Page 48 of Hayden's Stalker

“On very rare occasions, yes,” I assure her.

“Noted.”

She sits up, pushing the footrest of the chair in as she does, before walking over to the bookshelf. She slidesCasino Royaleinto its spot with the rest of the series before pulling outLive and Let Die.

I watch her turn it over and read the blurb. “Mr. Big, huh? Oh, and a colleague in the CIA. Sounds like fun.”

“Should be right up your alley,” I tease her, pretty sure I won’t get her to tell me anything about if Lita was right and that was the government agency she worked for.

“I’m not going to take that bait.” She smiles back at me.

“And yet you knew exactly what I meant. Interesting.” I stroke an imaginary beard, and she rewards me with her musical laugh as she settles herself back in her chair.

I watch her open the book and start to read before I turn my attention back down to my book. We read for hours before I find myself jerking awake every few seconds and rereading the page in front of me.

I can’t stop myself from yawning loudly, and Tatiana looks up at me. “I’m just about ready for bed. What about you?”

“If you’re ready for bed, then so am I,” she tells me.

Fuuuuuuuuuck.

I can’t help but envisage her naked in my bed, and when her cheeks go bright red, my cock jerks in my jeans. I fight my arousal as she stands and turns to setLive and Let Diedown on the table.

“Would you like a coffee before bed?” I ask, desperate for something to distract myself from these dangerous thoughts, and she nods.

I often make us coffees before bed, which has become part of our routine. We sit on the sofa together to drink it while we talk. She smiles softly as she takes a sip, and it gives me so much satisfaction to see her enjoy the coffees I make for her. I got brown sugar the first chance I could, and Tati thanked me profusely when she realized what I’d done.

“I got an email telling me that the tour bus is ready for me to inspect. I was beginning to worry they wouldn’t get the modifications done in time, to be honest,” I tell her as I swallow a sip of the rich coffee.

I had them make changes to the interior of my bus so Tati can have her own room because I want her to be comfortable since it’ll be such a confined space. The tour starts next week, so the company finishing this late is way too close for comfort. The guys all checked out their buses almost two weeks ago.

“That must be a relief,” she says.

“It really is.” I smile at her, a thrill of excitement running through me at the thought of being on stage. “I’m excited to be on tour again, though. Performing for thousands of people is amazing. There’s no feeling like it.”

I envisage the crowd going wild as we play our music for them. They feed off our energy, and we feed off theirs in turn until it fills the arena completely, and the whole world is nothing but us and the music enjoying it as one.

“I can’t even imagine what that’s like,” Tati says.

I try to find the words to explain it to her. “We give everything to our music and our concerts, and the fans give it back to us. The energy in these arenas is phenomenal, and when you have an entire audience singing every word to a songyouwrote.” I shake my head. “Mind-blowing.”

She stares at me, wide-eyed, and I wonder if she can see what I’m seeing. I can’t wait for her to see me perform. I’ve never been one to show off because of my career, but I can’t wait to do it for her.

We finish our coffees, and I grab a fresh sheet for my bed out of the linen cupboard on the way to my room. I lock myself inside, once again a prisoner in my bedroom, as I change into a pair of sweatpants.

Now that I’m in here, I’m wide awake. I remake my bed, then grab my phone and lie in bed as I send a text to Harrison.

They finished my bus. Tati will take me to see it tomorrow.

It’s less than a minute before he replies.

What the hell took them so long?

I haven’t told the guys exactly what changes I had made, and heat rushes to my cheeks because they know me too well. I only gave Tati her own room because I want her to be comfortable, and I don’t want them to think it’s more than that. Especially Seb, who won’t let me live it down.

I wanted some changes to the inside.

I can practically see the frown on his face when I read his text.

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