Chapter Ten
"Jayden?" Wilson asked. "What's going on?"
"Maybe we should take this into Harvey’s office," the man standing next to Jayden said. "You'll have a little more privacy there. There are a lot of eager ears out here."
Wilson had no idea what that meant, but he recognized the guy saying it as one of the bar owners. He was pretty good with faces and excellent with names. He held his hand out. "Joey, wasn't it?"
The man shook his hand. "Yes, Joey James."
"So." Wilson glanced toward Jayden. He frowned when he noticed the pallor of Jayden's face. "What's going on here?" He'd asked that once already, but no one was answering him. "Jayden?"
"We really need to take this somewhere private," Jayden said.
"The office is this way." Joey waved his hand toward a door farther down the hallway. "I'm sure Harvey won't mind you using it."
Wilson felt a spasm of worry somewhere in the region of his stomach. If Jayden needed privacy to talk to him, it must be pretty bad. They'd used a condom when they slept together—he knew because he'd found it in the bathroom the next day—but maybe it had torn or something.
Was that something he had to worry about? He thought he'd been pretty careful, but maybe he was wrong. Wilson pressed a hand to his stomach when it started to churn. He really hoped he wasn't wrong.
He followed Joey down the hallway to one of the nicest offices he'd ever been in, and that was saying a lot. He'd been in a lot of offices. It had a large wooden desk on one side of the room and a loveseat and chair next to a fireplace on the other.
A large steel door was on the farthest wall. He'd attended enough top-secret briefings to recognize the biometric reader next to the steel door. He just couldn't figure out why a bar needed one.
"Can I get either of you a drink or some coffee?" Joey asked.
Jayden shook his head.
Wilson didn't. "I'll take a Jack and Coke if you have it." He was pretty sure he was going to need it.
After Joey left, shutting the door behind him, Wilson turned his attention to Jayden. "What's going on, Jayden?" He wondered how many times he was going to have to ask that before he got an answer.
"Please, come sit down."
Wilson sat down in the chair. Jayden took the small loveseat. He wrung his hands together as he stared down at them. Wilson didn't say anything, giving Jayden the time he seemed to need to gather his thoughts.
Wilson didn't understand the tears he could see in Jayden's eyes when the man raised his head. "Jayden?"
He started to stand to go to him.
"My name is Jayden Grant, and I'm a reporter."
Wilson sank back in his chair. Disbelief held him immobile. It did not keep him from speaking. "You're a reporter?"
His heart sank when Jayden nodded. His worst nightmare was coming to life right before his eyes. He didn't just have a reporter dogging his every move. He'd slept with the guy.
Frankly, he'd do it again.
"When you walked into this bar a couple of nights ago," Jayden continued, "I made the mistake of texting my boss. I had no idea the can of worms I was opening. He's demanding that I dig up dirt on you any way that I can."
Wilson's jaw clenched. "And have you?"
"Not exactly. I kept putting Marv off, but he kept calling, wanting me to find out what you're doing here in Cade Creek. At first, Marv was convinced you were here to meet up with your mistress."
Wilson's eyebrows shot up. "My mistress?"
Jayden nodded. "I tried to steer him in another direction, and I thought it was working until tonight."
Wilson narrowed his eyes. "What happened tonight?"
