Page 40 of Room Service
“I hate you,” I tell her, but I smile at the same time. I could never hate her, not in a million years.
“Love you too,” she says, more laughter leaving her and making my lips twitch. “Come on, smile, you know you want to.”
And I do, because she is a gift—at least, to me she is.
“I can’t fall for him, Celeste. It’s too soon, it’s too much.”
“Hate to tell you this, but there is no time limit on your heart, Elise. It wants what it wants, and sometimes, you need to see where it leads you.”
“And what if it leads to a world of hurt? Because we both know a maid and a top businessman is a recipe for disaster.”
“Or it could be the greatest love story.”
“Ugh.” I roll my eyes, wishing it could be the latter, but knowing that the real world doesn’t work like that. “I have a messy divorce ahead of me, an uncertain road that I have no clue how to walk down—”
“And yet, you’re walking down it anyway,” she says, cutting me off, trying to keep me from my pessimistic self.
She’s right. I continued walking down it even when I found out he was my new boss, because I can’t resist the handsome, filthy bastard. He’s alluring, his darkness inside of him calling to me like a sodding beacon. Because even though I don’t know shit about his past, I can see the dark that lives inside of him. And as much as Celeste might want this to be a beautiful, unexpected love story, I still get the feeling that it’s going to end up with me as the tragic heroine who couldn’t resist the forbidden fruit in front of her.
“Come on,” I say as I pick the plate up with uneaten food on and throw it in the bin. “Time to go scrub.”
* * *
“Miss Elise,” the doorman says as I reach the steps, ready to go back to Celeste’s place and forget about the torment that has plagued my mind all day long.
“Yes, Noah?” Noah is new here, wanted a little part-time job to occupy him during retirement. But I guess he’s no longer retired, seeing as he’s working here.
“I have a request for you to go to the penthouse.”
“Do you now?”
“Yes, Miss.”
Noah is a kind man with a heart of gold, and I hate to have to burst his bubbly bubble with my next words. “Please inform the penthouse that I will not be attending whatever is happening up there tonight.”
“But, Miss Elise, Mr Dukes—”
“Noah,” I interrupt, feeling awful that I am about to put him in a predicament, but failing to work up the nerve to face Dorien again today. “It’s been a long day, and I’ve been working extra hours the last couple of weeks. I need to go home.” Home. I don’t have my own place to call home yet, but Celeste has told me to treat her place as such, and for the foreseeable, I will. “I’m sorry.” I give him a soft smile and link my arm through Celeste’s as I lead us forward.
“I can feel your eyes burning into me,” I say, not looking at her, keeping my head forward.
“Elise, you cannot leave that fine man waiting.”
“I can, and I am. We’re going home to watch a film and eat all the snacks,” I inform her.
“He’s going to be pissed.”
“Then let him be pissed,” I say, as if I don’t care, when in actual fact, I do. More than I probably should.
Chapter Thirty-Four
DORIEN
I watch as she makes her way across the road. I know it’s her, even from the penthouse, because she’s like a fucking magnet.
She’s ignored my request to come here tonight.
I don’t even know what that means, but maybe I should take note.
