Chapter 11
Nora
I was shadowing the housekeeping staff today, just like Jackson had asked me to, and as I helped the women make the beds and lay small bunches of lavender on the pillows, I tried to not think about Felix Stone. Instead, I focused my thoughts on Cici, wondering how she was getting on, and remembering the sadness in the little girl’s eyes. It would have been a mistake to think about her father, my boss, and how handsome he looked and, despite how aggressive his exterior was, how certain I was that he was hiding a softness inside him.
“Take this to floor eighteen, we’ll join you there,” one of the girls told me as we left a room. She was pointing to a trolley containing cleaning products. I nodded my head with a smile and pushed the trolley down the plush corridor of the hotel towards the elevators.
I was lost in thought when the elevator doors pinged open and as I took a step inside, I realized that I was face to face with Felix Stone again. I was startled to find him there and I hesitated for a moment. The doors began to slide shut and he stepped forward, pushing his hand in between the doors to make them stop.
“Are you coming in?” he asked, meeting my eyes firmly. I gulped. I hadn’t forgotten how green his eyes were, and neither had I forgotten the last words he had said to me the previous evening at his house. I could feel the color rising in my cheeks, but I kept my head up and stepped in.
“Thank you,” I said and pressed the button for the eighteenth floor.
“This elevator is going down. You’ve taken the wrong one,” Felix said, as he stood beside me with his hands deeply stuffed in the pockets of his tailored pants. He wasn’t even looking at me; he was looking straight ahead. I got a whiff of his musky expensive cologne and my knees suddenly felt wobbly.
“Oh, I wasn’t paying attention,” I replied, in a small voice. I got the feeling that he hated me now, since the things I had told him hadn’t pleased him very much. I glanced at him, the way he was clenching his jaw tightly. Why did he always look so angry?
“I just wanted to say…Mr. Stone…that I’m sorry for last night, for the things I said…” I was fumbling with my words. I didn’t even know why I was talking. It was just so uncomfortable standing there in silence, knowing that there was an awkwardness between us.
“Do you always have this much to say?” he asked, turning to look at me. His cold stare passed over me, drinking in my features closely. I could sense that he was studying me. I licked my lips nervously and shook my head.
“No, I’m sorry. I just don’t know what to say,” I told him and looked down at my feet.
The elevator came to a stop on the ground floor and the doors started sliding open. He was going to leave and I’d be relieved, because I would finally be able to breathe again. When the doors opened, there were a few people waiting on the other side to get in. Felix looked up at them and pressed the ‘close-doors’ button again.
“Occupied,” he said to the people on the other side and the doors started sliding shut again. I was shocked by what was happening. Didn’t he want to get off on this floor? The elevator started moving again, heading up to the eighteenth floor. Felix turned to me, fixing his green eyes on me again.
“I should have fired you yesterday,” he said. My throat had gone dry and I nodded my head vigorously.
“Yes, I know, thank you for not doing that,” I replied, my cheeks burning up. He took a step towards me and I had nowhere to back away from him.
“I’m not a fan of your opinions,” he continued, and I nodded my head again. Our bodies were just inches apart now. He was close enough for our bodies to touch. I looked up at him; he was staring down at me, his hot breath was falling on my face, and never before had I wanted a man to kiss me this badly.
“There’s something about you,” Felix said, in a low murmuring voice, as his eyes roamed all over me. My body tingled, covered in goosebumps, and he raised up a hand to my face. I felt like I was choking as his fingers lightly grazed my left cheek. He pushed a stray blond strand of hair off my forehead. I was frozen to the spot; my body was on fire. He breathed in sharply, just as the doors slid open again.
“Go,” he said, in his usual commanding voice again. I was too disoriented to know what to do. We were on the eighteenth floor; the doors were wide open. It was time for me to get off.
I pushed the cleaning trolley past him, stepping out of the elevator with my head in a tizzy.
“Come to my house this evening, at six. Wear something my mother would like,” I heard him say, as the doors slid back shut again.
I was staring at the wall now; the elevator had whisked away already and I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. Did he really want me to go to his house today? Did he say something about his mother? Had I just imagined everything?
I could still feel his fingers on my cheek though, like they had left a burning trail on my skin.