Page 5 of The Stalker

He is a client, Tatiana. You don’t react like this to clients. Be professional.

She mentally berated herself for her response to him. She listened to the sound of his breathing and knew that she needed to say something to break the silence.

“Do you have any more questions for me?” She was pleased with her very calm and professional question; her voice gave away nothing of her attraction to the man sitting across from her.

“When will you start?”

“As I said, I can start today, or I can hold off if you don’t need me to start until the tour begins.”

Hayden appeared to think about her question. “I would feel better if you started as soon as possible. That way, we can get to know each other, and I can get used to the way this works in a place I’m familiar with before we move on to the tour.”

“That’s very sensible,” Tatiana agreed.

“Where do you stay, and what hours do you work?” he asked her.

“I’m contracted for twenty-four seven availability. Clearly, I can’t be with you twenty-four hours a day. I do actually need to sleep.” Hayden grinned at her comment. “Basically, I will sleep when you sleep, I will eat when you eat, and you should probably get used to my face because you’ll be seeing it a lot.”

She was used to being in her clients’ spaces at all times, and she did try to prepare them for the reality of this before they signed the contract. But she didn’t want him to think he wouldn’t have any space from her at all.

“That being said, I try not to impact your life as much as I can. I will be in every room you’re in, but when I deem it safe enough, I’m able to remain at a distance to give you space. In your home, if it’s secure, we can be in separate rooms, and obviously, I’m not expecting to be in the room if you’re being intimate with someone.”

Hayden laughed aloud at this, and it was a velvety, melodic sound. “Live sex shows aren’t a part of the gig?”

Oh, good lord. Do not think too hard about that. Be cool.

“I prefer them not to be,” Tatiana managed to grin at him while trying to stop her brain from envisaging what he suggested. “As for where I stay, my clients usually have a spare bedroom in their places where I make my home for the duration of the contract. If you don’t have that, or are not comfortable with it, you’ll be required to pay for me to have accommodation nearby. Preferably in the same apartment building, and the maximum is within two blocks, so that in a worst-case scenario, I can reach you in minutes.”

“Not a problem. I have spare rooms.”

“That’s excellent. We’ll discuss tour logistics later, but it’s similar. Ideally, you’ll have a suite with a room for me. If not, I’ll need to be in the room next to yours and have a connecting door between our rooms.”

Hayden nodded, but Tatiana could see the muscle in his angular jaw was tense, and he had a worried look on his face. She wanted him to be at ease with her, as well as the situation as much as he could be, while still remaining safe.

“This is what I do, Hayden. I am very, very good at my job. In a perfect world, you wouldn’t need my services, but we all know the world isn’t perfect. Hopefully, this person is caught quickly and I can be out of your hair before you know it.”

Tatiana gave him a kind smile. This wasn’t the first pep talk she’d had to give a client at the start of a contract, or the middle of a contract, or near the end of a contract. She was only ever hired at probably the most stressful time in each of her clients’ lives.

“Thanks, Tatiana.” Hayden smiled, but it didn’t wipe the worried look from his face.

“You can call me Tati, if you’d like.”

She held her breath as she waited for his response. She offered this to all her clients. Some took it, some didn’t. It helped her to gauge how the contract might go, regarding the level of friendliness between herself and the client.

Tatiana was unsurprised when Hayden responded with, “Thanks, Tati.”

She firmly ignored how much she had cared about him taking her up on that offer and continued, “You’re welcome. Anything else you want to discuss now? We can always talk this evening, but if you have any hesitations that might prevent you from signing the contract, now is the time to speak up.”

He took his time responding and Tatiana watched him as he thought about it before shaking his head. “No questions that would make me think we shouldn’t sign.”

“Good. Well, I’ll go get your super cheerful manager so we can discuss the contract and get it signed.”

Her words brought a smile to Hayden’s face, one that finally erased the worried expression he’d been wearing, and Tatiana was pleased with herself for being able to ease his concern. She stood from the table and walked around it to go get Cooper.

As she passed behind Hayden, she caught his aroma and he had a clean, fresh scent and smelled like coffee.

Okay, so he smells like the best thing in the world. He’s hot as hell, and nice…but he’s a client. I don’t want to have to tell you again, Tatiana Swanson.

Just because he was a client, which made him off-limits, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t make her job more enjoyable. A client that was sexy and friendly was nothing to complain about. God knows, she’d worked for some complete assholes in the past.

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