Page 41 of Protecting Hailey

“What are you talking about? What is this?”

“It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement. You know this. Our managers discussed it. They both felt that if the two of us got together, it would be great for our images. Two rising stars dating and living the dream.”

Hailey stuttered, and so did my breath.

“Oh, my god,” Trey whispered. “You didn’t know. Frankie didn’t tell you.”

“I—I—” Hailey’s footsteps pounded against the hardwood floor and I ran after her.

“Hailey, Hailey,” I called, but she wouldn’t turn around.

I caught up to her before she reached the top of the stairs leading to the back. Grabbing her arm, I spun her around to face me. “Stop running. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

Her chest heaved and tears streamed down her face. She shook her head and tightened her fists. “Yes, I do. They made a fool of me. Frankie, Trey, Jason—all of them,” she spat. Then she pointed to the crowd around Trey. “They’re all laughing at me. Saying that I can’t sing, that I can’t keep a man interested in me. It's humiliating.”

The tears fell past her cheeks, and she pulled her lips in, holding back a sob. My heart broke for her. I didn’t know what to say, except for the truth.

“You have the most amazing voice I’ve ever heard,” I said, and swallowed my reservations before I could continue. “And if you think you can’t keep a man interested in you, then Hailey, you are grossly mistaken, because I’ve not been able to look at anyone but you all night.”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s because it’s your job to watch me.”

She turned her face away, and my chest tightened. With my index finger, I pulled her attention back to me and held her gaze. “It’s my job to look out for danger. But Hailey, you are the worst kind of distraction. I have to remind myself that you’re my client. Your body, and your smile, captivate me and sometimes I forget where I am. I shouldn’t admit how much you distract me, but when you talk like that, I can’t let it slide.”

She wet her lips and I bit mine, using all my strength to hold back from kissing her senseless.

“I captivate you?” she asked, her expression blank.

I closed my eyes. “To distraction.”

Her hands crept up my shirt until she circled her hands around my neck. She wet her lips again, and I stared, watching her tongue dart across her bottom flesh. “Kiss me,” she breathed.

I inhaled sharply. My body reacted to her command, but my head screamed. Don’t do it! Don’t cross that line!

She stared at me and I fought against my lust, pushing it so far down my throat that I nearly choked on it.

But then, her pretty green eyes showed uncertainty.

“Christian,” she whispered.

My name on her lips undid me. It was as though she had claimed me. My mind knew better, but it played tricks on me and, in that moment, I felt as though she were mine.

“Yes,” I breathed back and without another second of thought, I pressed my mouth against hers and closed my eyes.

Her lips were soft and plump. I kissed them slowly, running my tongue along the same path hers had followed earlier, wanting to know what she did—wanting to know everything about her. I learned that while she smelled like white tea and sage, she tasted like strawberries and cream. I learned that when I gently nipped at her lips, she hummed in her throat. I learned that my body burned wherever she touched it.

Holding her face in my hands, I kissed her gently, taking my time to learn how she wanted to be kissed. I listened to her breaths and her heartbeat next to mine.

Click!

The sound momentarily snapped me back to reality. I sensed someone behind me and I turned.

Click!

A woman stood a few feet away, taking photographs with her phone. She laughed, but her smile fell when I growled at her. “Give me that phone!”

She ran faster in those heels than I would have thought possible. Hailey stopped me with a hand on my arm as I moved to run after her.

“Just leave it. Even if she erases the pictures, they’re probably still on a cloud. Besides,” she smiled and caressed my cheek. “I don’t regret it. Do you?”

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