by Cora Davies
Hailey nodded. "I know how that is."
Eric smiled and she could see him looking at her from the corner of her eye, his head cocked. He studied her just like she studied him when he was not looking. His smile dropped and his expression turned serious. "Can you tell me about the letters?"
Hailey's good mood drained. She had finally figured everything out in her head and was at peace with what she was going to do. She did not want to talk about it anymore. But then she realized if anyone might understand what she was going through-it would be Eric James.
"I get fan letters sent to a box in New York-where my publisher is. They box them up and send them to me. I read and respond to them as much as I can because let's face it... If I can't respond to the five or ten fans that write to me once a month, what good am I? It's not like I get thousands; like you probably do?" She looked at him and he shrugged.
"I actually have no idea how many I get. I have a guy that sends postcards back for me. But yeah, it's probably a lot."
"A few months ago, I started getting letters from one fan, and they were pretty, um... not fan like. Demanding I change stories. Sending me a manuscript he wrote about him and me. It was a little funny at first, then a little annoying. They started turning his letters back at the box. We thought it was done." Hailey found a loose string on the blanket that covered her lap and began to pick at it. She felt uncomfortable telling this story, and she could not decide if it was just because she did not want to talk about it. Or if it was from the squirming feeling she had under Eric's intense gaze at her.
"A few weeks ago, his letters started showing up here at my local PO Box. Still addressed to my pen name-but he found the town I live in. The tone has also changed to slightly... darker." Hailey shuddered remembering how she felt when she opened the small PO Box and found his handwriting sitting there. Eric's arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her in as he pulled her blanket higher on her. She almost pushed him away-told him that she was not cold. But she liked the feeling of his muscular arm around her.
"I didn't tell anyone except my sister-but my mom found one of the letters last night and we got into a pretty good argument about what I needed to do next. She called the cops today before I could decide what I wanted to do. Cops suggested I have the security firm that takes care of the banks in town set up a system at my house. I had to agree that was a good idea. But, I also have been in touch with my sister and am talking to her about Chrissy going to stay with her for a little bit. Just until I can figure out how much of a threat this guy is, and if there is a way to... I don't know, take him out of the equation?"
Hailey waited in the silence for Eric to say something. This must seem pretty silly to someone like him. She read about Hollywood stalkers all the time. Seemed like that was a regular part of life for them. They actually broke into their homes, stole their things, and took pictures of them through closet doors. Hailey pushed away the chill that was threatening its way to the surface.
"I know this must all seem such small fries-" she started, but Eric interrupted her.
"No, that's not it. I'm just sitting here-trying to figure out how much you're going to let me help you," Eric said quietly.
"What do you mean?" she said, feeling her heart flutter as Eric's thumb began to stroke her shoulder. It seemed to be a kind and real move from Eric-not calculated like the knee rub had been the other day. But it affected her in the same way, turning her insides to jelly.
"I mean... I've seen things like this get pretty serious and ugly before. Out of nowhere sometimes." Eric shook his head and let out a small and quiet laugh. "I don't think a small town security firm is going to be able to do anything to protect you-but I can. I can call my guys and get them out here tomorrow, on the first flight, with an entire security upgrade for your home. That would be a perfect first step. And it would not cost a penny to you."
Hailey shook her head. "I'd love the favor of having a state of the art system, but I'll pay for every penny of it."
Eric nodded absently. She watched as the thumb on his free hand pressed down on each of his fingers, individually cracking each knuckle. His hands were huge, just like the rest of him. "I'd say sending Risa to your sister's for a while would be a good thing. I heard Jason and your mom talking, might be good to get her a break from the crowd she's running with right now, too."
"It's not what you think, she's a good girl." Hailey gave him a quick rundown of what Hailey had been called to the school for the other day. About the girl Chrissy thought she was protecting from her attacker.
"I wish I could say I was surprised the little shit is getting away with this. But you see it every day. I know I probably shouldn't say it, but good for Risa."
Hailey smiled and did not admit she felt the same way. "I've noticed you call her Risa."
"Kid said her name was Risa." Eric shrugged. "It's hard being a kid. You got no choices about anything. Figure if she says call me Risa, I'd call her Risa. I notice you call her Chrissy."
Hailey nodded. She wanted to tell him, "because that is her name," but what he said made sense to her. "It scores you big bonus points with her."
"The police running prints on these letters?" Eric asked, obviously deflecting the compliment.
"It's a small town." Hailey laughed. "We don't have a crime lab or anything."
Eric sighed and she watched as he made a fist. His head fell back against the window again. "Fucking small towns. My team will look over the letters. We'll get an ID on this guy."
Hailey allowed herself to lean back against his arm. She felt her eyes grow heavy but she forced them to stay open. As much as Eric James was a thorn in her side, how often did a girl get to lay in the back of a pickup truck with Hawkman? She smiled. They sat in silence for a few minutes.
"Look!" Hailey pointed at the sky as a shooting star flew by. "Close your eyes, hold your breath, and make a wish."
Hailey squinted her eyes closed and made the same wish she always did, for Chrissy to grow up happy and healthy. She let out her breath, but before she could open her eyes she felt something against her bottom lip. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw Eric's hand-his thumb had just stroked her bottom lip. "What did you do that for?"
