Page 56 of Hire A Cuddler

I shoot out of my seat and sway on my feet. I lean over on my desk so I can stay upright. “Someone hired them to hurt her?”

“Becca Archer, your marketing manager, hired them so she could get pictures of her with someone else.”

“But—”

He cuts me off. “Haven didn’t do anything wrong, King.”

“Someone hurt her?”

Holden winces. “Trust me, brother. No one has hurt her more than you did.”

“What have I done?”

He crosses his arms over his chest and stares at me. “You did what you always do. At the first opportunity, you pushed her away before you could give her a chance to explain. The only difference is, she didn’t deserve it. That girl is so fuckin’ in love with you…”

He stops talking, letting his voice trail off, and Ithink back on everything I said to her. As it replays in my head, I panic. God, I hurt her. I intentionally tried to hurt her because I thought she betrayed me. I said things I didn’t mean. I stumble out of the room and up the stairs. Holden follows me, and as soon as I get upstairs, I strip down and step into the ice cold shower.

“Fuck, King, how about a warning? The last thing I want to see is your ass right now.”

I stand under the spray and let it hit me in the face. Holden continues to talk from the other room. “Callan is just waiting on your direction. He assumed you’d want to fire Becca. You just need to give him the word.”

“Fire her,” I croak.

As soon as I’m out of the shower, I walk naked into the bedroom, and Holden jumps up from the end of the bed. “What the fuck, brother? I don’t want to see your dick either.”

I start yanking clothes out of my drawers and get dressed. “Where is she? Where’s Haven?”

“She was crying so hard when she left here, Chrissy found her outside her house.”

It’s like a knife to my heart. I did that to her. “Can you drop me off?”

He nods, and I’m walking downstairs and outthe door without another word between us. Holden drives me down the block and pulls into Chrissy’s driveway. “She doesn’t want to see you.”

I can’t say I blame her. I can’t stand myself right now either. “I have to make this right.”

He blows out a breath. “I gotta go. I have to be in North Carolina tonight, and the plane’s leaving soon.”

“Thanks, brother. For everything.”

I get out and make my way up to Chrissy’s front door. My sister answers, and she looks at me angrily. “She doesn’t want to see you… I don’t want to see you either.” She starts to shut the door, but I put my foot out to stop her.

“Please, Chrissy. I need to talk to her.”

When she doesn’t open the door any farther, I tell her, “I’m not leaving here until I see her.”

She finally opens the door and stands to the side so I can go in. “Fix this, King. She’s in the spare bedroom at the back of the house.”

I nod and don’t waste any time walking down the hall to where Haven is. I knock on the open door and push it open, letting out a breath when I see her sitting on the bed. She’s sitting cross-legged with a notebook in her lap. When she looks up atme, I notice her eyes are swollen and red. Fuck, I did that to her.

Slowly, I walk into the bedroom. She tenses and pleads with me, “Please, King. I can’t do this.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” she asks.

I nod and move closer to her. I don’t stop until I’m standing next to where she’s sitting on the bed. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for doubting you, for the awful things I said to you, for not trusting you.”

She lets out a frustrated breath and scoots away, putting some distance between us. “King—”

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