Paige
fourteen
Idon’t watch Hayes handle himself in the shower, but I do sit wrapped in the duvet in the middle of the bed and imagine every stroke of his hand. When he comes out, a white towel wrapped around his hips and water droplets dotting his muscular chest, I nearly faint.
“Why do you have to be God’s gift to women?” I say appreciatively under my breath.
Hayes pauses on his way to the closet, having heard me.
“You don’t think the same is true about yourself, Miss Fairchild?
You’re a total smoke show wrapped up in Chantilly cream.
Just knowing your exquisite body is naked under that duvet is threatening to undo all the hard work I just performed in the shower to get rid of this hard-on.
” He grabs himself over the towel and my heart pounds like the hooves of a racehorse.
“You look like one of those models on the cover of the grocery store romance novels my nanny likes to read. They’re always shirtless and, like, a pirate or duke or something.” I guess muscles and a shirtless billionaire work just as well.
He moves his hand away from the towel and laughs.
Shaking his head, he goes into the closet.
I’m half tempted to follow him inside and force him to take me when he drops his towel, but I don’t.
It meant everything to me that he was able to slow things down when I was letting my hormones, not my heart, guide my body again.
I had hoped I could make Hayes fall for me, but I think I’m the one falling, and hard.
“I like your clothes next to mine. It’s more colorful having your bright clothes looking so cute and little next to my suits.” I hear from the closet.
I pull the duvet up to my face and laugh. “Sorry, I just took over. I didn’t know where else to put my things, so I made a spot.”
The duvet is pulled down and Hayes’s face appears. He slowly pushes me back on the bed and crawls over me, trapping me in the duvet.
“Good. Don’t just make a spot next time, take the whole closet. Stop trying to make yourself small to fit into my life when you’re the biggest part of it.”
I melt. If I was wearing panties, they would have fallen right off. I slowly shake my head and grin a big, cheesy smile.
“Next time? You expect me to run away from home again?”
His face takes on a serious look as his eyes dart away in thought.
“I guess I was just thinking of the next time you go shopping. I like you here with me.”
A sobering thought invades the protective cocoon of the duvet and the fairytale idea of running from my problems. This was supposed to be temporary until I could get Mama and Daddy to see that I wouldn’t marry Garrison.
I’ve been gone for over five days and they’re only doubling down on their insistence and maintaining the stalemate.
What do I do if they don’t see it my way, even after this impulsive flight from the future they want for me?
I’ll have to tuck my tail between my legs and go home to them. And Garrison Daniels. I shudder.
“Come on, let’s get you dressed so we can get the city’s best pizza.”
He rolls off me and pulls away the duvet.
“Good Lord almighty. On second thought, maybe you should just stay naked.”
He tips his head appreciatively and I roll over onto my stomach to hide.
“Hell, that’s an even better view.”
I feel teeth nip at my bare bottom and yelp.
“Hayes!” I roll again and take the duvet with me as I climb out of bed. “Give me fifteen minutes.”
“Just enough time for me to rub another out,” he says.
I turn to see if he’s serious and stop with a sigh.
He’s wearing dark jeans and an olive-green T-shirt that sets off his tan skin and does things to his dark green eyes that must be magic.
He’s so pretty it hurts something deep inside of me.
He’s the most attractive man I’ve ever met, and here I am playing house with him.
It’s going to break a part of me when I leave, but I guess Mama and Daddy don’t need me whole, they just need to save their business.
“Hayes, you’re something else,” I say wistfully.
“Now you’re stealing my lines, angel.”
Hayes holds my hand as we walk into the restaurant, just like he did on the way here.
He’s using every opportunity he can to touch me, and I’m not complaining.
It feels good. I had expected something greasy and casual when he said we were getting pizza, but this place is gorgeous and looks like it could have been taken off the pages of a design magazine with its decor.
The big wood-fired pizza oven is open to the restaurant, giving the place a romantic glow.
It’s busy, but the hostess leads us to a table as soon as Hayes walks up and gives his name.
I sit across from Hayes and look up when a waiter appears immediately with a bottle of wine.
“The usual, Mr. Olsen?”
Hayes nods and I give him a look as apprehension settles in my belly.
I take the glass of red wine the waiter pours for me and sip.
