Page 39 of The Stalker

“That’s different.” He shrugged his shoulders, and Tatiana looked at Jesse, who was giving them an amused grin.

“How?” She raised an eyebrow at Hayden, who flushed bright red.

He didn’t respond immediately, and he took a few seconds to think about it before he replied, “I don’t know. I guess I’m just used to going in front of other men. It would be strange to have a woman in the room watching me do my business.”

Tatiana laughed, “It’s almost certainly going to happen at some point, so you’ll have to get used to it. You can use the stall if you need to, though.”

Hayden actually looked relieved at her suggestion, and Jesse chuckled as they finally left the corridor that led to the bathrooms. They hadn’t gone far into the club when they ran into a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman with a group of friends, and Tatiana raised her eyebrows when she saw April Conway. She was a big fan of her music and knew that April was friends with Cruise Control, but she hadn’t expected to get to meet her.

“Hey, April,” Hayden grinned at her before giving her a hug.

“Hayden, hi!” April exclaimed. She looked at Tatiana in surprise and asked, “Oh my god, you finally broke up with Blake?”

Hayden glanced at Tatiana and cringed. “Oh, no. Blake is upstairs in the VIP area. This is Tatiana, she’s”—his eyes darted to the women with April—“a friend of ours.”

April’s cheeks flamed bright red, and she said, “Shit, sorry. I just assumed. I shouldn’t have. Nice to meet you, Tatiana.”

April held her hand out to shake Tatiana’s, and she shook it before gushing, “I’m a huge fan. It’s so nice to meet you.”

“Oh, you’re a competition winner?” April asked.

Tatiana frowned at her and shook her head.

Hayden laughed his sexy laugh and grinned at Tatiana, “No, and Tati didn’t care at all about meeting us. You should be honored, April. I get the feeling that Tati doesn’t fangirl over many celebrities.”

Heat rushed to her cheeks and she wished that Mother Nature would be a little more accommodating to her this evening. Maybe a cyclone could just tear through the club or something?

“Well, maybe Hayden can bring you to one of my shows sometime,” April smiled at her.

“Of course I can,” Hayden agreed, much to Tatiana’s surprise.

She whipped her head around to look at him. “Really?”

“Sure, if you want to.” He smiled at her.

He’s a client, Tatiana Swanson. He’s not your friend. He’s certainly not your boyfriend. You’re going to finish the contract and be out of his life forever.

Tatiana was caught up in the excitement of it for a second before she remembered the reality of their circumstances, and she gave him a tight smile.

“Cool. Sounds good.”

Hayden frowned at her for a moment, then looked back at April and her friends and said, “Well, speaking of Blake. I should probably get back to him. It was good seeing you, April.”

She looked between Hayden and Tatiana, then hugged him again and said, “You, too. It was really lovely to meet you, Tatiana.”

Tatiana nodded at April, and led the way past them, further into the club. When they reached the stairs to the VIP area, Blake was heading down them.

He glared at their group and said in an accusatory tone, “That was the longest trip to the fucking bathroom ever.”

Tatiana bristled at the unspoken demand for an explanation of why they’d taken so long.

“We ran into April on our way out,” Hayden said.

“Hmph. Well, I’m going to the bar for another drink. Are you coming with me?”

Hayden shrugged, and they all turned to head to the bar instead of upstairs. They were standing and waiting to order when Tatiana’s attention was drawn to a man nearby. His body was tensed, and he was shifting from foot to foot as he talked to another man. His back was to her, but the man he was talking to was facing her and he was frowning deeply, clearly angry. His hands were curled into fists.

“We need to go,” she told Hayden in an urgent tone.

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