Page 99 of The Stalker

Tatiana returned her gaze to Hayden’s muscular form as he swam across the pool in front of her. His arms looked strong as he performed the freestyle stroke, and she knew exactly how they felt when wrapped around her while she kissed him.

No. Don’t think about it. Pretend it never happened. Remember the email.

The door to the pool area opened, and another group of people entered. There were six people in this group, four women and two men who all looked to be in their thirties. They didn’t recognize Hayden at once. Tatiana watched them as they set their things on a table and chairs near her. They were talking amongst themselves when Hayden stopped in the deep end to catch his breath again and one of the men gasped.

“Holy shit! Is that Hayden Vega?”

One of the women followed his gaze and said, “Fuck, it is! Are Cruise Control staying here?”

“Do you think I could get his autograph?” another woman asked.

“How are you going to do that? Do you think he’s carrying a pen on him, Shannon?” the first woman laughed at her.

“Shut up. I’m going to go talk to him, at least,” the woman named Shannon said.

Hayden had started swimming again, and when he reached the shallow end, she moved into his path, causing him to stop.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” she said, sounding apologetic. “Oh wow, Hayden Vega. Hi!”

“Hi,” he said, smiling at her before shaking his head. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to crash into you.”

“No, no. I got in your way, my bad. Are you guys staying here?”

Hayden glanced over at Tatiana before looking back at the woman. “Yeah, we are. We’ve got a concert on Friday.”

“I know, we’ve got tickets. I’m Shannon, by the way.” She beamed at him, and he smiled back before reaching out a hand to shake hers.

“Nice to meet you, Shannon. I guess it’s for the best that I crashed into you. I was starting to get tired. That’s probably why it happened. So I should probably get out of the pool now. Enjoy your swim.” He gave her a wave as he walked up the stairs and headed over to Tatiana.

She saw Shannon’s face flame bright red when she must have realized that Tatiana knew him and that she’d been talking about him within her earshot.

“Hey, Tati. I’m going to go to the sauna. Is that cool?”

“Generally, no. I’m led to believe they’re really quite hot,” she teased him.

Hayden chuckled, and Tatiana heard the group that was still nearby whispering about him. She was sure he could hear, too, because his body was tensed in a way that it usually wasn't.

“Sure. I’ll come with you,” she told him.

Hayden raised his eyebrows at her and said, “Okay. Sounds like fun. Let’s go.”

She stood from the lounger, and they grabbed their towels, which they carried over to the sauna before entering. The sauna had two heights of benches, with the hot rocks near the door. Hayden sat on the top bench at the side opposite the rocks, and while Tatiana was tempted to sit as far away from him as she could, she sat nearby on the lower bench in case anyone else came into the sauna.

“She bumped into you on purpose, you know,” Tatiana commented.

“Yeah, I know. People do that. I really don’t mind being approached most times, but it is annoying when I’m enjoying myself and I get interrupted like that. Can you put some water on the rocks?”

Tatiana nodded and walked over to ladle water onto the rocks. She could already feel sweat beginning to pour off her and it got worse as the steam hit her. She walked back to the bench, took off her bathrobe, which she set aside, laid out her towel, and stretched out on it. It was mildly better than sitting upright, at least.

“I have no idea how you can stand sitting up there.” Tatiana shook her head.

“It’s worth it for the view I have, that’s for sure.”

Tatiana ignored his comment, even as she felt the effect his words had on her. She was suddenly very aware of how little fabric was covering her body. Her nipples were stiff, and she ached to fuck him.

“I really like that swimsuit, Tati,” he said in a seductive voice. “If you’re getting too hot, though, you could always try taking it off to cool down.”

Tatiana took a moment to allow herself to envisage a world where she could take him up on that offer, then she shut the thoughts away. She sat up and turned to look at him.

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