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With a curt bow, he spins on his heels and marches down the hallway, his strides quick and powerful, as if determined to put as much distance between us as possible.
ChapterThirty-Nine
Creed
My hands shakeas I stalk down the hallway, barely registering the room numbers zooming past me. My stomach churns with a bitter mix of animosity and regret. Not because I learned Tristan flew across the country to surprise Esme.
But because of what it made me realize.
Something I happily ignored last night.
And this morning.
But I can’t ignore it anymore.
“Creed!”
When I hear Esme’s voice, I almost ignore it, not wanting to torture myself further.
But I can’t find the will to do so.
Pausing in my tracks, I glance behind me as Esme hurries toward me on her bare feet, hair a mess, not a lick of makeup on her face.
Regardless, she still looks so damn beautiful it makes my heart squeeze. Makes me want to drag her into my room, push her against the wall, and fuck her so hard she’ll forget Tristan Hughes ever existed.
That won’t fix anything, though.
It never does.
“Can we… Can we talk?” Her wide eyes plead with me.
Sighing, I face forward and unlock my door, holding it open for her.
As she steps into my room, she gives me a small smile, the combination of her body wash and my scent on her wrapping around me.
“I’m so sorry about that, Creed,” she blurts out once the door clicks closed. “I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t intend to make you feel like nothing more than the staff charged with delivering my breakfast. I just—”
“But isn’t that what I am?”
She stiffens, breath catching, lips parting.
“Of course not. You’re so much more than that. You always have been.” She drags herself within a whisper of me, lips skimming mine. “You’llalwaysbe so much more to me.”
I close my eyes, savoring in the light touch of her mouth to mine. So full. So warm. So bloody perfect.
But there’s one thing her lips can never be.
They can never be mine.
Shecan never be mine.
I snap out of her hypnotic trance, increasing the space between us. “Youmay not see me as just the staff, the hired help. But that’s what I am. That’s all youshouldsee me as. Nothing more.”
“Is this because of Tristan? We broke up. He came to apologize, but that doesn’t mean anything. Not when I don’t want him.” She touches my hand. “I want you.”
“But I can’t want you, Esme,” I tell her through the boulder in my throat, ridding myself of her touch, despite craving it more than I do my next breath. “As much as I wish I could, I just…” I hang my head. “I can’t.”
“What about last night?” She crosses her arms in front of her chest, the pain my words cause her visible in the subtle quiver of her chin. “And this morning? Were you just horny and knew I’d be an easy lay?”
