Authors: Marie Rochelle
True looked at the cell phone in her hand, and then threw it in her purse. “Well I guess I’ll wait until he gets here.”
Walking over to a huge window.
she
folded her arms across her chest and looked out.
* * * *
Hayward
tossed the phone down on his desk and grabbed his car keys off the edge.
She’s home!
His mind screamed after two long weeks True had finally come back to him. He wouldn’t let her out of his sight again.
Clinton
looked up at him from his crossword puzzle. “So,
True
has come back. I told you she would, little brother.”
“Yeah, she’s back but what does she have to tell me?” He asked.
as
he hurried out his office door.
Standing at the back of the airport,
Hayward
saw True before she spotted him. He let his gaze travel the length of her, his breath caught in the back of his throat at the breathtaking vision she made. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from her. She was standing by a window looking outside. She looked sensational in her red shirt with matching skirt and heels. He noticed the men staring at her as they walked by. He wanted to scream she was his. Yet, he didn’t know if she was anymore or not.
God, she can’t leave me. I
love her so damn much.
He groaned. Slowly he made his way towards her.
* * * *
True felt
Hayward
’s towering presence.
It felt like a warm blanket covering her.
It must be like this with the person you love
, she thought. Turning around, her eyes moved up his wide chest past the pulse throbbing in the side of his neck, over firm lips and a strong nose, to clash with his deep blue eyes.
He looked worn out. There were extra lines at the corner of his eyes and she spotted a few extra gray hairs at the side of his temples. She knew those weren’t there when she left two weeks ago.
Reaching out she ran her fingers across the stubble on his cheek; it felt rough and wonderful at the same time.
Hayward
removed his head so he could kiss the palm her hand.
“Where have you been the last two weeks? “
I have missed you so much.”
Hayward
yanked her into his arms and kissed her, like a thirsty man searching for water. His tongue made love to her mouth; the touch of his lips against hers, after so many weeks, was like a delicious drug. But she couldn’t let him off with a kiss, no matter how powerful it was.
She moved back slightly, ending the kiss. “We need to talk
Hayward
.”
Her tone left no room for debate. He would tell her the truth, even if it took all day. All she thought about on the flight back from
Clinton
’s house. She wanted answers and she would get them.
Hayward
ran his finger down the side of her cheek. “Kitten, I need to explain about what Samantha told you at
Clinton
’s house.”
“Do you have a wife and son?” She blurted out in a rush.
Hayward
stared down at her, but he didn’t say a word. His eyes searched her face, but that wasn’t what wanted she wanted from him. It was time for the truth and he wasn’t giving it to her.
“Answer me,” she snapped irritated.
“Let’s get out of here.” Grabbing her hand
Hayward
picked up her luggage and took her outside to his Blazer.
* * * *
“Can we talk at your house?”
Hayward
asked at the halfway point to
True’s
home. He glanced over at True, but her face was turned away from him. She hadn’t looked in his direction since they left the airport.
Please don’t shut me out of your life. I need you more than you would ever know
.
“
Clinton
is staying at mine and I think we need some privacy.”
He wanted to touch her so badly, but he didn’t want her to pull away from him. Any kind of rejection from her would tear away at his heart; he needed to come clean about his past before any hope of reconciliation.
“I don’t care where we talk as long as I get some answers.”
He didn’t like the tone of her voice. She sounded like a woman who had already made up her mind, without even hearing him out.
He pulled into her driveway and parked by her red mustang. Getting out on the driver’s side, he walked around to the passenger side and held the door open for her.
“Home Sweet Home.”
He teased; hoping for her response, but she got out of the car and ignored him.
Slamming the door shut, he snatched the luggage from the back seat and caught up her as she opened the front door.
This wasn’t a good sign at all.
Maybe I should try a different approach.
“I’ve your mail at my house.”
Hayward
followed True into the house and sat her bags by the end table; then closed the door.
True glared at him, as she spun around in the middle of the living room. The look devastated him.
He took a step back from the piercing stare and a knot formed in his stomach
“Have you been kissing me, while you have a family out there waiting for you? Are you using me the same way
Dalton
did?”
He rushed to pull her into his arms, “No I’m nothing like that bastard.”
She jerked away from his touch and hurried across the room putting some distance between them. “Please be honest with me
Hayward
. I want to know the truth.”
Hayward
turned way from True and sat down on the sofa. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. He should have told her the truth months ago. Now he prayed it wasn’t too late to save their relationship.
“I met Brooke
Myason
while I was on a business trip overseas in
Europe
. She was a business consultant for the firm that hired me. They were using her as liaison to see if they wanted to finish the deal with my office.” Waving his hand toward the chair he said, “Please sit down. This is a long story and you need to hear all of it.”
