Page 144 of The Stalker

She cracked the door two inches and peered through the gap to ensure there was no one coercing Heather to get the door opened. April and Harrison were there, but no one else. She opened the door and allowed them in.

“The others are on their way, too,” Heather said with a smile to Tatiana as she passed her.

“Others?” Tatiana blinked at her.

“Yeah, Seb, Lita, Gabriel, and Ariana.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than the rest of Hayden’s friends arrived. Tatiana let them through and locked the door behind herself before turning to the bus. Hayden’s friends were packed in like sardines in the cramped space.

She picked her way through the sea of legs as she passed Lita holding Mirabella, then Sebastian, April, Ariana, and Gabriel, who were all sitting along the sofa.

Finally, she reached the kitchen area where Hayden was pouring drinks and talking to Heather and Harrison.

He handed a drink to Heather, who said, “Thanks. Man, I didn’t think it would be so squishy here. Harrison’s bus has heaps of room.” She looked at Tatiana. “Your room must be quite big? Where is it?”

“Oh, it’s just there.” Tatiana pointed to her left, where the room sat opposite the sofa.

“Do you mind if I have a peek inside? I’m so curious what it’s like!” Heather took a sip of her drink.

“Tatiana might not want you looking through her room, angel,” Harrison laughed as he came back from handing a drink to Sebastian.

Tatiana shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

She opened the door and Heather peered inside at the barren room before laughing, “Wow, Tati. You must be as big a neat freak as Harrison is.” She didn’t wait for a response before she turned to Hayden behind them. “Are you going to show me this fancy bath of yours?”

Tatiana realized with horror that while this room was completely bare because she was no longer sleeping in here, there were bound to be signs of her in his room.

She caught Hayden’s gaze over Heather’s shoulder and cringed at him, hoping that he would get something of the hint.

“Oh, sure. Just give me a minute. I actually need to make use of the bathroom.” He laughed casually as he said it.

“Make use of the bathroom, or clean your dirty underwear off the floor?” Heather teased him.

“No comment,” he grinned at her, then turned and quickly headed toward the other bedroom.

“Bottle of water for you, Tati?” Harrison asked with a smile.

“Yes, please,” she said, and thanked him when he grabbed her one out of the fridge.

She took a sip, and as she did, Heather called out, “April, can you come here, please?”

April raised her eyebrows and looked over from her conversation with Gabriel and Ariana before saying, “Sorry guys, I’m being summoned.”

“When Heather calls, one must always answer,” Ariana said before turning to grin wickedly at Heather.

“That’s right, and don’t you forget it, Mrs. Knight!” Heather grinned back.

April stood and picked her way across their legs to reach the end of the sofa before coming to stand next to Tatiana, who was still feeling slightly star-struck from being around her.

“You rang?” April said to Heather.

“Yeah, Hayden’s going to show me his bath. Didn’t you say you wanted to see it to see if you wanted one on your bus?”

April’s face brightened. “Ooh, I did!”

“It’s a very nice bath,” Tatiana said without thinking, and both women whipped their heads around to look at her. She felt heat rush straight to her cheeks and she quickly added, “I saw it when we were checking out the bus before the tour. Apparently, it’s a spa bath, too.”

Why don’t you just make a complete fool of yourself in front of the best songwriter in the world?

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