Page 50 of The Stalker

She remained where she was, able to see into the closet and watch what he was doing as he pulled a t-shirt off a hanger. He pulled it over his head before grabbing a black leather jacket and pulling it on.

“Twinning!” he announced when he walked back toward her wearing his own Games We Play t-shirt under the black leather jacket that matched hers, and she burst into laughter.

“I can’t—” she gasped through her laughter. “That’s amazing!”

Hayden grabbed her arm and pulled her to stand next to him in front of a full-length mirror in his closet, where they both laughed so hard they had tears in their eyes. He put his arm around her shoulders, pulled his phone out of his pocket, and snapped a picture of the two of them before showing her the screen.

“I wish I could post this on social media, but I know I can’t. We’ll always know we were twinning, though,” he winked at her. “Come on, you have a car to drive. Unless you’ve rethought the idea of me getting to drive?”

“Hard no, but nice try,” she laughed.

Hayden retrieved a set of keys and held them out to her with pride. “Take care of my baby.”

Tatiana took them off him reverentially. The key fob itself wasn’t much different from any other car key, barring the infamous Lamborghini bull logo on them. It was also hanging off a Lamborghini key chain, and Tatiana ran her thumb over the smooth metal before shaking her head.

“What will you do to me if I crash it?”

He grinned at her. “Make you replace it. Got a few spare million lying around?”

“Of course,” she laughed back at him, even though she was now pretty much shitting bricks about driving the car.

“Well, have fun chasing down one of the sixty-two other people who own one and convincing them to sell it to you. I’ll kick a million in if you give me the pleasure of joining you on that mission. I think it would be fun to watch you very likely get knocked back sixty-one times,” he teased her.

“Why don’t you think I’ll be knocked back sixty-two times?” she asked out of curiosity.

“Because I know someone who would sell one to you, but I’ll make sure they’re the last person on your list.”

“That’s evil!” she exclaimed.

“Let’s not forget that in this scenario, you crashed my Sián,” he teased her. “Shouldn’t I get a little enjoyment out of your search for a replacement?”

“I didn’t know you had a mean streak, Hayden Vega. You learn something new every day,” she grinned at him. She closed her fist around the keys and said, “Okay, let’s go.”

They took the elevator downstairs, and Hayden led her through the parking garage. She had noticed the other times she’d been down here that it was like being in a luxury car showroom. They passed a Maserati, two Ferraris, a Lamborghini, and three Porsches on their way to the green Sián.

As soon as it was in her sight, Tatiana jumped from foot to foot and exclaimed, “Oh my god, there it is!”

Heat flooded her cheeks as Hayden chuckled next to her. “Yes, there it is.”

She resisted the urge to run to the car and check it out immediately, knowing that as unlikely as it was that anybody down here would want to harm Hayden, she needed to remain by his side. It felt as though the walk to the car took forever. When they finally stood at the back of the car, Tatiana stared in awe at its beauty.

She walked around it in a circle, telling Hayden repeatedly how amazing she thought it was. Softly touching the paintwork and tracing the number sixty-three at the back of the car with her finger. The few times she’d driven cars like this, she’d never been given the time to truly appreciate what she was about to drive. Hayden didn’t rush her at all, allowing her to take in every aspect of the car before she unlocked it and pulled up the scissor door.

“These doors never fail to impress me,” she told him as she dropped into the low, orange bucket seat.

“You know what? They never fail to impress me either. My twelve-year-old self would die if he knew what I drove around in now. My dream car for years was the Lamborghini Countach, and the Sián is very similar.”

She closed the door and laughed as she stretched her legs out as far as they could reach. “Yup. I can’t even touch the pedals.”

Hayden laughed and told her how to adjust the seat. When she couldn’t figure it out, he got out and came around to the driver’s side to do it for her. He was crouched down by the open door, his face at her level and smiling at her as he moved the seat.

“Tell me when,” he said.

Tatiana was so distracted by his presence that she actually had to ask him to move the seat back a little, her face flaming with heat as he did.

“Better?” he asked.

Tatiana nodded.

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