Page 9 of Hayes

And she did not want to. For years she had spent time tucking them safely into the far recesses of her brain so that she could survive, and she had had to survive. But now she was giving them free rein.

Their first time had been on an icy winter night, three months after their first meeting. He had met her parents and had charmed them into accepting him, which, of course, had not been difficult, considering he was a Marsden and incredibly wealthy.

She had met his, too, but it had been the opposite. His mother had been reticent and suspicious, and his dad had been cool toward her.

When she mentioned it to Hayes, he dismissed her fears instantly by saying they liked her.

“They are just protective of their only child.”

Their first time had happened at her place of course, because her parents were always out and had no reservations about leaving her to her own devices. The maids had been given the time off.

He had told his parents he was crashing with friends; whether they believed him was another matter.

“I know it’s not your first time,” Camelia told him as they entered her very feminine bedroom with the green and lilac décor.

“And if I had known I would be meeting the love of my life, I would have stayed pure," he said sincerely. “I cannot change my past, Cammy.” It was his pet name for her and he was the only one allowed to call her that.

“I am just wondering if I am one in a long line of girls.”

He had been wounded at that. “Is that what you think of me? Haven’t I proven myself to you over these months?”

“Months being the operative word," she had insisted. “I am about to give you my prized virginity, not knowing if you will move on when the novelty has worn off. You are the most popular boy in school, certainly the richest, and girls are lining up to be with you.”

“Your popularity is not too far from mine," he had reminded her.

“That’s because when they look at me, they see my parents.”

“Is that what you think?” He had turned her toward the full-length mirror. “Look at what Isee, Cammy. You are beautiful, witty, and not afraid to speak your mind.”

“I am also black and certainly not a size two.”

“You are the most beautiful woman in the world to me, and I would like you to believe that.”

She had turned to him then, desperate to feel him against her. She had been kissed several times before by inept schoolboys who possessed more enthusiasm than expertise, and she had often found the act distasteful.

But it was not that way with Hayes. The first time they kissed was on the football field after practice. The others had left them in the gathering dusk. Flushed from the game, he swept her up against him and kissed her.

She had started to push him away when his arms came around her, and his mouth softened. Camelia could still feel the tremors inside her, the passion unfurling and building, until her arms were around his neck, and she was pressing against him in eager submission.

She was five foot eight, but even at the age of fifteen, Hayes was over six feet tall.

Shaking her head, she sat up on the sofa and finished the wine. She couldn’t go back to that moment. And it was time to let it go.

Chapter 3

“You want me to do an interview with Hayes Marsden.” Somehow, Camelia knew this was coming. It had been a week since the encounter with Hayes at the gallery, and she had seen him photographed with Simone Bledsoe clinging to him as if he was her lifeline. She had cried her last tears over him.

Maybe she was wrong to leave without explanation or even speaking to him, but she had been left without a choice.

“Yes.” Celeste arranged her flared skirt around her carefully and avoided the younger woman’s eyes. “The piece you did on2 the gallery opening was very well received, and you were right in the first place. People need to hear more than gossip about who is screwing who.”

“Whom.” Camelia corrected her automatically.

“There you go, darling; you know the right thing to say. And besides, she rushed on. “It’s a story that piques people’s interest. Hayes had to step into his dad’s shoes when the man had a sudden heart attack and in three years, single handedly managed to buy out two failing airlines and turned them around in record time.”

“I cannot do it,” Camelia told her firmly. “I was thinking of doing a story on those veterans who were evicted from the group home–”

“That’s all well and good, darling, but that story has been told so many times. Besides, they are now living in a comfortable place provided by other veterans. Surely not a story anymore.”

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