Of course, I mumbled it. Didn’t she hear me?
“Are you deaf?” Lily asks, and I stare wide-eyed at my innocent sister. She’s never been bitchy or rude to anyone in her life.
“Lily!”
“I am.” Bailey smiles, and I look between them, confused.
“I thought you were insulting her for a moment. I didn’t know whether to congratulate you or shout for at you for being mean.”
“Aiden, she was watching our lips. It was easy to see.”
“Yeah, I knew that,” I tell her, wanting to slap myself. It explains why she didn’t answer the first time I went round, and why she couldn’t answer me this morning.
“Come in. Did you want a drink?”
Sheesh, invite the neighbourhood in, Lily, why don’t you. While you’re at it, ask if they need some food.
Speaking of food, I’m starving.
“Only for a minute. I really need to get back.”
I watch Bailey enter, my eyes never leaving hers. There’s something about her that makes her different. I just don’t know what. It’s not even that I want to fuck her, because there’s a lot of girls I want to fuck. It’s her.
“Aiden mentioned a number?” Lily says, starting conversation when she sees Bailey become nervous.
Charlotte steps into the room, quietly watching us, and I know it won’t be long until Mark and Landon follow. One look from Landon and I’ll probably never lay eyes on the beautiful neighbour again. He’s enough to scare a serial killer away. Fucker doesn’t know how to be relaxed.
“Yes. My grandparents were speaking to Mary and she mentioned that…,” she pauses before pronouncing my name, as if hoping to get it correct, “Aiden, had family who worked in construction. He wants to fire the people he has working for him.”
I step into her view so she has no choice but to look at me. “Why are you firing them?”
She wrings her hands together. “I don’t like them. They wake me up too early. Too early for anyone to be up and—and I, um… I just don’t like them.”
I can see there is more to the story, but she’s too nervous to tell it. I want to pressure her, but it’s none of my business. And I have a baby to think about now; I can’t get involved with her.
“I said that to you this morning. They keep waking me up with all the banging.”
She winces. “I’m sorry for them waking you up. And I couldn’t understand you this morning. You were talking too fast and kept looking away.”
Shit. Now I feel like a bigger prick. By the time I finished breakfast with the family, I was convinced she was a spoilt bitch.
“Sorry. I’d not long gotten Sunday to sleep before they woke us up.”
“I’m so sorry. Is she yours?”
I beam down at Sunday before looking back up. “She is. Beautiful, isn’t she.”
“Very,” she answers quietly before looking at Lily. “Are you her mum?”
Lily gives her a sad smile. “I’m her aunt. Sunday’s mum died giving birth.”
Bailey’s eyes water when they glance at me. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
I shrug. “Thank you. It was a one-night stand though. We weren’t a couple. I didn’t really know her,” I rush to explain. And for some reason, I feel like I had to. I don’t want her to think I’m heartbroken over my girl’s mum. Yes, I hurt for Sunday—she’ll never have her mum—but for me… I’ll be fine.
“Um, okay,” she says, her hands still twisting and clenching. “So, can I have the number? I’d really like the work done before my grandparents decide to come home—if they ever do. They’re enjoying their time away travelling.”
“Here, hold Sunday for a moment and I’ll ring him,” I tell her, and for the first time since I picked Sunday up from the hospital, I hand her over to another person without that empty feeling in my chest. It’s bizarre. I shake off the feeling quickly.
I hear Lily’s sharp intake of breath and ignore her surprised face as I watch Bailey cuddle Sunday close, smiling gently down at her.
“You are beautiful,” she coos, letting Sunday grip her finger.
Lily clears her throat. “You were going to call Maddox?”
I look away from the beautiful sight in front of me, my heart hurting for Sunday. She should be held by her mum.
“Yeah,” I tell her, grabbing my phone from my back pocket before clicking on Maddox’s contact. He answers straight away.
“You miss me already?”
