Page 45 of Unravelling Nell (Fairford Affairs)

And not-Holly was right. She’d gone more than twenty-four hours without giving into the urge to check her old email. Noelle Eliza Beaumont had her goddamn closure, and there was nothing more to be said or done.

“Oh, fuck me,” she muttered as she pulled up the page and signed in.

The newest email from Micah had arrived at 1:02 that morning.

Muttering, “You’re a fucking moron,” under her breath, she clicked on it. It was a hell of a lot shorter than the last one. Holding her breath, she read.

Dearest Noelle,

I’m sorry to learn you’re not ready to reply to me, though I promise I don’t blame you. Not one bit. I know how much I hurt you. I can’t even imagine how long it’ll take to heal from so much pain.

I just want you to know that I love you. You’re the only woman I’ll ever love. And I’m willing to wait, however long it takes.

Love,

Micah

She pushed all the trapped air out of her lungs, closing her eyes. Why the fuck did she read that? What exactly was she trying to achieve here?

He broke her, then literally carvedup the pieces. Why in the fucking fuck was she allowing even the tiniest, darkest, most fucked-up part of her brain feel guilty that he sounded sad?

Aww, poor little psycho, so sad he lost his favorite toy.

Oh yeah, Nell definitely liked thatpart of her brain better.

The hard soles of Zach’s shiny dress shoes rang out against the tile once more. Heart leaping up into her throat, Nell hurried to sign out, then remove her account from the list of possible sign-ins. She only just closed the tab when he strolled in, leaning down to examine their shopping cart.

Zach looked down his nose at her, smirking. “I see Operation Narrow Down the Cart was a huge success.”

“I tried,” she said, drawing out the second word, doing her best to sound remorseful. “But I don’t work here. It made me nervous making such a big decision for the Manor.”

“Oh, all right,” he said, throwing up his hands in mock-defeat. “I’ll do it. Up you get.”

Rafe found them huddled together half an hour later, still working to narrow it all down. “There you are,” he said, moving up behind her, running a warm hand down her arm. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

She turned, going up on her toes so he could give her a good morning kiss. His tongue tasted like fresh toothpaste, making her glad she at least did a cursory brush before sneaking out of the suite.

“And what are you two up to in here?” Rafe asked when they finally broke apart.

“Nothing,” they said in perfect unison. Neither of them sounded remotely truthful.

One corner of Rafe’s mouth twitched. “Looks like someone wants an early morning spanking today.”

Throwing a flirty glance over his shoulder, Zach quipped, “I mean, if you’re offering.”

Rafe rolled his eyes. “You wish, pretty boy.” He tried to get a look at the laptop screen, but Zach had already minimized the window. “All right, all right. Keep your secrets. But at least one of you is going to pay for them.” Grabbing Nell’s hand, he pulled her from the room. Zach watched them go with a wide grin.

She trotted along in his wake as they crossed the lobby. But when he walked right past the stairs, Nell asked, “Sir, may I please go upstairs and get dressed?”

Rafe stopped only long enough to glance over his shoulder. “You look fine to me. Come on.”

She’d brushed her teeth and put on fresh deodorant, so it wasn’t a worst-case scenario, but there was no way she lookedfine. The sweatpants may have been new and clean, without the holes and stains of some of her other pairs. But they were still baggy and ugly, and not at all the sort of thing she’d been wearing so far that week. They were only supposed to be for downtime, not sexy times.

Without any other options, Nell followed her Dom down the hallway to the parlor. The moment he passed through the doorway, Rafe said, “Get undressed and into position,” without even glancing back at her.

She froze on the threshold, worrying at her bottom lip with her teeth. He already told her not to go upstairs, but maybe, if he actually understood—

“Nell.”

---