Page 34 of Hayden's Stalker

“Thanks.”

She takes it off me, and I watch her wrap her lips around the straw as we walk away from the bar to the VIP area.

Not a cheater.

Is it cheating to enjoy watching someone drink a cocktail a little too much? I remember my fantasy from Sebastian’s apartment of reaching under her dress and cringe internally. I need to shut this shit down. Blake might not be the bestboyfriend in the world, but that doesn’t mean that fantasizing about someone else is okay.

When we enter the VIP area, Blake is standing nearby with his friends. Meanwhile, my friends are sitting at the other end of the room on one of the banquettes. I wave at them when they see us, and Sebastian heads straight over to them while Tatiana trails me over to Blake.

He has sandy-blonde hair and is sexy as fuck. Our relationship is good when it’s just us, and I hope he’ll come to stay the night with me because I haven’t seen him all week since he’s been in New York for work.

“Hi, Blake,” I say when I reach him.

“Hey, sexy,” Blake grins at me. He kisses me, his lips soft and warm against mine, then he breaks our kiss to look at Tatiana. “Who is this?”

I glance at his friends, some of whom I know have big mouths and like to gossip. They’re all looking at Tatiana and me with great interest. The news of me having a stalker isn’t public yet, and Tatiana is meant to be blending in.

I look back at Blake and say meaningfully, “This is Tatiana.”

“Thisis Tatiana?” Blake’s gaze roams over her from head to toe and he narrows his eyes at her. “She doesn’t look anything like I expected.”

Fuck.

Blake is gay, but he’s not blind. He’ll no doubt have noticed that Tatiana is hot as shit. He probably would’ve been jealous of anyone with a pulse, but it doesn’t help that Tatiana is probably the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.

“Can we talk about this later?” I ask, not wanting to discuss this right now, but with zero doubt that a discussionwillbe had at some point.

Blake shrugs and looks Tatiana over from head to toe again. “Sure, I guess.”

“Cool. I’m going to go sit with the guys. Come join us when you can.”

I’m dreading whatever discussion Blake will want to have about Tatiana. I need her because she’s apparently the best security I can get. It’s not my fault that she’s also attractive, and that’snotwhy I hired her.

Of course, I have been having some pretty bad thoughts about her. I’m angry at myself more than anything because I hate that I’ve given Blake a reason to be jealous. I’ve never once given him a reason to be. Not until today, it seems.

Whenever we’ve argued about people, I’ve had the moral high ground because I’ve never done anything to warrant his jealousy. I look at Tatiana as I sit next to Sebastian, and she drops onto the seat next to me.

Yeah. I’m in the wrong now.

I’m in the wrong because I have a thousand dirty thoughts running through my mind about things I could do to her. I’ve never felt such a strong urge to be with someone before. My baser instincts have always been easily controlled. I fuck when I want to fuck, but I’ve never had the urge to fuck every person who crossed my path.

I’ve certainly never struggled to avoid cheating before. I’ve always been firmly of the opinion that if you’re not committed to someone, you shouldn’t be with them.

Tatiana, however, is my employee. I’ve hired her for a reason, and it certainly isn’t to be my new girlfriend. So I need to ignore whatever urges she inspires in me and focus on the man I’ve chosen to be in a relationship with.

“Blake hasn’t bothered to come and say hello to us,” Gabriel says, and he sounds pissed off.

Speaking of that man I’m in a relationship with. Of course, he hasn’t made an effort to greet my friends.

“I don’t know what to say, Gabriel.”

I shift in my seat because there really is nothing to say. I’m embarrassed that my partner snubbed my friends, but I have no control over Blake. Despite the fact that I’ve practically begged him to try and get along with my friends, he doesn’t seem to want to.

Gabriel is glaring past me, probably at Blake, and there’s an awkward silence between us before Harrison says, “Hi, Tatiana. I’m Harrison. We didn’t officially meet yesterday.”

“Hey. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Gabriel.” He drops the scowl and waves pleasantly at Tatiana.