I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose as I move into the kitchen to get some privacy. “No, the chick next door is firing the builders working on her grandparents’ house. She was told to come get your number. Do you have any time to fit her in? I know you’ve been busy but she seems like she wants rid of them fast.”
“Who was working on her house?” he asks, and I hear papers ruffling in the background. This is the side of Maddox only his workers get to see. Any other time he’s laid back and a goof. You would never believe he runs a successful business. “I’ll see who we have free.”
“Hold on,” I tell him, poking my head out of the kitchen. “Hey, Lily, ask her who works on the house now.” I wait for Lily to ask before listening to Bailey’s answer. She glances towards me with a cute frown on her face. Instead of answering her silent question, I move back into the kitchen. “Smiths General Contractors.”
“Fuck!”
“What?”
“No wonder she wants them gone. They’re one of my biggest competitors in town, but since they hired Ford and his team, they’re losing customers. They’ve had sexual harassment suits build up against them, but because his family are rich and have contacts in high places, they’ve gotten away with it. Doesn’t your neighbour live on her own?”
Fuck is about right. I scrub a hand down my face. “Yeah, she does. So, can you do it?”
“I don’t really have the men, but if she doesn’t mind, I can pop by tomorrow and go over what needs to be done, see if I can pull some men away from jobs that are nearly complete. Mark, Landon and Liam are three of my best men, so I’ll ask if they mind swapping around a bit.”
I don’t know why I feel relief when he agrees to help her, but I do. I look back into the living room where she’s slowly rocking Sunday side to side and narrow my eyes.
She must be a witch. There’s no way around it. She’s put me under some sort of spell and made me a fucking pussy.
Either that, or Sunday has made me go soft. Then again, the chick trying it on with me today in Mother Care didn’t even make me tingle in the balls, so it has to be Bailey.
I’m just gonna have to stay away until whatever spell she has me under fades away.
“You there, dickhead?”
“Yeah,” I croak out. “Sorry, I was just watching Sunday.”
He laughs down the phone. “I still can’t believe you’re a dad. And I’m still pissed you won’t let me put a picture on Facebook. Chicks will be all over me if I post that on there.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re not using my daughter to get chicks. Now fuck off. And I’ll let her know you’ll be around tomorrow. Do you know what time? She’s deaf, so she probably needs to know when to look out for you. Don’t be fucking late.”
“I don’t know sign language. Want me to bring Liam; he knows it? He learned it when he wanted to bang that deaf chick a few years ago.”
My family can be arseholes.
“No, she can lipread just fine. Just speak clearly and don’t look away.”
“All right. Tell her I’ll be by around midday.”
“Speak to you later,” I tell him, then hang up. When I reach the living area, Bailey looks up, her body tensing. “He said he’ll be by tomorrow around midday to go over everything. That good for you?”
Her body relaxes and she smiles brightly at me. “That’s perfect. Thank you so much. I don’t know what I would have done if we couldn’t hire him. Is he your friend?”
“No, he’s my cousin. We’re family. And he’s really good
at his job.”
“Thank you again,” she tells me. “I’d best be going; I’ve got loads of work to catch up on.”
She turns to leave, and I watch as she heads for the open door. I want to reach out, tell her to stay and grab a drink or something, so we can get to know one another.
Then my eyes widen when I remember she’s still holding Sunday. I rush over at the same time she turns around, her face flushed with embarrassment.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it when I thought about taking her home with me. It was a joke because she’s cute and all.”
I chuckle at her rambling, taking Sunday from her arms. “It’s fine. She kind of does it to everyone.”
“I bet,” she says, before laughing musically. I smile at the sound. “Right, now I’m definitely going. Have a good night.”
“You too.”
“And it was nice meeting you both,” she tells Charlotte and Lily.
“We’ll pop by in the week to talk about that thing with you,” Charlotte says, and my eyes widen when Bailey nods. Then she’s gone.
I turn to the girls, eyeing them both suspiciously. “Why are you going to her house?”
