I turned my head and met his eyes, feeling unexpectedly guilty for a moment.I looked away and took a step forward. "It's not that. I just don't want others to overthink it.""Oh." His response left me unsure of his feelings.I didn't push it. We were adults, after all. We should understand boundaries and propriety. Plus, he didn't seem like the type to gossip.The silence between Hayden and me grew awkward. Finally, I broke the ice again. "How long will it take to finish adjusting these lights?""Hard to say," Hayden replied.I felt exasperated. "We have twenty days," I reminded him, thinking about the promise I made to Jace.Hayden glanced at me, and I half-expected him to say something, but all I got was a low "Mm."'Does that mean he agrees?' I wondered.With that topic wrapped up, there wasn't much left to say. I could've brought up Macy, but that'd only make things more awkward.The rest of the walk was painfully silent. Each minute dragged, and I even started sweating
Demi asked, "Keira, did you fall on purpose just now?"I couldn't believe she'd even ask that. My waist was still throbbing, and it was definitely gonna bruise. I felt like lifting my shirt to show her. Sure, I might be into Hayden, but I wasn't that desperate.I shot her a glare, but she just kept going. "What did it feel like when he held you? Is his arm really strong? Did his embrace feel—""Demi Young!" I cut her off. "Do you ever think about anything serious, like, ever?"Seeing I was genuinely upset, Demi stuck out her tongue and muttered something under her breath I couldn't catch.I held my sore side and left the power distribution room. It hit me that Hayden had called me over but hadn't asked me anything, making me embarrass myself and get hurt in the process.I decided I needed to keep my distance and stay clear-headed, treating him just like any other client. After all, what we had before was just a blind date, nothing more.Demi handed the documents to Hayden and qu
"Ms. Kay," Hayden's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.I turned around quickly, realizing he was standing there with Demi and the electrician.'Is it just me, or does Hayden look kinda cold?' I couldn't help but wonder if something had gone wrong. "Did you find any problems?" I asked."The electrician is already fixing them," he replied, his tone icy."Oh," I said, feeling a bit lost.Before I could ask what was next, he added, "We're not adjusting the lights today.""Huh?" I was caught off guard.The electrician chimed in, "There's a voltage issue in the wiring that needs to be fixed."I frowned. "How long will that take?""We should be done today."I sighed in relief, worried it might drag on for days."Do you need anything else from me?" I asked Hayden."No."I frowned slightly, but Demi spoke up before I could. "So, we don't need to stick around? We can finish early?""Yeah, you guys can go take care of other stuff. If anything comes up, we'll let you know," Hayden
Hayden walked up, looking cool and collected. "Let's go."'Huh? Is he not going to explain why he wanted to stay so close to us?' I wondered but felt too awkward to ask."Mr. Hart, why do you want to stay so close to us?" Demi, always quick to speak, asked for me.Hayden pressed the elevator button. I caught a glimpse of his room key card: 308, right next to mine."For convenience," he said, just two words.'Convenience for what?' I thought, my mind racing with possibilities.Demi looked just as confused. She turned to Hayden. "What do you mean by convenience?"I wanted to shake some sense into her. 'Is she really that curious? Does she have to dig into everything?'The elevator walls were polished, reflecting our images. I watched Hayden in the mirror, and he looked up, meeting my gaze.Our eyes locked for a moment before he quickly looked away and answered Demi, "Convenience for everything."Both Demi and I were at a loss for words.Finally, Demi stopped talking and just t
"Mmm."With that, he hung up the phone.Since he was the expert in lighting adjustments, someone who could affect the amusement park project, I couldn't afford to offend him.I quickly wrapped a jacket over my pajamas and went to knock on his door. Hayden opened it, his gaze falling on my still-wet hair, and his Adam's apple bobbed slightly."Does it still hurt?" he asked.I was momentarily confused. "Huh?"His eyes shifted down to my waist, and I understood.For some reason, my heart skipped a beat. "Oh, it's fine.""Wait a sec," he said before turning away, leaving me standing at the door.Looking into his room, I noticed his laptop on the table. It seemed he'd jumped straight into work after getting back while I was in the shower.'Not bad. His dedication is impressive.'Hayden came back, his tall frame filling the doorway. I glanced at him. He was still in the same clothes, but now his T-shirt was tucked into his pants, making his legs look even longer.He looked like h
There was no surprise in Hayden adding me on social media.Given our collaboration, we'd need to communicate a lot, and adding each other would make things easier.But I didn't accept his friend request right away. Instead, I replied to Lena's message, but she didn't respond—probably busy again.Next, I opened Wayne's message, thought for a moment, and replied: [I've been busy with the amusement park project. I'll show you around once I'm free.]I added another word: [Sorry.]Wayne responded quickly: [No worries. Just make sure to take care of yourself.]I was about to reply with a simple 'okay' when another message from Wayne came through: [I'll wait for you.]Those four words made my drafted 'okay' hard to send, so instead, I replied: [Are you staying here for a while?]Wayne: [Yes, I'm not leaving anytime soon.]That line was unexpected.After a few seconds, I replied: [Your parents must be happy.]Wayne's status showed he was typing, but no new message came through.I d
'But why would he ask that?' I wondered.I couldn't figure it out, so I just replied with a quick [? ].Hayden didn't respond. By the time I got to the restaurant, he'd already had breakfast and headed out to the amusement park.Overnight, they'd fixed up the park's electrical circuits, and Hayden had jumped right into testing the lights. I was pretty much his QC, checking the lights as he adjusted them. If something wasn't right, he'd tweak it until it was.It hit me that he was dead serious about not letting my health get in the way of work. He was like a machine, barely taking a break, which meant I had to keep up with him like I was on some crazy hamster wheel.I could barely get a few sips of water in, and I was scared to drink too much since that meant bathroom trips. If I took too long, he might finish adjusting a set of lights. Every time I missed an inspection, he'd have to wait, dragging out the process even more.After three days of this grind, I had ulcers in my mouth
I spun around, and sure enough, there was Jace. He shot a glance my way but aimed his question at Demi. "Where are you headed?""Keira's got ulcers. I'm grabbing her some spray and meds," Demi replied, not missing a beat.The moment she finished, Jace made a beeline for me."Have you not been drinking enough water?" he asked.He knew me too well. My body had a thing for overheating if I didn't stay hydrated, which meant plenty of water and porridge-like meals. Skip either of those, and I'd be dealing with nosebleeds or mouth ulcers.After ten years together, Jace had all my quirks down pat.But hearing him bring it up now felt like some twisted reminder of what he'd told Steve—that we "just know each other too well"."To well" that I no longer intrigued him. Not like that Tanya did."Mr. Johnston, is there something you need?" I shot back, my voice icy and formal, ignoring his question altogether.Jace's face darkened. He opened his mouth to say something, but then he caught s