by Stacey Lewis
Okay. Now I’m offended. “I’m not asking you to risk your career, Hailey.” My words are clipped, and I sound more pissed off than I am. “The only thing I’m asking you for is a chance. I want the chance to show you how good I think we can be together. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you for a year, and I spent most of that year trying to find you. None of the people at Patsy’s would give me any info on you, and the information on the form you gave when you dropped your car off that day must’ve been your old address because I couldn’t find you that way either.”
Hailey’s mouth has dropped open and she’s staring at me like she can’t believe I’m real. “You looked for me?” I nod, unable to say the words a second time. I already sound like a fucking stalker. Her expression changes, eyes widening and a wide smile spreading her lips.
She looks like I just handed her the world and all I did was say a few embarrassing as hell words. Her body turns so she’s almost facing me and I watch as she sets her glass down on the coffee table before bringing her hand up to cover her mouth. The trembling is obvious and I almost reach out to grab it, but manage to keep myself still. If I’d known telling her I went looking for her would have this kind of reaction, I would have opened with that the last time we were sitting on her couch like this.
“What did you expect, Hailey?” I finally ask her. “Did you think I would just forget you that day? That it wouldn’t matter to me? I already told you it did, that you mattered.”
She looks away from me and shrugs. “I don’t know, I just didn’t expect you to put forth that kind of effort. Not for me.”
The way she sees herself pisses me off, especially when I know her ex is the one who made her see herself that way. I just don’t know how, and that’s a conversation we need to have.
“This is probably the last conversation you want or expected to have tonight, but I think it’s time you tell me about your ex. You know all about Tabitha, it’s only fair I know about him.” I should probably feel bad for putting her on the spot this way, but until she tells me, I won’t know what damage he did to her while they were together. Based on the fact that she doesn’t think she’s worth any effort, he did a fucking lot. That asshole deserves every kind of pain I can dream up.
Hailey looks everywhere but at me. “I don’t think we need to talk about him. He doesn’t even factor into this discussion.”
“I beg to differ.” She’s not getting off that easy. If I didn’t think he mattered, I wouldn’t have brought him up. “Like I said, you know about Tabitha and all the shit she pulled with me. I need to know about your ex too. We won’t have the chance to build any kind of relationship if we don’t put it all out there from the beginning.”
Her head is shaking back and forth, making me think she’s not about to tell me what I’m asking, but then she lets out a loud sigh that sends her bangs straight out above her eyes. “Fine. What do you want to know?” Her voice is petulant, and it makes me smile.
“Whatever you want to tell me.” She scoffs, unable to believe I don’t have some type of question. “Okay, fine. What happened with him? Why did you split? You said a little bit, but you haven’t really told me.”
Now she shrugs, but a sad frown pulls at one side of her delectable mouth. “Same thing that happens in a lot of relationships probably. He was all happy when he found out I was pregnant with Connor, but it wasn’t because he was excited to have a baby.”
“What was he excited about then?” Her words are confusing.
Hailey pushes the hair falling in her face behind her ear self-consciously. “He was just happy he’d have an excuse to leave me at home when he went out with his friends. None of his friends had kids, so it was always him saying I should just stay home with the baby so I wouldn’t be bored. If it wasn’t that, it was that his friends' houses weren’t baby-proofed or they were having an adult’s only party. He always had an excuse for why I couldn’t come with him.” She looks right into my eyes when she continues, her chin coming up defiantly. “I finally decided that if I was going to have to do it all myself, I’d do it by myself too.”
“I get that.”
Her frown turns into a small smile and she looks down again. “The final straw was him refusing to come home when Connor was sick. He was running a high fever and coughing so much he was having trouble breathing. I was so scared, and he was too busy golfing with his buddies to come be with me. Thankfully, my mom came and sat with me at the hospital so I wasn’t alone. I packed my stuff that weekend and was just about to leave when he got home.” The tiny smile turns into a full-fledged grin. “He really wasn’t happy about that. It was one thing for him to ignore me, but having to explain to his friends and business associates that I left him? That was unacceptable.”
My hands turn into fists. “Did he hurt you?” I can barely get the words out around the anger crawling up my throat. Visions of beating the unknown dickhead fill my head and they don’t stop until her soft hand covers my fist.
“No, not like that.”
Hailey’s shaking her head when I look at her, eyes wide as they watch me. I force myself to take deep breaths and try to calm down because I was a second away from going looking for him. “Good.”
The way she’s looking up at me like I’m some kind of hero for being worried about her ex hurting her has me going between two emotions. First, I want to beat the shit out of any man who treated her as anything other than the sweet, beautiful woman she is, and second, I want to pull her on top of me and show her with my body just how beautiful she is to me.
Knowing we aren’t in that place yet, I gently remove her hand from mine and stand, rubbing my stiff palms on my sweatpants and hoping she doesn’t notice the erection I’m trying unsuccessfully to keep hidden.
“I should probably go. The kids are home alone, and even though Ben is thirteen, he’s still not mature enough to watch Evie for any length of time.”
Hailey looks down at her watch and gasps. “Oh my gosh! I didn’t realize you’ve been here so long. How long a drive do you have?”
