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It made a girl feel completely self-conscious to be watched while she picked out something to wear for a man. I couldn’t exactly choose a new pair of panties like I wanted to either, not without revealing all my intentions to them. Dammit.
“Where’re you going?” Miguel asked. “When’re you coming home? Are you having a sleepover? Can I come too? I want to see where Hayden lives.”
“Miguel,” Papá warned, hushing him with a severe glance. “Let your sister go on a date with the boy by herself.”
“It’s not a—” I started, rolling my eyes, only to cut myself off abruptly. If this wasn’t a date, they’d want to know what Hayden and I would be doing together, then. I couldn’t rightfully tell them we were going
to break into his mother’s condo. So I cleared my throat, and shifted my clothes from one arm to the next, trying to feel comfortable again as I nodded to my father and said, “Thank you, Papá.”
He nodded back. “Have fun, mija. Just be careful. Rich gringos like that always think they can get whatever they want.” He jabbed his finger meaningfully my way. “But you don’t have to give him anything you don’t want to.”
I nodded, charmed by the concern in his eyes, all the while unconcerned by his warning. Because, “Don’t worry, Papá. I never do.”
He might be right. Hayden was rich. He was privileged. He got pretty much anything he wanted, and he expected things to go his way. Yet I knew he wasn’t at all like the type of man my father seemed to think he might be. He’d never treated me like a poor girl who owed him anything, like someone who should look up to him and give him whatever he demanded. He was a highbrow asshat who tended to talk down to everyone he met, and yet he managed to make that feel sophisticated and charming, like I belonged right up there on that level with him. I wasn’t exactly sure how to properly describe him. I just knew he was the most genuine, honest person I could trust my soul with.
And besides, I had no problem telling anyone “no.” It just so happened I didn’t want to say no to Hayden.
As soon as I was dressed, I waved goodbye to Papá and Miguel and shot out of the apartment with so much time to spare that I had to hang outside against the crumbling wall of my building before Hayden’s familiar car pulled to the curb.
Popping forward, I opened the door, already asking, “So what’s the plan?” as I climbed in.
“I called in a favor from my brother,” he answered, checking traffic before he pulled away from the curb. “His job is to get her out of the apartment for at least two hours, preferably more.”
I nodded as I stuffed my phone into my purse. “Do you think he’ll follow through?”
“Brick?” He glanced at me in surprise. “Of course. But he’ll be full of questions. So we better find something worthwhile.”
I shook my head, confused. “Doesn’t he know about everything you’ve been doing?”
Hayden sighed. “No. Not a clue.”
“But…” I opened my mouth only to pause. “I thought you trusted him.”
“I do. With my life. I just didn’t want to bother him with any of this in case it was all a stupid, false paranoia on my part.”
My pulse surged with a strange realization. “So, no one knows what you’ve always suspected?” I asked, making him glance my way. “No one knows how much undercover sneaking around you’ve done to find evidence against Lana?”
He focused on the road as he turned a corner. “Of course, someone knows. You know.”
My lips parted. “You’re saying I’m your only confidante?”
“Don’t look so shocked.” His glance was brief and so unconcerned that I think it freaked me out even more. He’d let me in more than he had anyone else, hadn’t he? And I hadn’t even realized it.
Holy shit.
“I needed you to know so you could help me, remember?”
Except it didn’t matter how he tried to downplay it; I was shocked. Something I knew without a doubt about Hayden was that he didn’t trust easily. And the fact that he’d trusted me above his own brother, who he claimed was the most important person in his life, was—well, it was mind-blowing.
I cleared my throat, refusing to respond, even though I was freaking out inside. Aside from his private investigator and the detective he’d talked to tonight, I was the only person from his personal life that he trusted with his suspicions. The only person he’d told. The only person he’d gone to for help.
From Hayden, that seemed like a pretty damn big deal.
As we reached Preston Estates, my pulse spiked even higher. I could’ve blamed it on the fact that my adventures in B & E were about to continue—planned and premeditated this time—or could it really be classified under breaking and entering since I had a key now?
Anyway, not even I believed that was the reason why I was freaking out inside.
My women’s intuition was telling me that Hayden Carmichael was mine. If I wanted him, physically, emotionally, in any freaking way I wanted him, all I had to do was just take him.
