Right With Me - Stacey Lewis Page 0,16

can’t stand the awkward silence anymore.

“What are you doing here? Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy you’re here… I just don’t know why you’re here.”

As soon as I say the words I want to kick myself for sounding like a desperate idiot. Why can’t I keep my mouth shut around her?

Her voice is barely audible when she replies. “You said you wanted to explain, so I’m here to listen.”

I can’t disguise my shock. Yesterday she was adamant she wasn’t interested in anything I had to say. Now she’s here telling me to explain things to her. I guess I shouldn’t question it, but I sort of want to. It seems too good to be true.

“Hailey,” I say her name, not sure where I want to start. I didn’t anticipate having this conversation, and if I’m honest I don’t want to have it here. This room is so small, and there’s an entire building full of my employees on the other side of it. There’s almost no privacy either.

“This isn’t the right place for this,” I finally tell her. She looks up at me questioningly, and I try to explain my reasoning. “I’d rather have this conversation somewhere we have at least a semblance of privacy.” Throwing out a hand, I gesture to the room outside my office. “The chances of someone eavesdropping at the door over there are high, and I don’t think either of us want that to happen.”

She looks shocked like she can’t believe she didn’t think of that herself, and a blush heats her face. There’s no reason for her to be embarrassed, but she doesn’t give me the chance to tell her that.

“You’re right. Sorry, I-I shouldn’t have come.”

She turns, fumbling with the closed door and I rush to stop her, putting a hand on the door and holding it closed. My chest is right up against her back and I feel her shiver when we touch. Knowing she’s still affected by me has me pressing closer, loving the feel of her against me.

“You absolutely should’ve come. I just don’t want to talk here. Let me take you somewhere.” I feel her stiffen, but after a few seconds, her body relaxes and she sighs, nodding her head just enough for me to see her agreement before she drops her hand from the doorknob so I can pull the door open.

I want to put my hand on her back to lead her to my truck, but I’m afraid that might be pushing my luck too far. It’s not necessary anyway because she heads straight for my truck, stopping at the passenger side and waiting for me to let her in. I could just beep the locks and let her do it herself, but I’m suddenly desperate for any touch of hers I can get so I reach around her to open the door. It doesn’t hurt that it allows me to inhale the scent of her perfume either.

Once we’re in my truck, I freeze, not knowing where to take her, but she saves me with an offer. “We can go to my place if you want.”

“Sure.” She’ll probably feel more comfortable there anyway. “How do I get there?”

Hailey starts giving me directions and I realize the stairs she was going up last night must be to her apartment, not a friend’s. How is it possible we live in the same complex and in all this time I haven’t seen her? I should probably tell her I live there too, but I don’t. Waiting until after we have our talk would probably be better.

The rest of the trip to her apartment is silent, and the closer we get the more she starts to fidget. I want to reassure her, but I don’t know what to say to make her feel better. Thankfully, the trip isn’t long, so the silence doesn’t last too long, but the moment I put the truck in park she’s got the door open and she’s jumping down, leaving me to do the same because I’m afraid she’s going to run from me. Something spooked her in the ride over and I need to find out what it was.

Chapter 12

Hailey

Why did I go to his garage? I feel like an idiot, and the longer I sit here in his truck beside him the worse the feeling becomes. The second he parks, I jerk open the door and jump down, needing to get away from him, from the smell of his cologne that assaulted my senses