"My wish was to know what your lips felt like," Eric said in a husky voice. Hailey turned her chest to face him and his arm slid off her shoulder. His hand fell to hold hers. "And I have a habit of always getting what I wish for."
Hailey had only a second to process what he had said when she realized she was leaning into him. Her lips were parted. What am I doing? I should look away. Kick him out of my truck. Go home. Lock the doors. Go to sleep.
But she did not do any of those things. Instead, she leaned in one more inch. An inch that seemed to be the perfect invitation for Eric because he closed the rest of the gap between them and pressed his mouth against hers. Suddenly, the sky seemed to be full of a shooting stars with the possibility of all the wishes in the world.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Eric watched Hailey as she squeezed her eyes closed and held her breath. Was she serious? Making wishes? What was she wishing for? He wanted to be in that head of hers. That brilliant mind that wove intricate stories enthralling people all over the world. The thought of knowing everything that was on her mind frightened him. He had only known her a few days, but it felt like ages since he had arrived. What bothered him even more was the protector she was pulling out in him. He had never felt that before. Well, he never felt like he wanted to protect anyone but himself and his career.
Hailey kept pulling that out in him. A connection he did not even know he desired. What the hell was wrong with him? He could not get her off of his damn mind since she walked into her living room last week. Her bottom lip quivered once, and he needed to know what it felt like-what she tasted like. She took in a breath, and he realized he was going to lose his chance if he did not take it now during this. He reached out and stroked her full bottom lip with his thumb. So soft. Her eyes fluttered open in
surprise. "What did you do that for?"
Words tumbled out of his mouth before he could form them in his head. Unplanned words. Unscripted. Whatever he said it must have been the right thing. Her lips parted as she leaned closer. Was she really going to let him kiss her? She paused for a moment, as a million thoughts seemed to pass across her eyes.
Before Hailey could turn away, and before she could think about what she was doing, Eric took control. He leaned in and pressed his mouth against hers. There was that damn spark again-but instead of backing away from the pain, he pressed into it. She fell against him. Eric wrapped his hand around the back of her neck. Disappointed for just a moment that her hair was pulled up and he could not run his fingers through her dark mane, he then grasped the base of her ponytail and drew her in closer. Her lips parted and invited him in.
She tasted like honey. Eric had never tasted anyone so sweet. Her hands were on his shoulders and he worried she was going to push him away. Instead, she gripped the material of his sweatshirt and pulled him even closer. He could no longer keep any distance between them and wrapped his hands around her waist. He pulled her closer still, until she was on his lap. Hailey wrapped her legs around his waist as Eric felt a throbbing start at his core. He wanted her more than he had ever wanted any woman. From the rapid growth of his hardness rubbing against her, he was sure she could tell it, too.
One of her hands moved from his shoulder to his hair-the other dragged fingers down his back. He could feel her long nails even through the thick cotton material. She moaned against him as he grew harder still, and he used that moment to penetrate her mouth with his tongue. He lashed out searching for her, and when she met him with her own greedy tongue he nearly lost his mind. His was fighting away the image of pulling Hailey's clothes off and driving himself into her here in the back of the truck. Maybe even throwing her into the muddy field with him. Under the stars.
His hand moved down to her breast and cupped her suppleness through her clothing. Hailey's body froze for a split second-just long enough for Eric to jerk back to reality.
Eric broke their kiss and pulled away from her-his hands moved to both sides of her face. He brushed the hair that had fallen out of her ponytail away from her eyes. They were both breathless. He tried to read her expression. Did she feel that electricity between them? Did she want him to stop?
"Hailey," he whispered. Her eyes were on his mouth and he was fighting every urge in his body to take her back into his arms again. "I can stop if-"
Whatever he was going to say was lost as she pressed against him-her tongue searching this time for him. He felt something primal struggling inside of him-something ancient fighting to the surface. It seemed to course through his veins and scream Hailey's name.
He dropped his hands from Hailey's soft face, to her sides, and finally to her hips. He pulled her against him as her hips began to slowly dance in a rhythm only audible to the two of them. He seized her firm ass in one hand and squeezed. She trembled in his hands, and he wondered if she felt that passion now. The passion she did not think she needed. He needed her. All of her. He did not want to wait a minute before taking all of her. Fortunately for both of them, he had self-control and settled for touching her through the thickness of her clothing. For now. If she made the move to take this further he would follow her as far as she wanted to go.
If the spring night had been chilly before, the air was almost on fire at this point. The heat from their bodies coursed through the air all around them. Hailey pressed her chest against him and both of her hands were suddenly running through his hair. Electric current shoot through her fingertips into his body. His self-restraint was slowly dying with every movement of her hips, every dart of her tongue, and every scratch of her fingernail against his skin. He dragged his hands up her body slowly massaging, grasping, and clinging as they went. Finally, they rested on her shoulders.
Eric forced himself to count to three then pushed her body away from his. Ending the kiss before it was too late. Ending the contact.
