Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
She’s looking at the notebook in her hands. “I have some interviews set up for an assistant, but while we’re interviewing them, we can see what we think of them as the manager too.”
Fuck, she’s determined to move on from me.
She continues, “I hired the painters, and they’re supposed to start today. Next week, the furniture is getting moved in. This afternoon, I’m going to look at an apartment, but it’s right down the road, so I can walk.”
When I don’t say anything, she finally looks up from her notepad. “You know it’s crazy for you to hang out here all day. You have a company to run.”
I stuff my hands in my pockets because its either that or I’m going to be reaching for her. “The two men have been tracked down and taken care of. Becca’s been fired, and I don’t think she’ll bother you, but I’m not chancing it.”
“So what? You’re just going to hang out here all day, every day? That doesn’t make sense. Hire someone so you can get to work.”
“You don’t get it, Haven. I can’t even think about work. I had a meeting today. A prospect for a twenty-five million dollar project, and I canceled. I don’t care about anything right now except making things right between me and you.”
She looks down, and it kills me that she can’t look at me. “King, that’s crazy, you know that, right?”
I shrug and tell her honestly, “I sort of feel like I’m going crazy. I miss you… I miss us.”
Haven takes a deep breath. Something is weighing on her, and finally she says something. “What is it with you and her?”
I don’t understand. “Me and who?”
“Becca… your manager.”
“She was my marketing manager.”
Haven rolls her eyes. “I know that. I’m asking if she was your girlfriend. Were you sleeping with her?”
“No!” I exclaim. Fuck, is that what she thinks? “No and no. She was not my girlfriend, and I’ve never slept with her.”
I barely get the words out and Haven lets out the breath she’s holding.
“So she did this… why? Because she was into you?”
I cringe just knowing what I let that woman do and how I let her come between Haven and me. “She was flirty, but I never encouraged her, and I never expected this.”
She shifts her weight and winces when she puts pressure on her ankle. “Here,” I tell her, pushing a chair toward her. She sits down, and I pull up the other chair to sit next to her.
She’s staring at the ground, her notepad, hell everywhere except at me. “Look at me, Haven. Please.”
She finally lifts her pretty blues to mine, and it kills me when I see what’s reflected back at me. I hurt her and am still hurting her.
“What can I do to help you today?”
She shakes her head. “King.”
I reach over and wrap my hand around hers. She doesn’t pull away, and the fact she doesn’t is huge. “You can ask me for anything, Haven. And I’d give it to you.”
She opens her mouth, but I stop her. “You can ask me for anything, but you need to know that there’s some things I can’t—I won’t—do. I won’t let you leave me. I won’t let you move into some apartment. I won’t let you end this.”
“But…” she starts, and this time, her voice trails off.
“I will give you space, and I will give you time… but I won’t let you go. I can’t.”
The front door opens, and Callan comes walking in with a bag and tray of drinks. He sets them on the counter. “Here you go. You need anything else, King?”
“No. That’s it. Thank you.”
Instead of leaving, Callan turns to Haven. “And you? Do you need anything, Haven?”
She seems surprised, but I’m not. Callan was pissed about the footage of the man pushing her down. She shakes her head. “I’m good. Thank you for the coffee, Callan.”
“You’re welcome.”
He walks back out, and I set the coffee and the pastry down in front of her.
She looks at me. “I had to cancel my modeling jobs for the next two weeks. If they were photoshoots, they could just photoshop the cuts, but they’re runway shows, and no one wants to see this.”
Shit. Another thing I’ve taken from her. “I’m sorry, Haven.”
She shrugs. “It’s okay, actually. There’s a lot to do here, so I’ll be able to stay busy. Hopefully, I can get everything tied up in the next two weeks.”
I fucked up so badly, and I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to fix it. I would give anything to have her look at me the way she did the other day. Now she’s so guarded, I'm not sure if she’s ever going to let me in.
33
HAVEN
“You going to hide out in here all night?”
I look at King leaning against my bedroom door, and a heat comes over me. I’ve been with him all day. He’s been super attentive, he’s touched me at every turn. It’s almost as if he’s trying to remind me that I like his touch. What he doesn’t know is that I’ve gone beyond liking his touch; I crave it now. Even to the point where I imagine it, dream it, and think about it all day long.