No Stranger to Scandal - By Rachel Bailey Page 0,57
getting involved with an older man and undoing her work to make something of her life were still there, but they’d been dwarfed by what had happened in the past week. The thing was, her love for Hayden was now tainted. It would always be smeared by Graham’s arrest—she’d never be able to think about Hayden again without it being tangled up with the heartache of what had become of her stepfather.
What had he said to her that night in Montana?
“If we let it linger, it’ll turn into something neither of us wanted. Something that might become bitter, and I don’t want anything to tarnish the memories I’m taking of you.”
It had happened anyway, even without them letting it linger. Now she was left without the sweet memories of her time with Hayden to keep her warm at night. They’d been ruined.
The best she could hope for was a little more time with him before he caught Angelica, finished the investigation...and left. He might not want to see her again after she’d been so rude the other night, and it wouldn’t be the same now, but if wanting whatever she could have from him made her desperate, then she was willing to cop to the charge. She’d call him today. Maybe they could make some new rules. Or maybe she was deluding herself and everything was too tainted for even their fling to survive anymore.
Her cell rang, and she reached across the counter to retrieve it from where she’d thrown it last night. She wasn’t in the mood to talk to most people, but she needed to keep an eye out for calls from Graham or the facility he’d been taken to.
When she picked it up, her heart stuttered. The number on the screen was Hayden’s.
“Did I wake you?” The voice, so deep and familiar, made her ache.
“No,” she said, her voice raspy. “I’ve been awake for a while.”
“Can I talk to you?”
“You are talking to me.”
“In person.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. At this time of the morning, she didn’t have her head together enough to face anyone, let alone Hayden Black, with all the conflicting emotions he stirred within her. She wanted to talk to him when she was ready, when her head was clear. Perhaps after another coffee—or three. “I can meet you in a couple of hours.”
“I’m on the street in front of your place.”
Her heart thudded against her ribs as she slipped off the stool and padded through to the front window. As she drew the drapes aside, she saw Hayden’s rental car on the street. “So you are.”
“Can I come in for a few minutes?”
“It’s not a great time, Hayden.” She needed a chance to talk to him about resurrecting their fling for as long as she could have him. And the time to convince him wasn’t early in the morning while she was in her pajamas and had only consumed one cup of coffee.
“It has to be now,” he said, and something in his voice reached out and pulled at her.
“Sure,” she said on a sigh, knowing she’d probably regret it. It was hard to be seductive in striped pajamas after an hour’s sleep. She disconnected and threw the cell on a side table. She didn’t have time to change, but she ducked into her bedroom and grabbed her royal-blue satin dressing gown.
She swung the door open to find him standing there with a sleepy Josh in one arm. She stared at Hayden in his dark trousers, pale blue shirt and tie and dark suit jacket, her belly tightening. All she wanted to do was take those clothes off him.
“Sorry it’s so early,” he said, his thoughts clearly not on the same track as hers.
“Come on in.” She leaned over to kiss Josh on the cheek, trying not to linger and sink into the scent of Hayden, then turned and walked down the hall to the kitchen. “Do you want a coffee?”
“No, thanks,” he said, bending to scratch Rosie behind the ears, then depositing a rapidly waking Josh on the floor beside her. “I won’t be here long.”
She poured another coffee for herself anyway and took a sip. Any assistance to her mental alertness was welcome. “So this visit is both early and quick.”
“I came to say goodbye,” he said, his voice deep yet devoid of emotion.
Her stomach fell fast. She carefully placed the mug on the counter before she dropped it. He was leaving? It was too soon. Too soon. She held on