“That’s okay,” I smiled widely, “love looks good on you.”
He grinned at that. “It looks good on you too, Little Bird.”
He’d been edging to the door, but now he strode towards me with a purpose.
Before I could blink he’d grabbed me by the waist and pressed my back into the wall beside the bathroom. His lips claimed mine in a bruising, take control, kiss that drew a long moan from my throat. I wrapped my arms around his neck and my body arched into his. I loved when he was like this, wild and unrestrained.
“We’re supposed to leave in thirty minutes.” He growled as his hands slid under my shirt, pushing it up and over my head.
“I guess we’ll have to be fast then.”
“Fuck yes.” He nipped my bottom lip and I moaned at the stinging pulse that was left behind.
Within seconds my bra landed on the floor and he’d slid my leggings off as well.
I fumbled with his belt while he grabbed a condom from his wallet.
“This is going to be fast and hard.” He warned when I freed him from his pants.
“Shut up.” I grabbed the short strands of hair on the back of his head and pulled his lips down to mine.
His chuckle vibrated through my body and his fingers dug roughly into the skin of my thighs. He lifted me and positioned me above his already hard cock.
“Hayes,” I pleaded, completely breathless, when he continued to hold me there teasing me with the barest brush of his tip.
“Say it,” he begged, his blue eyes shimmering with longing.
I started to ask him what he wanted me to say, but with a sudden clarity I seemed to know.
“I love you.”
A rumble shook his chest. “Best fucking thing I’ve ever heard.”
He thrust into me and I cried out, the sound quickly dropping into a moan.
“And that’s the second best thing I’ve ever heard.”
His fingers dug into my thighs as he held me, fucking me so hard I swore stars swam before my eyes.
I moaned his name brokenly.
Hayes.
Oh my—
More
Harder
Fuck
Please
I’m gonna—
I came around him, my body pulsing and shaking. I didn’t know if I’d ever had such an intense orgasm before. If he hadn’t been holding me so tight I would’ve surely fallen to the floor in a puddle.
His pace never slowed and he burrowed his head against my neck. His hair brushed against my sensitive skin and I shivered, rocking my hips to meet his thrusts.
I felt his hold tighten on my legs to the point of bruising and with a growl he found his own release.
We’d been fast and frantic, but it’d been just as perfect as every other time we were together.
Hayes didn’t let go of me immediately. Instead, he waited, letting both of us catch our breath. When he knew I had the strength to hold myself upright he set me down, pressing a tender kiss to my lips.
I slipped into the bathroom for a quick shower while he redressed.
Hayes was gone from the bedroom when I emerged from the shower.
I strolled into the closet and slipped into a pair of dark jeans, a thick gray cowl neck sweater and a pair of chestnut colored boots.
My hair hung down my back in thick red waves. My eyes were lined with a smoky gray shadow and my lips were a deep cherry red.
For the first time in a long time I felt good about myself and I knew it was because I was so happy.
“Arden! Are you ready?” Hayes called up the steps.
“Just a minute!” I yelled back, looking around for my purse. Once I located it I grabbed it and hurried down the stairs.
Hayes was waiting in the foyer with Mia in his arms and his bodyguards at his sides.
“I’m ready,” I declared, slightly out of breath and nearly tripping down the last step.
Hayes chuckled and reached out with his free hand to steady me. “I didn’t mean for you to try and kill yourself.”
“Sorry.” I ducked my head in embarrassment.
Glancing over his shoulder at his bodyguards, Hayes said, “Are you boys ready to roll?”
Greg snorted. “Only if you promise to never refer to us as boys ever again.”
Heading towards the garage, Hayes questioned, “What would you prefer then? Ladies?”
Greg shook his head. “Such a smart ass,” he muttered under his breath.
“Language!” Hayes yelled after him and I laughed.
Since there wasn’t enough room for all of us in Hayes’ truck, Greg and Casey ended up following us in a black SUV.
Hayes and I were relatively silent on the drive to the festival, but Mia made up for our silence by chatting endlessly about her birthday and Christmas and how excited she was.
By the time we made it to the downtown area it was packed and I had no idea how we were ever going to find a place to park.
Hayes ended up turning down a random side street and parking in an alleyway.
He undid his seatbelt and pulled his phone from his pocket to check his text messages.
“Maddox says they’re waiting by the entrance so we’ll meet them there.”
I climbed out of the truck and met Hayes on the other side where he’d already grabbed Mia. She held his hand, looking up at him like he was the greatest thing she’d ever laid her eyes on.
“I had no idea we actually had a Winter Festival here,” I admitted with a shrug. “I really need to get out more.”
Hayes’ laughter echoed off the nearby buildings and his guards trailed behind us as we headed for the festival entrance.
“This is actually the first year they’ve had it. If you ask me, I think it’s being done in an effort to drum up some business for the local shops.”
“Makes sense.” I shrugged, drawing my coat closer to my body and watching the trail of my breath disintegrate in the air.
A light dusting of snow covered the ground and more flakes stirred around us. I watched as a flake landed on Mia’s nose and her giggle filled the air.
