Page 47 of Protecting Hailey

Hailey, I’m not sure where this is going, but I want to explore it further with you. No. That sounded uncertain.

Hailey, I want you. Let me take you to places you’ve never been before. No. That was a little much. I didn’t want to scare her.

Fuck it.

I placed my hand over hers, stopping her from scrubbing the counter. She looked up at me from over her shoulder, and my body tightened.

“Hailey,” my voice was hoarse, so I cleared my throat. “What you did back there… No one has ever declared themselves like that for me. It meant a lot.”

She nodded.

“I want you to know that I feel the same way. I like you, Hailey. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed being in someone else’s company—without doing anything, just being next to them. I know you have a lot going on with your career right now, and I’m not asking you to change any of that. I just want to be honest about what I’m feeling.”

She raised herself on her tiptoes and kissed me gently. “I like you, too.” She smiled, and I got lost in her eyes. Her hands on my biceps and mine on her waist had me thinking of all kinds of different ways I would hold her. I leaned down and placed my lips on her neck, inhaling her sage scent.

As I moved my tongue along her collarbone, she pushed away. Her eyes grew bigger, and she smiled. “That’s it!”

“What is?” I looked down, wondering if she was referring to any parts of my body.

She laughed and then ran from the kitchen.

What the hell was going on? I’d not expected that reaction.

The strumming of a guitar reached me before I entered the living room. Hailey sat on the sofa with her blue guitar in hand, humming and tapping her foot. “When you kissed me, this melody played in my head, and I had to work it out.”

I sat on the couch opposite her and leaned back. She bit her lip as she struggled to find the melody. I grabbed a pencil and paper from the desk and passed it to her. “Thanks,” she mumbled and scribbled on the pad.

A few minutes later, she sang the chorus and part of a verse of a new song. It was a love song, and my heart swelled at the thought that our kiss had inspired it.

I close my eyes and see the world fall before me.

I close my eyes and see the world and what it’s done to me.

But when you’re with me, I am true and free.

I see a future and all that I could be.

I inhaled deeply. Her words unsettled me. They spoke to me on a frequency I’d never wanted to hear. I’d seen the world fall, and I’d fallen to my knees along with it. But when she looked at me, I saw a different future—one I’d never thought would be possible for me.

Hailey looked up and smiled. “What do you think? It needs more work, but—”

“I think it’s beautiful. You’re beautiful. No…” I shook my head, trying to grasp my thoughts. “You’re so much more, but I can’t find the words to express how I feel right now.”

She put her guitar aside and stepped in front of me while I sat on the couch.

I inhaled. “Hailey. You heard your mother. We can’t be together,” closing my eyes, I added, “even though it kills me to say it.”

Hailey smirked. “We should probably keep away from each other in public,” then she dropped to her knees in front of me, “but what happens in private is between you and me.”

Seeing her on her knees before me, desire shot through my body, and my dick hardened painfully against my jeans. She put her hands on my thighs and licked her lips.

That mouth would be my undoing.

My hand shot out and grabbed the back of her head. Slowly, I pulled her toward me to kiss those full lips. She groaned when my tongue swept inside her mouth. Strawberries and cream. She tasted so fucking good.

Her hands ran down my chest and I felt her slender fingers through the cotton fabric. My body heated to a fever pitch, and I broke the kiss to pull my T-shirt off.

Her eyes greedily took in my chest, and they widened. “Wow, those abs and pecs are better than I imagined.”

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