Page 61 of Kiss From A Rose

"What?" she asked, obviously stunned. "I…I was sure you'd blame me. When we talked you—"

"Behaved like a fucking spoiled toddler," I finished for her. "That was a mistake; just one more in a long line of my fuck ups, babe. I don't even know if I can make up for all of it, any of it.ButI want to understand better how I hurt you. I'm deeply ashamed, Rose. I know that I don't deserve you. But I can't live without you."

I had trouble getting the words out because I was choked up. She wasn't smiling. She wasn't nodding her head. She was staring at me in disbelief. That made me feel even more like shit.

We were silent for a long moment.

"I…I don't know what to say," she finally blurted out.

"Tell me why you left.Please."

She swallowed and then looked at her watch. "I have to check on Malou."

"How can I help?"

"Help?"

I grinned. "Yes, Rose. I'm here to help. I'm going to live here, and I'm going to help you run this place and do whatever you need."

She eyed me with suspicion.

"Please," I added.

"Fine," she snapped. "The Mariner's Rest and Coral Reef rooms where the guests are staying need to be cleaned."

"Okay. What does that mean?"

"Vacuum the room, make the beds, clean the bathroom, and dust." She was challenging me.

"Where are the supplies?"

I saw the uncertainty in her eyes, and then, as if she made a decision, she cleared her throat. "Upstairs at the end of the corridor is a door that says STAFF; it's the supply closet. You'll find everything there. Oh, and you also need to change the towels. Just drop everything back in that room in the dirty clothes basket."

"Alright."

She narrowed her eyes. "Do you even know how to clean a room, Gray? When was the last time you did that?"

"I'm running a multi-million-dollar company, babe; I think I can figure out how to clean a room. I may not make the bed perfectly like you do, but I promise your guests will have no complaints."

I wasn't bluffing. I may not have done such labor, but I could and fucking would figure it out. If all else failed, there wasalwaysYouTube.

"The great Gray Rutherford is going to clean bathrooms?" she demanded silkily, her arms crossed, her stance dismissive.

Now she was trying to make me angry, get a reaction from me.

"Babe, there’s nothing great about a man who drove his wife away. And, yes, I can and will clean bathrooms."

It felt damn satisfying to have her gape at me as I walked away to find the cleaning supplies.

CHAPTER 23

Rose

He was fluffing the pillows in the Coral Reef room when I finished giving Malou a bath and convinced her to eat half a biscuit with jam and butter. After settling her in her armchair with a cup of mint tea, watching the Atlantic, I went looking for Gray.

He was fluffing the pillows!I kid you not.

He looked up at me and waved a hand around the room. He'd made the bed, he'd freaking vacuumed, and there were dirty towels on the floor.

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