Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Theo wore a mask of hard determination that made my heart beat fast and caused an impossible tingle between my legs that I shouldn’t be feeling when I was this pissed off at him!
He prowled toward me, and I stumbled back on my heels until I hit the bookshelves. With nowhere to go, I lifted a hand. He pressed his stomach into my palm, bracing his hands on the shelves above my head.
Caging me in.
Dominating.
A thrill coursed through me, and my breathing grew shallow.
“Do not walk away in the middle of a discussion. It’s rude.”
Indignation overtook my desire. “If I want to walk away from you, I can, Theo. At any time.”
“But over this?” he hissed, and I saw the fear and hurt blazing in his eyes. “Sarah … I can’t change my past. Fuck, do I wish I could now. It’s just a bloody reminder that I’m not good enough for you. I wish I could wipe away every second, so you didn’t have to come face-to-face with it. And so I didn’t have to witness that look when you do.”
Stung with remorse, I slumped against the shelves. “I’m sorry. I … I know you have a past. I know why you have a past. You don’t have to apologize to me about other women from before we met. I don’t want to make you feel guilty about it. It’s just … I just … it’s her.” Tears burned my eyes and I looked away.
But Theo caught my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. “What happened there?” he murmured, concerned.
“I hate her,” I confessed. “She … she was so cruel to me while I worked here.”
The concern on his face transformed rapidly into outrage. “Cruel to you how?”
“She would always be in the room when I came to clean it. Most guests leave when they know housekeeping is coming. But she deliberately stayed and she would mock me the entire time I cleaned her suite.” I mimicked her, “Ooh, how awful it must be to be an invisible little mouse, cleaning up after everyone’s shit.”
Theo blanched. “Little mouse?”
I smiled sadly. “It hurt when you first called me that, but it’s different now. You actually made me like the pet name.”
“I know, but …” He glowered. “What else did she do?”
“She would spill things after I cleaned. Deliberately. Maliciously. She … she once … I was cleaning the toilet, and she sat down on it while my arm was in there with the … with the toilet brush.” I bit back the tears as shame filled me. “She … she bloody peed on me and then laughed like she hadn’t realized I was there. And I didn’t tell anyone. Because I’m a coward.”
A tear slipped free, and Theo caught it. When our eyes met, I froze at the rage in his.
“I’m going to fucking ruin her,” he bit out slowly.
I shook my head. “Don’t. She’s not worth it. The housekeepers got paired up after what happened with Sloane last year. She couldn’t treat me like that once there were two housekeepers in the rooms. She didn’t want witnesses. She doesn’t want anyone to know what she’s really like.”
“I know now, Sarah. She humiliated and bullied you. Do you think for one second that Lachlan Adair will put up with that?”
“I should have told him when I was here. I didn’t. So it’s done.”
“And what about the next timid young housekeeper she decides to target? You were never powerless, Sarah, but you definitely are not now. If you speak up, something will be done about it.”
The idea of her humiliating someone else the way she did me was sickening. “Okay. I’ll … I’ll tell Agnes. My old boss. But later.”
Theo clasped my face in his hands and pressed his forehead to mine. His voice was harsh with emotion. “I feel violated to have touched her even more than I did. Because I can promise you, Sarah—and trust that this is no lie—Angeline Potter is the worst fucking lay I’ve ever had in my life. I regretted it from the moment it started, and our encounter did not end well. I regret it … God, I regret it even more now. I’d like to scrub every inch of my fucking body, actually.”
I curled my hands into his tuxedo jacket. “It’s not your fault. You weren’t to know.”
“The thought of her hurting you … of anyone hurting you … I want to kill her. First, I want to shower, though. With scalding water.”
Running a soothing hand down his back, I whispered, “Or … you could let me wipe away the memory of her.”
Before he could respond, I reached for his mouth.
Theo groaned, the sound somehow as emotional as it was sexual. He kissed me back with so much feeling.
I loved the taste of him, the way he kissed, like I was oxygen to him. I sucked his tongue hard and he shuddered, his rumble of pleasure making me shiver in turn. Possessiveness filled me. I really did want to wipe every last thought of her from him. To make him mine and only mine.