Hate You Not by Ella James

Author:Ella James [James, Ella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barkley's Books
Published: 2020-02-16T18:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Burke

It’s a problem. She’s a problem. I shouldn’t go back. I know I shouldn’t, and those words fill up my mind until my head aches. Shouldn’t go back, but I do because I’m weak. She nipped my lip so hard at one point that it’s bleeding at the corner. Tastes bitter when I press my tongue against the spot.

The car over the road is rough and jarring, red dirt cracked open. Needs smoothing. The moon is bright tonight, no clouds. I see glowing eyes as I turn back into her driveway—something wild, maybe a coyote.

When I get inside the house, she isn’t anywhere in sight. I took two hours—on purpose—so I’m not surprised. The laundry room is filled with dogs, the big ones sleeping on linoleum and the pups in their crate.

I eat some cornbread from a Tupperware container on her counter and pour myself some sweet tea. Shawn called it Southern table wine. Then I sit at her kitchen table and pull out my laptop. The table’s a long, oak oval, with eight chairs and a fruit bowl in the center. It looks like it was hand-crafted. When I check out June’s internet, I find a network called Platform934 that doesn’t have a passcode. The Harry Potter-inspired name makes me smirk.

Little book nerd.

When midnight comes and goes, I tell myself I’m grateful that she hasn’t returned. I’ve got enough work to last until morning, easy.

I think of going into the hall and setting up shop on the floor with my back against the wall, so I can hear if one of the kids wakes up again. I’m still mulling that over when I hear footsteps behind me.

I turn around, and there she is. She’s wearing a deep blue robe, and she’s balanced on her crutches.

“Hey,” she whispers, sleepy-eyed.

Ah, shit. I stand up. “You need something?”

She shakes her head. The faintest smile plays over her lips. “What are you doing?” She smiles like we’re co-conspirators.

“Working.”

“At 2:50 in the morning?”

I shut the laptop. “Work from home work never ends.”

“Do you work from home?”

“Not really.”

She fiddles with the neck of her robe. I catch a peek of creamy skin over the gentle swell of her breasts. She yawns; clearly, she fell asleep before and is just waking up. “I brought some linens to the couch for you.”

“Uh, thanks.”

I want to fuck her. God, I’d love to take her to that couch and lay her out the way she was before and fuck her hard enough to wear myself out. I bet she’d be tight and hot. She’d be one of those that claws your back up. I grit my teeth.

“You should go to sleep,” I tell her. “Did one of them wake up?” I open my laptop again and log in so I’ve got somewhere to put my eyes.

“Just me. I nodded off and came to check on you.”

“I’m okay.”

Silence spreads itself between us. It feels thick and heavy.

“Hope you get some sleep now,” I say, tapping lightly at the keys.

“You too.

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