Page 103 of The Lighthouse at the Cove
Reid stood beside her, stone-faced, while he stared at her ex.
Hayes closed the distance between her and Reid, then sized up his competition. “Hayes Walker.” He held out his hand to Reid, but Reid only scrutinized it with his stony eyes.
“Reid Turner,” he grumbled before addressing his daughter. “Piper, we need to go inside.”
Kaiah could feel tension coming off him in waves.
Piper giggled while George showered her with more affection.“But Daddy, he’s so sweet.” She managed to move away from the kisses. “Come meet him.”
“Now, Piper.” Reid’s voice held an edge of warning, but it seemed to be aimed at Hayes, which was where he kept his eyes focused. “You need to get your bath.”
“Oooookay.” Piper’s grim expression was dramatic as she patted the dog’s head. “I’ll see you later, George.”
Kaiah’s heart began to break while Reid took Piper’s hand and steered her toward the front door.
Once they were gone, Kaiah fixed Hayes with a look. “Care to tell me why on earth you’re here?”
Chapter 25
“You wouldn’t respond to my texts.” Hayes slipped his hands into his jean pockets. “What else was I supposed to do?”
“Oh, I don’t know. How abouttake a hint, Hayes?” Kaiah nearly spat the words at him. “I told you that unless you had something to tell me about George or you had a lead on a story for me, we havenothingto talk about.”
George sat back on his haunches and patted Kaiah’s thighs with his front paws. She rubbed his head, and a burst of love surged through her. She’d missed her little buddy so much!
“We haveplentyto talk about, Ky.” He jammed his thumb toward the front door. “For starters, who are those two?”
“None of your business.”
“New boyfriend?”
She wasn’t going to take his bait. He had no right to know anything about her life. He’d lost that privilege when he chose his career over their relationship. “How’d you find me?”
“It wasn’t difficult. I read your latest articles—which are good, by the way—so I flew out to Wilmington, rented a car, and came here. Then I started asking around and figured out where you’re staying.”
She massaged George’s head. “Asking around?”
“I’m a journalist too, remember? I’m kind of used to posing questions to strangers to find things out. I stopped at a few stores and talked to people at the festival.” He rocked back on his heels. “Everyone’s seen the pretty blonde reporter, and the rumor is that she’s staying with a firefighter. I kept asking until someone told me where to findyourfirefighter.” He eyed her up and down. “So you went from a journalist to a firefighter, huh?”
Fury swept a fire through her veins. “You need to leave.Now.” She pointed to his SUV.
“Hold on, Ky.” He held his hands up in surrender. “Just talk to me. Please.”
She huffed in frustration, and George whined, pushing his head under her hands. She hadn’t even realized she’d stopped petting him. She rubbed his ears, and his big smile returned.
Hayes continued to watch her, and the months of anger and hurt that had accumulated in her gut merged together in a white-hot fury.
“Fine. If you won’t leave, then I will.” She began to back away from them, and George followed her. She started toward the stairs leading to the apartment while trying to fish her keys from the depths of her backpack purse. Where were they? Why did she always carry so much stuff in her bag? Wait—she didn’t even need keys! The doorknob opened with a passcode. Hayes had her all discombobulated. Shehadto stop giving him so much power over her.
George whined, and she stopped moving. He rested against her leg, and her chest squeezed with love. She needed Hayes to go and her dog to stay.
“Ky, please,” Hayes pleaded with her. “Just listen to what I have to say.”
She glared at him. “If I listen, will you leave?”
“Yes, I promise.”
“Fine.” She sat on the landscape timber at the edge of the driveway and continued moving her fingers through her dog’s satin fur. “You have five minutes.”
