Page 47 of Taming Grumpy Dr. Beast

She faced me, her hazel eyes assessing my words, and I imagined finding them and me wanting. Her arms dropped to her sides. “Why do you hate me?”

I didn’t hate her.

She made me feel things I didn’t want to feel. An attraction was one thing, but this couldn’t go any further. And the heat I’d seen in her eyes showed me the attraction was mutual. I needed to keep her at a distance. Which was far easier to do when she wasn’t gazing at me with a wounded expression.

I rubbed at the back of my neck. “I don’t hate you.”

“That’s hard to believe.” She didn’t elaborate. She didn’t need to.

I was gruff with most people and rarely cared what they thought of me, but I was softer around Lily. I didn’t like that. Soft equaled getting taken advantage of, and while Lily seemed more aboveboard than most women in my circle, I didn’t fully trust her.

“I don’t hate you.” I repeated. Opening up to her, sharing personal information, was hard. Letting people in gave them the chance to use that information to benefit themselves. “Having you in my space isn’t comfortable for me.”

“Why? Your house is huge. We’ve only seen each other when you check up on my work and when we have dinner together. I don’t get it.”

“I’m not used to letting people into my inner sanctuary. This house is special to me. It belonged to my grandfather. I rarely invite strangers to stay here with me. It’s intrusive.”

I had to wrench my gaze away as she nibbled her lower lip.

“Okay, I get that. It must be weird to have me living with you, but then why did you agree to it? Why go through the university at all? You could have found someone local that wouldn’t have needed to stay here.”

“I had little choice in the matter.” I finally admitted. “My contract with the university stipulates that any book I find, restore, and translate belongs to them if done while on university time.”

She nodded. Being a scholar like me, she understood how university ownership worked. “I take it you found the book while conducting work for the department, and they have you by the balls.”

I guffawed. I hadn’t expected her to answer like that.

“My dad has a tight contract with them. Even as a contractor, he doesn’t get to keep the rights either.” Her voice trailed off as she pursed her lips.

“Yeah, they’re like that.” I realized I hadn’t once asked about her father since her arrival. One more point at showing what a selfish asshole I was. “How is he, by the way? Any better?”

She hesitated. “A little. He starts to feel better and then gets worse. All the progress he’s made is gone.”

For some strange reason, her words felt like they had a deeper meaning than what I could decipher. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Yeah, me too,” she whispered hoarsely.

“Well. You’ve been doing a great job in his absence. I’m sure he appreciates that,” I offered, trying to help wipe away the sad look that had settled on her face.

“He does.” She looked down at the floor and swallowed hard before continuing. “Jaxon.”

“Yeah.” She looked so serious.

“Thanks for being so understanding about all of this. I know you weren’t pleased my dad hadn’t accompanied me, but you’ve been more than generous in not contacting the university. We both appreciate that.” Tears glittered in her eyes.

Fuck the university. Lily was right. They had us by the balls.

I leaned over and wiped away the tear that trailed down her cheek with the pad of my thumb.

Her indrawn breath had me quickly snatching my hand back. I wanted to erase the sadness from her eyes and make her smile. That realization was scarier than anything else I’d thought about since her arrival. I couldn’t think of the last time someone else’s happiness was important to me, outside of Jessamine and Dean.