She hasn’t realized yet? “Uh, Hails? I live two buildings over.”
Her shocked expression drains the tension out of me, and I lean forward to drop a kiss on her lips. As much as I want to deepen it, I manage to contain myself, and once we’re standing at her door, I ask the question I originally came to ask. “Go to dinner with me Friday?
“What?” Her brows are furrowed when she looks up at me with a frown on her face. I can tell she’s confused by the abrupt switch in the conversation.
“Will you go to dinner with me Friday?”
Her teeth bite down on her bottom lip and I almost groan at the sight. “Just dinner?”
“Sure, if that will get you to say yes.” I have zero shame.
Hailey lifts one delicate brow and one side of her mouth tips up in a grin. “Okay. Dinner.”
Her agreement makes me feel about ten feet tall. “Awesome.” Holding up my phone, I ask, “What’s your number?” She rattles it off and I call her to make sure it saves… and a little to see if her phone rings inside the apartment which it does. That way I know she’s not planning to blow me off.
“See you later, sweetheart.” Without giving her the chance to respond, I leave her apartment, shutting her door behind me. Friday can’t come soon enough.
Chapter 16
Hailey
It’s been two days since I agreed to go on a date with Mitchell and I’m still trying to figure out what made me say yes. Now here we are with tomorrow being Friday and I still haven’t asked my parents about watching Connor. I’m a little afraid to ask because I know my mom will grill me on why and what I’m going to be doing.
As much as I don’t want to, now that I’ve picked up Connor from daycare I’m going over there to get it over with. He’s been sitting in the backseat talking to himself since we left, and I have no idea what he’s saying.
We pull into my parent's driveway and as soon as he realizes where we ar
e he starts yelling for Granny and Pops like they’re going to hear him from inside the house and come running for him.
Honestly, he’s probably not far off. I swear my mom sits at the window and stares each day hoping we’ll stop by because I haven’t even turned the car off and she’s on her way out to meet us.
“Hey sweetie,” she says as she opens Connor’s door to get him out. I’m not dumb enough to think she’s calling me sweetie. I practically ceased to exist when I pushed him out. I’m pretty sure if it came down to me or Connor, she’d save him and not be a bit sorry.
The woman doesn’t even wait for me to get out of the car before she’s taking my son down the driveway to her house, talking to him the entire way. All I can do is watch them and shake my head. At least I know where I stand.
When I walk into the house I can hear her still talking to him and have to follow her voice to find them. They’re in the living room, and she’s dragging out all the toys she keeps here at her house like he’s not capable of dumping the bin himself. I roll my eyes and walk over to where they are, coming to a stop beside my mom.
“Hey, mom.”
She finally stands, brushing invisible lint off her pants as she does before finally turning to greet me with a hug. “Hi, honey. How was your day?”
Now that Connor’s fully engrossed in playing with his blocks, she walks across the room and into the kitchen, leaving me to follow behind her.
“Are you guys staying for dinner?” She’s distracted, pulling out the ingredients for whatever she’s planning to make.
I lean over her shoulder to see what she’s got. “Depends. Whatcha making?”
“I’m thinking chicken and rice. Your dad will hate that it isn’t steak and so will your brother, but they both need to watch how much red meat they eat.” She’s got a point. I’m pretty sure my brother would live off only steak and mashed potatoes, if he could.
Knowing my brother is coming over means I need to get the asking over with. If he hears, he’ll be worse than my mom. I wouldn’t put it past him to show up at my apartment on Friday night just to grill Mitchell on his intentions. I swear Henry thinks I’m still fifteen. He’s way too overprotective.
“Um, hey…Mom?”
She’s distracted, still taking stuff out to make dinner. “Mmhmm?” Maybe asking while she’s busy is better. At least, that’s what I’m hoping.
“Can you watch Connor Friday night?”
I hold my breath, hoping she doesn’t ask why, but I’m not that lucky. She stops rooting around in the fridge to look over at me. “Why? What’s Friday?” Her eyes go up and to the left like she’s thinking about things she might have missed, but she frowns when she comes up with nothing.
“It’s not a big deal.” Please drop the interrogation. I wave her off with a hand but it doesn’t deter her. She just turns fully to face me and waits for me to spill. My shoulders sag in defeat and I sigh. “Okay, fine. I have a date.”
Mom’s entire face lights up and she smiles. “A date? With who? Do I know him?” She doesn’t even give me a chance to answer her questions before she asks more. “What are you doing? Where are you going? What kind of date?”
“Mom!” I have to speak loudly to be heard over her and she snaps her mouth shut with a sheepish shrug of one shoulder. We both know she’s not ashamed. The woman has no shame when it comes to her kids… or anything else for that matter. “Like I said, it’s a date. We’re going to dinner. No, you don’t know him.”
The way she’s staring at me lets me know she doesn’t by my nonchalance for a second. “Name?”
Grrr. “Mitchell.”
“Mitchell what?”
Her eyes never leave me, and I start to squirm under her scrutiny. The way she’s staring at me makes me feel like a teenager about to go on her first date. It’s a strange feeling when you’re a twenty-nine-year-old divorced mom yourself. “Mitchell Anderson,” I finally relent and tell her.
