Page 32 of Off Limits Silver Fox

Hailey.

Again, I wonder how I let my guard down and allowed her to crawl into my heart and take hold of it. Can I do this whole thing again? Falling in love and giving my heart to someone? Am I ready for commitment in the long run?

After a disastrous marriage, I’m not looking forward to anything permanent. Falling for her will only further complicate things. What about Amber? How will she feel if she finds out I want to replace her mother with Hailey in my life? She might like Hailey now, but who is to say she won’t change her mind about her?

Despite how I feel about Hailey, it might not be love. I might just have a great fondness for her and enjoy the sex.

However, a few minutes later, when she opens her door to me with a sunny smile on her beautiful face, I recognize that what I feel for her is more than fondness.

I’ve fallen in love.

CHAPTER15

HAILEY

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I nod and lean in for the usual goodbye kiss from Gareth. A little sigh escapes from my lips as I watch him walk away. It’s becoming harder to see him leave my apartment every Sunday evening after a spectacular weekend. Tomorrow, we’ll go back to pretending that we’re only employer and employee, except when we have to work late. That is, if the other members of the team don’t join us.

I shrug and shut the door. I’m grateful for the weekends we spend together when his daughter isn’t with him. I can’t deny that I’m curious about his house, but it’s safer this way. No one can find out about our affair with this arrangement… unless Gareth is followed by the journalist from hell.

I chuckle at how Gareth described Sam Hunter. The journalist needs to get a life. I can’t imagine trolling people to find out dirt on them. During the interview we had concerning the election project, he seemed professional, but when he started asking me about Gareth’s personal life, I ended the interview.

“What an odious man!”

Clicking my tongue with disgust, I take the glasses and the half-empty bottle of wine Gareth and I shared last night to the kitchen. A smile curves my lips as I remember how Gareth drew me into his arms when I opened the door to him. He held me for minutes on end without saying a word.

A frown replaces my smile with the memory of him lamenting about his ex-wife. A nagging feeling about her has me rubbing my neck. I can’t shake off the feeling that I’ve met Linda somewhere, before she barged into Gareth’s office. A vague memory of her washes over me when I recall how she embarrassed me in my office. The way she stood by the door and shook her head when Amber hugged me makes me feel as if I’ve seen her do that before.

Chewing on my bottom lip, I move away from the sink and leave the kitchen. I head to the dining area where my laptop is positioned on the small dining table. No single line of code was written this weekend, but that’s fine since I spent it with my boss.

Sitting on one of the chairs, I open my laptop and do what I haven’t done in years. I want to know more about Linda Craig.

Know your competition, right?

I cringe at that thought and try to convince myself that the reason I’m researching my lover’s ex-wife is that I feel as if I’ve met her before, rather than looking for information about her.

Gareth confiding in me the previous day that Linda wants him back for the sake of their daughter shocked me. I almost shouted ‘over my dead body’ when he told me, which would have certainly raised his brows. Thankfully, I had controlled myself.

“Linda Craig. Let’s see who you are.”

I wait for the search results after typing her name into Google. I’m not surprised to see a flattering photograph of her with the inscription, ‘Ex-wife of billionaire tech mogul Gareth Payne’ on the first page. I click on Wikipedia to read more about her, even though everything in me is telling me to stop. I don’t think Gareth will like that I researched his ex-wife, but I need to satisfy my curiosity.

I scroll down the page, and it shocks me that she doesn’t hail from a wealthy or influential family. With the way she carries herself, you would think she was royalty.

Every other thing on the page becomes a blur when I read that she’s the founder of the Girls Support Charity Organization. I sit back in the chair and gawk at my screen.

No! This can’t be!

This is my worst nightmare.

As the founder of the charity organization, Linda Craig has sponsored numerous girls on scholarships, enabling them to attend college and get a head start to achieve their dreams. In partnership with multiple colleges, Craig has assisted young women whose families couldn’t afford their tuition fees, as long as they kept up their grades. A great number of them graduated with honors and have many beautiful things to say about her.

I put my hands across my face as tears glisten in my eyes at the realization that I’m sleeping with the ex-husband of the woman who saw me through college! Now I remember seeing her at the seminar where all the girls she gave scholarships to were invited to meet her.

How did such a sweet woman who put smiles on the faces of a lot of girls and their parents, become this insufferable? Did the divorce affect her disposition? Most likely. Who could part ways with Gareth and remain the same?

My hands fall from my face, and I resist the urge to scream. Of all the people in America, it is Gareth’s ex-wife who is my benefactress!

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