to find child care.” I see her eyes shifting wildly as if she’s trying to figure things out all by her goddamned self. I fucking hate that.
“Trust me to watch her?” I ask.
“As if I have a choice,” she mumbles.
Ihead toward the bathroom before I say some shit I can’t take back, but I stop when I hear her speak.
“You won’t take her anywhere, will you? You don’t have a car seat, and I don’t know the area.”
“No, we’ll hang here.”
—
For three days she has worked, and in that time we haven’t said more than ten sentences to each other. She and Livi are getting close, which is cool, and Marisa and I havea little routine at night.
Mom leaves and we hit the home gym in the garage. After two minutes on the treadmill, she is sitting on the ground.
Today, she is on my back, laughing as I run. Cutest little shit in the world. She likes grapes, eats the hell out of them things while we watch
Sofia the First
—not
Firs
. Then we read.
Hailey is off tonight, and from a distance, I can see a light hasreturned to her eyes. She jokes around with my brothers and Livi and seems almost comfortable. The only time I heard any friction was when she and Hendrix argued about her paying rent. He told her no; she told him she’d leave.
“Pain in the ass, you know,” he grumbled when she shoved the envelope at him.
And when I bought a car seat—a fucking car seat—for the Escalade, she was pissed.
“You everneed to take her to the doctor’s, you won’t be so pissed off at me,” I call out as I walk away.
Shaking my head, I bring myself back to the present and realize I need to put some distance between us, so I go to talk to Momma. Then I go to the bar, where I drink too much.
I get offers, lots of them, and I can’t even think about accepting. All I can think about is her. By the end of the night,I can’t drive, so I wait for the cab that Sally, the bartender, calls for me and then head home, where I stumble down the hallway to her door.
I stand in the doorway, watching them sleep. She looks stunning with the little frown gone, the worry seeming to have been erased. I have platinum right here in front of me, and I can’t even touch it.
I don’t know how long I’ve been staring at her whenher eyes open. She sees me, then glares.
I merely shake my head and walk away.
I hear the door shut and look back as she walks toward me, wrapping her robe around her.
“What the hell are you doing? Do you watch me every night?”
“Yep.” I want to lean forward and touch her. I won’t, though.
“Well, don’t. It’s creepy and wrong. It’s fucked up, Morrison.”
I nod. “Your fault.”
“Mine?”
“I havewalked around here for days, looking at you smile, laugh, and let down that wall with everyone around here.” I lean forward a little. “You have no idea how sexy that is to me.”
“Don’t,” her voice quivers.
I shake my head. “I want you all the damn time. I get hard when you walk by. I could have fucked five different women tonight—God knows I need a release—but I didn’t, because all I wanted wasto come back here and look at the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. The you here, Hailey—the Hailey lying with her daughter, sleeping without a frown or any visible worry—is the one I would prefer. But that Hailey wants nothing to do with me. So forgive me if I like to watch you sleep. I promise you I won’t do it again.”
She says nothing, but her lower lip sticks out, and I have to stopmyself from biting it or simply touching her, because I know what that does to her, to both of us.
So instead, I walk away.
Chapter 12
Hailey
“Morrison,” I call out. I shouldn’t speak. I should let him walk off. I need to push him away and truly let him go, not call him back to me.
He doesn’t speak. He keeps his body with his back to me and looks over his shoulder, watching me intently.
The tears build, and I feel like the dam is about to break.
“I don’t know how to
“Trust me to watch her?” I ask.
“As if I have a choice,” she mumbles.
Ihead toward the bathroom before I say some shit I can’t take back, but I stop when I hear her speak.
“You won’t take her anywhere, will you? You don’t have a car seat, and I don’t know the area.”
“No, we’ll hang here.”
—
For three days she has worked, and in that time we haven’t said more than ten sentences to each other. She and Livi are getting close, which is cool, and Marisa and I havea little routine at night.
Mom leaves and we hit the home gym in the garage. After two minutes on the treadmill, she is sitting on the ground.
Today, she is on my back, laughing as I run. Cutest little shit in the world. She likes grapes, eats the hell out of them things while we watch
Sofia the First
—not
Firs
. Then we read.
Hailey is off tonight, and from a distance, I can see a light hasreturned to her eyes. She jokes around with my brothers and Livi and seems almost comfortable. The only time I heard any friction was when she and Hendrix argued about her paying rent. He told her no; she told him she’d leave.
“Pain in the ass, you know,” he grumbled when she shoved the envelope at him.
And when I bought a car seat—a fucking car seat—for the Escalade, she was pissed.
“You everneed to take her to the doctor’s, you won’t be so pissed off at me,” I call out as I walk away.
Shaking my head, I bring myself back to the present and realize I need to put some distance between us, so I go to talk to Momma. Then I go to the bar, where I drink too much.
I get offers, lots of them, and I can’t even think about accepting. All I can think about is her. By the end of the night,I can’t drive, so I wait for the cab that Sally, the bartender, calls for me and then head home, where I stumble down the hallway to her door.
I stand in the doorway, watching them sleep. She looks stunning with the little frown gone, the worry seeming to have been erased. I have platinum right here in front of me, and I can’t even touch it.
I don’t know how long I’ve been staring at her whenher eyes open. She sees me, then glares.
I merely shake my head and walk away.
I hear the door shut and look back as she walks toward me, wrapping her robe around her.
“What the hell are you doing? Do you watch me every night?”
“Yep.” I want to lean forward and touch her. I won’t, though.
“Well, don’t. It’s creepy and wrong. It’s fucked up, Morrison.”
I nod. “Your fault.”
“Mine?”
“I havewalked around here for days, looking at you smile, laugh, and let down that wall with everyone around here.” I lean forward a little. “You have no idea how sexy that is to me.”
“Don’t,” her voice quivers.
I shake my head. “I want you all the damn time. I get hard when you walk by. I could have fucked five different women tonight—God knows I need a release—but I didn’t, because all I wanted wasto come back here and look at the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. The you here, Hailey—the Hailey lying with her daughter, sleeping without a frown or any visible worry—is the one I would prefer. But that Hailey wants nothing to do with me. So forgive me if I like to watch you sleep. I promise you I won’t do it again.”
She says nothing, but her lower lip sticks out, and I have to stopmyself from biting it or simply touching her, because I know what that does to her, to both of us.
So instead, I walk away.
Chapter 12
Hailey
“Morrison,” I call out. I shouldn’t speak. I should let him walk off. I need to push him away and truly let him go, not call him back to me.
He doesn’t speak. He keeps his body with his back to me and looks over his shoulder, watching me intently.
The tears build, and I feel like the dam is about to break.
“I don’t know how to
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