Her shoulders drop and she sighs until a small smile plays on her lips. “Not here.”
“Not here?”Jesus. Okay. I smile back at her and jump up to pay, not even waiting for her to finish. If she thinks I’m letting this go, she’s wrong.
Taking my lead, Hayley gulps down the last of her coffee and gets up, linking her fingers through mine when I reach her. “Shall we walk?” she asks.
“Yep. There’s a quiet garden not too far from here.”
“A garden? Perfect.”
We walk in silence for the few minutes it takes to find the place I was talking about, and the second we’re through the gates, alone—just like I expected—I turn to Hayley.
“Do you have a stalker, Hayls?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No, but you’re thinking it, aren’t you?”
She sighs again, glancing down at the bracelet I gave her, spinning it around her wrist.
“I don’t know. I didn’t until today. He’s a fan. Most of his letters have been nice. And even the one with the flowers wasn’tthatbad. But now I—”
“He said that you’d make theperfect couple.”
“And maybe we would.” She smirks, playing it down. “I don’t know him.”
“Hayls.” My voice grates in frustration but when she frowns I regret it. “Sorry, I’m—”
“Worried, I know. But you shouldn’t be.” She grabs my hand again before dragging me over to a bench and sitting me down.
“This is all part of the job,” she begins as she settles beside me, her soothing tone attempting to reassure me while I try not to groan. “It happens. Probably a lot more often than we hear about and—”
“We’re going to the police, Hayls. Even if they laugh at us.Please. It will put my mind at ease.”
“Ugh. I’m sorry I told you.”
“And here I was thinking we promised no secrets.”
“We did, but I honestly didn’t think it was a big deal, until I saw that coat.”
“Then I’m glad you saw it. No more holding back.Okay? This relationship may be fake, but I stillfuckingcare.”
“I know. I promise. No more holding back.”
After spending two hours at the police station, we walked out no better off than when we walked in. We handed over the letters, but other than the handwriting, they didn’t have much to go on. Just like Hayley predicted.
And while I still feel better about it, I’m at a loss for what to do next.
“I promise, I’ll be okay,” Hayley insists over and over.
She reaches out to squeeze my jaw, trying to force a smile out of me when we arrive back at her apartment. “I’m not even going to be in the country for the next two weeks, and I’ll have security on me twenty-four seven.”
Yet another reason to frown—Hayley’s international tour. I knew this was coming—we spoke about it a couple of weeks back—but that was before things changed between us. At least, before they changed for me. And now…I’m really going to miss her.
“If they’d have waited a month, I could have come with you.” I pout jokingly, or maybe not so jokingly, but still it makes Hayley laugh.
“Want me to ask them?” she muses. “I could say… My fake boyfriend is in the playoffs and set to win the Super Bowl, but he’d like to come with me on the tour. Can we delay these little get-togethers—that definitely haven’t been planned for months—so he can come?”
“It sounds selfish when you say it like that.”