Hayes grinned down at her and I couldn’t get over the love I saw in his eyes for my daughter.
We came out of the alley and stepped into the crowd, moving towards a large arch covered in some sort of evergreen with white lights wrapped around it with a red bow in the top center.
Greg and Casey pressed closer into us so that we didn’t become separated from them.
“This is really crowded,” I told Hayes, nerves seeping into my bones.
“It’ll be fine,” he assured me.
We finally made it to the entrance and I spotted everyone waiting for us.
Sadie saw me at the same time and waved us over.
“Hey!” She greeted, wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug. She narrowed her eyes at the guards over my shoulder. “Why are Dumb and Dumber here?”
I winced. Sadie still didn’t know that Todd was back in town.
“It’s a long story,” I hedged.
She narrowed her eyes on me and tapped her foot impatiently. “Don’t feed me that line,” she warned.
I groaned and shook my head. “My ex is back and creeping around, so…” I lifted my shoulders in a small shrug, trying to brush it off.
Sadie’s mouth popped open and she gasped as we stepped beyond the entrance, following the rest of the crowd.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” She questioned.
I sighed heavily. “I think I stupidly thought if I didn’t talk about it then it wasn’t real.”
“So, you’ve spoken to him?”
I nibbled on my bottom lip. “Yes,” I mumbled, “he showed up at the store one day.”
“The store? As in my store?” She pointed at her chest.
“Yep, that one.” I looked away and towards the guys ahead of us. Hayes still held Mia’s hand, and beside him Maddox spoke to Emma, while Mathias and Remy were a few feet ahead pushing Liam in a stroller. Ezra hung back a
bit, waiting for Sadie to rejoin him.
“That asshole.” She hissed. “If I’d been there I would’ve kicked him in the balls.”
Despite how gloomy this conversation made me feel I managed to laugh at that. “I don’t doubt you.”
“If he knows where you work then does he know where you live too?” Her voice grew soft, almost scared sounding.
I winced. “Yes,” I admitted, the word feeling like shrapnel clawing at my throat.
“Oh wow.” She blew out a breath and it fogged the air. “Now I understand the need to have Dumb and Dumber here. This is not good.”
“You’re telling me.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling a headache coming on.
“Do you know what he wants?” She asked, her brown eyes full of worry.
“To mess up my life even more?” I suggested with another sigh.
Sadie winced. “I’m so sorry, Arden.”
“It is what is,” I mumbled.
“Well, I’m here for you,” she said. “Anything you need, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“You’re a good friend.”
She smiled. “I love you and I don’t want to see you hurt. So be careful, okay?”
“I will.” I promised her before she ran off to join Ezra.
I hurried forward and grabbed Mia’s free hand. She looked up at the feel of my hand and smiled when she realized it was me.
“We’re heading over to the ice rink.” Hayes informed me.
“Ooh.” I squeezed Mia’s hand. “Are you going to ice skate?”
She nodded her head eagerly. “I hwope I don’t fwall.”
“Well,” I smiled at her, “if you do fall, you know what you do?”
She shook her head.
“You stand back up, dust yourself off, and try again.”
She smiled her toothy grin. “Will you do it wif me?”
“Of course.”
“You too?” She turned to look up at Hayes.
“Will you hold my hand?” He asked her.
She squished her nose in thought. “Maybe.”
His chest shook with laugher.
The ice rink was set up in the center of the promenade and seemed to be the hottest—and possibly only attraction. The festival didn’t seem to be much of a festival. There was a band playing live music and the stores seemed to be having special sales, but that was about it besides the skating rink.
We paid for skates and then had to join a long line to wait our turn.
“You’re not skating.” Maddox told Emma as he reached up to tug his gray beanie further down his ears.
“I am too.”
“No, you’re not,” he argued. “You’re pregnant.”
“I’m pregnant?” She gasped in wonder. “Thanks for enlightening me, Maddox. I had no idea.”
“Em,” he groaned, “you might fall and hurt the baby or yourself.”
“For the record, I wasn’t going to actually skate, but now I want to do it just to spite you.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
Maddox growled and mumbled something under his breath. “You’re making me exhausted.”
She narrowed her eyes on him. “Exhausted? You want to talk about exhausted? You’re not the one carrying a massive child inside you! I swear she must weigh ten pounds and she’s nowhere near ready to come out of here yet.”
Maddox’s lips pinched together and he appeared to be trying not to laugh at her.
Suddenly, an ear-splitting scream pierced the air.
“OHMYGOD! It’s Willow Creek!”
“I told you that you were going to be mobbed,” I mumbled to Hayes, moments before a group of about ten teenage girls came barreling towards us with cellphones held out.
Hayes chuckled. “All part of the job, baby.”
The guys posed for photos for the girls, but by that point their exclamation had caused more people to find us and the small group was quickly turning into the mob that I’d feared.
Casey and Greg pushed forward, trying to clear a space around the guys before they were completely swallowed by the ever-growing crowd.
Hayes looked back at me with an apologetic smile as an overzealous fan pulled on his jacket.
“Sorry,” he mouthed.
