Page 7 of The Stalker

She ran back through the conversation quickly in her mind. Nothing that they’d said had made her realize that they didn’t know she’d be signing it with Hayden.

Tatiana shrugged her shoulders. “I’m sorry, I thought you all knew that. The contract is between my client and me.”

“So, you’re expecting Hayden to pay you?” Cooper asked.

“I actually don’t care who pays me, as long as someone does. Legally, I suppose Hayden is responsible if no one else pays. The contract, however, is a commitment between myself and my client. Not myself and a third party.”

She had little to no doubt that Cooper Powell would be exactly the kind of person to make life hard for her if she gave him even the tiniest chance to do it. He was glaring at her, and looked as though he was ready to argue the point, so she continued.

“If anything needs to change in respect to it, for whatever reason, we are not hampered by some other person who may want to have a say in those decisions. It allows me to work solely for my client, and in their best interest, alone.”

There was no way on god’s green Earth that she would ever have Cooper himself as a client. She was, however, more than willing to work with Hayden. From what she’d seen so far, he was friendly and fun, and she was sure he would be easier to negotiate with if they needed to do it.

“You wanted the best, Cooper? Well, I’m the best, and this is what you get if you want to work with the best.”

When Tatiana stopped speaking, Cooper said nothing in response. The entire room was silent, and she thought you could probably hear a pin drop.

Finally, Hayden said, “Hand me the contract, Cooper, so I can sign it.”

“Have you read it?” Tatiana asked him.

She wouldn’t sign herself unless he had. Hayden nodded his confirmation as Cooper walked over and dropped the contract and pen in front of him. He signed the contract in an elegant, looped script, and Tatiana handed him her copy to sign. He did so, then slid both copies over to her before handing her the pen.

Tatiana took a deep breath, then let it out slowly as she looked down at his signature on the page. The start of a new contract always felt momentous for her. As she signed her name next to her client’s, she knew that she was promising him that she would do everything in her power to keep him safe.

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