Chapter Four
Hayden
What the actual fuck?
I needed a second to process this. Sitting on the couch, I cradled my head. In a million years, I would never have guessed Kory had left Alaska for some crazy situation like this. Having Kory near me felt right, but there were so many fucked-up pieces to this story. Which somehow tainted our story, as well.
She’d never had the right to choose.
There was a lot of doubt in my mind. Given the choice of any man, would she still choose me? I hoped to hell she would, but a seed of doubt took root in my mind. I didn’t want her to jump from this situation right into my bed. Kory deserved the best, but so did I, and I never wanted to be a regret.
Her hand reached out to touch mine. I knew she was hurting and hated it. I focused back on Kory, who was standing next to me looking vulnerable with her wide eyes and T-shirt slipping off her shoulder. Is this real? In every possible scenario in my head, nothing came close to the reality of this one. Needing contact, I reached for her hand, which she quickly gave me. She was so small, but her hand fit perfectly within mine. It was like she was made to be part of me. A surge of possessive protectiveness came over me. Kory was mine. Mine.
I had two options: walk away or see if we had a chance. And put that way, there really was no choice. I knew what I wanted to do. But Kory had to choose for herself. “If it was entirely up to you, would you go back to Alaska or stay here to start your life with Landon?”
“Alaska.”
There was no hesitation in her response, which felt un-fucking-believably good. “Then choose. Choose Alaska to see where this takes us. That book doesn’t control you. You’re in charge of your own life.”
She looked down. “How would I disappear?”
“Disappear?”
“My parents are adamant that I follow through with this. They aren’t going to let me walk away from this. This merger is worth millions to them. Millions to both families. It will tie my parents’ e-commerce business with their distribution service.”
Shit. “Did you ever mention me?”
She shook her head. “No. They knew where I worked in Ketchikan, but I never mentioned you.”
That would make things easier. At some point, we would need to make sure Maggie didn’t mention me if Kory’s parents came to ask. I imagined Ketchikan would be the first place they’d go. No one else really knew about us. “I have my plane here, so you won’t need to buy a plane ticket. If you don’t open any accounts until you’re ready, that should buy you some time.”
She pulled her hand back and, for a moment, appeared lost in thought. “We need to start over. I don’t want you to feel forced to stay with me.”
It hurt like a son of a bitch, but I agreed. Back in Ketchikan, we’d been fuck buddies, ignoring what was actually happening between us. Hell, there were times I’d flown up there just to see her, but I’d convinced myself it was just to fuck. My body craved her; she’d become my addiction. But what would starting over look like? “How do you want to start over?”
“I don’t know yet. I know my feelings for you have only strengthened, but they’re more complicated at the same time. Does that make sense?”
“It does.” I paused. “Let me ask you a question. Do the fancy-ass car, the designer clothes, this house… does all this matter to you?”
She shook her head. “No, not at all. Anything with strings attached isn’t worth having when the strings take away your freedom. I just want to live my life. Make my choices. And hopefully find our way together.”
It made sense to me. This wealth came with a prison sentence. Not that I was doing badly for myself. However, I imagined in a business merger worth millions, Kory probably had a lot of money at her disposal. I squeezed her hand. “We’ll figure this out.”
“And if it doesn’t end with us together?” Her brows creased as if the thought of not being together bothered her.
Good, because I feel the same way.
“These last few weeks, I’ve been in knots about us. About you. The way things ended. My brother told me… he said it’s worth it. We don’t want to spend our lives wondering what if.”
She let out a breath. “I want it, too. Hayden, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you… us… what we had. But I don’t want to be kept. I want to be able to survive on my own.”
“Then you will. I’ll help however I can, however you want.”
For the first time, I saw hope in her eyes. The sparkle that I loved. Kory chewed on her lip as she thought about things. I was nervous and wanted nothing more than to give our relationship a shot. But starting it under these crazy circumstances was going to come with its own set of problems.
She stood with a determined look. “I’m ready to start living my life.”
I nodded. “Good. We can stay at the motel by the airport. With this weather, there’s no way we can fly out tonight. We can spend that time figuring out some things and talking.”
“Let me get my stuff.”
I stood. Kory leaned in and pressed her lips against my cheek. It was hard not to turn my head. Mere inches separated our lips. She took a step back, locked her eyes with mine, and whispered, “Thank you for saving me.”
“Maybe, in different ways, we’re saving each other.”
“I hope so.” Her beautiful blue eyes sparkled. “Did you mean what you said to me that night after I said I loved you?”
It was my turn to answer honestly. “Yes, I did.”
Even with all this shit stacked on us, I wanted to be by Kory’s side—not to fight her battles, but to be there as she conquered them.
She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “It won’t take me long. I’m only going to pack the stuff I bought with the money I earned while I worked in Ketchikan. There’s a suitcase in the hall closet. Would you mind bringing it upstairs. I’m going to write my parents a letter so maybe they won’t try to search for me. Can you give me about twenty minutes before you come up?”
“Of course.”
When Kory went upstairs, I slowly sat on the couch. If Kory marrying Landon resulted in millions of dollars, I doubted either family would let her go that easily. The book I read was some fucked-up shit. People who went to those extremes weren’t going to walk away without some sort of fight.
I pulled out my phone and called the only person I knew I could get solid advice from right now.
“Hello?” Drake answered.
“I need your help.”