Highness (The Lonely Heart Series) by Latrivia S. Nelson Read Free Book Online Page A

wait?”
    Sean sucked in a frustrated breath.  He was about to say something rude but saw the distinct glare of a woman ready to kick his ass and calmed down.  “No, it can’t.”  He side-stepped her.  “I’m going to help her out of the car.”
    Bree turned and followed him, refusing to say anymore.  Maybe he just needed to hear it for himself, and he was sure that Hope would tell him.  Their relationship was not only over, their friendship was too.
    Sean opened Hope’s door carefully and looked down at her. 
    “Is he gone?” Hope asked.
    “No,” Sean answered, moving in closer. 
    As soon as the wind blew again, she smelled his cologne.  Ralph Lauren Black.  Ironic really. The smell used to make her bow down and beg more buttermilk, but now it only made her stomach turn.
    He reached gently for her arm to help her, but she pulled away.  “What do you want?”
    Sean cocked a brow. “First, I want to help you get out of this car and into the house.  Secondly, I’d like just five minutes of your time. I need to say some things directly to you without your bodyguard over there giving me the evil eye.”  He rested his large arm on the roof of the car.
    Hope had to repress her smile.  She could always count on Bree.
    “Well, I don’t want your help,” Hope said, trying to help herself out of the car. 
    As soon as her foot hit the gravel, Sean wrapped his arms around her and picked her up off the ground. “You can hate me later,” he said, ignoring her struggles.  “Bree, can you please get the front door.”
    Already ahead of them, she had made her way to the porch and was inserting the key when he called out to her. 
    With her wrapped in his embrace like a mother coddles a newborn, he held her close to his chest and carried her up to the front door.  He wished at that moment that there was not so much tension in her body, that she could find in her heart to forgive him and at least lay her head on his chest the way that she used to, but Hope stayed rigid.
    Hiking up the stairs that led up to the porch and then over the threshold of her home, he headed for the stairwell to take her to her bedroom. 
    “She can’t stay up there,” Bree said, stopping him.  “I’ve arranged all of her things downstairs in the guest bedroom until her….” She lowered her voice a little, “until her sight comes back.”
    “I’m not deaf,” Hope quipped.
    “No, but you are stubborn,” Sean said, following Bree to the bedroom. 
    “Who says that I want to sit in the bedroom?  I’ve been locked up in one room for six weeks. I want to move around my own house,” Hope complained.
    “Well, you can move around after we talk,” Sean said, setting her down on the bed.  He looked at Bree with a plea in his eyes.  “Can you give us just a few minutes? I know how you feel about me, how you both do, but I need a minute alone with her anyways.”  He looked back at Hope and hung his head in guilt. 
    Bree rolled her eyes, but quickly turned and left the room, closing the door behind them. “Five minutes,” she called out.
    Taking off his suit jacket, he threw it over the foot rail of the gold iron bed and pulled at his red tie.
    “I’ve been trying to reach you for six weeks,” Sean said flatly.  “So, you’ll excuse the imposition, but when I called again for the 45 th day and they told me that you had gone from the hospital, I knew that I’d have one opportunity to see you before there was someone else blocking me.”
    “Haven’t we said all that needs to be said here?” Hope asked.
    Sean ran his hands through his hair.  “I’m sorry.  I’m so damned sorry,” he blurted out. “I never meant for this to happen. I never meant…” He wiped his face. “I didn’t come over here to play with your sympathies.  If anyone should be seeking it, it’s you.”
    Her voice was much calmer than his, almost still. “I don’t need your sympathy. I don’t need anything from you, Sean