Free The Billionaire's Challenging Beauty (Bold, Alaskan Men Book 2) by Elizabeth Lennox Page B

woman I’ve ever met, I want to make love to you until you are screaming, until you can’t even scream any longer.” 
    He rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath.  “So that’s why we’re not going to see each other any longer except here at work.  And I’ll even switch nights with one of the other guys so that we’re not working together anymore.”
    Okay, so that’s what she’d told him needed to happen but… she didn’t really want that!  He wasn’t serious, was he?
    She was so hurt and confused.  “You can’t mean that!” she gasped out, pushing away from the lockers.  “Please, tell me you won’t do that!”  She could feel the tears forming in her eyes and shook her head.  “Don’t pull away completely!  I can’t…”
    His lips compressed as he dug deeper, trying to find the moral strength to stay away from her, to not sully Tyla with his touch.  She was too good and he… wasn’t.  “We have to Tyla.  We can’t keep doing this to each other.”
    She couldn’t believe he was actually saying this!  “No!” she whispered.  “We’re not over!  I’m not letting you do this to us!”
    And with that threat, she stormed out of the locker room and out to the bar.  With furious, jerking movements, she re-stocked the bar, packed the beer fridge, cleaned all the tables and chairs, mopped the floor and anything she could think of to keep herself from bursting into tears. 
    And she wouldn’t look at him!  She wouldn’t allow him to hurt her.  Pulling away, not seeing Saeger would be the worst kind of punishment! 
    The night seemed endless, and she suspected there were more people in the bar tonight than a normal Wednesday evening.  But she kept on moving, helping with the rush as much as possible.  Needing to work as hard as she could, not wanting to think about Saeger and his threat to not see her any longer, she pushed herself harder, needing to feel the pain of working so hard that she couldn’t distinguish between that pain and the pain of Saeger’s words.  She helped the other wait staff, but left them the tips for their tables, rushing through the food and drink orders as fast as she could. 
    She pushed herself as hard as possible, and refused to let herself think.
    After closing, she cleaned all the tables and chairs again, swept and mopped the floor in record time.  She was the first one out the door that night, not even waiting when Saeger ordered her to stop so that he could walk her home.  She just barreled through the night, running up the stairs to her apartment. 
    They were not done!  She had no idea how to get through to him, but somehow, some way, she was going to prove to him that he would not be betraying his promise to Matt if they became intimate.  And he wouldn’t be sullying her if they had a more physical relationship. 
    What hogwash! 
    Didn’t he understand that his two obstacles sort of canceled each other out?  He wouldn’t touch her because he’d made a promise to Matt to protect her.  And yet, he wouldn’t touch her because he felt he wasn’t moral enough! 
    Oh no, big guy, she thought as she curled up in her lonely bed that night.  “You’re not getting away from me,” she whispered into the darkness. 

Chapter 7
     
    Three days later, she was sitting in the back of The Rotten Apple, still without a plan.  Saeger had not only switched shifts with Kevin and Jake, the other bartenders who helped out, but he’d completely eliminated himself from the schedule.  Tucker, Knox and Creek all worked occasionally.  But Saeger was gone.  He didn’t come down from his mountain house for any reason.
    Which only meant that she needed to figure out a reason to go up to him. 
    Unfortunately, she was stumped.  There really was no reason to go up there other than her need to see him.  She could show up on his doorstep, but what excuse could she give him for being there? 
    Tyla could just imagine showing up and knocking on his door only