The CEO’s Unspoken Love (Eleanor and Derek) novel Chapter 123

Chapter 123

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Shame surged in its wake, bitter and heavy. I sat up, water sloshing, and pressed my palms to my eyes. “Eleanor, you’re pathetic,” 1

hissed. “How can you still want him?”

I stepped out, toweling off roughly, and wrapped myself in thick winter pajamas, desperate to bury the day under layers of fabric and denial. But as I reached my bedroom, my phone lit up with notifications-missed calls, texts, all from Derek.

6:14 PM: [Did you get home safely?]

7:22 PM: [Eleanor, at least let me know you’re home.]

8:05 PM: [Are you deliberately ignoring me?]

8:17 PM: [We need to talk about what happened.]

8:45 PM: [Are you hiding from me, Eleanor?]

The phone rang in my hand, his name glaring on the screen. I answered after a beat, voice steadier than I felt. “What do you want,

Derek?”

“You’re finally answering.” His tone was clipped, irritation barely masked.

“I just got back.” I kept it curt, gripping the phone tighter.

“I texted you hours ago.”

“I didn’t see them.”

A pause. “Are you avoiding me on purpose?”

I walked to the window, nudging the curtain aside. My heart stuttered-his black Bentley was parked under the streetlight, Derek’s tall frame leaning against it, phone to his ear.

“You’re outside my house,” I said flatly.

“Come down,” he demanded. “I want an answer. Face to face.”

“No.” I let the curtain fall. “Go home, Derek.”

Eleation

“Did you mean it, Eleanor? Have you ever loved me?”

The question struck like a blade. I gripped the windowsill, fighting for control. “I don’t owe you explanations.”

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14:14 Thu, Jul 2 MA

Chapter 123

“Goodnight, Derek.” I hung up, shutting off my phone before he could call again.

Peering through the curtain again, I saw him still there, staring up at my window. Finally, he flicked a cigarette into the snow, got

into his car, and drove off.

The doorbell jolted me awake the next morning. I’d barely slept, tossing in bed, my mind replaying every moment of the past day.

Sunny’s bark echoed as I shuffled downstairs, glancing at the clock-7:30 AM.

Derek stood at the door, a paper bag from my favorite bakery and two coffees in hand. “You look terrible,” he said, scanning my

haggard face.

I moved to shut the door, but he wedged his shoulder in the gap. “I’m hungry, Eleanor,” he murmured. “You wouldn’t let a man

freeze on your doorstep, would you?”

Sighing, I stepped back. Sunny circled his legs, tail wagging traitorously. In the dining room, we sat across from each other at my parents’ antique table. Derek tore a croissant in half, passing me the larger piece.

After we finished, he said, “I can get you to work.”

I knew I couldn’t refuse.

Twenty minutes later, I sat in his Bentley, watching Boston’s snow-draped streets slide by. The silence was suffocating, thick with

unspoken tension.

“Did you sleep well?” Derek asked, a smirk playing on his lips.

“What do you think?”

“I couldn’t sleep either,” he continued, fingers drumming the steering wheel. “Kept thinking about you-how you tremble when I touch you, how your breath catches just before you lose control. I want to see that again, Eleanor. I want to feel it.”

Shock ripped through me, heat flooding my face.

Derek’s smirk deepened, eyes glinting with something dangerous. “The same kind as you, apparently. We’re only just starting to figure each other out, aren’t we? All these hidden edges, all this… need.” His voice was velvet, laced with intent, his gaze flicking to me briefly before returning to the road. “Don’t pretend you don’t feel it too.”

My pulse thundered, a mix of fury and unwanted desire tightening my chest. When the car stopped a block from my flower shop, I fumbled for the door handle, desperate to escape the charged air between us.

“I’ll get myself the rest of the way,” I said, voice unsteady.

I slammed the door and hurried off, his words-and the heat of his gaze-lingering on my skin as I turned the corner into the snowy

morning.

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The CEO’s Unspoken Love