Chapter 51
HAILEE
Igroan as my cell rings, buzzing relentlessly under my pillow where I must have shoved it after my late-night messaging with Hayden.
Heat surges through me as I remember some of the things we said.
Fuck.
There might have been thousands of miles between us, but that didn’t mean he didn’t affect me as if he was lying right beside me.
“All right,” I cry when it starts up again, only a second after it stopped.
A deep frown mars my brow, and I finally pull it free and find Hayden’s name staring back at me.
I swipe the screen in a hurry and press it to my ear. “What’s wrong?” I almost shout.
He should be sleeping. They don’t need to head out for a few hours yet.
If he’s calling me, something must be wrong.
“Good morning, baby,” he rasps, his voice still rough with sleep.
“W-what’s going on? You should be sleeping.”
“Yeah, I know. And I will be again in a bit. I just needed to tell you something.”
“Oh?” I ask, more than a little intrigued.
“Turn your camera on, Hails,” he says, and I immediately do as he says.
“Hey,” I breathe when his sleepy face fills my screen. He’s got a pillow crease across his cheek, his eyelids are barely open, his hair is a mess, and he’s shirtless, which only increases my temperature even more.
“Hey, beautiful. Did you sleep well?”
“I was lonely,” I say with a pout.
“Damn, don’t say things like that,” he groans. “I missed you too. Brody snores like an angry rhino.”
I can’t help but giggle.
“Nothing like your cute little snores.”
I gasp. “I don’t snore.”
He smiles, and fuck, it does things to me.
“I hate to break it to you, baby. But you do.”
“Shut it,” I mutter, making him laugh. “You said you needed to tell me something.”
“Other than that I’m missing you?” he teases.
“Hayden Monroe, you did not drag your ass out of bed after that late night to tell me that you miss me.”
“Might have.” Yeah, it’s totally something he would do.
“Hayden,” I warn.
“Fine, fine. I’m calling to tell you that you have the day off.”
“I…what? No, I have—”
“The day off. Today, you’re going to forget all about being in charge, and you’re going to do what you’re told.” His voice gets all commanding, and it sends tingles racing down my spine.
“I…uh…”
“You’ve got the day off,” he says for the third time, probably hoping it’ll settle in at some point. “You’ve got an hour to get up, dressed and ready, and then someone is coming to pick you up.”
“Someone?” My heart begins racing, and I push myself up so I’m sitting. “Who? What’s going on, Hayden?”
He chuckles, the sound and his lopsided, sleepy smile instantly relaxing me.
“I know this is out of your comfort zone, but I need you to trust me.”
“I do,” I whisper.
“I’ve set all this up. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
“Okay,” I say, although it doesn’t stop my head from racing. “What should I wear?”
“Just something comfortable. I’ve got everything else under control.”
I nod, feeling utterly lost.
I don’t realize that I’m no longer looking at the screen until Hayden says my name, dragging my eyes back to him.
“You deserve good surprises and for people to put you first.”
Emotion crawls up my throat. He’s right, I know he is. But a lifetime of never experiencing either has made me a little jaded.
“Oh no, no. Baby, please don’t cry.”
I take a deep breath and fight the burn behind my eyes. “I’m not.”
“Sure,” he laughs.
“Go make yourself a coffee, get dressed, and all will be revealed. Just remember that you deserve the world, and I’m not capable of giving you that, so I went for the next best thing.”
“Next best would be you.” The words tumble free without permission, and I panic, but then his face lights up, a wide smile spreading across his mouth.
“Baby, if I could have come back early for you, I would have. I’ll be home before you know it, promise.”
Home.
I’m pretty sure that being with Hayden, no matter where we are, is the only time in my life I’ve ever truly felt at home.
I smile at him.
“Promise you’ll be a good girl for me today?”
I smirk. “I’m not sure I can do that.”
He laughs. “You’d better get ready. Message me when you’ve been collected.”
Excitement mixes with the nerves rioting in my stomach.
“Okay. You need to go back to sleep.”
“Yeah, I really do,” he says, yawning. “I’ll talk to you later.”
I say goodbye and then let my hands fall into my lap as my head continues to spin.
“What have you done, Hayden Monroe?”
I do as I’m told—I make myself a coffee and then set about getting ready for my day that apparently isn’t going to look anything like I’d planned.
Exactly an hour later, my apartment buzzer goes off, and when I answer it, a very familiar voice spills from the speaker.
“Good morning, I have a taxi for Miss Caldwell.”
A laugh bursts out of me. Of course, Hayden entangled Bea in his plans.
“What on earth is going on?” I ask down the line as I push my feet into my sneakers.
“I’m just doing the bidding of a boy who’s head over heels for you.”
My heart flutters at her words.
“He’s insane.”
“I mean, he’s a hockey player. Pretty sure they’re all certifiable for what they do on a daily basis.”
“Fair.” I laugh.
“Now, are you coming down, or am I going to have to come up there and drag you out kicking and screaming. I made Hayden a promise that I wouldn’t take no for an answer, and pregnant or not, I’m willing to see that promise through.”
“I’m coming. Do I need anything?”
“Nope. Just yourself. He’s got the rest covered.”
Nerves assault me again, but I force them down and trust whatever he’s done.
