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“I’m full. I’m going to bed now.”
“You’re not done with your—”
“I’m finished,” she snapped as she ran to the guest room and pressed her back against the wooden door. No matter what feelings she’d had throughout the day, she had to understand that Caleb was not hers. He would never be hers. She repeated those thoughts in her mind until they resonated.
He knocked at the door. “Tiera?”
She moved away from the door and stared at it. She remained silent.
“I’ll put your food in the refrigerator for later.”
“O-okay.”
“Tiera.”
“Yes.”
“Sweet dreams,” he said in that sexy deep voice of his.
“Sweet dreams,” she whispered before storming over to the bed and lying down.
Sleep evaded her until the wee hours of the morning. When it finally came, she dreamed of Caleb, the man she loved, the man she hated, and the man who was confusing the hell out of her. By morning, she was exhausted and sexually frustrated.
When she emerged from the bedroom and went to the kitchen for a glass of water, Caleb was setting the table with breakfast, wearing only pajama bottoms.
“Eat with me. I made breakfast.”
She didn’t know who had possessed Caleb and domesticated him.
“Uh, maybe later.”
She retreated into her room, closed the door, and locked it. She needed a moment with her heart so the two of them could get back on the same page. Catching feelings wasn’t an option. Straddling her brother’s sexy best friend at the kitchen table wasn’t an option either.
CHAPTER 7
Caleb
He wasn’t even a morning person, but he was up at dawn to make sure she had a good meal to start her day. He’d placed an order on his mobile grocery app and made a run to pick up all the necessary ingredients from the store the night before. He planned to use breakfast and dinnertime to reacquaint himself with Tiera. His Tiera. The one that got away.
And the one apparently a disgruntled ex-employee had followed to her hotel. An unstable man following her to a hotel, of all places. Yeah, that part made him furious.
Last night, she ran off to bed without eating the steak, potatoes, and brownies he’d prepared. He’d made her favorites to get in her good graces. She warmed up to him. Then, like a switch was flipped, she went cold. He had failed miserably at trying to break the ice.
He hadn’t had the chance to catch up with her. He wanted to know what had been going on in her life. He wanted to know her every thought, her every feeling. He’d spent so much time being an ass to her that he didn’t know where to start.
But he had questions. Lots of them. Like how had life been as a travel nurse? What did she plan to do now that she was no longer traveling? Or would she be going back out on the road soon? And what the heck was she doing at a hotel instead of her mother’s house?
Most of his questions revolved around whether she would be leaving him again. Or, more importantly, would he be able to keep her this time.
When Tiera entered the kitchen this morning, she looked like a ray of sunshine to Caleb. After he presented a table filled with bacon, grits, sliced fruit, and toast, she’d run like the devil was behind her, taking her ray of sunshine with her. He concluded something more was brewing inside Tiera. Something deeper than a loss of appetite for dinner and breakfast.
He sat alone at the breakfast table, forcing himself to eat something. The morsel of bacon didn’t even begin to fulfill his hunger. Having her so close in his space made him hunger for the one thing he’d spent years depriving himself of. Things he couldn’t get over. Things he didn’t want to get over.
She was his best friend and business partner’s sister. Their mothers were best friends. So, they grew up as one big family. But none of that was enough for him to stay away from her anymore. His feelings were just as strong as they had been the night he sank so deep inside her that he didn’t know where he ended, and she began.
He'd accomplished everything he set out to do before he would finally claim her as his. He’d built an empire. He had a nice car and home. He had everything he wanted but her. Memories of the fiery way Tiera made love to him on the best night of his life flooded his mind. She’d looked at him with so much passion burning in her eyes. She’d looked at him like she could possibly feel as deeply for him as he did for her. And that look made the reasons he’d put her in the little sister zone mute.
Thinking of fucking Tiera made his cock spring to life and press against his pants. He pushed his plate to the center of the table. There would be no eating. He only had an appetite for the woman locked in his guestroom. And based on how she’d run from the kitchen and locked herself in the room, she’d couldn’t stand to eat with him, much less let him taste her.
