Chapter Four
3:30 AM
There was a vibrating sound. What was it? Hailey turned over in her bed and closed her eyes again. She had been having the most amazing dream ever that starred Owen and Nolan, so the buzzing sound was pissing her off. Hugging the pillow close to her body again she let out a breath and yawned once more.
“Sleep,” she whispered and drifted once more.
And there it was again.
Vibrating.
“What in the blazes is going on?” She started to reach blindly for the side table and found her phone. Without even looking at it she swiped her finger over the phone. “Dr. Davenport.” The display on the phone was an unknown number, so she assumed it was a hospital or doctor’s office calling at this time of night.
“Why aren’t you at home, Hailey? You should be home in your bed. I know you’re not on shift for the next few days, so where the fuck are you?”
A chill raced through her, and her breath hitched. She knew that voice, one she had prayed she would never hear again.
“None of your damn business.” She was wide awake now, sitting up with the sheet around her naked body. “I told you that I didn’t want you calling me again. It’s over. In fact, it never started, so lose my number, you idiot. There was one date. One!”
“That’s not how this works, Hailey. Now tell me where the fuck you are. I’m not joking around either, you bitch.”
A soft knock on her door brought Hailey’s head up. “Hailey, are you okay?” Nolan called softly through the wood.
“Nolan, no, I’m not,” she said and then back to the idiot on the other end who just didn’t get it. “Look, you perverted son of a bitch, I said to lose my number, and I meant it. We were never actually together, so you and your grandiose schemes need to take a flying leap off the mountain.” She was shaking now. “And you call me that name again, and I will hunt you down and kick your ass myself.”
The door had eased open halfway through her rant to reveal Nolan. He came over to the bed and sat down facing her while she dealt with the asshole on the phone.
“I’m going to make you pay for that, bitch. Slowly, painfully, and in ways you can’t even imagine. I will find you. When I do, you and I are going to have one hell of a reunion. One I’m quite sure I’ll enjoy more than you.”
She put the phone on speaker and with a frown said, “You’re not going to make me pay anything.” And then she went to hang up on him, but his words lingered in the air before she could.
“You are so wrong, Hailey. But then you never did have a fucking clue. But not to worry, I’ll make sure you understand the error of your ways before my colleagues ship you off. I’m sure they won’t mind delaying your departure for a few days to allow me some fun.” He blew her a kiss through the phone. “I’m coming for you, bitch. Hope you’re ready for what a real man can give you.”
The phone went dead in her shaking hand.
Hailey just looked at Nolan and handed him her phone. “He really is out to hurt me, isn’t he?” A tear ran down her cheek. “What did I ever do to him? Well, besides telling the asshat to bugger off.”
Shifting closer to her, Nolan wrapped an arm around her shoulders to pull her gently into a hug. “He’s getting desperate. The mob doesn’t like to be kept waiting for payment, and he’s just lost his collateral with them. Which means they’ll be looking to do him some serious damage each day he’s late with his payment. We’re not going to let him or anyone else hurt you, Hailey.”
Hailey moved closer to Nolan and let him hold her. The sheet was firm between them, and she nuzzled in closer to him. “I never knew. If I had even a small inkling that he was in with the mob, I never would have had anything to do with him. I just…” She felt stupid. Plain and simple. She had been lonely and allowed the asshole to take her out once, only once, and now she understood she just wasn’t cut out for relationships, obviously.
“It’s not your fault, Hailey. None of it,” he told her. Nolan began to rock her back and forth slightly as he stroked her hair. “He’s an adult who can, and will, have to own up to his own issues. He’s attempting to pass the blame onto you. Don’t let that bother you. You know better, and that’s all that matters. Besides, we all know he’s worse than scum for trying to use you as collateral for his own stupidity. He climbed into bed with the mob. Now he can damn well deal with all the horrifically painful and life-threatening consequences of that action.”
She nodded and rubbed her cheek to his neck. “Will you stay with me? I don’t want to be alone, not after that call. If he calls again, I’m totally letting you handle talking to him. I don’t want to deal with him ever again.” She didn’t want to be alone, not after being scared shitless by the phone call.
“I’ll stay,” he murmured. “Let me take your phone to Owen first. I want him to put a tap on it in case this jerk tries to call you again. I have a feeling he will as he feels more pressure from the Russians. Give me two minutes, okay?”
“Sure, that gives me time to put on a shirt and panties.” When he nodded and walked out of the room she jumped from the bed and pulled on an undershirt and a pair of panties. She then climbed back into bed and yawned again. She watched him as he reentered the room and smiled. “Thank you for coming back.”
“I told you that I would. I left your phone with Owen. He’ll pick up if the ex decides to call again tonight. I doubt he will, but you never really know what a person will do when they are feeling desperate.” Climbing onto the bed next to her Nolan settled his back against the headboard after adjusting a few pillows. “Curl back up, and try to sleep if you can. No reason to let that asshole ruin a perfectly good night’s sleep in such fancy digs.”
“This is true.” She moved slightly and yawned. “How about you scoot down just a bit so that I could cuddle up with you, please?” She wanted to wrap herself around Nolan and rest. She wanted to know what it felt like to sleep with someone, with someone holding her and her holding them.
Doing as she asked, he held his arms open to her, and then wrapped her up tight when she got settled in. She felt him press a kiss to her hair. “Sleep, Hailey. You’re completely safe here with us.”
“Thank you. I know I’m safe here.” With him, she was sure she would always be safe. “Good rest, Nolan. Thank you for sleeping with me.” She drifted off and into sleep without another moment’s notice.
****
Hailey woke up warm, cozy, and without the urge to move. She was wrapped around a man who was as wrapped around her. That threw her for a moment until the previous night came roaring back to her. Flexing of the muscular chest under her cheek distracted her from further thoughts as Nolan stretched and gave a yawn.
“Morning, doc.”
“Morning, Nolan.” She rubbed her cheek against the bare and amazingly muscular chest that she was resting against. “You stayed with me,” she whispered. “Thank you for staying with me.” She couldn’t stop smiling because it felt far too lovely to be right there with Nolan holding her.
“I told you I would, doc. I’m a man of my word,” he told her. Giving her a squeeze he gave another slow stretch. “We should probably get up so we can get in on breakfast. We’re only permitting food services up here at specific hours, so we need to ensure all the orders conform to what we’ve put in place.”
“Ah, okay.” She moved slightly and looked in his eyes. “I’m glad that you are a man of your word. I slept better with you these last few hours than I’ve slept in a week. I think that I could become accustomed to having you sleeping with me.”
He smiled slowly at her words. Lifting a hand, he ran a finger down her cheek lightly. “You say the word, and I’ll be right here. Much better than sitting out there watching infomercials all night listening to a bunch of guys debate the validity of one item over another.”
“As long as you aren’t too against it, you should sleep with me every night.” She smirked. “I just love waking up on the side of you like this.”
“Not against it in the least. I rather like having you pressed up against me throughout the night. For now, we should get up and move. Mainly because I really need to make use of the facilities. I shouldn’t have had that second bottle of water before falling asleep. It was a grave error in judgment on my part.”
“Ah yes, water right before sleeping is a bad thing.” She moved away from him and gave him a smile. “You go and do what you need to do. I’m going to put on some clothes. I’ll shower after I eat.”
“Good plan,” he told her. Rolling off the bed, he strode for the bathroom. When he went to shut the door, he flashed her a quick grin.