Page 22 of Pretend Wife (Angels of the Secret Order #4)

SEVENTEEN

Hayden

It had been nearly two weeks since Danielle and I got back from our weekend with my family, and I was in a downright miserable mood.

I’d gone the past thirteen nights without Danielle’s warmth in my bed, and with every day, I was only getting more and more irritable. I fucking missed her.

The woman was messing with my head even worse than last time.

I glanced down at my watch again. It was eight thirty, and I still hadn’t seen her yet. She always came out at eight in the morning. I knew because I watched her make tea in my kitchen every morning through the security cameras.

Yeah, my stalker tendencies had reached heights I’m not proud of.

Point is, she should have been out there by now.

I made it another three minutes of waiting before walking down the hall and knocking on her bedroom door.

She pulled it open, dressed in one of her white nightgowns that made her look pure and seductive at the same time. A row of buttons ran down the front from the neckline to the hem, taunting me, daring me to rip right through them.

A small frown marred her features. “Is everything okay?”

I blinked, forcing my gaze away from her nightgown. “Yeah. I just wanted to ask you about something.”

She pulled the door open wider. “Do you want to come in?”

That was a bad idea, but my brain had officially shut off and my body was running the show.

The room looked exactly as it had the last time I’d been here yet completely different at the same time. All the furniture was the same, but it was covered with fabric, open sketchbooks, and boxes of accessories.

“What did you want to ask me?”

“There are a few galas and charity events I have to make an appearance at, and everyone will expect me to bring you.”

She nodded. “Okay. If you give me a schedule, I can try to work my hospital shifts around them.”

“I’ll have Sierra send you the information. Do you have a dress?”

“I’m going to assume that wasn’t a real question.”

“I meant a formal dress.” Other than when she was working, Danielle was always in a dress, but with the exception of her wedding gown, they’d all been casual.

The kind of casual that was unreasonably sexy and almost always featured a high slit that showed off glimpses of her thigh whenever she moved, but still casual.

“Yes, I have a dress that I can wear to a gala. And you are not allowed to buy me one.”

She disappeared into the walk-in closet and closed the door behind her, leaving me with the distinct feeling that I’d done something wrong.

It was as if I’d personally insulted her by even hinting that I could get her a dress. She was so unlike any other girl I knew, and I had no idea how to take care of her without making her mad at me.

She emerged from the closet several minutes later in a pretty white-and-green flowery dress that showed off her every curve.

And of course it had a fucking slit up the left side.

She was as beautiful as ever, and my fingers itched to touch her, to taste the sugary flavor of her lips, to run my hands over her slender curves.

She didn’t so much as look at me as she walked over to the dresser and slipped a gold bracelet on each of her wrists.

They looked like beautiful shackles and sent my thoughts speeding in a direction they had no business going.

I could imagine Danielle lying in my bed, wearing nothing but those bracelets.

And I couldn’t help my body’s reaction to that particular image.

Fuck.

If she were anyone else, I’d just fuck her, get it out of my system. But that was out of the question because I’d decided to fake marry a pillar of morality who was saving herself for something better .

And why shouldn’t she? It was what she deserved, even if the thought of some other asshole looking at her, putting his hands on her, made me want to punch something.

The rest of the day went by at a snail’s pace. We were meeting my siblings for dinner at Maggie’s apartment, but until then we had a whole day to kill. And I spent most of it watching Danielle move around my place like she owned it.

She’d gotten more comfortable in the past two weeks, and a part of me liked that a little bit too much. I actually wanted her in my space—something I’d never wanted before.

Dinner at my sister’s felt comfortable too. Danielle got along so well with Maggie, and she’d always been closer than I’d like with Miles. Something he would usually rub in my face as much as possible—especially since his girlfriend wasn’t with him tonight—but he’d been unusually quiet all evening.

His silence continued as dishes were cleared and desserts were brought out. He also declined chocolate, which was telling in itself.

“What’s up with you?” Maggie asked, narrowing her eyes at him as he downed his cup of coffee like he wished it was something a lot stronger.

