THIRTEEN
HAYLEY WAS DOING HER BEST TO ignore the I know what you did last night smirk that Gemma had been wearing since showing up at her door unannounced ten minutes ago.
The two now sat in a silent stalemate across the kitchen table from each other, sipping their morning coffee and daring the other to speak first.
“Just spit it out already.” Hayley released a heavy sigh. She hadn’t had nearly enough sleep or caffeine for this conversation.
Gemma’s eyes crinkled as she grinned at Hayley over the rim of her own mug. “Should I have something to say about the way Maddie waltzed into my kitchen this morning in one of your silk button-ups?”
“There it is.” Hayley slapped her palm against the table a little harder than she’d intended. She ignored the way her chest squeezed at the thought of Maddie wearing her shirt.
“So where was last night’s stop on the convince-Maddie-to-move-to-New-York tour?”
“You have officially lost your mind,” Hayley retorted. “You’re the one who got me into this!”
Gemma waited patiently, tapping her nails against the table.
“We went to the Knicks game.”
“Suite 200? Celebrity row?” Gemma leaned forward, her eyebrows knit together in a look of genuine intrigue.
“Of course,” Hayley countered. “What, should I have made her sit in the nosebleeds?”
“No, it’s just—that’s rather public for you, isn’t it? You’ve never taken a woman to the Owner’s Suite.”
Hayley opened her mouth to speak, but Gemma silenced her with a finger. “Amy doesn’t count. She’s your client, and her husband was there the entire time.”
She cringed. That had been an awkward night.
Realizing Gemma was right, Hayley waved a hand in dismissal. “What’s your point?”
“God, you are so damn stubborn. Just look at you.” Gemma pointed at Hayley’s outfit. “I’ve never seen you sleep in anything besides your two-piece silk pajama suit.”
Hayley looked down at herself. She was pantless, wearing only an oversized cotton T-shirt, screen-printed with the cast of Baywatch.
“There’s no way in hell that’s yours.”
Okay, so what? A few nights ago, Hayley had gone straight from work to Gemma’s house to watch a movie. Halfway through, she had given Maddie a heated look and nodded toward the guest room.
Thirty seconds later, her face was between Maddie’s thighs. She’d used only her tongue that night, grinning as Maddie had to muffle her moans with a pillow.
Afterward, Hayley had asked to borrow a more comfortable shirt before they rejoined their friends, hence the Baywatch tee.
“Can I ask you a question?” Gemma’s voice was soft.
Hayley took a sip of her coffee. “You’ve never asked for permission before—no need to start now.”
“Fair.” Gemma moved to sit beside Hayley. “Why do you still live here? You could have upgraded years ago.”
“I’m not following.”
“It just… it feels like you’ve designed your life specifically to keep people out of it.
” Gemma looked around Hayley’s apartment, her hand sweeping through the quiet air.
“Like, it wasn’t enough to just close your heart, so you turned your guest room into a closet.
And you never keep a spare toothbrush—that way, no one can ever stay the night.
There’s not a single picture on the wall. It’s so… intentionally unwelcoming.”
Hayley took in the space around her. What she’d always seen as calm and clean was now beginning to feel a little lifeless.
She forced a small smile. “Good. I like it that way. I don’t want anyone else here.”
Gemma laid a hand on top of Hayley’s, looking her square in the eye. “I don’t believe you.”
Hayley said nothing, and the two finished their coffee side by side in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
Was Gemma right?
Hayley had recently been thinking about her parents, about love, a lot more for the first time in years, in fact. She assumed it was because the trip to Coney Island had stirred up memories, but she wondered now if it was something more.
What difference does it make? Even if it had been nice to spend her evenings with someone lately, Maddie wasn’t going to be in New York forever.
In Hayley’s heart, she knew there was still an expiration date hanging over them, a ticking clock she wasn’t going to stop with a few nights out on the town.
No, even if she were to take Gemma’s advice and allow someone into her life and her home, disrupting her carefully crafted peace—an absurd idea—it certainly couldn’t be Maddie anyway.
Gemma left not long after, and Hayley pushed their conversation from her mind as she got dressed for work, mentally reviewing her schedule for the day.
She had already sold three out of the seven Brooklyn condos for over the asking price, and Hayley was eager to see how quickly she could sell out the whole building.
She beamed when she thought about how proud her dad would be.
