Page 70 of Tight Spot

Which would exactly ruin everything Marchand wanted from me but fuck him too.

Hailey would be worth protecting from my family, consequences be damned.

I grabbed a glass from the cupboard and pulled out my Effen Vodka from the freezer.

Just one drink.

My phone rang from my living room. I should have known he wouldn’t let that go.

Fine.

Maybe two.

* * *

In addition to the two calls I didn’t answer Saturday night, Dad called four more times over the next three days. Two in the middle of the night which told me he was probably in Japan or some shit and not paying attention to what I had going on in my life. I didn’t return his calls, but I only had one glass of vodka that night, so I was counting that shitty end to a night a win.

I was outside, dressed in swim trunks and a pale-blue shirt, leaning against the frame to my front door when Hailey pulled up into the curved drive. Security phoned to let me know she was close, and for a moment, I’d considered that she really needed a pass to get in whenever she wanted, and then promptly changed my mind.

One more thing to get back from her when this blew up.

Which was not what I wanted to be thinking about as she parked her few-year-old Camry in my driveway. Like the first time she came over, I hurried to help her out of the car. This time, there wasn’t hesitation like the night before Cole’s fundraising gala, and I barely met her at her door before she swung it open.

“Hey.” She smiled up at me, eyes hidden behind a large pair of tortoise-shell sunglass frames and a smile so blinding I should have worn my sunglasses before seeing her.

“You’re early.”

“Mad?”

“Not a chance in hell.” I bent down, unclicked her belt and waited for her to turn off her car before grabbing her hand and getting her out of the car. “Means we have some time for fun before we have to get to Cole’s. Better yet, let’s have a whole day of fun and forget about Cole.”

God, she made me stupid.

She was laughing as I yanked her to me, and her hand slapped to my chest right before my mouth closed on hers.

Jesus. The taste of her. Sweet and sexy and her lips were so damn soft. Her skin was silk, and whatever kind of summer dress she had on was way too much.

Hailey was still laughing as she pulled away from me, breathless, lip gloss smeared.

I wiped my thumb over my own lips to clear away the grease from it and then fixed hers. “Sorry.”

“And that’s exactly why we’re not going to have any fun before Cole’s. No way am I showing up to his place with messed up hair and ruined makeup.”

“He won’t notice.”

“No.” She shoved me playfully, and I stepped back. The space gave me time to breathe. To think straight. To check out her long, trim legs that I loved wrapped around my waist when I—

“Dawson.” Her tone was scolding. Somehow it only made my blood burn hotter.

I couldn’t tear my eyes off her legs. “What?”

“Stop staring at my ass and help me with my bag?”

She had a point. “It was your legs, not your ass, I was staring at.”

As I reached around her to open her back door, she kissed my cheek. “Later.”

Fine.

---