Page 151 of The Stalker

Tatiana retrieved her gun as Hayden made his way to the bathroom. She followed him quickly and locked the door behind herself. He’d disposed of the condom and was washing himself in the shower. She wrapped her gun in a hand towel and shut it away in a drawer before getting into the shower with Hayden.

“We can’t be long. I’m unarmed and too far from my gun.”

He nodded and kissed her softly. “Okay.”

“I might’ve held my arms a little too tightly,” she laughed.

Tatiana held her arms out for Hayden to look at them. There were obvious red finger marks from where she’d been holding her forearms while they’d had sex. Hayden held her arms in his hands and gently stroked the marks with his thumbs.

“I didn’t even realize. I’m sorry, preciosa.”

He lowered his lips to each arm and kissed them in turn before he began to wash her with the washcloth. Once they were both clean, they got out of the shower, and Tatiana felt an immense sense of relief come over her as soon as she was close enough to access her weapon.

They dried themselves and went back to his bedroom, where they got themselves dressed before relaxing back on the bed.

“I’m sorry I’m such a pain when we have sex in hotels,” she said as she wrinkled her nose at him.

Hayden chuckled and put his arm around her shoulders to pull her into him. “I really don’t mind. I just care about your wellbeing after we do stuff like that.”

He picked up one of her arms; the mark was barely visible now, but he kissed it again, anyway.

“So, do I want to know what Sebastian called for?”

“Probably not. Heather wants us all to do lunch today since she ‘barely gets to see us.’” He shook his head with an amused grin on his face before cringing at Tatiana. “It means that you and I will barely get to spend any time together today.”

“It’s okay. We’ve got our date tonight.” She smiled at him and said, “I told Jesse that I’d call him if your date with April went past midnight. So we’ve got a curfew.”

“Noted. I’ve suggested we go to one of the restaurants in the hotel. It means we don’t have to travel anywhere, and hopefully, we can go our separate ways earlier.” He sighed and stared deeply into Tatiana’s eyes. “Are you sure you want me to go?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I do. It’s the best way to throw everyone off the scent, especially Jesse.”

They ordered room service for breakfast, which Tatiana accepted before returning to Hayden’s room, where they ate it in bed together. She set the empty tray back outside the suite before once again returning to Hayden, securing the door of the room, and climbing into the bed with him.

They relaxed for the next few hours, reading books and talking occasionally. Tatiana was aware that she was letting her guard down a little too much lately, especially when they were on the bus. Despite the stalker’s letters, she couldn’t see a way that they could get to Hayden. Even now, she was with him and perhaps a little unguarded, but she had the luxury of knowing there were two bodyguards in the hallway protecting that entrance.

That shit will get him killed, Tatiana. You never rule out the unlikely possibilities. You must always assume you’re going to be attacked.

She sighed when she realized she’d read the same page five times over in her latest Bond book, and she put a bookmark in it before setting it aside.

“Everything okay?” Hayden asked after doing the same with his own book.

She swallowed heavily and nodded. “Yeah. Just the usual concern for your safety. I don’t know what I’ll do if anything happens to you, Hayden. I really don’t.”

She shuddered as a chill came over her at the thought of it, and Hayden squeezed her shoulders, comforting her and bringing back the peace she felt from being with him.

He placed his fingers under her chin and tilted her face up to look at him. His brown eyes were pools of dark chocolate and filled with love and concern for her.

“I trust you with my life, Tatiana. The authorities will catch my stalker, and we’ll be together, free of all of this stress. I believe that with every fiber of my being.”

She wanted to cry at the future he could see for them. She longed to have that future together, and she hoped desperately that they could achieve it.

She sighed again and said quietly, “I’ve never had to have a client give me a pep talk before.”

“I’m sure there are a lot of things I’ve done to you that no other clients have done.” He winked at her and it made her laugh.

“No. I have definitely not fallen in love with any clients before you. It’s not exactly how I expected this contract to go.”

“You thought I could be ‘just a job,’ huh?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

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