I’m taking you out tonight. Wear the black dress. I love your ass in it.
Three sentences… each of them capable of making her nose-twitchingly mad.
But more than that, these past weeks without James influencing her days, had been spent productively. She knew what she was doing, what her end goals were… if there was ever a time she believed she’d be capable of dealing with him, it was now.
The minute the call connected, she knew she’d made a huge mistake but just hanging up would look worse than the truth—James' voice could and would always make her melt.
Hell, not just his voice.
She’d never be able to deal with him, she realized. Not subjectively. God, when would she stop lying to herself where he was concerned?
Her stomach roiled with unease. It had been doing that of late, and she knew the stress and tension in her life was making her sick. She had to change that because she was making things too hard on herself, and now, she had more to worry about than just herself.
“Finally,” James said, breaking into thoughts that would exacerbate her nervousness. “I thought you were going to ignore my calls forever.”
“Don’t whine, James,” she retorted wryly, hating how it made her happy to hear his voice. What was that even about? How could she be so proud of her independence and yet react to him like this?
Gruffly, she returned to the conversation with, “Whining doesn’t become you.”
Silence crept down the line, and it amused her because she knew she’d surprised him. He chuckled though, surprising her. “You’re such a pain in the ass, Hailey.”
She couldn’t help herself. She grinned. Rocking back in the chair at the desk where she’d studied for her SATs and was now working hard to create her own business, Hailey murmured, “Apparently, you like having a pain in the ass.”
“Babe, I spanked you. Don’t think I’m letting you anywhere near my behind.”
“Jesus, man, too much fucking information,” Aidan chimed in.
At the sound of her brother’s scolding, Hailey had to laugh. She didn’t have it in her to be embarrassed. Aidan knew way too much about her anyway—he’d been the one to console her after her disastrous first time after prom. When a brother knew that particular horrendous truth, he could cope with anything.
“Don’t make it easy on this reprobate, sis,” he called out, but his voice was fading, and she realized he was probably crossing from James' half of the room to his own space.
“You’ve been talking about me with Aidan,” she said with surprise. Hailey hadn’t expected that. Not one bit.
Again, what was with the unpredictability around here?
“Aidan, as usual, knows far too much without me saying anything,” he confessed. “But I haven’t kept us a secret. I just… I don’t have much to say.”
“Then why are you calling? You need to say something on the phone otherwise there isn’t much of a conversation.”
“I have plenty to say to you,” James replied.
“Yeah? What like?” Despite herself, she was curious.
She hadn’t expected to hold his interest long enough for him to want to sleep with her. She was pretty, sure. But in a billionaire’s life, there were beauties he could, and had tossed aside with barely a blink.
What interest could she hold for him? Aside from the forbidden, that is.
She’d figured that once he’d tasted the forbidden fruit, he’d move on.
But he hadn’t. He’d carried on calling, and she, unable to deal with him, had ignored him.
Fair?
No.
Trouble was, she couldn’t find it in herself to feel guilty because what with her parents, on top of finis
hing up some case files for her previous employees while coming to the conclusion she enjoyed her work but wanted more autonomy, all while handling Mark… yeah, throwing a guy like James Arias into the mix was like asking for more trouble.