They both look at each other, biting their lips. Neither can lie to save their life. They’re too kind and soft-hearted. I’m nearly knocked off my feet when they both shrug at me, keeping their lips sealed.
“Come on. You two hate lying.”
“Not telling you anything is not lying to you,” Charlotte states matter of fact.
I’d laugh at her cleverness, but I’m dying to know. You know, the curious cat and all that. “Lily?”
“Don’t ask me, please. I don’t want to lie to you. And I’m only going because I like her. She’s really nice.”
I eye Charlotte, wondering what she’s keeping from me and what she could possibly want with Bailey. We’ll find out eventually, and when I tell Landon, he’ll soon get it out of her. If the fucker doesn’t already know. Those two have been best friends all their lives.
When they share another conspiratorial look, I nearly push for answers, knowing they’ll give in eventually. But I have a better idea. When they show up, I’ll make sure I’m there to invite myself to the little party. That way I can check out Bailey and get to know her story.
And if there’s one thing I’m certain of, it’s Bailey having a story. You can see it in her body language, in the way she speaks, and in those eyes.
She also wasn’t born deaf—she speaks fluently with no problems—which also questions why she doesn’t have a hearing aid or something. I’d like to know what happened to her.
Why? No fucking clue. No girl has ever had me this worked up. The only women I care about are the women in my family.
Until her.
She seems different, and I’m gonna make it my mission to find out why.
So much for staying away from her.
CHAPTER SEVEN
BAILEY
The continuous vibrations of the doorbell wake me up from a deep sleep. A cold sweat breaks out over my skin and I begin to shake, slowly getting out of bed as it continues. Someone has their finger on the bell and aren’t removing it.
My worst fears have come to life: the four girls who made my teenage years a living hell are here.
Flashes of my childhood run through my mind and I start to feel frustrated with myself. I promised myself, after the last time, I wouldn’t let them rule my life. I want to take a stand, to not let them see how scared I really am inside.
Not wanting to be half naked when I confront them, I grab my hoodie off a chair and pull it over my head. I also don’t want to be taken off guard again, either, so I rush to my bottom draw and dig out the last hearing aid I was given. It hurts too much to wear normally, but there is no way I’m letting one of them sneak up on me. If that means putting this torture device to my ear, then so be it. I push the earmold into my eardrum, before attaching the tiny clip to my lobe, wishing one of the ones that sat behind my ear was the ones that I got on with. I switch it on, wincing at the sound that echoes through my head.
I close my eyes, fighting off the wave of tears that threaten to spill at hearing sounds around me. I can hear banging on the door this time, and I jump, quickly heading for the stairs.
It has to be them. Who else would be ringing my bell like there’s a fire? My grandparents are well known around here, so everyone who is important know they are travelling. If news has gotten around that I’m back and alone, those four will jump at the chance to come and tell me where my place is.
You see, my mum and dad owned a hardware shop and we lived nicely in a middle-class area. My grandparents are rich, having shares in all sorts of businesses, and live on a private road. When it came to going to school, my grandparents won in sending me to a private school so I could take the art classes I was passionate about. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do: to draw and design.
I had been so excited to attend my new high school, more so when I saw their art department. It was heaven. I left that day thinking it was hell. I’d never felt so secluded or alone in my life. Those girls sucked the life out of me. Because my grandparents paid a lot of money for me to attend and we begged my parents to let me, I couldn’t turn around and say I didn’t want to go anymore.
Instead, I lived through years of bullying. No matter what my parents tried to do to stop them, nothing worked. It only made things worse. Then I got pulled out half way through my last year and attended our local school. It was easier there, but because I hadn’t had any friends at the private school, I was anti-social. I didn’t know how to interact with other people, so I kept to myself. It was how those same four girls managed to get me alone every single time. Even at different schools, they still managed to find me. There were times I would take the long route home, but as always, they managed to corner me. It was beyond terrifying.
