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CHAPTER 8
HAYDEN
Watching Bristol on the beach yesterday made a few things very clear to me. She’s great at her job, even if she wasn’t sure about getting in front of the camera. Her boss adores her. My heart is going to be ripped out of my chest when she leaves to go back home.
I’ve never been proud and heartbroken at the same time, but that’s what I was as I watched her conquer her fears and pose instead of the model they had for the shoot. I don’t know a damn thing about any of it, but even I could tell things weren’t right when Svetlana was in front of the camera.
I was proud of my girl, but at the same time I saw this light come on inside of her and my gut was screaming at me that she’s going to leave me.
I could barely speak to her while she packed up and I helped to load everything on my boat and then unload it when we got back to the marina. I could see the questions in her eyes, but I didn’t do anything to stop her when she walked away to get everything back to the resort and make sure everything was set for her boss to leave.
Is she leaving with him? She didn’t mention it to me, but why would she stay?
It’s been tearing me up since I watched her walk away, but maybe it’s better this way. This way neither of us will be in too deep.
Yeah, sure, keep telling yourself lies.
I don’t even believe the bullshit rolling around in my mind sometimes. I’m in deep. I’m in all the way.
I should find a way to ask her to stay, but then what? Will she resent me for staying here and leaving her family behind? Leaving her dreams behind?
I didn’t even go down to the marina today because now my boat, the one place I’ve always found peace and acceptance, reminds me of Bristol. How the hell did this all happen in a matter of days? What am I going to do when she’s gone?
The knock on my door has me curious about who could be coming over. I’m not expecting anyone, and I’d really like to wallow in pity all by myself, thank you very much.
When I swing the door open, I’m not prepared to find Bristol standing there. Her fingers are twisted together as she bites on her plump bottom lip in a way that makes me wish I were the one doing it.
My voice is a mixture of awe and accusation, “What are you doing here?”
Bristol steps forward into my space and it forces me to take a step back. Every step she takes forward is filled with intimidation and considering I tower over her 5’6” height, it says something about the scowl on her face and the emotions rolling off her in waves.
“What am I doing here?” Her voice is incredulous, “Are you serious right now, Hayden?”
“Yes?” I grimace because that should not have come out sounding like a question when I meant it as a statement, but she has me questioning everything right now. “You didn’t answer my question.”
She scoffs, “I’m here trying to figure out why you’re acting like such an ass.” My eyebrows shoot up to my hairline and I open my mouth, but she’s not done. “I didn’t ask Soren to put me in front of the camera. You didn’t need to glare at me like I had beat your puppy the entire time, I was nervous enough as it was.”
I snarl, “What the fuck are you talking about?” She looks up into my eyes and instead of anger in her hazel depths, I find vulnerability. “I was so damn proud of you, Trouble. So proud. You were amazing.”
She scrunches up her face and waves her hand, “I wasn’t, but I appreciate you saying that.”
I grip her hips with my hands, squeezing roughly, and pull her forward until she’s flush against my chest. “You were so fucking sexy on that beach, Bristol. You didn’t even need the makeup team and all the bullshit that the other woman did. All that was needed was you and your natural beauty. You were amazing,” I tell her firmly.
She nods slowly as she looks at me. “Then why did you look so pissed?”
I reach up and cup her face in my hands before lowering my head to make our foreheads touch. “Because I realized you’re going to go back to Denver. It’s where your life is. It’s where your passions are.”
She scoffs and narrows her eyes before tearing herself backward and out of my hold. “You’ve just decided this?”
My eyebrows pull together because that’s not the response I was expecting at all. I speak slowly, my words measured because I get the feeling I need to tread carefully here, “It was obvious. I saw the way you lit up while working behind and in front of the camera.”
She shakes her head and rolls her eyes while huffing out a breath. “Men,” she snarks and I hold my hands up in surrender because I’m pretty sure that’s the only reaction I can safely have in this kind of situation.
“I never want to stand in the way of your dreams, Bristol,” I keep my voice soft, but that doesn’t stop her from glaring at me.
“Hayden,” she growls my name and it’s kind of sexy, “did you ever think about asking me about what I want instead of making assumptions like you’re a mind reader? Don’t you have a truth you can use?”
My jaw drops as I take in the woman before me. Her hands are on her hips and she’s looking at me with fire in her eyes. My cock takes an instant liking to the vision in front of me, but now is the time to focus and not get lost in her body. Unfortunately.
