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God, Bailey still couldn’t believe that it had actually happened. He kept thinking that maybe it was all a figment of his imagination. That the dream he usually woke up from midway through had finally played out in full, and he hadn’t really had Henri naked inside his bedroom…naked and inside of him.
But there was no way his imagination was that good, no way that Bailey would’ve thought up the silver piercings through Henri’s nipples, and there was no way in hell that he could have made the bruise on his shoulder, where Henri had bit him, all on his own.
That night had happened, but just like Henri had promised, he was gone the next morning, had vanished like he had that day of the wedding, and Bailey still couldn’t decide if he was happy about that.
After he loaded the steaks onto a serving plate, he switched off the barbecue and then opened up the bottom to turn off the gas. He’d just finished closing it all up when the back door slid open again, and he turned around about to tell Sean to cool his jets.
But instead of Sean, Xander stepped outside. He had a smug smile on his face as he crossed the back deck and held Bailey’s phone out. “Don’t look now, but it seems your one-night stand is looking to make it two.”
Bailey’s forehead creased as he stared at his friend in confusion. He’d told Xander earlier about what had happened between him and Henri. And as Xander stood there now grinning, Bailey wondered if his friend was fucking with him.
“I can’t be positive,” Xander continued, “but I’m assuming the person you listed in your contacts as Ghost is the man who keeps up and vanishing from your life. Am I right?”
“Give me that,” Bailey said, snatching the phone out of his friend’s hand, and sure enough, Xander was right. On the screen was a missed call from Henri, and though the agreement between them had been for one night and one night only, Bailey’s fool heart began to beat overtime at the thought of seeing Henri again.
“So,” Xander said, as Bailey continued to stare at the screen as though it were the winning numbers to the Million Dollar Jackpot Lottery. “You going to call him back?”
The answer definitely should’ve been no. But before he could stop himself, Bailey said, “Cover for me. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Chapter Sixteen
CONFESSION
Of all the stupid things I’ve done,
stalking a cop is right up there at the top.
HENRI TURNED ONTO the street Bailey had directed him to last week, and he recognized it in an instant. He had a knack for that kind of thing, soaking in the details. It was something that had always helped him with his jobs in the past, and as he drove further down the street, he’d never been more thankful for his tracking—stalking—skills in his life.
As he slow-crawled the Aston Martin toward the end of the cul-de-sac, Henri spotted several cars parked in the driveway and cursed. There were four in total, just his fucking luck. So instead of driving right up there and intruding on whatever shindig Bailey had going on, Henri did what any respectable stalker would do: he pulled up to the curb, several houses down, as far away from the streetlight as possible. Then he sat there for a minute, trying to decide what to do next.
He’d known this wasn’t a smart idea before he’d done it, had talked himself out of it several times before finally saying “fuck it” and getting in the car. But as he sat there now, staring at the vehicles parked in Bailey’s driveway, Henri realized he hadn’t really thought this through. He also reminded himself that he still had a chance to leave.
Henri looked over to the house again, to the place he’d spent one of the hottest nights of his life in, and thought, It’s not like this would be the first time I’ve snuck around someone’s house—or into it, for that matter. Then, before he could change his mind, he shoved open the car door and got out.
Careful to stick to the shadows, Henri made his way toward Bailey’s house and slipped down the side that seemed less lit up than the other.
He supposed it should’ve occurred to him that Bailey might have company tonight—after all, it was Saturday—but Henri hadn’t even thought of that when he’d come up with this genius plan. All he’d been thinking about was how fucking incredible last week had been, and how he would do just about anything to see Bailey again.
Even, apparently, stalking.
He knew he should feel bad about creeping around outside someone’s house, and considering that that someone was a cop, he wasn’t sure his night wouldn’t end with a bullet in his ass for trespassing.
