."

Rune swallowed hard. Pfew... luckily he didn't even find out about Rose before coming to this blind date. 

He didn't bother doing it because he assumed that the photos Rose used in the application were not her real pictures but images that she had edited out in Photoshop.

As it turned out, Rose was indeed quite unique, huh?

"I'm not going to investigate you. I will wait until you open up to me," said Rune. "On the other hand, I hope you don't investigate who I am either, to make it fair."

Okay. If Rose wanted to hide who she was, Rune would do the same.

Rose smiled at Rune's words. She nodded lightly. "Of course."

"Very well, Miss Rose. I am willing to be your fake boyfriend for the next year," said Rune with a chuckle. "When do we start?"

"Tomorrow. Meet me at Grand Central Station at 10 am. Bring your things. You'll stay with me starting tomorrow."

"Okay." Rune took out his cell phone and handed it to Rose. "Please enter your cell phone number here. Tomorrow I'll call you when I get to the station."

Rose entered her cell phone number into Rune's cell and then made a call to her own. During their 'talking' on the online dating app, they hadn't given each other their phone numbers to maintain their privacy. 

Now that they had met and trusted each other, Rose was willing to exchange phone numbers.

"I can take you home tonight, by the way. If I know where you live, I can come straight to you tomorrow. So, you don't have to go through the hassle of coming to Grand Central Station to pick me up," said Rune.

He offered to take her home not because he was curious to know where Rose lived, but because he wanted to make sure the could go home safely. 

"It's all right," said Rose. "It's not a hassle to me."

"I am not stalking you, really," said Rune again. "I just want to make sure you arrive home safely."

"I can take care of myself," said Rose casually. She put her handbag on the table and opened it. She then signaled for Rune to peek inside her bag. "I always carry this with me."

Rune, who tilted his head to see the contents of Rose's bag, was instantly dumbfounded when he saw what the girl was trying to show him. Rune was at a loss for words. 

Gosh .. Rose was truly one of a kind!

In her bag was a small pink pistol, neatly arranged next to her pink wallet.

"Can... can you use it?" Rune asked in amazement. He used to practice shooting with London when they were young, but he didn't like using it. In fact ... you could say, in his life, Rune had never fired a gun at all, outside of the firing range.

"Yes, I can use it. I actually won some medals from shooting championsh.i.p.s," said Rose casually as she closed her bag again. "So .. you don't have to worry about me."

Rune stared at Rose with an unblinking gaze.

What an INCREDIBLE girl! Her beauty was prominent like a celestial goddess. Her skin was flawless without photoshop and heavy makeup. 

Her personality was very pleasant. Her appearance was simple but classy. And she was able to defend herself too!

Rune didn't know that he could fall in love this bad with the girl he met for the first time.

Maybe ... the reason why he had never been in love and never met a woman who could attract his heart was because his soul was waiting for Rose to come into his life.

"Well .. I believe you," said Rune with a broad smile.

Gosh .. he never thought, in this life, he could meet such a perfect girl like Rose. He felt very lucky!

The two chatted about trivial matters before ending the hearty dinner. After escorting Rose into her taxi, Rune walked home.

He asked the Linden family driver to pick him up at the small park a block from the cafe, where he had been dropped off a few hours earlier. When he walked towards the park, Rune felt his c.h.e.s.t so warm, and there was an overflowing feeling that couldn't be explained. 

***

"How was the blind date?" asked Aleksis when she saw Rune enter the living room with a happy face. Aleksis and Alaric were sitting together, enjoying wine and chatting when Rune came home from his blind date with Rose.

"It's so much fun," said Rune, his face beaming. "I think I am in love."

"Wow... do you?? That's good news! Will there be a second date? How is she like?" Aleksis probed. "Come here and sit. Pour yourself wine and talk to me how your date went."

Rune shook his head and smiled sheepishly. "I can't drink now. I have to pack. Tomorrow I'm moving in with Rose."

"Wait... what? What did you say?" Aleksis widened her eyes so big. She felt that her ear misheard.

There's no way her younger brother would move in with a woman he just met, right?

Aahaha ... Aleksis thought maybe she had drunk too much wine so that her hearing was affected.