——
Early that afternoon, Hayley’s assistant met her in the building’s lobby with a coffee in hand. Sarah always knew how much she relied on caffeine during tense negotiations, and Hayley accepted it with a grateful smile.
“Are you okay?” Sarah asked, looking concerned.
“I’m fine,” Hayley reassured her as they stepped into the elevator. “Why do you ask?”
Sarah scanned her face, thinking, and Hayley focused on maintaining her composure.
“You look sad,” Sarah said finally.
Hayley looked at herself in the silver reflection and saw what Sarah did—her posture was as straight as ever, but there was a deep crease between her eyebrows, and her mouth turned down slightly at the edges.
“I’m probably just overdue for a facial,” Hayley replied as the elevator slowed to a stop. She smoothed down her skirt, repositioned her grip on her chalk-white Birkin, and stepped into the penthouse with the composed confidence of a woman who owned the entire city.
Sarah began moving around the apartment, straightening linens and turning on lights, while Hayley laid out the listing details on the kitchen island.
She closed her eyes and saw Maddie on that very countertop, her legs spread across the smooth marble. For some reason, it made her chest ache.
“Mr. Grant is heading up,” Sarah announced, and Hayley’s eyes snapped open as her assistant joined her.
Seconds later came a ding, and the elevator doors slid open to reveal a handsome middle-aged man with dark hair that had just started to silver at the temples.
“Mr. Grant,” Hayley greeted, extending her hand.
“Miss Maddox,” the man replied, gripping her hand a little too tightly.
Hayley ground her teeth. She had dealt with Mr. Grant before, and she could do it again.
He was an agent representing a new client based in Chicago.
Hayley made quick work of showing him the specifics of the penthouse before retreating back into the kitchen so that Mr. Grant could FaceTime his client.
Hayley tapped her foot as she waited, feeling on edge. She turned her attention toward the wall of glass, remembering how she had found Maddie there, lost in the view of the city.
Before she’d spoken up, Hayley had watched Maddie for a moment, her silhouette dark against the gleaming sun. When she pictured it now, Hayley saw the image not just as a memory but as a glimpse into the future. The only thing was, it wasn’t her future.
Someday soon, someone else would stand in the same doorway she had, watching as the sky illuminated a different figure. She could see it so clearly, the life that a stranger would live there in the space she now stood.
For the second time that morning, she felt a hollow pang in her chest.
“What’s the listing price?” Mr. Grant asked loudly, walking into the kitchen and saving Hayley from her thoughts.
“Four point eight million.”
“My client would like to make an offer at four point five.”
Hayley kept her expression neutral, even as she mentally scoffed.
Over my dead body.
“I will take that number back to my client to discuss, and we’ll be in touch.” Hayley firmly shook his hand and led him to the elevator. She knew the game, and shooting down his price on the spot wasn’t the right play.
There was no way in hell that either she or her father would let the place go for under the asking price, but a voice in her head insisted that she shouldn’t push.
HAYLEY THREW HERSELF INTO HER WORK. She drowned in it for days, comforted by the familiar routine of market research, client calls, showings, and negotiations—anything that would prolong the inevitable moment when she would have to return to her empty apartment alone.
She had gotten home a little after nine p.m. that particular night.
She should’ve been hungry since she’d had to skip lunch for a last-minute appointment, but she couldn’t stomach the thought of solid food.
She opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of red wine instead.
Peeling off her layers of work clothes, she made her way to her bedroom to change.
Hayley reemerged in a matching lounge set, a burgundy glass of wine in hand, and let her body melt into her couch.
Taking a sip of her pinot noir, she indulged in her earlier thoughts, trying to picture a life in which she, too, could wake up to find a beautiful woman in her kitchen, gazing out over their empire.
A knock at the door startled Hayley. She certainly wasn’t expecting anyone, and Gemma would have happily just let herself in with her own key. She waited, hoping whoever it was would go away.
Three more sharp knocks rang out, sounding impatient this time.
Hayley groaned and made her way to the door, putting her eye up to the peephole. Her stomach flipped as she rushed to unlock the deadbolt.
“Maddie. What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”
She wore a long khaki trench coat, her hands stuffed into the pockets, looking unsure of herself.
“I just haven’t seen you since the Knicks game, and I know you’ve been busy, but I missed you.” Maddie held her gaze, her expression softening.
Hayley’s heart squeezed. I missed you too. But Hayley couldn’t say it.
