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We’d have to go ru
I stopped with her at the passenger side of the Viper.
“Good morning, honey.” I looked up to see my mom coming down the driveway, her creepy husband right behind her.
“Hey, Mom.” I flicked a thumb to my left. “This is Tessa. Tessa, my mom Rachel and her husband Sam.”
The creep smiled at Tessa, his eyes darting to me, then her again. It’s a good thing I couldn’t read minds because if I confirmed what I suspected, I’d have to kill him.
“Nice meeting you.” Tessa seemed to shrink back, reaching for the door handle like she needed to flee.
“So nice to meet you,” my mom said, oblivious to her snake-of-a-husband and his ability to repel us. “Where are you guys going so early on a Sunday?”
“Ru
“Have a nice day.” My mom beamed and disappeared into the house with Sam.
I opened the car door for Tessa. “Figured maybe you might want to do something together Friday or Saturday, whatever night you’re not working.”
She’d been about to climb inside, but froze. “You mean like just you and me?”
“Yeah, why not?”
“I’ll tell you why not.” Her tone hinted that I should prepare myself for a smart-ass remark. “It seems like only a couple days ago that you kissed me and someone else the same night. Oh, wait. It was a couple days ago.” Her mouth formed a straight line.
“Tessa, I’m not like that anymore. I haven’t been with anyone since.”
“You mean you’ve gone a whole two days without? God, how have you survived it?” Sarcasm dripped from her words.
“That’s a long time for me,” I mumbled, my gaze falling to the concrete of the driveway.
“I don’t get it.” She exhaled in a whoosh, as though I’d exhausted her patience. “Why bother? There are so many girls dying to be with you. Choose one, scratch the itch and move on. Like you always have.”
Shoving my hands in my pocket, I forced the next words out. “I tried. Didn’t work out.”
Her brows rose. “Do tell.”
Inwardly, I groaned. Opening myself up this way made me feel vulnerable. But I couldn’t let Tessa think I wanted anyone but her. “Last night, I went to Skyler’s. This girl was all over me, but I couldn’t do it.”
She grimaced. “You mean like you couldn’t…”
“No, that’s not what I meant. I could have, I’m sure.” I growled softly. “I didn’t want to. I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
Tessa didn’t look flattered at my confession. She just stared, then abruptly got inside the car.
I closed the door and rounded the hood.
“Well, the good news is that this attraction you think you feel for me can’t last forever. Pretty soon, you’ll be wondering why you were ever interested in me. However, my humiliation at being used by you will last a lifetime. That alone is enough to keep you at a safe distance.”
“It’s not like that with you,” I muttered, starting the engine.
“Whatever you think you feel isn’t real, Hayden. I’m not who you want. You want someone like Christina or Back Up Plan or the girl from last night. They’ll take good care of you.”
I bowed my head, knowing it was pointless. Why couldn’t she see that it was different with her? Different because of her. “I don’t want them. I want you.”
“Well, pardon me if I have a hard time believing that,” she snapped.
After a few moments, we paused at a stop sign and I felt compelled to try again. I had to. “Skyler’s parents are out of town this weekend. He’s throwing a party Saturday night. If you’re not working, maybe you can stop by. Lots of people around will make it feel less like a date, right?” I doubted she’d go but if she told me she about her plans, I could accidentally show up wherever she went. If she didn’t volunteer any information, I would listen carefully all week to see if she slipped.
Me, Mr. Stalker? Absolutely.
“Your mom seems nice,” Tessa said, changing the subject. “But Sam is a total sleaze.”
I held up my hand, my jaw clenching involuntarily. “I don’t want to know what he was thinking.”
She sighed. “I wish I didn’t know. Why is your mom with him? You think she loves him? Is it like a money thing or something?”
I gave a short laugh. “Don’t know what she sees in him but it’s not money. She was loaded before she ever met him.”
“You think she’s scared to leave him?”
I glanced briefly at her. “You tell me.”
“Not sure. It was difficult to get anything from her with all his—”
“Don’t want to know. I already have a hard time not squashing him, Tessa.”
“I don’t blame you,” she mumbled, looking out the window. “If he’s your step-dad, why do you have the same last name?”
“He adopted me right after they got married. Cool, huh?” I scoffed.
“Yeah, super cool. What happened to your real dad?”
“When he went to jail, my mom coerced him into giving up all rights to me. That was way back when she still had balls. I don’t know what happened to her since then.”
“Why is he in jail?” Tessa asked.
“Money stuff. Fraud, embezzlement. Every scam you could think of.”
“Is that how your family got rich?”
“No. My mom comes from old money. And thank God she was smart enough to have my dad and Sam both sign pre-nups. If she dumped Sam, he’d be broke.” I spared Tessa a glance as I navigated the narrow street to the park. “I have to restrain myself every single day not to toss his ass out of the house.”
“Well.” She turned to me when the car stopped. “Maybe you shouldn’t hold back.”
Which meant that she’d plucked fetid garbage from his head. I didn’t want to know. I exited the Viper and tried not to think about that.
“You’re going to talk to Mr. Linton tomorrow, right?” she asked, getting out the other side.
“Yeah. Why? You know something?”
“Not really. My gut’s telling me that you need to get whatever you need from him by the end of the day.” Tessa shadowed me to a chain link fence beyond the sidewalk.
I put my hands against the fence and leaned forward. “Stretching before a run is important. Just do what I do.” I watched her mimic my movements and struggled to keep the lust at bay. “Keep your feet flat. Feel it in your calves?”
“Yeah.”
Damn. She was so hot.
We pla
Chapter Seventeen
Tessa
We entered the abandoned building and my eyes were immediately drawn to the stream of light coming from the window Hayden had broken the day before. It had been boarded up but only enough to prevent human intruders. Six-inch spaces between slats kept the large room from becoming too dark and musty.
“You guys don’t like electricity and ru
Chait chuckled. “Easier to meet here since you already knew where it was.”
“Are you armed?” a blond man asked Hayden. I remembered his face from some pictures Fawn had shown me in the auditorium. I was pretty sure she called him David. He had a higher position in the organization than Chait and Rena.
A shorter guy reached toward Hayden’s waist to check for a gun.
Hayden blocked him with one arm and sent him stumbling back with the other. I’d barely seen him move. “Back off.” He glared first at the guy who’d attempted to frisk him then at the blond guy. “After what happened yesterday, don’t you think that’s a stupid question? If you’re smart, you won’t give me a reason to use it.”