She was surprised though. She’d felt certain if Aidan blocked him from coming to her, James would hold fast to that promise. That either meant his promises meant shit, which over the years he’d proven to be false—he’d done far too much for Aidan for that to be true. Or, he was as into her as she was into him.
She truly hoped it was the latter.
Because it was time to stop lying to herself. The whole reason everything was fucked up in her mind was down to this man.
Their Labor Day kiss… it had changed everything. Made her see how unhappy she was with Mark. How even her job wasn’t enough to make up for the emptiness not being with James created.
She wanted him. Hailey knew that now, and it was time she processed that like the adult she was rather than the brat she’d been channeling.
With a quick gulp as last-minute nerves quickly drowned her smug satisfaction of moments before, she closed the door behind her.
He was looking around her room by that point, and she watched him doing so. Leaning against the door, she saw him take in the pretty bare expanse. Even as a teenager, she’d liked things neat and tidy, minimal. The walls were a nice oatmeal color, her bedding was taupe. She had some nice mahogany chest of drawers which matched her desk. Currently, the work surface sported her laptop and a few files she’d promised to close up for her now-ex company in return for a glowing reference.
“This is nice.” James said as he turned back around, looking at her.
“I’m sure you really came in here to study my taste in furniture, James.”
He smirked at her. “To be fair, Hailey, you’re full of surprises today. I’m relieved this place isn’t painted black and filled with skulls.”
She smiled a little, then tilted her head to the side as she studied him. “Maybe you had me pegged a certain way all these years and I’m not that way at all.”
“I’m coming to realize that, sugar.” He shook his head. “Seriously, this place is yours?”
She nodded. “Well… Grams knew Aidan didn’t need the money. My parents are pissed though. Have been since she died. I can’t make out if they’re mad at Grams for leaving all this to me, or if my mom is still overwhelmed with grief. Since she died, our relationship has done nothing but deteriorate.”
He blinked at that. “She was… aggressive. Far more than I’d expected,” James said thinking back to the scene he’d witnessed not long ago in the living room.
“Argumentative probably describes it better to be fair,” Hailey corrected gently. “I can understand why she’s mad, but it doesn’t matter. It’s not like I’m going to turf them out. It’s theirs, but it just means I have some autonomy over whether I can stay here or not.”
“Autonomy and parents aren’t words that usually gel well together.”
She grinned, and conceded he was right, “True.”
“What about your ex? He is your ex, right?” James questioned.
“You were willing to take me on a date when you thought I had a boyfriend…” She cocked a brow at him. “What’s changed?”
“I didn’t realize you were engaged, had split up, left your job, then moved home again, Hailey. That’s… big…”
“You afraid you’re a rebound fuck?” she asked, her tone sweet as pie and in direct contradiction to her harsh words.
James blew out a breath, but his eyes lit with fire. “You’ve a dirty mouth, Hailey.”
Whatever she’d expected him to say, it hadn’t been that. “You got a problem with that?”
Before she could do more than jump in reaction, he was there. In front of her. Those few steps between them seemed to have disappeared in the blink of an eye. James’ hands cupped her chin, slid around to her jaw, then tilted her head for his kiss.
It was like before.
When their mouths met, their tongues immediately tangling, everything faded away.
And she meant everything.
The stress of recent days, the fear and anxiety after wondering whether she was doing the right thing leaving Mark and quitting her job, the restlessness she’d been feeling since they’d last been together.
All of it faded away into nothingness.
She shuddered as he thrust his tongue against hers, then let his hands slide down so he could shape her breasts through her blouse. One stayed there, cupping and teasing, the other slid around her waist and curled over her butt. Within seconds, there was less than a half inch of space between them. And where there was air, it was because they couldn’t get any closer.