Page 57 of The Stalker

She turned to the main bus and her mouth dropped open. She’d been in tour buses before, but nothing like this one.

“Whoa,” was all she could manage to say.

“Right?” Hayden turned to grin at her. “So, this door closes to give us privacy from the driver.”

Tatiana moved further into the bus as Hayden shut the door behind her. It sectioned off the rest of the bus from the driver’s seat and the door to enter the bus. She inspected the door, then opened it and looked at Owen.

“How secure can this door be made to be?”

“We don’t have a lot of time, and I’d have to check with our supplier, but we can have it switched for one with reinforced steel and put a lock on it.”

Tatiana nodded. “Please do that. Is twenty-four hours enough time?”

“I’m not sure. Will you be fine to continue looking through without me? I’ll go back to the office and make the call.”

“Yes, thank you. Security is a particular issue for this bus, and I would really like to see a secure door between the entrance and the rest of the bus.”

“Got it.” Owen smiled reassuringly. “I’ll see what I can do.”

She turned back to Hayden, who said, “Good thinking.”

“That’s what I’m here for.”

Tatiana was surprised by how cramped the interior of the bus was. There was a long sofa along the side of it, with a kitchenette that had a sink and microwave sitting at the opposite end of the sofa.

Most of the space in the area was closed off, with only a small walkway between the sofa and the enclosed room. Hayden walked down this space to the other side of it and opened the door to the room.

He walked into it and Tatiana followed him. They were in a tiny bedroom with a double bed, but not much else. There wasn’t a lot of space to move around in, and Tatiana found herself standing far too close to Hayden in the small room.

“I would’ve thought you’d have a bigger room than this,” Tatiana told him in surprise.

“This isn’t mine,” he shrugged. “I thought you might be more comfortable if you had a room of your own. There’s supposed to be a big sofa and a dining table on the other side of it with a massive kitchen. I figured I could forego those things, and you said you don’t mind living on microwavable meals.”

Tatiana was touched by his consideration and shook her head in awe. “I’d have been fine sleeping in a bunk.”

“I know you would. Sorry it’s so cramped.”

Before she knew what he was going to do, he slid past her to get to the other side of the bed. As he did, his body pressed against her, and she smelled his scent. Her heart began to pound and she blinked in surprise as he crouched next to the bed.

He pulled out a drawer and said, “Hopefully the drawers and the overhead lockers will be enough storage for you.”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

“If you have anything that needs to be hung up, you can hang it in my closet if you want.”

“That’s very kind of you,” Tatiana said in a surprisingly choked voice.

She didn’t know why this act of kindness meant so much. He was such a beautiful, generous soul, and she still couldn’t believe he’d done this for her.

“Well, let’s see the rest,” she managed to say, and he smiled and nodded at her.

He took her through another corridor, showing her the toilet and bathroom on her right and a space with a refrigerator and some cupboard space on the left.

“This is meant to be something of a wardrobe, but I had to do some shuffling around to fit your room,” he told her.

“Hey, whatever works,” she shrugged.

They’d reached a door to a room at the back of the bus, and when Hayden opened it, Tatiana was stunned. His room was a full suite with what looked to be a queen-size bed in it sitting across the bus. On the opposite side of the bed was a window, with a wardrobe either side of it and a marble countertop underneath it.

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