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We had dinner and drinks, and at some point, Hayes pointed out his ex-wife.
She was a pretty blonde, and it looked like she had already moved on to husband #2.
The second Hayes saw that, he started to drink more…and more. The only person I saw drink like that was Bartholomew, but I suspected Hayes couldn’t hold his liquor the way he could. We eventually cut the night short, and the driver took us back to his place.
I hoped he would drop me off on the way, but he was probably too depressed to think about anyone else but himself.
Whatever, I’d take a cab.
His driver pulled in past the gates to his estate, and then he headed inside. An elevator took us to the ground floor, so I stepped out and prepared to walk out to the street and order a ride.
“Well, thanks for coming,” he said, hands in his pockets.
“Of course. I was able to connect with a lot of potential clients, so that’s great for business.”
He gave a nod.
“I’m sorry about your ex.”
“Took half my money…and then half my heart.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. “Things will get better, Hayes.”
“Yeah? I’d like to believe that, but…”
I stood there awkwardly, unsure what to do. The extent of my relationship with Hayes was small talk and measurements. I wouldn’t really consider us to be friends. “Well, good night.”
“It’s late…if you want to stay.”
Uh, awkward. “I’ve already ordered a ride. They’ll be here any minute.”
He gave a nod. “Well, I really appreciate your coming with me.”
“I’m happy to help—”
He grabbed me by the arm and leaned in.
I dodged out of the way so quick that he almost toppled over.
Fuck, Bartholomew was right.“Uh, I should go. Good night, Hayes.” I headed for the entryway before he could say anything more. I kept my word because I didn’t want to lose Hayes as a client, but now I’d lost him anyway…and put my relationship in jeopardy.
* * *
He didn’t take my calls.
I called him once a day, at the beginning of the evening when I knew he started his day. It went to voice mail every time. I never called him more than once because I didn’t want to blow up his phone and show my desperation.
But I was definitely desperate.
Please talk to me.I fired off the text message, even though I knew there would be no reply.
And there wasn’t.
It’d been three days, and now I worried that our relationship was over. He’d disappeared from my life as quickly as he’d come into it. The most passionate relationship of my life had been ruined by my compassion.
Had been ruined for nothing.
Even though I knew the relationship would never be more than a dirty secret, it still hurt to watch it fall apart. He was never going to be my husband or the father of my children. He was always going to be a memory that I would think about from time to time.
