Page 42 of The Stalker

6

The Consideration

Hayden wasin his room when Tatiana woke the next morning. She greeted him as she let him out of his room, and they moved about in stiff silence as they prepared breakfast together.

Tatiana made them cereal and toast to eat, while Hayden made them coffees. They took the food and the drinks to the dining table, where Hayden sat next to her.

He was wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and was shirtless. He exuded sex appeal, and it was incredibly distracting for Tatiana. She wondered if she should make a rule that he had to wear a shirt. She wasn’t sure if she could come up with a legitimate reason for needing it, though, other than, ‘you’re a little too hot to be walking around topless.’

After a minute or so, Hayden said, “I really am sorry about last night.”

She finished her mouthful, sighed, and took a sip of her coffee before turning to look at him. He was as gorgeous as ever, but with a sad look on his face. As usual, she wanted to wipe it away.

“Look, it’s fine. I don’t think you’ll ever really understand what it’s like for us bodyguards in a situation like that. Me, in particular. I definitely didn’t want to get involved in the fight I knew was about to go down, but once you and Blake refused to leave before it started, I had no choice.”

“You didn’t have to get involved, though, did you?”

“Yes, I did. There were any number of ways in which you could’ve been incidentally harmed, even if I tried to just have you leave at that point. Once he had a weapon, the most straightforward way for me to keep you safe was to disarm him. It exposes me as being security. If, heaven forbid, someone was videoing or taking pictures and posting those online, which they frequently are, it’s obvious that I’m your security now.”

Hayden cringed at her words as he clearly realized that the ramifications of what happened at the club were far more wide-ranging than he had assumed.

“If your stalker sees that, my cover is blown. Which is fine, because my priority is still your safety first, but it’s annoying because I didn’t need to get involved if you’d moved when I told you to.”

“I didn’t think of any of that,” he said quietly.

“I don’t expect you to, Hayden. That’s what I’m here for. To think of that. Which is why I need you to follow my directions. But there’s no point in harping on about it. I think you understand now, and I accept your apology.”

Tatiana received notification the next day from Hayden’s building manager that the board had approved the changes she’d requested. He assured her they would be made at once and that she didn’t need to involve any lawyers. She was just grateful she didn’t need to fight them on the matter.

She and Hayden settled into a rhythm in Chicago. She escorted him to tour rehearsals and interviews, and had Jesse join them when they went out in public. The rest of Cruise Control also came over frequently to play music in Hayden’s music room.

If any of them had a problem with being made to wait in the lobby, as Hayden had suggested they might, none of them complained within her earshot. She often left them alone in the music room, though, so it was possible they complained to Hayden directly.

Tatiana often chose to stand by the door instead of bothering them. She pretended that this was just to give her client privacy and not because she had trouble getting images of Hayden drumming shirtless out of her head when she was lying alone in bed at night.

As almost the antithesis to Cruise Control, Blake complained every time he was made to wait downstairs for entrance to Hayden’s apartment. She would brook no argument from him on the matter, however, and shut him down every time she heard him complain about it.

Blake also seemed eager to go out with Hayden each time he visited, and that night was no exception. They were sitting together on the sofa in Hayden’s living room after eating dinner. Tatiana hovered at the side of the room, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed in front of her as she watched them.

“We haven’t been out together in ages, sexy,” Blake whined.

“I don’t want to go out, Blake. I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but I have a stalker.”

“Who is far more likely to attack you on tour than at Club Delirium,” Blake pointed out.

Tatiana cringed internally, because he wasn’t wrong. Statistically speaking, Hayden would definitely be far more exposed while on tour than he was at home in Chicago.

“I don’t want to go out,” Hayden shrugged.

“Well, I do. What’s the point of even having a boyfriend if I have to go to the club without him all the time?”

Tatiana glared at Blake, even though he was busy pouting at Hayden. This wasn’t the first time he’d tried to guilt Hayden into going out with him, either. She did feel bad that Hayden had stopped going out since their last outing to Club Delirium, though.

“Considering I’m going on tour soon, you’re going to have to get used to it anyway.” Hayden’s jaw was set as he looked at Blake.

“But you’re here now, and I want to spend time with you,” Blake sulked.

“Is that not what we’re doing?” Hayden raised an eyebrow at him.

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