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Hayes rested his hands on the table and pushed up. “Get the hell out of here. I have more work to do.”
“You also have to call Annabelle and Piper and tell them about your award,” Colt stated. “And when they want to throw you a party or a dinner, or any other celebration, you’ll let them and you’ll be thankful.”
Hayes saluted. “Yes, sir.”
They left with a slam of the back door that had Hayes jumping, but at least he was still upright and not in the fetal position on the floor.
He had a few finishing touches to do before contacting Alexa. He wanted things to be perfect, but he also wanted an explanation. She’d hurt him, that he couldn’t overlook. But he would give her a chance to defend herself because she deserved it…and he missed her.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Alexa smoothed a hand down her dress and knocked on Hayes’s back door. She seriously should’ve called, but she didn’t want him to flat-out tell her no. She figured if she was there in person, maybe he’d listen to her. She couldn’t wait another day. Two had seemed like a lifetime and she was taking a risk driving here and crossing through Elliott land like she owned the place.
Shifting Mason higher on her hip, she stepped back and waited for Hayes to answer the door. Mason had fallen asleep on the way over and was still out. He rested his little head on her shoulder and she drew her strength from him.
Even when this was all said and done, even if she left here with her heart broken, she still had her amazing son and he was the greatest thing in her life.
The wood door swung open, leaving the screen separating them. Hayes had on his jeans and a large buckle with the Pebblebrook emblem, but no shirt.
When he said nothing, Alexa cleared her throat. “I hope you’re not in the middle of anything. I just… I wanted to talk to you.”
Hayes reached out, pushing the screen door open. Without a word, he gestured her inside. Well, at least that was something. He didn’t close the door in her face and didn’t tell her no.
“Oh, my word, Hayes.” She glanced around the room, taking in all the clean lines, the bold splashes of color. The table now had benches, the appliances were missing, but everything else was absolutely perfect. “This is even better than I imagined it would be.”
He crossed to the table and started cleaning up some tools. “I just got this light hung,” he told her as he moved the large box back toward the laundry room. He sat the tools in the toolbox on the floor and turned back to her. “Say whatever it is you have to say.”
Okay, so he wasn’t going to make this easy. She hadn’t expected him to and she probably didn’t deserve the break.
“I know saying sorry now seems convenient and the easy way to start, but I am sorry.”
Mason shifted in her arms, but she patted his back and he settled.
“Sit down,” Hayes demanded. “You don’t need to be standing and holding him. He’s got to be heavy.”
Alexa smiled. “I’m used to him and I doubt I’ll be here long.”
She’d say what she needed to say and leave. The ball would be in his court, so to speak.
“I had no clue you were Scott’s friend,” she started. “I knew he had a best friend in school he called Cowboy. He told me his friend went into the Army and I knew you guys texted and talked on occasion. But I swear, I never heard him say your real name. I never really asked, either.”
Hayes remained across the room. He crossed his arms over that broad chest and continued to stare at her with that darkened gaze. Alexa laced her fingers beneath Mason’s bottom and kept going.
“I didn’t know anything until I mentioned the movie and you said his name,” she admitted. “And by then we’d slept together. I figured once I left, we’d never see each other again and you wouldn’t have to know. You were so angry with your fiancée and your commanding officer, I just didn’t want you to see similarities. Admitting everything would’ve meant I was feeling something for you and that I was accepting that my original family was in the past. I realize that was a mistake, but I did what I thought was right. I was afraid.
“But then you came to my house,” she went on as she paced the room. “I thought staying away from you would be best, but you came by and I had no willpower. The more time I spent with you, the more my feelings were growing and I never thought I’d have feelings for another man again.”
“And what do you feel?” he asked.
Alexa stilled, then turned back around. “I fell in love with you. I’m completely in love with you, and so is Mason.”
If he was shocked at her words, he didn’t show it. This was one of those times she wished her blunt mouth would zip it, but she was here to tell him the whole truth so she couldn’t stop now.
“I have no idea when I fell for you,” she went on, ignoring her nerves. She’d come this far. “But I knew you needed to know who I was, who my husband was.”
“Why the different last names?” he asked.
Alexa shrugged. “I never changed my name when we married. I just wanted to keep mine.”
