Page 11 of The Stalker

“That’s crazy. What if it’s one of the guys?”

Tatiana raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you mean one of the men whose voices have been recorded and broadcast worldwide for any person to download and sample at leisure?”

“Shit, I’d never thought of that,” he said in alarm, staring at her with wide eyes.

“Exactly, and I’m here so that you don’t have to.”

“Is my stalker really going to try and kill me, though?” he asked with a worried frown crossing his handsome face.

“My goal is for them to never get close enough to try.” She didn’t want him to worry constantly, but she also didn’t want him to be blasé about his situation. “The threat is real, though, Hayden. They’ve already run you off the road once, which brings me to my next point. I drive. Always. Not Jesse and definitely not you.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but his phone started buzzing on the table in front of him and Tatiana saw the words ‘Blake Stirling’ on it.

“Hey Blake,” Hayden answered the call. He was silent for a moment, then said, “No, not tonight.” After another silent few seconds, “It’s my first night with Tatiana—” he stopped talking abruptly as Blake must have cut him off, and then he sighed. “No, Blake. We just need to talk and run through things.” Hayden shook his head as he listened again. “It doesn’t matter.” He paused, then said, “Blake,”—there was a warning note to his tone—“no. I said that. I’ll see you tomorrow, bye.”

He hung up the phone and dropped it back on the table a little harder than a person normally would. It immediately began buzzing again, and Tatiana cringed when she saw Blake’s name on the screen.

Hayden rejected the call and said, “Sorry about that.”

Tatiana didn’t respond because some clients were intensely private, despite the level of access she had to their lives. She did occasionally become friends with clients, and even kept in contact with two of her previous contracts that she’d become really close to during their time together. Tatiana felt as though she and Hayden could probably become friends from their interactions so far, but she didn’t want to risk overstepping at this early juncture.

“Obviously, things aren’t brilliant between Blake and me. I’d been hoping that he would come on the tour, but he’s not,” Hayden sighed.

“That’s unfortunate,” Tatiana said as she saw Hayden’s phone light up with a text that she would bet her entire bank account was from Blake.

“Yeah. He also thinks that I’m going to sleep with you tonight instead of going out to a club with him.” Hayden rolled his eyes.

Tatiana raised her eyebrows when he said this. “He does?”

“He gets jealous, and because I’m bi, he doesn’t trust me around literally anyone.”

Their relationship sounded exhausting, and Tatiana wondered why Hayden didn’t just dump him. She would never stand to be questioned by a boyfriend about every person she interacted with.

Not that you have a boyfriend to question you.

It had been years since she’d been in a relationship because her life had zero stability in it, so she made do with one-night stands when she felt the need arise.

“Seems like fun.” Tatiana shook her head just thinking about it. “Especially since I’m sure you meet a lot of people given your career.”

“Exactly. I’m not a cheater, though. I never have been, and I never will be,” Hayden said in a serious tone.

Tatiana was grateful for him saying this, partially because it made things less complicated for her but also because it was a timely reminder that he was her client and had a boyfriend, so was completely out of bounds.

She nodded. “I respect that. It also makes my job easier, that’s for sure.”

“Worked for a few cheaters, then?” he asked.

“Yup. Nothing complicates a contract more than having to follow your client to their lover’s house and lie to their significant other about it later. Good times.”

“You lie for them?” Hayden seemed surprised by this.

“Yes, and I would lie for you, too.”

Tatiana shrugged because it was the truth. Her job had certain requirements. Occasionally, one of those was to lie on behalf of her client. It wasn’t her favorite part of the job, but she did whatever she had to do.

“I meant what I said to Cooper. I act only in your best interest, but I’m not here to protect your soul. If you’re a cheating asshole, I’ll cover for you since it keeps you safe, but the morality of it is entirely on you.”

“Well, I’ll do my best to not make you lie for me, but I guess it’s good to know that you would,” Hayden laughed.

---