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He steps back after, hovering at my side like he’s waiting to rescue me and I have to bite back a smile at his overprotectiveness. He’s just as bad as my parents, but I’m finding that I like when he does it more. There’s something comforting about having him trailing after me.
“I thought that we were meeting at my place,” I say as I turn to face them, and now it’s their turn to be embarrassed.
“We saw your car and decided to stop,” my mom says, but she’s a terrible liar.
I narrow my eyes at her and she winces slightly.
I get my looks from my mom. We have the same red hair and green eyes, the same pale skin and freckles. The only difference is our sizes. Even now, fifteen years after she retired from modeling, she’s still a size two. I’m a size sixteen. She towers over me too, almost as tall as my dad. I don’t know where I got my height from, but I’m an average five foot six.
“We were worried about you,” my dad says, stepping in to bail his wife out.
“Uh-huh,” I say and he sighs.
He knows that it’s going to be an argument about this later.
I’m surprised that they haven’t started lecturing me yet. They told me not to go to a bar last night. They don’t want me to go anywhere alone but definitely nowhere alone at night and now here we are, parked outside of one and it’s obvious that I didn’t go home last night. I think that having Hayes here is stopping them, and I wonder if I could invite him over for lunch without him thinking that I’m a weirdo.
My dad has this stubborn look on his face and I know that as soon as we’re alone, he’s going to bring up hiring me a bodyguard again. At least now I can prove to them that I went out alone and was totally fine.
A memory from last night hits me. It’s of Hayes wrapping a protective arm around my waist while his other hand shoves some guy away from us. I frown, trying to remember what happened before or after, but come up blank.
I look over at Hayes, and he’s staring at me. When my eyes meet his, his whole face seems to soften and suddenly he doesn’t look so scary anymore.
“Are you hungry?” I ask him, and one corner of his mouth lifts.
“I could eat,” he says and I grin.
I know that he’s lying, that we both just ate breakfast at his place, but I’m glad that he’s willing to step in and save me again.
“We’ll meet you back at your apartment,” my dad says when I turn back around and I nod.
“I live in Northwoods,” I tell Hayes and he nods, knowing where the apartment building is. “Apartment number 202.”
I dig my keys out of my purse as I move to get into my car and I see my parents pause. I’m guessing that they want to set a few rules with Hayes, so I just roll my eyes and start my car.
I look over to Hayes before I shift into park, and he gives me a small smile. I smile back as I pull out of my spot.
Getting to my apartment before everyone else isn’t a bad idea. I could use a shower and I frown as I wonder just how messy my place is right now. I was in a writing groove, so I haven’t picked up in a few days.
I just want it to be nice for when my parents see it for the first time. That’s what I tell myself anyway, but as I drive out of the parking lot, it’s Hayes that my eyes keep going back to.
ChapterFour
Hayes
“What do you do for a living, Hayes?” Betty’s dad, Ryan, asks me as we watch her leave.
“I’m a bouncer here,” I tell them, nodding over to the bar behind me.
“Do you like it?” he asks me, and I pause.
No one has ever asked me that.
Do I like it?
Honestly, no. I hate the hours, I hate dealing with a bunch of drunk people all of the time. I hate having to use my looks and height to scare or intimidate people. I hate the guys who see my face or body as a challenge and try to start fights. I just want to stay home and paint, and now that I’ve found Betty, I just want to take care of her.
“No,” I tell him after a beat and he seems pleased by my answer.
