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“I don’t see the problem.”
“It’s an invasion of privacy,” I say, throwing up my hands. “I’m not your pet who ran away and needs you to rescue them.” When he lifts a mocking brow, I take a deep breath to ease the frustration unfurling in my gut. I squeeze the water bottle pretending it’s Hayden’s neck. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“I need to know every second of every day that you’re safe.” He shrugs. “If that means planting a chip in you or tracking your cell phone, I’ll do it.”
My mouth falls open before I snap my jaw shut. “Do you hear yourself? You sound insane.”
“If I’m crazy, it’s because of you.”
As if he slapped me, I jerk back. “Me?”
“Yes, you.”
His arms fall to his sides and he takes a step toward me. I take one back in response because his nearness overwhelms me and destroys my defenses. He walks up to me, trapping me between the counter and his body as he looms over me, his blue eyes coated in frost.
I repress a shiver and avert my gaze, watching him grip the counter’s edge on either side of my hips. He leans into me, pressing the length of his body to mine, and that delicious contact has my blood singing.
“What did I ever do to you?” I ask, staring at his forearm and the veins visible just underneath his skin. “You’re the one who won’t leave me alone.”
At the feel of his fingers taking hold of my chin, I press my lips together. He lifts my head until our eyes meet. It’s nearly unbearable to look at him. Not when he stares at me like I’m his reason for living.
“Because you're in my blood, Callie. Underneath my skin. No matter how hard I try, I can't cut you out without killing myself in the process.”
Chapter31
Calista
“Hayden,”I breathe, his name a gasp and a sigh all in one.
“It’s never been this way for me. I don’t know how to deal with it except to make sure that you’re safe and cared for at all times. That’s the only thing keeping me from going completely insane and kidnapping you. Although, I’ve thought about it.A lot.”
His words steal the air from my lungs. Taking a deep breath, I curl my fingers into his shirt, clinging with a desperation that frightens me as much as his confession. “This isn’t healthy. For either of us.”
His gaze holds mine, stripping away layers of armor and defiance to expose the lonely woman beneath the exterior I present to the world. The one who craves his affection with a thirst that could drown her. Am I in this thing as deep as he is? Not yet. Only because he’s accepted it and I haven’t.
“It might not be healthy or what’s considered normal.” He releases my chin to slide his hand in my hair, tangling his fingers in the strands to hold me immobile. “But I don’t want normal if it means I can’t have you.”
A choked sound escapes my throat as his words pierce the last of my defenses. No one has ever looked at me the way Hayden does. And they certainly have never gone through the lengths he has to keep me safe. Not even my father cared this much, and he loved me.
Whatever Hayden feels for me, it might be stronger than love.
But it’s more dangerous as well.
“Elite Health Care,” I whisper. Hayden’s brow furrows, and I close my eyes, unable to repeat myself while looking at him. “Elite Health Care is the name.”
Still gripping the back of my head, he uses his other hand to trace my eyelids, his touch lighter than the stroke of a butterfly’s wing. “Look at me.” When I do, I find confusion warring with the dawning comprehension that travels over his features. “The clinic,” he rasps. “That’s where you were that night.”
Witnessing the understanding blooming within his mind is swiftly followed by feelings of shame so raw my chest burns. Tears prick my eyes as I nod in confirmation. Keeping this piece of information from him is only delaying the inevitable. Similar to my relationship with him.
Hayden will ultimately get what he wants from me, and I’m powerless to stop it.
“Why are you telling me now, after refusing me for days?” he asks.
That’s the real question, the one that has my mind spinning and my heart pumping crazily. All night I’ve wrestled with the notion that Hayden is only pursuing me because he wants the details of my past, and that once he has them, he’ll be done with me. All of this passion and intensity from him will fade, and I’ll be left behind with my secrets exposed and only my loneliness to comfort me. By telling him the things he wants, I’m expediting the end of whatever this is between us.
Because I can’t imagine him keeping me when he knows everything.
I take a shuddering breath, willing the rapid beat of my heart to slow. “I’m telling you because I'm tired of running from you, Hayden. I’m tired of pretending this thing between us will somehow fade if I avoid it long enough.”
