Right With Me - Stacey Lewis Page 0,25

much you couldn’t control yourself.”

This time he smiles. Maybe what I’m saying is getting through to him. “Best kiss you ever had, huh?” Ugh. Smug is way too good a look on him. I narrow my eyes to glare at him, refusing to say the words a second time. Once was plenty for his ego.

His arms slide down my back until they’re resting at the top of my butt and we stand in the middle of my living room holding each other until reality intrudes in the form of Connor crying.

Chapter 15

Mitchell

Her son’s crying breaks us apart and Hailey looks up at me, conflicted. “I need… I need to go see what’s wrong with Connor. I’m sorry.” Her shoulders slump, and I know she’s telling me I need to go, but I’m not ready to do that yet, so I just nod, watching as she hurries down the short hallway away from me.

While she’s murmuring to Connor and calming his cries, I walk around her small apartment, studying the pictures on the wall and the little accents that tell a lot about who she is.

The wall is covered with pictures of Connor, from a picture of her holding him just after his birth while looking both exhausted and radiant, to a picture of her with what must be her parents and by the similar coloring, her brother. She’s smiling brightly in all the pictures she’s in, but there is a definite dimming to it in the photos that are obviously the newest ones.

It makes me wonder exactly what her ex has done to her, and what he’s still doing to her. Based on what she told me before, he must’ve cheated on her, and that makes me feel like an ass because I know she thinks I was going to use her to cheat on my now ex-wife. I have to figure out how to make her understand that until I met her, I had no interest in any type of relationship with another person. Helping me cheat on my wife isn’t something I would ever ask of her… or anyone else for that matter.

Listening to her singing quietly to Connor has me feeling like I’m intruding, but I can’t leave until I make her understand. I’m not sure how I’ll do that, but if there’s ever going to be any hope of us moving on together, I have to.

It doesn’t take very long for Connor to settle, and Hailey is soon coming back down the hallway towards me, freezing when she sees me standing in front of the many photos on her wall.

“I thought you left,” she says quietly, clasping her hands in front of her body like she’s not totally sure what to do with herself.

As much as I want to go to her, I stay where I’m standing and give her the chance to come to me. If I go to her, this relationship—or whatever it is—is going to move to her bedroom long before she’s ready. And that thought has me needing to adjust my pants. Wearing gray sweats around a girl who turns you on as much as Hailey does me is never a good idea.

When I don’t immediately explain myself, Hailey tilts her head to one side and studies me for a minute before going into her kitchen. I’m helpless to do anything but follow because I don’t know what’s going through her head.

Stretching high enough to lift the hem of her tank top to show a small strip of skin, she reaches into one of the upper cabinets and pulls down two wine glasses. After setting them on the counter, she goes to the fridge and grabs a bottle of wine and lifts it for my approval.

At my nod, she pours us both a glass and I grab them before she can, then follow her into the living room and take a seat on the couch beside her. She takes one glass from me and gulps some of the liquid down like she’s hoping it will give her courage.

“So,” she finally starts, looking down at the glass in her hands and avoiding me as much as she can, “if you didn’t come here to kiss me, why did you come?”

I want her to look at me, but I don’t want to force the issue. The whole reason she’s avoiding my eyes is to protect herself and I get it. Now that I’ve got the chance to explain myself, to tell her exactly how