Page 156 of The Stalker

“Seriously?” Hayden asked, sounding surprised.

Tatiana shrugged. “Yeah. I don’t blame people, because the whole point of bodyguards and security is that we mostly blend into the background and don’t interfere with your lives as best as we can. I can forgive you for overlooking us when talking about private things. What I can’t do is risk Heather saying something about us around the bodyguards.”

There was a heavy silence left in the wake of her words before April asked quietly, “People really spoke of high-level secrets around you?”

“Yes. I was excluded from meetings, but people talk. They have a conversation when they think they’re alone, but you’re still close enough to hear. It happens all the time.”

“Damn.” April blew out a breath of air. “When Heather suggested I go on a date with Hayden to try and get him to confess to you two being in a relationship, I didn’t think I’d actually get you two to confirm it. I was only half-convinced Heather was right, anyway.”

Hayden chuckled and smiled at April. “Heather doesn’t miss much. I doubt Tati and I could’ve kept our relationship a secret if she’d actually been on the tour with us.”

“So, what do we do now?” April looked at Tatiana.

“Well, we’d kind of planned for Hayden to tell Heather that sparks didn’t fly, and he didn’t want to go on any more dates.”

April pursed her lips and frowned. “That makes sense. I’ll tell her that I didn’t see any sign of you two being together, but Hayden didn’t seem interested in me, so I’m not sure. I know that it doesn’t convince her that you’re not together, but if I tell her that, she’ll for sure know that something’s up.”

Tatiana tensed up as April was talking. She didn’t like that it wouldn’t nip Heather’s suspicions in the bud. It was just an added complication to her relationship with Hayden that they didn’t need.

Hayden put his arm around Tatiana’s shoulders and pulled her into him. The tension flowed out of her, and she looked up at him.

He smiled at her, then turned to April. “Good thinking. You’re right that Heather would be suspicious if you suddenly do an about-face from before our date.”

“You two are so freaking cute together, did you know that?” April asked with a smile on her face.

Tatiana stared at her, then turned to look back at Hayden. He looked at her for a few seconds before lowering his head to quickly kiss her on the lips.

“I didn’t know that,” he said, still looking at Tatiana. “I do know that Tatiana is amazing, and I love her.”

“Ooh, the ‘L word,’ huh? Seems serious, Hayden Vega,” April laughed.

He turned to look at her and nodded. “It is.”

Tatiana could hardly believe the conversation taking place. It was so strange that her favorite singer was here talking casually with her boyfriend about their relationship. Everything in her life seemed to have turned upside down, but the one solid thing that anchored her amidst everything was her love for the man next to her.

“Well, I’m happy for you. Even if it means I can’t date you and force you into a big celebrity wedding one day,” she teased him.

“What a shame,” he chuckled.

“Look, if I leave now, the bodyguards in the hallway are going to notice how quickly this date ended. How about we have a few drinks, then I can leave after a respectable amount of time has passed.”

Tatiana nodded. “Thank you. It’ll add to the illusion within their group if you do that. Even not going on any more dates with Hayden, they’ll probably think something happened between you two, which is useful.”

Hayden got up to get drinks for them. He and April drank beers while she had water, and they talked for a few hours before April left just after ten in the evening.

She hugged Tatiana before leaving and said, “Thank you for trusting me. It’s nice to see Hayden happy, and we can talk more sometime in the future. He can bring you to one of my concerts or something.”

Tatiana felt a thrill of excitement come over her. The last time April had suggested this, it seemed like something that could never possibly happen. Now, there was some hope of a future where she and Hayden could do this.

“That would be awesome. Thank you.”

She let April out of the suite and turned to Hayden as she said, “Well, that didn’t turn out how we expected.”

“No, but April is awesome, and I think she’ll keep our secret.” Hayden smiled at her and held out his hand toward her. “Shall we go to the bedroom? We’ve got less than two hours until our curfew.”

She walked over to him and slipped her hand into his, following the man she loved for the stolen hours they could have together.

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