Page 65 of Falling for Them

And despite my hope that offering him a cushy job here would bring us closer, it turns out, we’re almost strangers now.

Fuck.

The new maid from Maids in Heaven runs the vacuum down the hallway, briskly and efficiently.She does a decent job.

But she isn’t Ella.

I haven’t caught her name yet.I’ll ask eventually, because I try to get to know the people who work in my building, at least enough to say hello in passing.

A text from Sebastian shows up on my phone.Have you called the maid company yet?

I haven’t.It’s too late to do it now.I type back a simpleno.

Do it now, he sends back.

Fuck.I’ve been putting it off, hoping that Ella would come back on her own.She looked spooked as she left my bedroom that night.And then, when Joel showed up, she was horrified.I’ve been trying to give her space, give her time.Rayanne always said I was too domineering, and I’m trying to curb those impulses.

But Bash is right.We’ve given Ella almost a week now.

Then again, maybe letting her go, letting her forget about us, is the best course.If I stop pursuing her, she won’t end up with a gruff man who’s nearly twice her age.Some nice guy will come along.He won’t hurt her; he’ll take care of her and treat her well.

I’ll only hurt her.

Stop fucking around and call the maid company, Bash texts.

I scowl at my phone.Bash knows me too well.

Sighing, I pull up the contact info for Maids in Heaven and place the call.

“Maids in Heaven, this is Melinda Nokim.”

“Melinda, hi,” I say.“This is Kingston over at Tyler Analytics.”

“Kingston, good to hear from you.”There’s a thread of suspicion in her greeting.“How can I help you?”

This is going to sound shady, however I phrase it, so I get right to the point.“I’m hoping to get in touch with one of your employees.”

There’s a long pause at the other end of the line.“That’s an unusual request,” she says.

“She’s an unusual woman.”

“I’m afraid I can’t give you any of her personal information.”

“Can’t, or won’t?”I press.

“Won’t,” she says.“If this is the young woman I think it is, then she asked to be moved from your building for a reason.”

I stare at my phone.Thefuck.“She asked to be moved?”I say.“I thought she was just taking a few sick days.”

Melinda gives a wry chuckle.“She’s never taken a sick day in her life, nor a day off, much less a vacation.”

I can’t fucking believe it.Ella wanted to get away from me so badly, she asked her boss to assign her to another building.

“I understand you don’t want to give me her contact info,” I say.“Would you mind taking a message for me?”

“I’m no message service,” Melinda grumbles, “but I’ll do it because you’re my favorite client.”

“I bet you say that to everyone.”I keep my tone light, but inside, I’m seething.Ella asked to be reassigned.I don’t even know what to do with this information.