I shake the bad memories from my mind, my throat tightening.
My hands begin to shake as I move into the hallway and head to the front door. I peek through the peephole, my eyebrows bunching up when I see Ford, the site manager who has been working on the house. I wipe my clammy hands down my thighs.
Crap, Granddad already spoke to him. Last night I had hoped he wouldn’t have been able to get in touch with him. I should have expected this.
With a gulp, I turn the lock and pull open the door. I’m met with an angry snarl and a finger pointing in my face.
“Am I hearing this right? You’ve got us fired?” he roars, eyeing me with disgust. My fingers go to my hearing aid, already wanting to rip it off. The sound is loud, echoing in my ears and making me wince in pain.
“My grandpa wanted someone else,” I lie.
He grabs my arm, pulling me out of the door. “Ring him up now, you silly fucking bitch. We’ve worked hard on this house. Look at all these men. They’ve got families to support.”
And drugs and beer to buy, I want to add. I may be deaf but I’m not blind. I’ve seen them smoking weed and drinking in the garden.
I pull my arm out of his grasp, glaring at him. I’m fed up of bullies trying to dictate to me. “No. It’s his decision.”
He scoffs, stepping closer to get in my face. “Then make him change his mind, you silly cow. Or you can pay for the money we’ll lose from us being kicked off this job.”
I rear back. The audacity of him! “I don’t think so.” I won’t be giving them a penny of my money.
“Like you don’t have the money. Rich bitches like you always have a big bank account. I suggest you go get it, because I’m not going to leave until you do,” he yells, just as a car pulls up next door and a beautiful woman steps out. I watch as she stares over at us in concern before quickly moving towards the stairs.
“I’m not giving you money.”
“Yeah, you fucking are. You’ve cost us a fucking job because you think you’re all high and mighty.”
“Yo, slag,” I hear shouted, and turn my head in the direction of the muffled sound. I
cringe when I see the rough-looking guy who is always eyeing me like I’m fresh meat. “Who the fuck do you think you’re reporting us to, our boss? Uptight bitches like you need to loosen up.” I cringe when he drops the tools he’s carrying to hold his junk, shaking it. “You can sit on this.”
Ford’s muffled laughter fills my ears. “Maybe we should teach her how to lighten up.”
I take a step back when the sound in my ears becomes too much. I can see the men laughing, and it’s all too much at once. Tears fill my eyes because I want to rip the thing out, but I know I can’t with these men. They’d take advantage of my vulnerability; bullies always do.
“I suggest you all leave before I call the police and have someone else come and get the rest of your equipment.”
“Hear that?” is shouted, but when I look around for the source, I can’t find it. I begin to panic, hating this feeling. This is why I don’t go out without my grandparents. I hate confrontations, especially ones I can’t fully understand or hear.
“Call the fucking police? Bitch, you won’t get near a phone if you keep chatting shit. Thinking you’re something fucking special,” Ford scoffs, stepping forward again. “You can give us the money we’re gonna lose, or else… And trust me, you don’t want to get on my bad side.”
“You don’t want to get on mine either, dickhead,” I hear next. I glance to the side and see Aiden prowling towards us, his growling voice as deep as I imagined. My jaw hangs open at the sight of him shirtless, his ripped chest defined and muscled. “Step the fuck away from her.”
Yikes, he must work out.
Closing my jaw, I wipe at my mouth in case I’ve drooled a little. Thankfully, I haven’t.
Aiden’s expression softens when his gaze reaches mine. I give him a small smile and he winks, before masking his expression into a cold glare, aiming it at Ford. I shiver.
“Kid, you don’t want to mess with me right now,” Ford snaps.
Aiden laughs humourlessly. “No, it’s you who doesn’t want to mess with me. For weeks you’ve woken me up early—too fucking early. Then I’ve watched as you guys leave around noon, or I see you drinking on the job. So it’s you who shouldn’t mess with me.”
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