Page 103 of The Stalker

“I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy, and that’s not even you,” Jesse laughed.

“Give me a second,” Hayden said as he stood and walked away from them toward his room.

“I honestly thought he was going to offer you his bed,” Jesse murmured with a grin on his face, and Tatiana flushed with heat.

“And he’d sleep on the sofa?” She raised an eyebrow at Jesse.

His grin widened, and he said, “Sure, let’s go with that.”

Tatiana wanted to call him an asshole for his comment, but she also knew he was just calling it like he saw it. Which made her wonder how everyone else saw it. She knew that Jesse saw a lot more than anyone else, though.

“What do the others know about your sleeping situation?” Tatiana asked out of curiosity.

“I told them the tour bus company screwed up, and we were all pissed. I’m not sure they really believed me, but they haven’t said anything about it,” Jesse shrugged.

“Thanks for covering for him,” Tatiana said.

“There was nothing to be gained from telling them the truth. From what I’ve seen, you’re very good at your job, so there’s no point in making that harder for you.”

“God knows Hayden’s done his best to make it as hard as possible,” Tatiana cringed.

Jesse’s eyes widened, and he looked past Tatiana with a horrified look on his face.

“Gee, thanks,” Hayden said in a cool tone behind her.

“Shit, sorry, Hayden. I didn’t mean—”

He held a hand up to stop her. “Don’t bother. I know I fucked up.” He looked at Jesse and said, “Anyway, you can sleep on Harrison’s bus. Because Heather’s not on the tour, her bodyguard isn’t on the bus, and there are spare bunks there. It’s nicer than the crew bus and will be much quieter for you.”

“Are you sure it’s okay?” Jesse asked.

Hayden held up his phone and said, “Harrison says it’s fine. Can you sleep one more day on the sofa before tonight’s concert? Otherwise, we can check when we’re stopping if you want to switch today.”

“One more sleep won’t kill me,” Jesse assured him with a smile.

Hayden smiled and thanked him before he went back to his room, and Tatiana looked at Jesse. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yeah. If you think about it, if I stayed on the bus, Hayden would be unprotected when I’m sleeping during the day. Ideally, we could both stay on the bus, but that ship has sailed.”

“We could take turns using the room,” Tatiana suggested.

“I mean, we could, but honestly, I don’t personally see a safety risk on the bus when we’re traveling. The secure door makes it about as safe as possible.”

It was true that when locked away, the bus was the safest place they spent any of their time on tour. Tatiana even locked it when they left the bus to minimize the chance someone could get onto the bus and tamper with anything in there. It was the one place she’d been able to relax during this contract other than the library.

“You’re right, I suppose. But if I see any issues, I will haul your ass back here and make you sleep in the room before you can think twice,” she laughed.

“Noted,” he grinned at her.

“Okay, I’ll let you sleep, then.”

She bid him goodbye, then headed to her room with a bowl of granola from the kitchen. She’d been sitting there eating her food for a few minutes when her phone lit up with a text.

Last day sneaking around trying to get your breakfast as quietly as you just did.

Tatiana smiled at Hayden’s text and typed one back.

Clearly not quietly enough if you were able to tell me exactly what I’ve been doing.

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