“It’s okay.” I mouthed back as my body was jostled by even more people trying to get to the guys.
Mia’s hand slipped from mine and I grasped at air, trying to get ahold of her again. When my hand didn’t immediately connect with hers I looked down and panic squeezed my chest like a vice.
The space where Mia had been standing only moments before was now empty.
“Mia!” I screamed, fear spiking my voice.
Bile rose up my throat as I twisted around frantically searching for her.
“Mia! Mia! Where are you?!”
My cries were drowned out by the crowd of people.
I clutched at my chest, gasping for air. “Mia!” I yelled, pushing through the throngs of people. “MIA!”
There were plenty of times in my life where I’d thought I’d known true fear, but all of those moments paled in comparison to this one.
The overwhelming terror that my child was gone sent sharp pains shooting through my whole body. My vision began to swim with black dots and I realized I’d stopped breathing.
“Mia!” I spun around and around, searching for her red hair in a sea of dark coats.
Over the top of the crowd my eyes connected with Hayes’ and his skin turned an ashen color when he saw the panic overwhelming me.
He pushed people out of his way, not caring if he came across as rude.
The other guys saw that he was trying to get to me and immediately started helping him clear a path.
It felt like an hour when in reality it was only seconds until Hayes was in front of me, taking my face in his hands.
“What is it?” He asked, searching my face for signs of an answer.
“M-Mia! She’s gone!” I twisted out of his hold, searching the area for her once more.
“Gone?” He echoed, his eyes widening in horror.
“I was holding her hand,” I panted, out of breath from my panic, “and then I felt her hand slip from mine and when I looked down she was just gone. Oh my God,” I grabbed Hayes’ shirt between my fists, “she’s gone. She’s gone, Hayes!”
My breath came out in short, sharp pants and tears stung my chilled cheeks.
“Hey, hey.” He grabbed my face once more, forcing me to look at him. “We’re going to find her.”
“How can you be so calm?” I pushed away from him. “She’s missing!”
“I’m far from calm,” his blue eyes flashed, “but one of us has to think straight right now.”
A sob raked my chest. “Hayes,” I said his name brokenly, “she’s gone.” I buried my face in my hands, streaking my mascara everywhere.
By now all of our friends had formed a ring around us and knew what was going on.
“We have to call the police,” Hayes said, trying to be the voice of reason since I couldn’t seem to gather my thoughts.
I was pretty sure I was having an out of body experience, because surely this wasn’t actually happening.
It had to be a dream.
Or a figment of my imagination.
Mia couldn’t just be gone.
But she was.
I let out a broken sob.
“Come here.” Hayes coaxed, trying to hug me to his chest.
“No,” I pushed against him. “Don’t touch me!”
His face fell. “Arden—”
“This is your fault!” I screamed at him. I didn’t want to be mad at myself so I directed all of my anger and blame onto him. “I didn’t even want to come here and you made me!”
“Arden, please—” He reached for me, but I backed away.
“No,” I said firmly, holding my hands up in a barricade to keep him away.
Sadie wrapped an arm around my shoulders and guided me away from the crowd.
She found a
spot for me to sit on a stonewall and pulled her phone from her purse.
I knew she was calling the police and reporting Mia as missing, but I didn’t hear the words.
I couldn’t.
Because I didn’t want to face reality.
WHILE WE’D WAITED for the police to arrive we’d all scoured the area for Mia, checking every shop and every street she might’ve been hiding in.
But Hayes and I both knew that Mia wasn’t hiding.
Deep down in my gut, call it mother’s intuition if you want, I knew that Todd had taken her.
The asshole had probably been watching us—even at Hayes’ house—for weeks, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike and he’d finally found it.
The police asked me an endless amount of questions, ones that were simple but I was too flustered to answer, so Hayes jumped in.
What color is her hair?
What color are her eyes?
Approximate height and weight?
What was she wearing?
Did you notice anyone acting suspicious?
I broke down with that last question, my sobs thundering the air. I should’ve done something. Maybe gotten a restraining order against Todd. I’d never thought he’d try something like this, though. Try to get custody? Yeah, that seemed like Todd. But kidnapping? That seemed low even for him.
“Ma’am?” The officer prompted when I stopped sobbing. “Did you see someone?”
“No.” I wiped at my face, streaking mascara all over my arm. “But I think it might’ve been her dad.”
“Her dad?” The officer prompted.
I nodded. “He left before her birth and he’s been in town the past few weeks. Someone broke into my house and I think it was him. We filed a police report. You’ll see.” I waved at his notebook like it held all the answers in the world. “He’s crazy,” I babbled, “he wouldn’t think twice about taking her.”
The officer looked at me like I was the crazy one and resumed speaking to Hayes.
“Please,” I begged him, “stop standing here talking to us. You need to be out there looking for her. She’s just a little girl. She’s probably scared to death and crying and she needs me. Please.” I struggled to pull enough air into my lungs and grew dizzy.
“Whoa, steady.” Hayes grabbed my shoulders, keeping me from swaying. “You’re not going to be able to help Mia if you pass out. You need to calm down.”
Take A Chance Page 22