He’s got my best interests at heart, I know he has. And despite everything, I trust him. I just need to be brave enough to trust him with everything.
Throwing my purse over my shoulder, I let myself out of my apartment and head toward the elevator.
The second the doors close, I find my conversation thread with Hayden and send him a message.
Hailee: What have you done?
Hayden: Trust me.
Hayden: Trust us.
Hailee: You should be sleeping.
Hayden: Can’t. Too excited to see what you think.
Hailee: Thank you
Hayden: You might not be saying that in an hour…
Hayden: I probably should have asked…are you scared of heights or enclosed spaces?
My brow furrows.
He’s joking, right?
Hailee: Lucky for you, I don’t mind either. Spiders, however. Absolutely not.
Hayden: You’re scared of spiders?
Hailee: Terrified.
Even talking about them makes me shudder.
Hayden: And here I was thinking you weren’t scared of anything.
Hailee: Don’t tell anyone, but I’m not actually as brave as I make out.
Hayden: Your secret—all your secrets—are safe with me, baby. And I’m more than willing to protect you from the big, bad spiders.
Hailee: Thank you. What are you scared of?
Hayden: Snakes and alligators.
Hailee: Yeah, I could happily live life without those in it.
Hayden: I used to have nightmares as a kid of having my legs bitten off by an alligator.
I know that I probably shouldn’t smile at his confession. It sounds terrifying, but I love learning more about him.
I can only assume that it’s how he feels when I open up, and it’s one of the many reasons why I’m trying to do it. I want to let him in, I really do, but it just goes against everything I’ve trained myself to do for years. Letting someone in, allowing them to see who you really are, makes you weak.
Shit. Maybe that’s my biggest fear.
Noticing that I’m almost on the ground floor, I shoot him a quick reply, letting him know that I’ll go toe to toe with an alligator for him, hoping like hell I never have to, before tucking my cell away and letting myself out of the building.
“Holy shit, he let you borrow that?” I balk when I find Bea resting her ass on the hood of Rett’s Ferrari.
“Girl, that boy would let me get away with murder,” she says with a wide grin as she pushes herself to her feet and rushes over to hug me.
“You’re not wrong there.” I laugh, awkwardly embracing her.
I’ve never had a friend I’ve been close enough to hug. It’s…nice.
“So, what has Hayden done?” I ask when she opens the passenger door for me.
“Just wait and see.”
“I don’t like surprises,” I complain.
“Can’t say I’m surprised. But we’ve got about an hour’s drive, so you’re gonna have to contain yourself for a little longer. But as a distraction, there’s coffee and breakfast waiting for you.
I glance in and find a bag from a coffee shop waiting on the passenger seat.
“What’s he playing at?” I mutter, mostly to myself, but Bea takes it upon herself to fill in a few blanks.
“It’s a birthday surprise.”
I freeze, shocked by her words.
“A birthday…but my birthday was—”
“Weeks ago, yeah, he told me. He wanted to do something special for you. You were thirty, Hailee. That needs celebrating.”
“I…” I squeeze my eyes closed, fighting the real threat of tears. “No one’s ever—”
“You’re not alone, Hailee. We’re right here for you. All of us.”
Shit.
“Please don’t make me cry,” I whisper. “It’ll ruin my reputation.”
Bea giggles. “Trust me, I’m in no position to judge anyone for crying. Come on, we’ve got plans.”
“You’re really not going to tell me where we’re going, are you?” I ask as she puts the car in drive, the engine purring beneath us.
“Nope. But I can tell you that you’ve got an amazing day ahead of you. Peaceful this morning, but things are going to get a little…wilder at lunchtime.”
“Right,” I muse, racking my brain for what we could be doing.
“Oh, wow, that’s impressive,” I breathe as Bea drives toward the most incredible building.
“I’ve wanted to come here for so long,” she explains. “I just needed the right excuse. It’s been voted the best spa in LA. The reviews are insane.”
“And you managed to get us in at the last minute?” I ask, in awe.
“Me? Oh, hell no. No one cares about me. I just run a little salon downtown. Your boyfriend, though, is powerful enough to pull some strings.”
I ignore the tingles that her calling him my boyfriend causes.
We haven’t had those conversations yet, even though we’re living like a committed couple.
I think he’s aware that making things official might be enough to send me running.
I’d like to think it wouldn’t, but I understand why he might be cautious.
“Hayden did this?”
Bea laughs. “In case you hadn’t noticed, that boy is obsessed with you. I don’t think there’s anything he wouldn’t do for you.”
“Shit,” I breathe, tucking my hair behind my ears for something to do.
“He called me after discovering that we all missed your birthday. He wanted help planning something. When I suggested this place, I didn’t think it would actually happen, but…” She gestures to our current view.
“How much did this cost him?”
“Probably best you don’t ask questions you don’t want to learn the answers to.”
We sit in silence for a moment, just soaking up our surroundings.
“You ready to get in there and relax?”
“I can’t remember the last time I really did that,” I confess.
“I think that might be why he chose this.”
“Yeah,” I muse. “I think he knows me better than I realize.”
“Well, he’s been watching and obsessing over you for a year now.”
I shake my head, a smile playing on my lips.
“But before we can get in there. We need to get me out of this car. You push from behind, and I reckon we can manage it without a crane,” she deadpans.