Of course it’s good. Hayes has exquisite taste and there’s nothing he hasn’t perfected as far as I can tell.
I pick up my menu and slouch in my chair, finding a way to hide from Hayes while I collect my thoughts.
“What’s wrong, honey?”
I pull the menu down just low enough to see him.
“You have a usual.”
I raise the menu up again. It’s snatched from my hands, and I’m forced to meet Hayes’s perturbed scrutiny.
“Tell me what you really mean. Don’t play the guess what I’m thinking game with me.”
“Do you take all your dates here?” I hate the slimy jealousy that slithers through my thoughts and tinges my words.
It’s hard not to think this way after spending hours with Maisie and hearing all sorts of stories.
I have no idea if half of them were true, but from her perspective, she and Hayes really had something special, and she was just waiting for the right time to settle down with him.
Hayes’s explanation was a little more realistic, but I can’t help thinking of those women he’s had whenever he wanted.
Who knows how many have sat right here in my chair across from him.
“I usually bring Cerberus here when the weather’s nice and sit on the patio. This is my favorite restaurant. I invested in the place early on, so the staff goes out of their way to accommodate me.”
I nod. “So, a lot of dates, then.”
His eyebrows draw together sternly. “I’ve never brought a woman here before you.”
Guilt washes over me for assuming the worst about him.
Why do I keep doing that? Maybe because I don’t know much about him other than he’s been hospitable to a Southern belle fleeing an arranged marriage and he has more money than God.
Oh, and he knows his way around my body better than I do. I blush at the thought.
“I’m sorry, that was uncalled for.”
He rubs his face and then props his chin on his hand.
“I guess I deserved that. I’ve made it quite clear I have a bit of a past and you haven’t had much to go on otherwise.” He shakes his head. “Let’s start over. I want us to really know each other.”
I sit up straighter, hope buoyed in my heart at his interest.
“You go first. I feel like I’ve told you so much about my family and our troubles, but I don’t know anything about you or the brothers you’ve mentioned.”
“They’re dicks,” he deadpans. “But they’re my family and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.”
“That’s quite the ringing endorsement.”
“I wouldn’t trust either of them alone with you.
Let’s just put it that way.” He raises an eyebrow at me, and I nod knowingly.
“Payton, my middle brother, is a year younger than me at thirty-four and thinks his job is stirring the pot. Zander is the youngest at thirty-three but likes to act like the top dog. He’s the biggest womanizer and damn proud of it. ”
“Okay, okay. Stop making them sound so appealing.” I prop my chin on my hand and roll my eyes at Hayes.
“Fine, I’ll try to find something nice to say about those pains in my ass.”
He pauses and looks away, his fingers tapping on the table in a staccato rhythm.
“Payton is the most fun-loving person I know. He knows everyone and everything, so he can ensure we always do something epic no matter where we are. He’s a genius with tech and has a chokehold on the image of the company through amazingly clever marketing plans.
I don’t know how he manages those two things simultaneously, but I’m not about to ask him to pick one over the other when he’s obviously doing fine managing both sides of the company.
He loves the water the way I love cars. You should see his boats.
If we ever get to the ocean, it’ll likely be on his yacht. ”
“That was better. Keep going,” I encourage. I sip wine and watch as he runs a hand through his hair, smoothing it away from his face in thought.
“Zander is, well, Zander. We don’t get along well because we’re both so uncompromising and like to be in control.”
He spends a moment in thought, obviously digging hard for something nice to say about his youngest brother.
“He’s beyond protective of the things and people he cares about.
He somehow always manages to get his way, so he’s the best negotiator I can bring in on a deal.
He’ll know it inside and out and find a way to get what we want while keeping the other party satisfied.
Outside of the office, he’s the adrenaline junkie, off climbing mountains, base jumping, or finding a new intense hobby that could easily kill him.
You wouldn’t catch me doing any of that, but you can always trust that Zander has done the craziest shit and doesn’t back down when something new is offered. I admire his determination.”
“That took you a bit to find the good in him.”
“Like I said, we don’t get along well, so I’ve focused on the qualities that bother me more than what I can tolerate. Our mother says we’re too much alike, but she’s dead wrong.”
“What are your parents like?” Knowing my own relationship with Mama and Daddy, I wonder if his are even remotely as stifling.