Page 35 of Wicked Flirt
She’d never uttered such sweet words in her life, would’ve found it embarrassing if her friends heard, but just saying them made her feel warm and tingly all over. She could scarcely believe this romance thing was actually happening for her. It was incredible. He was incredible.
She sighed, lost in the wonder of it all. She finally understood what ailed her lovey-dovey friends because now she was infected with it too. All it took was one wonderful man.
Holy crap, she was in love.
It scared the hell out of her. Her trust in men was so low it was really hard not to think the worst of guys. Growing up with a cheating, lying father, then watching her brother repeat the cycle, and then experiencing it for herself with her ex—when she should’veknownbetter, should’ve seen the signs—all of it made her want to turn away from Marcus.
She let herself into her apartment and stopped short at the glorious sight of her roses in bloom. The reminder of his romantic gesture made her warm and gooey. She couldn’t walk away never knowing what might have been. Her gut instinct told her he was worth the risk.
It was time to take a chance on love.
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Chapter Nine
Lexi drove to The Burrow with Hailey the next day, their other friends all coupled up and driving with their guys. Hailey was at the wheel in her beloved orange Mini Cooper convertible. She even had a small fake daisy in the cup holder. Rose was curled up asleep in her cozy Sherpa-lined bucket seat in the backseat.
Lexi was ridiculously excited about seeing Marcus again after their fantastic date yesterday. He’d texted her earlier today saying how much he was looking forward to seeing her. Swoon! She was dying for more than a chaste kiss on the cheek tonight. She’d dressed to tempt in a black long-sleeved skin-tight dress that ended mid-thigh with black pumps. It didn’t matter what he dressed in because he was always unbelievably sexy. Chemistry would do the rest. Speaking of simmering chemistry…
“How’s things going with your mom and Joe?” Lexi asked Hailey. “Do they like living together?”
“I guess,” Hailey said flatly. “She says she’s in love with him.” Normally Hailey would be ecstatic about love. She considered herself a love junkie—it was on her official wedding planner business card—and lived for romance, whether it was in a book, a movie, or real life.
“You’re not happy about it? Joe seems great.”
“It’s not Joe that’s the problem.” Hailey flicked her long strawberry blond hair over her shoulder and hit the accelerator through a yellow light. They were in the city now, only blocks away from The Burrow. “She falls in love easily. It won’t last. I just don’t want Joe to get hurt. He already had his wife abandon him with six kids! He hasn’t had anyone serious since. Mad is all excited that we might become sisters if they get married, but when my mom flakes, which she always does, Mad won’t be so keen on me anymore by association.”
“She’s your best friend. I’m sure she won’t blame you for that.”
“It’ll leave a really bad impression. Every time anyone in the Campbell family looks at me, they’ll see my mom and how she hurt their dad.”
“Why do you care so much what the Campbells think of you?” Lexi suspected it was Josh’s opinion that mattered the most to Hailey.
Hailey sighed. “It’s just that they’re the closest thing to a stable family I’ve ever had. I mean, Mad makes me feel like family, so does Joe, and I guess I don’t want to lose that.”
They were a pretty cool family, and she could see why Hailey might be worried about them associating her with her mom since they looked so much alike. “Well, I guess it’s still early days, right?”
Hailey honked at a taxi that had cut her off. “It’s been almost seven weeks. Ask me how I know this.”
“She’s oversharing with you?”
“Way,wayoversharing. Apparently Joe is an animal in bed. Dominant, don’t ya know? What can you expect from a cop? She likes the handcuffs. Do Ineedto hear this from my mother?” Her voice echoed loudly in the tiny car.
Lexi winced. “I get the feeling you don’t get along with your mom.”
Hailey sighed. “I’m trying, you don’t know how hard I’m trying, but it’s like she was always more of a roommate than a mom to me. She didn’t want the responsibility of a kid, but she was stuck with me. My dad died when I was three, and he wasn’t around much anyway, from what she says. I mean, I know she loves me, but…” She took a deep breath. “She was very flaky when I was growing up, not showing up to work, getting fired a lot. It was scary for me. We were homeless twice because she didn’t pay rent and we were evicted. I started on the pageant circuit in my teens, trying to earn money for college so I could make my own more stable life. At least with the pageants, she stopped being flaky. She was so thrilled I was doing them because she thought I was following in her footsteps. The pageants led to her modeling career. Anyway, she started working at that shop we went to for Mad’s bridal party stuff, just for the employee discount so she could buy me nice dresses.”
“So it sounds like she’s been stable for a while, then, right? Maybe she just had some growing up to do.”
“Maybe. I guess I just wish she’d been grown up when I really needed her, you know?”
“Parents, right? We’ll probably screw up our kids too in some different way.”
“Not me.” Hailey slapped the steering wheel to emphasize her point. “I’m going to read every parenting book on the market and follow them to the letter.”
“Errr, well, I guess that wouldn’t hurt to brush up on, but…don’t you kinda have to wait and see what your kids are like?”
Hailey lifted her chin. “I will mold them into model citizens.”
