Page 15 of Room Service
“I’ve never thought of it like that,” she says on a breath, her eyes looking at me like I just handed her the moon and the fucking stars all at once.
“Well, start, because you only get one life to live, Elise, and from what I can see, you’re not living one little bit.”
“How do you do that?” she asks in disbelief. “How can you pinpoint what I am without even knowing me or having a proper conversation with me?”
“I’m very good at reading people.” She doesn’t need any more details, and this is the most conversation I’ve had with a woman in years. It’s as far as I’m willing to take it, too. I don’t do pillow talk, and I don’t do heart-to-hearts.
“But… if I do… this… with you… then I’ll know that I’ve lied and cheated. I don’t know if I could live with that kind of guilt…”
Fuck me, she’s killing me here. My dick is ready to impale her, and my head is wondering why on earth I’m still here when it’s clearly not something she’s totally into.
“I can’t answer that for you, Elise,” I tell her honestly. Her decisions have to come from her, and from her alone.
“Tell me your name,” she says, changing the subject briefly.
“Why?”
“You know mine, so it’s only fair I know yours.” She’s attempting to stand her ground, and I find that I quite like it as she looks up at me with something of a twinkle appearing in her eyes.
“Dorien.”
“Dorien,” she repeats. “Dorien what?”
“It’s not important.”
“It is to me,” she says, and fuuuuuuck, the way she looks at me as she says it has me wanting to break more of my boundaries than I already have around her.
With a sigh, I shake my head.
“This was a mistake,” I say as I push away from her and take a few steps back.
“What?” she asks, like I’ve just given her whiplash.
“I apologise if I crossed any lines, and I assure you it won’t happen again,” I say before I turn my back on her and walk away. The door shuts loudly behind me, and I make sure that I restore the electric before I leave the floor and return to my room, suddenly wondering if she may be my first regret in years.
Chapter Thirteen
ELISE
He just walked away from me. Like nothing significant had happened. Like what he said didn’t mean a damn thing.
The rage that has been coursing through me all day at work is like an inferno building inside of me, waiting for the moment when it can really blow off steam.
Celeste has asked me several times if I’m all right, but I’ve just shrugged her off and told her I’m tired after working late last night—which isn’t a total lie. I am exhausted, but I have enough anger inside of me that it’s been keeping me going all day long.
And now, I get to walk into the house in front of me, to a husband that I wish would just fuck off.
I truly am a horrible person, and yes, I am very aware that I am throwing the most depressing pity-party for myself—much as Dorien implied people did when they refused to go after what they want.
Dorien. Such a striking name, and it really does suit the very striking man.
I don’t know why he’s had such an impact on me in less than a week, and I guess I’ll just put it down to one of life’s strange curveballs.
I didn’t see him today, and I kept away from room twenty-nine, even though it was on my schedule and I’ll most likely go back tomorrow for a bollocking from Hayley. I’ll worry about it when it happens, because right now, I fail to care.
I open the front door and close it quietly, kicking off my shoes and padding my way along the hall. But I stop when I hear Derrick muttering and then laughing.
“Grab them, push them together for me, baby,” he says, and I frown. What the fuck?
