Page 27 of Hayden

Flustered, I say, “What’s that for?”

“It’s for you, silly. Now put it on.”

“Silly?” It’s my turn to cock a brow at him. “Seriously?”

“Hey, you said no more terms of endearment, so ‘silly’ it is.”

“You are such a child,” I mutter.

Waving the hoodie at me, he says, “Just put this on already. And let’s get inside. It’s fucking cold out here.”

“I think I’m getting used to it,” I lie.

“Addison, I swear…”

“Okay, all right.” Blowing out a breath, I snatch the hoodie from him and shrug it on and zip it up.

The damn thing is way too big, as it’s clearly his, but that just makes it all the warmer, seeing as it practically reaches my bare knees.

It also smells kind of good—soapy and manly.

I have a sudden, inexplicable urge to lift my arm and take a deep whiff, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to sniff Hayden’s hoodie in front of him. I’d never hear the end of it.

Staring at me like he’s trying to figure out what’s going on in my mind—he can never know I like his manly scent—he says, “Come on. Let’s go in.”

“Okay.” I nod.

Once we’re in my bedroom, I close the sliding door, where it locks once again automatically.

Watching me, Hayden says, “There’s a small lever off there to the side. Mine is the same. You have to disengage that so it doesn’t lock every time it’s closed. I just keep mine in the position where you can lock and unlock it as you please.”

“Ah, that’s a good idea.” I find the lever and disengage it. Then I lock the door manually. “What a stupid feature,” I grumble as I turn back to him.

“It is,” he agrees. “If I owned the house, I’d have it changed. But I don’t, so what can you do?”

He shrugs, and I nod. “Yeah, I guess just be careful is all.”

“For sure.”

Out of words, we just stand here and stare at each other.

Hmmm, his eyes are even prettier in the low light from the lamp, like a pale, pale blue.

It’s funny, because I try not to pay attention to things like his gorgeous eyes and how good-looking he is when we’re working together.

But here alone with him in my bedroom, I can’t help myself.

Maybe he’s doing the same?

I mean, when he tears his gaze from mine, I catch him sneaking a glance down to my legs.

But this has to stop.

“Um…” I release a breath. “I should, uh, walk you downstairs. I’m sure you want to get back over to your house.”

“Yeah.” He nods, raking his hand through his hair. “I should get going.”

We head down the hall and the stairs in silence.

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