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“I’m going to see my OBGYN.”
He stares at me with a stricken look on his face and his eyes wide. Then they narrow with suspicion. “Are you trying to get rid of a pregnancy?”
I clutch my clothes to my chest and spin to face him. “Oh, my God. Are you serious?”
Hayden rises from the mattress, standing tall with his arms crossed. The sunlight hits his body, turning it golden. Every divot and sinew of muscle is on display for me to gaze at like a Roman statue. Only he’s flesh and blood, and a temptation I can’t give into. Not again.
“Answer the question,” he says, the words measured but forceful.
“That’s not the reason for my appointment.”
“Then what is?”
I sigh. “Birth control, okay? My blood pressure is probably through the roof because of this conversation,” I mutter.
His stance relaxes, and his arms fall to his sides, completely at odds with the urgency in his tone. “Would you tell me if you were pregnant, Callie?”
I frown. “Of course. You’d have a right to know.”
He nods, coming to an unspoken conclusion. “So, birth control, huh?”
“Yes.”
A smile spreads his lips. “Why do you need it?”
“Why do I need it?” My forehead scrunches with my confusion. “What are you getting at, Hayden? And why do you have that stupid grin on your face?”
“You wouldn’t need birth control unless you were still planning on having sex with me.”
A loud huff leaves me before I purse my lips. “I made the appointmentbeforeI found out about your… nocturnal activities in my apartment.”
“That’s fair,” he says, dipping his head in a show of agreement, “but the fact that you’restillgoing to the appointment tells me what I want to know.”
“I’m going to regret asking this, but what does your twisted mind tell you? That I don’t want to get knocked up by a psychopath?”
“That you want to forgive me.”
My pulse hammers loudly in my ears until it drowns out everything else. I stare at Hayden, waiting for anger or denial to rise within me, but nothing happens. Nothing except feelings of helplessness pricking at me.
And a tinge of suspicion that he could be right…
“This is too much,” I say. I grip the clothing harder to hide the trembling of my fingers, wrinkling the garments. “And it’s not that simple.”
His jaw tightens. “Maybe not, but the inclination is there.”
“Go to hell.”
He laughs to himself, the sound hollow and forlorn. “Go to hell? Without you, I’m already there.”
* * *
After waitingseveral minutes for Hayden to force his way into the bathroom, I finally relax when he doesn’t appear. I go through my morning routine methodically, but not because I care about my appearance. It’s about focusing on the tasks rather than my conflicted emotions.
Once I’m showered and dressed with my hair and makeup done, I study my reflection. The woman staring back at me is calm and collected, but she has dark circles under her eyes. No amount of concealer can disguise that.
Just as no amount of denial can erase the pleasure I experienced in Hayden’s arms this morning.
Pushing that thought aside, I grab my purse and make my way to the kitchen. Hayden is there, freshly showered and fully dressed. His gaze locks on me the second I appear and doesn’t waver, even when I glare at him in suspicion.