The way her eyes light up and I want to kick myself. She knows who he is. Crap.
“Oooh, he’s cute!”
My eyes roll at her description. Cute is not the word I’d use to describe him. Hot, sexy, sex on legs… any of those work better than cute.
“He’s not a puppy, Mom. How do you know him?”
This time, she’s the one waving me off. “Your dad has been taking his cars to Mitchell Automotive for as long as I’ve known him. He’s good friends with Mitchell’s dad. They always hoped the two boys would be friends even though Mitchell’s a few years older than your brother. They never really got on though.”
She shrugs like this isn’t a big deal, but I can’t help but wonder why my brother, who gets along with everyone, doesn’t get along with Mitchell. Did I make a mistake saying yes to him? Kissing him?
Oh God, what have I done?
My mom doesn’t notice my panic. She’s still too busy swooning at the thought of me going on a date with him. “Of course, we’ll watch Connor honey. Have fun… and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” She winks as she says this last part and I want to hurl. I will never be old enough to think about my mom and sex in the same sentence.
The front door shuts, and my brother’s voice yelling for our mom ends our conversation. I don’t know if I should be happy or not, because the likelihood of her telling Henry about my date is much higher since she knows the guy.
My older brother walks into the kitchen and stops to kiss both me and mom on the cheek before grabbing a handful of cookies out of the jar on the counter. This action earns him a glare from her because, “Can’t you see I’m in the middle of making dinner?”
He shrugs, completely unrepentant. “I already ate, so I’m allowed to have cookies.”
“Where’s Marisa?” I look back towards the living room, but I don’t see or hear her or their two kids.
Henry doesn’t even pause in his chewing to swallow before answering me. “They’re at home. I came to see if Mom was up for babysitting this weekend so I can take my wife out for dinner.”
Oh no… I hope he isn’t planning for Friday.
“What day?”
My luck sucks because he does, in fact, say, “Friday.” I squeeze my eyes shut and pray mom doesn’t tell him, but as I said, my luck sucks.
After debating for a second, mom finally tells him, “Friday should be fine. I’m already watching Connor for your sister. Bring the twins over and they can all play together.” She completely disregards the fact that two seven-year-old girls probably won’t want to play with their three-year-old male cousin. They’re not exactly into the same toys.
His attention turns to me. “Why’s she watching Connor?”
“Your sister has a date,” Mom tells him this in a sing-song voice, beaming her happiness at me and I inwardly cringe because I know what’s about to come.
“A date? With who?” Henry sounds pissed at just the prospect, so I’m dreading him finding out who it is.
I wouldn’t put it past him to show up at my apartment before I leave to put the fear of God into Mitchell. Sometimes having a big brother sucks. Where was he when Seth was trying to date me? He could’ve saved me some heartache. Well, that’s not totally true. I wouldn’t trade having Connor for anything, but I would definitely change who his father is if I had the chance.
“Mitchell Anderson,” I mumble, hoping he lets it go, but of course he doesn’t.
Eyes narrowing as he looks at me, Henry grits out, “I know you didn’t just say Mitchell Anderson.”
“Henry!” Mom chastises him. “Mitchell is a perfectly nice man, and handsome too.”
He snorts in disbelief. “Yeah, nice and married.”
I jump in to defend him. “He’s not married anymore. Mitchell got divorced last year.”
“Even if he did,” Henry allows, “you deserve better.”
His statement confuses me. I mean, I’m his sister, so of course, he wants the best for me. But, what does he know about Mitchell that makes him think he doesn’t deserve
me? I have so many questions right now. “Well, it doesn’t matter anyway. It’s only one date. For all we know, it won’t even go anywhere.”
I’m trying to play it off, but I don’t think I’m successful based on the look Henry gives me. Thankfully, he lets the subject drop and is gone by the time we sit down to eat. It doesn’t stop me from worrying about this date and if I’m being stupid by going out with him. All I can do is hope it doesn’t cause me more heartache because I’ve had enough of that to last a lifetime.
Chapter 17
Mitchell
Friday is finally here and I feel like I’ve been waiting forever for it to get here instead of just a couple of days. I’m glad this week was one where Tabitha has the kids for the weekend so I didn’t have to try to have my parents watch the kids. Ben would’ve given me all kinds of shit because he’s convinced he’s old enough to be the babysitter, but even at thirteen, I don’t think he’s mature enough.
After sitting in my silent, empty apartment for the last two hours like a loser, it’s finally time to head over and get Hailey. I hope she likes where I chose for our date tonight. Choosing someplace to take her was hard. Trying to balance wanting to be able to talk to her and not wanting it to seem like I’m trying too hard to impress her.
It might make me a pussy to say this, but I want her to like me, not what I can do for her or where I can take her. That was always the problem with Tabitha. She was way too focused on appearances and I always felt like I fell short with her.
Hailey doesn’t make me wait when I knock on her door. She almost opens it before I’ve finished knocking and I can’t help but grin down at her. With her blonde hair curling over her shoulders and wearing skinny jeans with a band t-shirt it’s clear she took my “be comfortable” reply to her text asking where we were going tonight.