"I'm sorry. It's been a while," she whispered looking down. He watched her breasts as they heaved for a moment, then cupped her chin in his two fingers as he pulled her face up to demand eye contact.
"You and Herb didn't?" Eric stopped realizing he didn't want to finish the sentence. He did not want to know. But surely in the six months they dated...
She smiled and bit her bottom lip, pulling it slightly into her mouth. "We did; it was just never like that."
Eric nodded-he knew what she meant. That was not just a kiss. That was something else. He spoke through the sound of his heart beating in his ears. "Hailey..."
"Don't worry," she said pulling herself off his lap and settling back onto the truck bed a few feet away from him. She winked at Eric. "I won't hold that against your chance for the movie rights."
"Heh, thanks," Eric said quietly. She was so beautiful-even more now in the moonlight with her lips plump and skin flushed from their kiss. Why had he pulled away?
She leaned back against the window and sighed. "I always wondered what it would be like to kiss a movie star."
"Yeah? So this was like a bucket list thing?" Eric asked. He heard the lightness in her voice, but he would be lying if he said her comment did not sting a little. "Was it up to your expectations?"
"Better than my expectations." Hailey looked up at him from under her eyelashes. "But, I'm guessing not for you... Since you pushed me away?"
He shook his head and opened his mouth to tell her no that was not why he stopped. But a light washed over them and Eric looked over his shoulder to see a vehicle approach. "Who...?"
"That, would be Jason." Hailey squinted as the truck grew closer and pulled to a stop next to them. The older man stepped out of his truck and stuffed his hands in his front jean pockets. Eric cursed the man's bad timing.
"Your mom is worried," Jason said looking everywhere but at Hailey and Eric. "She's been calling you and you didn't answer."
"Oh!" Hailey said standing up and shoving their blankets into a large army green duffel bag. It seemed to Eric as if she could not get out of there quick enough. "My sound must've been off."
Eric climbed off the back of the truck, careful to avoid Jason's gaze, which was now fully focused on him. He held his hand out to help Hailey down, but she hopped off the back without his help. Eric stuffed his hands into his pockets for a brief moment, before he realized he was mirroring Jason's body posture. He pulled them back out and crossed his arms instead.
"I'll go home and let her know I'm alive." Hailey looked back and forth from Jason to Eric. He could not see any difference in the way she looked at either of them. Nothing to betray that they had just finished making out in the back of her truck. "I'll see you two tomorrow."
Eric walked to his rental truck as Hailey's engine started.
"Mr. James. Hold on a minute," Jason said, barely audible over the sound of Hailey's motor and tires as she pulled away. Eric stopped at the blue door and turned to face Jason.
"I'm sorry about Sandy earlier, Jason," Eric said, assuming that was what the older man wanted to talk to him about. "It will not happen again. I called things off with her and she left this evening."
Jason nodded. "That was only part of what I wanted to talk to you about. Listen, I don't know what kind of game you got going on here-"
"There's no game," Eric started but Jason raised his hand to stop him.
"I won't pretend like I know everything about Hailey-but that woman's been through a lot. She's going through a lot." Jason took his cap off his head and scratched the top of his graying hair. "When I met those three girls they were piecing themselves back together. Putting all the parts of their lives that Hailey tossed around back into place. From what I understand, losing her husband, especially at such a young age, really took a toll on that girl's mentality. They've got their feet back on the ground now. Life back where it should be. I helped her a lot with that.
"I've come to think of that girl
like a daughter, her family like my own. Rebecca and I see the way Hailey's been looking at you. The way you been looking at her. She doesn't need your kind of drama in her life. I saw that girl in the limo come up in here earlier-carrying on. Rebecca tells me she's some kind of model."
Jason paused for a moment to shake his head as if he could not imagine Sandy as a model. "Now, I'm glad you tell me we won't have to see her again, but if that's the kind of life you're leading... If that is the kind of girl you want-instead of a woman... I don't think there's any place round here for you."
"I'm not here to mess with her head. I'm only here to talk her into taking The Passenger's Control back to my production studio." Eric ran his hands through his hair. He felt like he was back in high school again and Jason was his prom date's father. "It's just about the book."
Jason nodded. "She's learned how to keep her heart locked up, and I'm not saying that is a perfect thing for everyone, but it is what she needs. Going after this movie might make things confusing for her as far as you're concerned. If there is any decency in you, I'd back up. Just get the rights-if she gives them to you. Nothing more. Then get out of town. Last thing she needs is any spotlight on her... given her current situation."
"The letters?" Eric asked and Jason nodded once. "You've seen them. How much does she need to worry about this guy?"
Jason leaned his elbows on the hood of his truck and rubbed his face in his hands for a moment before looking at Eric again. "I honestly don't know. But I figure one thing... If you and Sandy bring photographers up here and get Hailey in one of them tabloids, she'll have to worry about this guy a whole lot faster when he knows who she is."
Jason opened the door to his truck. "Please, just be easy with her. She isn't one of those girls like them girls you had round here earlier."
Eric watched Jason drive off and mulled the words the man said over in his mind. What did he mean, going after this book was going to make things confusing for Hailey? He could not imagine why it would be any different than any one of her other books.