Chapter 7
—Remember when I asked for your opinion? Yeah, me neither.—
Hadley laid her head on Axel’s chest, listening to the sound of his heartbeat. Strong and steady. Seemingly like the man.
After they’d gone horseback riding, they’d basically been vegging out by her brother’s huge pool. It was kind of weird to be here without Brooks, but he’d made it abundantly clear that she should feel free to use this giant place as her own. He’d told her that he would be offended if she ever acted like a guest here, which yeah, just made her love him more. She wasn’t sure how she’d gotten so lucky having him for a brother. Right now, however, she was a little glad he wasn’t home. Because he’d probably go all overprotective crazy about Axel being with her.
It was strange not to have anything to do for a week. Heck, she’d been working since she was sixteen and normally worked over every single school break to save money. She hadn’t been sure what she was going to do with herself, and now having all this free time with Axel was kind of incredible. She was really afraid she was falling for him, which was insane. They’d barely spent a day together. But he brought out this wild, fun side of her and she felt as if he really saw her.
Obviously there was so much they didn’t know about each other but she wanted the chance to get to know everything about him.
“What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” Axel’s fingers were lazy against her back as he rubbed up and down in a rhythmic fashion.
Cuddled up against him, there was nowhere else she wanted to be. “Nothing really, just enjoying today. It’s kind of strange to be so lazy and do nothing.”
The sky overhead was blue with just a few clouds scattered around but there was more warmth in the air today. Not enough to shed their jackets yet, but spring was truly coming and she was ready for it. It had been a bitterly cold winter.
“Are you expecting anyone?” he asked suddenly, his body stiffening ever so slightly.
“Ah…no. My brother shouldn’t be back for a couple days. Why?” And her dad wouldn’t be back until the next week since he was dealing with some business stuff in Florida. Even though he swore he was retired, Hadley didn’t feel like he really was because he still worked a lot. Something she understood. She couldn’t imagine not being busy.
“I thought I heard something.” He sat up swiftly, his eyes scanning the patio and pool area. The Olympic-size pool glistened under the sunlight. Beautiful but still far too cold to get into. Even if it did have a heating system, Hadley wasn’t sure how to work it and she wasn’t getting in the thing anyway. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” But the tense line of his jaw said otherwise as he pushed to his feet. Reaching out, he took her hand. “Let’s head inside.”
Okaaaaay. She wondered what was going on with him but didn’t push as they headed for the back door. As they reached it, it swung open, surprising her. Even more surprising, Skye stepped out.
Hadley’s eyes widened in surprise, but she was happy to see the other woman. “Hey! What are you doing here?”
Instead of answering, Skye swept a critical gaze over Axel. There was absolutely nothing sexual about her look either. Nope, she seemed as if she was sizing him up to literally fight him. Which wouldn’t surprise Hadley, considering what she’d learned about Skye.
“Okay, since you’re not going to answer me, Skye, this is my friend Axel. Axel, Skye.”
Skye’s eyes narrowed on him.
“Have you lost the ability to speak?” Hadley demanded.
Skye gave a tight smile. “Is this the guy you went out on a date with?”
Holy balls, what was wrong with Skye? “Uh, yes. Can we take this into the kitchen? Seems a little weird that we’re all standing around here in the doorway with you looking a little like you want to punch my date.” Hadley looked at Axel and rolled her eyes. “This is one of my older brother’s friends. And she’s my friend too. Though maybe after today I’m going to rethink that,” she said, giving Skye a hard look.
Axel extended his hand to Skye. “Nice to meet you,” he murmured.
Skye ignored his hand and stepped back to let them in.
Rolling her eyes again, Hadley wiggled past the other woman, dragging Axel with her. Maybe hanging out at the ranch hadn’t been such a good idea. And she wasn’t going to deal with getting grilled by her friend. Especially since Hadley was a grown-ass woman. She made her own decisions, and while she might love how overprotective her brother was, she wasn’t going to put up with any garbage about her personal life. Not from anyone. Because she was under the impression that her brother and his friends thought she was helpless. In reality, she’d been taking care of herself for far longer than she should have been, thanks to a mom who hadn’t given a crap whether she’d eaten or not.
As they stepped inside, Colt came in from one of the other entries. He smiled when he saw them, nodded politely at Axel. “Hey, I’m Colt, Skye’s husband. What are you up to Hadley, enjoying your spring break?”
“Hey,” she said, stepping over to give him a hug. She swore he was usually the only sane one of the bunch. “Colt, this is Axel and yes, I’m enjoying my spring break. What are you guys up to?” she asked as the two men shook hands.
They seemed to be sizing each other up, but it was much more subtle than what Skye Crazypants had been doing.
“Just stopping by Brooks’s office to grab something. Saw an unfamiliar truck in the driveway and wondered how anyone got past his security.”
Axel cleared his throat. “I’ve actually got to head out but it was nice to meet you guys. Hadley, want to walk me out?”
Disappointment rushed through her, but she tamped it down. He’d gotten a few texts earlier but had ignored them. She knew he was in town for interviews so either he had to get to one or was freaked out by Skye’s weird behavior and was leaving. She couldn’t actually blame him.
Once they were outside, she said, “I’m really sorry about my friend. She’s being a total weirdo.”
He snorted. “It’s no big deal. It’s clear she cares about you.”
“Yeah…” Hadley started to say that Skye was normally, well, normal, but that was a lie. She’d heard Mary Grace say that she was crazier than a bag of cats. Often.
