Right With Me - Stacey Lewis Page 0,4
hates me or wants to drag my panties down with his teeth and all I can say is hey?
Whoa. Wait a minute. Where the hell did that thought come from? Clearly, I’ve been reading too many romance novels.
Mitchell steps aside so I can enter the room, and I hold my breath as I walk past. He’s not giving me much room, and I’m afraid if I breathe at all my body will brush against his and I’ll spontaneously combust.
Chapter 5
Mitchell
How is it possible she smells so fucking good after working at a diner that serves almost all fried food? If the world was fair, she’d smell like onion rings and fish sticks instead of flowery and fresh. Also, where the hell did “onion rings and fish sticks” come from? That’s probably the worst combination I could have come up with.
As soon as she’s through, I let go of the door and let it whisper shut, glad I sprang for that option when we redid the space. The door slamming constantly all day long about did my head in. It’s much better now that it slowly shuts, even when client’s kids are running back and forth in and out of it.
Hailey whirls around to face me when the door closes in place. “What are you doing in here?”
I’m not sure how to answer her question. Do I go with the truth outright? Or some version of it? I don’t want to lie completely, but how do I say, “I can’t stay away from you?”
Her quiet gasp tells me I just did. Fuck me.
“Why not?”
Her voice quavers when she asks the question, and I can’t help but meet her fearful gaze. That pang in my chest goes through me again at the sight. I don’t want her to be scared of me. I know I haven’t been the most stable individual around her, but I’m not a psycho. Running a hand through my unruly hair, I try to think of a way to explain the thoughts bouncing around like pinballs in my head.
Her beauty is distracting though. The glossy deep brown hair she had in a ponytail when I first saw her is down today, waves curling over her shoulders and covering breasts I have no business noticing, but I do. I can’t help it. Even under her Patsy’s t-shirt, I can tell they’re perfect handfuls. The deep purple shirt brings out the brown in her eyes and highlights the pink deepening on her cheeks the longer I stare at her.
It’s just fitted enough to show off her tiny waist and tucked into shorts that hit way too high on her toned thighs. She’s tall, and with those short little shorts, her legs look like they go on forever.
Hailey quickly grows uncomfortable with my scrutiny and crosses her arms over her chest in an attempt to shield herself. It breaks my concentration, and I’m glad my beard covers the heat I can feel rising in my face.
“Mitchell?”
I have to clear my throat to answer. “Yeah?”
“Why did you leave the other day? One second you were there, but then you were just...gone. Did I do something wrong?”
Her voice sounds unsure, and I know she’s regretting the question as soon as it’s out of her mouth, so I rush to reassure her. “No sweetheart. You didn’t do anything.”
“Then...why?”
Lifting my eyes to the ceiling, I wish for an answer to come to me that I can actually tell her. Of course, nothing comes, so I’m left to muddle through on my own. If I tell her the real reason, she’s going to hate me. Hell, I already hate myself for the thoughts I’m having about her. Maybe her hating me would be a good thing.
Fuck it. I’m just going to tell her.
“Because if I’d stayed there alone with you any longer, I would’ve kissed you.”
Her eyes are almost comically wide at my confession. “Would that be such a bad thing?”
I laugh, though there’s no humor in it. “Yeah sweetheart, that would be a bad thing.” She’s about to ask me why, so I say the words I know are going to end anything this could ever be in the future. “I can’t, under any circumstances, kiss you. I’m married.”
Chapter 6
Hailey
“I’m married.”
His words shatter my poor, barely held together heart. And why? I’ve only talked to this man twice. He shouldn’t be able to bring forth any kind of emotion in me, let alone have me feeling like my heart is breaking all over again. I