Thirty Nights with a Dirty Boy: Part 3: A Heroes and Heartbreakers Serial by Shiloh Walker

Author:Shiloh Walker [Walker, Shiloh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781250094605
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2016-02-02T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

I didn’t know what I was planning to do until I was already in my room, pulling out my suitcases. Not the small, overnight ones, but the oversized ones that would hold more than half my substantial wardrobe.

Alice came in while I was pulling clothes from my closet. To her credit, she didn’t ask a single question.

She just joined me and began to fold clothes along with me, taking the things that wouldn’t travel as well folded and setting them aside.

We worked in silence for a long time.

It seemed like hours, although it was probably just under one.

When I heard a noise at the door, I didn’t let myself stiffen up. I already knew who it was.

Looking at the tight features of the older woman standing next to me, I said, “Why don’t you go to bed? It’s getting late.”

She wanted to argue. I could see it.

She came to me and brushed my hair back gently. “Will you wake me before you leave?”

“You know I will.”

Sean said nothing when Alice left the room.

Even after we were alone, he didn’t speak. He came deeper into my room and prowled the large span of carpeted area. After a few minutes of that, he turned to look at me. “So this is what the queen’s bower looks like.”

It was a pathetic stab at his old humor, but I smiled anyway.

It was far easier to do it now than it had once been. Instead of brushing aside his comment, I looked at my room. It was airy and open. Elegant, too. But it was devoid of personality and warmth. Devoid of charm.

“I pity the queen who has a room like this,” I said quietly. The walls were pale silver. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized the room echoed the design of the Waldorf, the hotel where I’d met Sean our first night together. Silver and white. Everything was silver and white. I could stand against a wall, and, save for my hair, I’d blend right in.

“Why is that?”

“Because the room is cold. There’s no emotion here, no life.” Shrugging, I went back to packing. “I’d always thought a queen would have a more welcoming bower than this.”

“It’s the princess you’re thinking of.” His voice was rougher, closer. “She’s got time for all that. The queen, now … well, her life is all about being efficient and being in control. She doesn’t have time for soft things or romance.”

He stood behind me.

So close, I could feel his warmth.

I didn’t let myself turn around.

“What is it you’re doing, Ella?”

“I’d think it was self-explanatory, Sean. I’m packing.”

“Going on a business trip?”

I didn’t answer right away. I was too busy trying to understand the desperation I heard in his voice. It was a sharp edge. But maybe I just heard it because I wanted to. Because I needed to. My hands shook as I placed another shirt in the suitcase. “No. I’m going to … go.”

He said nothing for the longest time.

Nor did he move.

After I’d finished with that stack of clothes, I turned.

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