“Can I get you some pinot noir?” she asked instead, gesturing for Maddie to come in. “And take that coat off—it’s the middle of summer.” LA fashion is so strange, she thought to herself as she reached for a second burgundy glass.
Hayley filled the oversized round bowl with a generous pour. She turned back to Maddie, the drink extended in her hand, and froze.
Glass shattered across the white tile on the kitchen floor, a sound she barely registered.
Hayley could only see Maddie, standing in front of her, the coat now discarded. Underneath, she had been wearing nothing but the most daring set of lingerie Hayley had ever seen. And dear Lord, it was entirely see-through.
“Oh my God, Hayley—” Maddie rushed over to her, scanning the floor for broken glass. “Are you okay?”
Hayley didn’t know how to answer. She couldn’t have cared less about the mess or even being injured. If she was bleeding out and these were the last seconds of her life, she was exactly where she wanted to be.
“Maddie.” Hayley swallowed against the lump in her throat. “You look… fuck.”
Maddie smiled and straightened, seeming to remember why she had come over in the first place. “Do you like it?”
“I…” Hayley drank her in, unable to find the right words.
Maddie took a step toward her.
“Wait, be careful—” Hayley stopped Maddie from coming any closer with a slight push, using her body to block the way. She could see a jagged edge digging into the bottom of her foot. A sharp pain should have pierced through her, but she hadn’t felt a thing.
Fueled by adrenaline, she grabbed the closest rag she could find and quickly swept up the spill, cursing herself for dropping the glass.
Smooth, Maddox.
She threw the towel into the sink. Reaching down, she plucked the shard from the bottom of her foot without a flinch, tossing it into the trash. She returned her attention to Maddie, who offered a sheepish grin.
“I’m really glad you’re here.” Hayley’s tone was genuine.
“Yeah?” Maddie asked coyly. She took a step toward Hayley, reaching behind herself to unclasp her bra.
Hayley gently caught Maddie’s wrists, dropping her focus to the floor as she wondered what the hell she was doing. “Would it be okay if we just watched TV tonight?”
Silence.
She looked up and took in Maddie’s stiff posture and flushed cheeks.
“No, no, Maddie, listen to me.” Hayley cupped her face, holding her gaze. “You are the sexiest woman I have ever seen. I’ve just had a long day, and I…” She trailed off, shaking her head. “But I’d really like it if you stayed.”
“We do have a lot of Summer House to catch up on.” A gleam returned to Maddie’s eyes.
The corners of Hayley’s mouth lifted as she laced their fingers together. She led them into her bedroom and opened a drawer in her closet.
“Wow.” Maddie raised her eyebrows at the matching black set that Hayley handed her. “This must be from Hugo Boss’s new Sweatpant line of suits. Very exclusive.”
Hayley rolled her eyes even as she laughed. “Very funny. I do own comfortable clothes, you know.”
Maddie smiled slyly and met Hayley’s gaze before beginning to shed her lingerie. She did it deliberately, making sure Hayley was watching as she meticulously slid each item off. Then, with equal patience, she pulled on the hoodie and sweatpants Hayley had given her.
Back in the living room, Maddie made herself comfortable on the couch while Hayley went into the kitchen. She carefully filled another glass of wine and placed it next to her own on the coffee table.
Too tired for reason, Hayley immediately reached for the blanket and pulled it over them both, leaning into Maddie’s side. It was surprisingly effortless to relax in her presence.
After three hours of back-to-back episodes, Maddie stretched and shifted out from underneath Hayley.
“Where are you going?” Hayley asked sleepily, watching as Maddie reached for her long trench coat.
“It’s getting late, so I thought I should head out.”
“Stay,” Hayley breathed. Her voice sounded thin and brittle, as if it had come from someone else entirely.
Maddie went still, her eyes going wide, but then she nodded. She put her coat back on the chair and reached for Hayley instead.
Side by side in her queen bed, Hayley extended her hand, fingers trembling slightly before resting on Maddie’s arm. She inched closer, pressing her chest to Maddie’s back. Her pulse raced as she settled in, holding on to Maddie like a life raft.
She couldn’t tell how long they stayed like that, matching slow, deep breaths.
“Maddie, are you awake?” Hayley whispered into the quiet darkness after a while.
“Mm-hmm,” Maddie hummed into her pillow.
“Can I take you somewhere?” Hayley felt suddenly wide awake, and there was only one place she wanted to go.
Maddie shifted, looking back at Hayley, and murmured, “Anywhere.”