Page 64 of The Playboy

But why would I? What would I even say?

Would he understand how badly I needed him for another escape?

But why would I want to strengthen our connection when nothing is ever going to happen between us?

Back and forth—that was my brain.

On repeat.

I was just grateful I hadn’t given him my number so I could be the one to decide, the one who held all the power.

So I could remind myself that I had nothing in common with him, that he was leaving Kauai in a few months.

That he had more money than God and I was the maid who just cleaned his room—something that didn’t upset me. I was proud of myself and the path I’d taken and all my accomplishments, but that didn’t change the fact that we came from opposite sides of the track.

A track that needed to stay nestled in the middle of us.

And there was absolutely no reason to debate those wild thoughts.

My mind was made up.

Plus, I couldn’t waste any more minutes, standing here, staring at his bed, fantasizing about nonsense. If this room took me too long to clean, it would set me behind and send me into overtime, which the hotel wouldn’t pay, so I’d end up working for free.

And I couldn’t afford that.

I exited out of my Contacts, darkened the screen, and shoved the phone back into my pocket. I emptied his trash and changed out his towels, keeping my head down the whole time. The final step was grabbing the vacuum from the cart and driving it over the bedroom floor and across the tiles in the living room, wiping down the surfaces as I made my way to the door.

Once I closed it behind me, I moved to the next suite.

But my mind wasn’t any kinder in here.

My entire head was filled with Macon.

I didn’t know how to purge him from my body. Maybe I could delete his number or schedule a time with him where the two of us could talk and I could ask him to stop coming to the club to look for me.

Would he even listen?

Would his charming ways convince me to go to the hotel with him?

Would a third session go down and I’d find myself in even deeper?

All I knew was that I couldn’t have this man in my life. He was too dangerous—today certainly proved that. Still, something felt unsettled.

Unfinished.

And it was inside me.

A pulsing that throbbed in the spots where he had licked so expertly.

I wanted another escape.

No.

I was done—with him, with this mental angst.

Ignoring everything that was preventing me from being speedy and efficient, I focused on the rest of the rooms that had been assigned to me, and as soon as I finished, I hurried into the employee locker room. I changed into my regular clothes and draped my bag over my shoulder.

Normally, I would go out through the employee entrance and take the shuttle to the lot where we had to park a quarter of a mile off-site. But this morning, I had been running late, needing that extra twenty minutes of sleep, and I didn’t have time to park where we were assigned, or I would have been dinged for being tardy. So, I’d left my car by the front of the hotel.

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