No Stranger to Scandal - By Rachel Bailey Page 0,35
could trust you.”
He held up a hand. “Do you trust me now?”
“Yes.” She sighed. “I’m not sure when that happened, but I do.”
“So why not tell me yesterday? Last week? After we slept together?”
It was a fair question, one she’d been asking herself. “I guess I was hoping you’d uncover the ringleader of the phone hacking and your investigation would be over before the exposé was ever needed.”
“And what if the timing didn’t work like that, if I took longer?” He paced across the room, then turned on a heel to face her again. “Were you going to tell me before the show aired? Or let me find out along with everyone else?”
“I would have warned you, I swear. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry, Hayden. But put yourself in my shoes for a moment. My boss—my stepfather, a man I love—tells me to work on a secret project that could save him. I only met you a few weeks ago. Are you saying I should just switch my loyalties like changing socks?”
He winced as the point hit home. “You were stuck between your family and your lover.”
Her shoulders dropped a fraction of an inch. “This thing between us is crossing boundaries left and right, isn’t it?”
Hayden blew out a breath, seeming to deflate somewhat, and came over to sit on the coffee table in front of her, their knees brushing. “Yeah, it is. I’ve been thinking I should hand the case to someone else in the company.”
“No,” she said, grabbing his hands. “Please don’t.”
He tilted his head to the side. “But I think Graham is guilty. It could be better for you to try your luck with someone else.”
“You might think he’s guilty, but you’re honest and honorable. As soon as we find the evidence that exonerates Graham, you’ll respect that. You’re our best hope, Hayden.” Every word she’d said was true, but there was something else, something even stronger pulling at her insides, demanding she not let him go. Not yet. Please, not yet.
He looked at her for a long moment and she held her breath, waiting for his decision. Finally, he nodded once and relief flooded her veins. Even as she smiled her gratitude and released the tight grip she had on his hands, somewhere in the back of her mind was a niggling voice saying her reaction was too strong for simply having an investigator stay on the case, but she brushed it aside.
Hayden rubbed a palm over his closely shaved jaw. “You said before that people in ANS are setting him up. Why would you think that?”
This was better—stick to the investigation and Graham. Safer. She rose and padded on bare feet across the carpets to the kitchen, filled two glasses with sparkling water and handed one to Hayden. When she saw him leaning against the island counter, her mouth dried. His dark, masculine beauty was emphasized by the pale marble countertops and white cupboards. She didn’t tend to have people at her place very often—she usually met friends out—so Graham was the only person who’d spent much time in her kitchen. Maybe if she’d had more men here, she wouldn’t feel so overwhelmed by Hayden’s presence. He wouldn’t seem to dominate it so much. But she doubted it—that was Hayden’s effect wherever he was.
She took a sip of the sparkling water to moisten her throat so she could speak. “You said yourself that someone was pulling the strings. Whoever that is, they don’t plan on going down for this. Passing the buck up the ladder is the perfect alibi.” She took another sip, thinking back over the clues they had, then stilled. “Who told you about the exposé?”
“Angelica,” he said, distaste clear in his voice. “She just came to my room, tried to seduce me then gave me a friendly warning not to trust you.”
Lucy’s heart skipped a beat at the tried to seduce me comment, but she managed not to let her personal reaction affect her professional interest in the development. “It’s Angelica behind this whole thing. I know it is.”
“I think you’re probably right.” He put his empty glass in the sink, then leaned back against the counter again.
I think you’re probably right? Had he seen the truth? “So you think Graham is innocent.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “He still must have known what was going on, perhaps worked with her on it, but I suspect Angelica masterminded it.”
She crossed her arms under her breasts. “You’ll see about Graham. By