Page 100 of Protecting Hailey

“Is everything all right?”

“Yes. Perfectly fine. I just told my mom I wasn’t going to go on tour.”

“What?”

My mom shrugged. “You might want to sit down for this,” she said and patted his shoulder. “Our girl is making moves.”

Christian stared at me as my mother kissed me goodbye and closed the door behind her.

“What’s going on, Hailey? I’m getting a little worried.”

I laughed. “There’s nothing for you to worry about. It’s good news, actually.”

I pulled him toward the couch and snuggled up next to him. “I’m not going on tour.”

“I thought it was booked.”

“I’ll have to see what the contracts are like, but I’m telling my management company not to book anything else.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“Before I left the studio today, Fitz said something that got me thinking.”

“What did he say?”

“That I could make a career out of writing songs.”

He shook his head. “Isn’t that what you’re doing now?”

I chuckled. “Yes. But I could do just that. Write for other artists and not have to perform. Just write. Do you know what that means?”

“Not really.”

I grabbed his hands and turned to face him. “You don’t have to move to L.A. We can live wherever we want. I can write from anywhere. Yes, I’ll have to come to L.A. once a month to meet with artists and producers, but I can work that out.”

I rubbed the crease between his brows. “What’s wrong?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. I guess it’s just a lot to take in. Is this what you want? I don’t want you giving anything up for me, Hailey.”

“I’m not. I’m truly doing it for me. The more I think about it and say it aloud, the more I want this.” I smiled and kissed him.

He dropped his head and rubbed his face.

“What is it?”

“Well, I was out this afternoon speaking to some guys. I wanted to figure out a way to still keep busy while you were working. I was going to start a bodyguard business here with some of the guys I know from my time in the military.

“Oh.”

I let go of his hands. “What does that mean? Do you want to stay here, then?”

“I don’t know now. You’ve changed it all up on me.”

He shook his head. “But this is good, Hailey. Now neither one of us feels as though the other is sacrificing something. We can decide together how we want to move ahead with our lives. Do you want to stay here in L.A. or move to New York?”

I hadn’t thought about it like that. But he was right. We both had options now and we could move ahead with whatever felt right.

“Well, my parents will be staying here and your family is there. What if we split our time up? We spend fall and winter in L.A. and summers in New York?”

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