Page 19 of Shattered Hope
I could feel his eyes boring into me. It was almost a physical feeling, and I wish I could make him look somewhere else.
“Most men don’t,” I mumbled.
“I’m not most men.”
This time, I looked up, and my eyes met his. Once more, the lust was there, and my heart jumped in my chest.
Rapidly, I looked away and jumped to my feet, to serve the main dish.
“If you say so…” I mumbled as I placed his plate in front of him before I picked up mine.
It took a great deal of courage for me to get back on my seat. I wasn’t scared, but sure as hell, I wasn’t at ease, either.
We ate in silence, and when I was about to get up to offer him dessert, he jumped from his seat and growled ‘good night,’ leaving the kitchen without looking back.
Somewhat shaken, I cleared the table and set the dishwasher as fast as I could. Susan had told me I could retreat right after dinner, and that was what I wanted to do. The night was still young, but I needed to get some sleep after last night. With luck, I would sleep soundly until the morning.
The snow was still falling when I woke up in the morning. For the first time in a while, I hadn't had a nightmare, so I was feeling rested and filled with energy.
After getting dressed, I went to the kitchen and turned on the coffee machine. I knew Mr. Wells would be there soon to take his first cup, so I wanted to be ready.
I had set breakfast on the table and was finishing my first cup of coffee when he finally showed up.
“Good morning,” he greeted as he walked into the kitchen, fully dressed for another day at work.
“Good morning, Mr. Wells,” I mumbled, getting up to pick up his plate from the oven. “Do you have any special instruction for today?” I asked him when he took a seat at the table.
Susan had told her he usually didn’t have lunch at home, but I wanted to be sure.
“Not today. I’ll be back for dinner at around seven-thirty pm. Make sure it’s ready,” he replied in a very cool and indifferent tone.
The changes in his attitude towards me were quite maddening and very hard to understand. Well… I had to admit the man had never been nice to me… other than offering me this job, but still. I was never sure what to expect of him.
“Yes, sir.”
He finished eating, and a few minutes later, he was walking out of the apartment. He only had to go down a few floors to get to his office, since most of the building was occupied by his company, so he would nearby in case I needed anything.
Susan had given me the codes to access the elevator and the main door, but I really didn’t have anywhere to go. So, I dedicated the morning following the list Susan had given me.
Incredibly, making his bed had been the hardest thing I had to face on my daily list of chores and not because it was a huge bed, with a heavy mattress on. My problem was dealing with his scent. It was everywhere: on his pillows, on the sheets, on the towels, he had put inside the dirty clothes basket…
It was irresistible. I found myself, picking something to inhale his alluring scent several times. It was insane. I had never felt drawn by a man’s scent, so my reaction was strange, at best.
Forcing myself to finish as quickly as possible, I cleaned the room and promised myself I would stay away from it as much as possible. The last thing I needed was trouble, and Jayden Wells was trouble with capital T.
The first week on the job, went by smoothly. Wells had spent most of the time away from the apartment, and I had been able to work with barely any problems. He only had dinner at home twice, but the occasions hadn't been so awkward as the first night, mostly because he was silent, only speaking when absolutely necessary.
Before I knew it, it was Friday night, and I was supposed to be off during the weekend, but since I had no place to go to, I would be at the apartment.
Susan had advised me to stay away from the main part of the apartment. She told me Wells used to bring guests to the house, more specifically, female guests, but he usually took care of everything himself.
“He will call you if he needs help, but he usually orders food from his favorite restaurants and cleans after himself,” she had told me. “He has no problem with us being in the house, but he does expect us to respect his privacy by staying out of his way.”
It made sense, and I would be more than happy to stay away from him. Since I didn’t have a cell phone or a computer, I had gone to the nearest library to pick up some books, so I had enough to entertain myself. It had stopped snowing, so I could also go sightseeing. Seattle was a lovely city, and I couldn’t wait to see more of it.
He had told me he wouldn’t be home for dinner that night, which probably meant he had a date. The whole idea made me feel uncomfortable, and I found myself hoping he wouldn’t bring his date home. The thought of him having sex with another woman not far from her room was distressing.
I knew that was stupid since there was nothing between us, and there could never be. But it was impossible to deny my feelings, and this time, I couldn’t even put them behind me, and pretend they didn’t exist.