“Listen…I’ve got to prep for an interview. Can I ask you something that will make me sound like a weirdo too?”
She laughed lightly as she nodded. “All right.”
He took a deep breath. “Can you promise to stay here? At your family’s ranch? Until I can pick you up?”
“Ah…yeah, I hadn’t planned on leaving. Why?” They’d driven here separately so she had her car—not that it really mattered since Brooks had multiple vehicles here that he’d said were always at her disposal.
“I can’t tell you. Yet. But I do need to talk to you as soon as I wrap up this next interview.” His phone buzzed again in his pocket.
She frowned. “What’s going on? Are you in any kind of romantic relationship?” She’d already asked him but she wanted to ask again, to gauge his reaction.
He blinked once, clearly surprised. “What? No. Shit, no. I…” His phone buzzed again. “I’ve just got some stuff to deal with, but promise you won’t leave.”
She really wanted to push him but there was a sort of desperation in his clear eyes and apparently she was a sucker for him. “Okay, I promise.”
Relief bled into his gaze before he bent his head, brushing his lips over hers. She felt the kiss all the way to her core as butterflies exploded inside her. Man, a simple kiss and her knees were weak. This man had completely gotten under her skin.
“I’ve got my phone on me. Call me for anything,” he murmured as he stepped back. “If I don’t answer right away I’ll call back.”
“Okay.” She stayed outside as he left, watching him head down the long driveway. To get onto the ranch she’d had to put in the code her brother had given her at the main gate—a couple miles away—and an alert had been sent to Brooks’s phone that someone new was on the property. He’d know it was her because of the code and because she’d texted him, letting him know she was here. At least Axel wouldn’t have to enter a code to leave. The sensor would let him out.
A cool breeze rolled over her as she headed back inside, making her wrap her arms around herself. It was silly but she already missed Axel. Don’t be stupid, she ordered herself. And getting too attached to him would be just that. Stupid. They were just having fun and he would be leaving soon. Something she needed to remember. She was so curious why he wanted her to stay put and wondered if it had something to do with his current job. Maybe he wasn’t in finance but something else, like law enforcement, and he wanted to tell her? Gah, she was just pulling stuff out of the air now.
“So what the heck was that craziness?” Hadley asked Skye as she stepped back into the kitchen to find the other woman making a sandwich with far too many layers of meat and cheese.
“What are you talking about?”
“You were so rude to him. And you looked a little bit like you wanted to punch him in the face.”
The other woman shrugged, completely unapologetic. “I was simply sizing him up. I promised Brooks that I would look out for you. So that’s what I did. If the guy can’t handle it, he’s not worth it.”
“I don’t think that’s what Brooks meant by watching out for me.”
Skye shrugged again, making Hadley even crazier.
She took a deep breath. “So does that mean you’re going to cease acting like a normal human being anytime I bring a friend by?”
“That man is not a friend. Maybe your lover, but not a friend.”
Hadley felt her cheeks heat up and shot a quick glance at Colt, who was definitely ignoring her as he opened the refrigerator, probably to avoid her gaze.
“What I do with my personal life is my business. Not Brooks’s, not yours, not anyone’s. And you better not have Gage run his information or hack his life or…whatever it is you guys do.” She knew her brother and the rest of the people who worked for Redemption Harbor Consulting engaged in some gray-area behaviors, and she wasn’t quite sure what their consulting consisted of other than “security issues” but she was pretty sure they broke the law. Probably more than she wanted to think about.
Skye snorted and took a big bite of her sandwich.
To quote Mary Grace, oh, sweet baby pandas. Because Mary Grace had been right. Skye was going to drive her insane at times. Hadley figured that was something she’d have to learn to deal with. She took another steadying breath. “I’m dead serious. You’re not going to do anything about him. I’ll sleep with whoever I want to.”
Skye set her sandwich down as she swallowed. “So you’re sleeping with him?”
Damn it. “No. But even if I was, it wouldn’t matter. I haven’t dated in forever and haven’t had fun in a long time so don’t mess with me. Whatever I do with him is my business.” She knew she definitely didn’t scare Skye whatsoever so she was surprised when the woman nodded.
“I will respect your privacy as much as I can.”
Definitely not the answer Hadley had wanted, but it would have to do. Later she was going to have a serious talk with Brooks and ask him to never, ever task Skye with watching out for her in the future. “So what are you guys really doing out here?”
“We told you,” Colt said. “By the way, have you eaten yet? Since Skye made only herself a sandwich I can whip something up for the two of us.”
Skye’s eyes widened. “You said you weren’t hungry!”
Colt just gave his wife a look that Hadley couldn’t decipher before turning back to her.
Laughing lightly, Hadley shook her head. “I’m fine, but thank you.”
“Are you going to stick around here for a while?” Skye asked.
Since she wasn’t going to tell them about the strange conversation she’d had with Axel, she simply nodded. “Yeah, with school out, I plan on doing absolutely nothing for a week.” She also planned to hang out with Axel as much as possible but she wasn’t going to bring him up again.
“Great. Are you okay with us being out here tonight?” Skye asked, her expression suspiciously neutral.
Which made Hadley think she was up to something. “Of course.” But if Axel called and wanted to do something, she was so gone. She really wanted to finish what they’d started at his place. Today at the ranch he’d been surprisingly hands-off. He’d been affectionate but he hadn’t pushed for anything more. While she appreciated that, she wanted more.
And she couldn’t help but wonder if he did. She just hoped that whatever it was he wanted to talk to her about, the reason he’d wanted her to sit tight, was a good thing.