Page 58 of The Stalker

“Wow,” she whispered.

“You haven’t seen the best part,” he grinned at her.

He looked at the tablet Owen had given him, pressing a few buttons with a frown on his face before his expression cleared.

“Abracadabra!” he announced as a massive television slid up from the countertop.

“Holy shit,” Tatiana gasped.

“Cool, right?”

“Very,” she agreed.

He pressed a button again, and the television slid back into its hiding spot. She followed Hayden past the bed and he opened a door on the other side of the room. Behind it was a full bathroom. There was a toilet for Hayden’s private use on the right, a sink opposite the door at the very back of the bus, and to the left was a bath underneath a shower.

“This is insane,” Tatiana told him.

“I feel like a douchebag. Basically, a third of the bus is just for me.” He wrinkled his nose at her.

“Hey, you’re the rock star. You’ve earned it. I can’t believe you have a bath.” She shook her head, then laughed. “Will you even fit in that?”

Hayden grinned at her. “Let me check.”

For a second, she thought he was going to strip naked, but he didn’t.

Of course not. He’s just testing the size. He’s not ever getting naked for you.

Hayden climbed into the bath and sat down, still smiling. “Yup, this will do nicely. It’s a spa bath, too.” He slid down in the bath and leaned against the back of it, closing his eyes as he did. “Oh, I can just imagine being in here after a concert. My muscles get so stiff sometimes, being able to have a bath on the bus will be epic.”

Tatiana swallowed heavily and noticed that she seemed to be having trouble breathing. She was also struggling with the strong urge to climb into the bath with Hayden.

Fuck no. You know this, Tatiana. Get it together.

He opened his eyes and looked at her, apparently done with his fantasy bath, and she felt pressured to say something. “Lucky you.”

“Oh my god, if you want a bath, you can have one, of course. All you have to do is ask.”

She was pretty sure that this was a rare occasion where Hayden didn’t think his words through before speaking, because as soon as he said it, his face flushed bright red.

“Sorry, that’s inappropriate. Or is it? I just meant that if you did want a bath, I’d be more than happy to let you have one. I wouldn’t even be in my room. You’d have complete privacy to do whatever—I’m going to stop talking now.”

Tatiana’s cheeks were flaming with heat, too. She was unable to forget the last time he’d rambled like that—when he was talking about her masturbating. Given his last words, she wondered if he was thinking about her masturbating in his bath.

Stop wondering. It doesn’t matter if he is. That’s his problem.

And yet, she couldn’t look away from him. He was staring up at her, and a thousand sexual desires were running through her mind. Every single one of her nerve endings was on fire, she had goosebumps, and her skin tingled. Their breathing sounded loud and echoed in the room around them, yet still she couldn’t look away.

Please stop this, Tatiana. It’s too much. He’s going to get hurt if you don’t focus. Be a professional, please.

Her breath caught at the thought of Hayden getting hurt, and she was finally able to move. She backed out of the bathroom in horror, stumbling when she hit the bed. She righted herself and tried to focus.

It wasn’t a matter of right and wrong. It was a matter of life and death.

She wasn’t just being unprofessional with Hayden, she was putting his life at risk, and she needed to stop. Without even touching on the aspect of him being in a completely unhealthy relationship, she needed to value his life enough to stop doing this.

Hayden appeared in the doorway and said, “Well, we’ve seen the bus. I guess we can go now.”

“Yup.” She could barely get the word out.

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