“Bring her here,” Pepper suggested. “Show her your mansion. She’ll see how much easier things will be for her here.”
I shook my head. “I asked her to come and she said no.”
Pepper sighed like I was particularly stupid pupil. “What’s that saying about if Mohammad won’t go to the mountain…?”
“Great idea. But I need to spend some time with her without being mobbed.”
Pepper popped out of her chair. “On it. Let me find some restaurant where you can have a private dinner. Do you want me to book you a hotel suite too?”
I shook my head. “No, I can stay at Hailey’s. If she’ll agree to see me again.”
“Doesn’t she live in a dumpy little one bedroom over a coffee shop? That’s what Rick told me,” she asked, distaste thick in her voice. I’d never realized how snobby everyone was in L.A.
“Yeah, she lives over a coffee shop.”
She stared at me and I just stared back until she finally shrugged. “Whatever you want boss.”
I texted Hailey, impatiently waiting until she responded hours later. I didn’t take it personally, I know she only turned her phone on after she was done with work. If she remembered. She was the only person I knew who didn’t have her phone attached to her palm twenty-four seven.
Tori:How about dinner tomorrow night? I want to take you out on a proper date.
Hailey:How would that work with you in L.A. and me in Seattle?
Tori:I’m coming up to Seattle.
Hailey:For work?
Tori:For you.
Hailey:I don’t know if that’s a good idea.
Tori:Because you don’t want to see me?
Hailey:Because I do. Too much.
Tori:I’ll pick you up at seven.
Hailey:Will you be wearing a disguise?
Tori:I won’t need one. See you tomorrow.
The next day I flew to Seattle, then Rick and I picked up a black SUV with dark windows, an FBI issued vehicle he’d called in a favor for. Normally I would have rented a limo, but I knew that Hailey wouldn’t appreciate me coming to pick her up in something so ostentatious.
Rick was still grumbling about my insisting that only one guard accompany me, even though I had no doubt he’d planted some undercover contractors around the area. I just ignored him, daydreaming about my date with Hailey.
Against Rick’s objections, I ran up the stairs to pick her up at the door. As soon as I saw Hailey, I felt my body and mind settle. She was wearing a simple black skirt the fell just above the knee, leaving a few inches of bare flesh between the skirt and the black boots that stopped at the top of her calf. The combination made her legs look a mile long. She’d paired it with a thin sweater, a necklace with some kind of crystal on it, and in a nod to the Seattle weather, a black hooded raincoat.
I pushed her back into the apartment, my mouth crashing against hers, kissing her until I felt lightheaded from lack of oxygen. Then, and only then, did I pull away, although I kept my hands on her shoulders.
“Wow, you really know how to greet a girl,” Hailey teased, her voice light and breathless.
“I missed you.” I met her eyes so she could see the truth of my words.
Her face softened. “I missed you too.”
“I want nothing more than to fuck you, but I promised you a proper date, so…,” I gave her my arm, “shall we?”
Hailey