True sat in the chair across from him. “I can’t believe you’re going to tell me the truth,” she whispered.
For a moment,
Hayward
studied True thoughtfully; he couldn’t take his eyes off her face. The spark in her dark eyes that he loved so much was gone and replaced by shadows.
What have my lies done?
Sighing deeply, he continued with his story, “Brooke had a way with numbers. There wasn’t a figure she couldn’t do in her head, plus she knew how to network. By the end of a business dinner her purse was always full of business cards. She was an asset to any business and that drew me to her instantly.”
He swung his eyes back to
True’s
face. “I needed her to help me further my business and Brooke loved power, so the little power I had, drew her to me. We dated for about six months then got married.” Now he realized just how dysfunctional his marriage was to Brooke. They should have never gotten married but back then he was too focused on making money.
“Our marriage wasn’t the best and neither of us married for love. A month into our marriage Brooke told me she was pregnant and I was overjoyed,” he confessed.
“I always wanted to be a father and Brooke couldn’t have given me better news at the time.”
Hayward
noticed that True still hadn’t said anything to him or even
acknowledge
that she was listening to his story. She just sat in the chair looking straight at him without any facial expression.
“Tyler
Brison
was born eight months later,”
Hayward
continued. “He looked exactly like his mother, with his dark brown hair and gray eyes.” He would never forget the first time he held his son in his arms at the hospital. “I promised
Tyler
that I would always be there to protect him, but in the end when he needed me the most, I wasn’t there.”
“On his second birthday I had a business meeting that ran a little late. Brooke called in one of her moods and demanded I come home now or else.” He closed his eyes and tried to block out his past, without success.
“I told her to give me forty-five more minutes and I would be home, but Brooke wasn’t a woman who took orders from anyone. She brought
Tyler
out into a storm trying to get to me, but she never made it to my office. Halfway there, she lost control of the car and went into a river.” Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard
True’s
quick intake of breath.
“They died on impact,” he grounded out, dropping his head into his hands.
* * * *
True’s
gasp echoed through the room, she couldn’t believe what she heard. Why didn’t
Hayward
tell her before now about his wife and child? She couldn’t imagine the pain he had suffered over the years.
She got up from the chair and ran over to him. Wrapping her arms around his body, she hugged him to her. “Oh baby, I’m so sorry about Brooke and your son.”
She was so caught up in comforting him that so she almost missed what he said. She leaned back and looked at
Hayward
. “What did you say?”
“
Tyler
wasn’t my son.”
Her hand flew to cover her mouth. “How did you find this out?”
“Brooke told me one night while we were having a huge fight. She said I had no right to tell her how to raise her son. Then I said, don’t you mean our son? Brooke looked at me with this glint in her eyes,”
Hayward
whispered, remembering the fight like it was yesterday. “Of course I didn’t believe her, so I took him in for a DNA test and the doctors confirmed her story, but I didn’t love him any less. For some odd reason it made me love
Tyler
even more.”
“How did your family take the news?”
She whispered against his shoulder.
“You’re the only other person who knows about this, besides my mother.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner? I asked had you ever been married and you told me no.”
Hayward
moved back and brought her face to his. “I was never married in the correct sense of the word. I had a business arrangement with Brooke. We didn’t marry each other for love and we both knew it.” Reaching out,
Hayward
touched the side of her cheek with his finger.
True brushed his hand away. She got up and moved away from him. She needed some distance between them, but
Hayward
got up and followed her. Standing in the middle of the living room, she folded her arms underneath the breasts. “I was honest with you in
“I know baby. I’m so sorry that I lied to you, but I know we can work through this.” He replied, trying to reason with her.
“Why couldn’t you be honest with me? I thought you said you cared about me?”
Hayward
rushed across the room and swung her around to face him. “I said I loved you and I still love you.” He stressed. “I’ll keep saying it over and over, until you believe me, Kitten.”
He moved his hands up her arms and placed them on her shoulders. “I almost went crazy when I couldn’t find you,” he confessed.
“Do you know how hard it was not knowing were you have been the last two weeks?”
He moved closer to her, until not an inch separated their bodies.
She shook off
Hayward
’s touch and stepped out of the circle of his arms. “Do you know how hard it was to find out that the man that I was in love with, lied to me?” She asked in a low voice, taut with anger.
* * * *
Hayward
stood motionless in the middle of the room, while his heart pounded in his chest.
Did True say she was in love
with him?
He could barely contain his excitement as he reached for her again.
“Do you know what you just said?”
True looked at him strangely; then shook her head. Bending down, he placed a soft kiss on her luscious mouth. “You said that you’re in love with me.”
He moved to kiss her again, but her next statement stopped him mid-way.
“But I didn’t say I was still in love with you,” she flung back at him.