He shrugged. “Nothing.”

“You don’t seriously expect us to believe that, right?” I asked.

“For goodness’ sake, I’m twenty-four years old. You can all stop babying me. ”

“Oh, honey, you’ll always be our baby brother,” Maggie said, reaching out to ruffle his hair.

Jokes aside, Maggie was right. We couldn’t just turn off our older-sibling responsibility to protect Miles no matter how old he got. And something was definitely up.

Danielle leaned over the back of the couch Miles was sitting on and wrapped her arms around him. It took effort not to growl at them. I didn’t like how she touched him so easily—never had.

“Stop ganging up on him,” she said, glaring at Maggie, then me. “He’ll tell us what’s going on when he’s ready.”

“Nothing’s going on,” Miles said.

“Uh-huh. I think what you meant to say is ‘Thank you, Danielle.’”

He smiled up at her, but it looked forced. “Thank you, Danielle.”

She kissed the top of his head. “You’re welcome.”

I glared at them both. “Do not kiss him.”

Miles grinned at me, and it almost looked real. “Jealous, Hayden? You know I’ll always be Dani’s favorite.”

“Her name is Danielle,” I growled at him.

Danielle smiled sweetly at me… right before she kissed Miles’s cheek.

“Hayden, stop being ridiculous. And Miles, stop antagonizing him.” She finally let go of him and walked over to give me my own cheek kiss.

“Maggie and I are going to go talk about girl things. Don’t kill each other while we’re gone, okay? ”

“No promises,” I muttered.

But Miles seemed to have already forgotten I was even there as he checked his phone with palpable anxiety. He didn’t even seem to notice when I got up and moved behind him.

“Waiting for important news?” I asked, leaning my elbows on the couch by his head.

His phone chimed, and Jessica’s name appeared on his screen. So this was about his woman.

Miles jumped and proceeded to type in his password wrong twice before getting the phone to unlock.

A photo of a negative pregnancy test popped up with the caption I’m not pregnant!!!!

All the air left Miles in a gust of relief, and he slumped back against his chair.

I, on the other hand, was tenser than ever. I couldn’t stop staring at the pregnancy test picture. It felt like I’d jumped back in time. My head swam, and I had to grip the edge of the couch to keep myself upright.

God dammit, this kind of shit wasn’t supposed to happen to him. Miles wasn’t me. He was supposed to be smarter. He was the one with goals and plans that he couldn’t afford to fuck up.

“Hayden? You look scary pale right now.”

I forced air in and out of my lungs, trying to keep the panic at bay.

“Fuck,” Miles muttered. “Hayden, talk to me.”

“Why is she sending you pictures of her pregnancy test?”

He winced. “The condom broke.”

“Was it your condom or hers?” I knew I was walking right on the edge of being a full-blown asshole, but when you were the son of a billionaire, you had to treat condoms like drinks. You didn’t use them if they were already open and could have been tampered with.

“Hey, it wasn’t like that.”

“Just answer the damn question,” I said through gritted teeth.

“It was my condom. Jessica isn’t trying to baby-trap me.”

“Miles—”

“No. You got fucking married to a girl you broke up with nearly a year ago. So sorry, but you don’t get to give me this lecture.”

He had a point, but my situation with Danielle was entirely different than his with Jessica. Most notably because there was a zero percent chance I was going to get her pregnant.

“What if it hadn’t been a false alarm?” I asked. “That shit could ruin the rest of your life.”

“She’s not Jacqueline, okay! Not every woman in the world is a lying, cheating bitch who’s out to get us. No, I’m not ready to be a dad yet, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world either. And Jess would be an amazing mom.”

Miles’s words struck somewhere deep inside me.

Most of the time my family avoided talking about Jacqueline around me.

Not that there was much to say. Other than the occasional gala or event, none of us had seen or heard from her since everything that had gone down between the two of us.

But both my siblings had mentioned her in the past couple of weeks.

“Hayden.” Miles waved a hand in front of my face.

“What?” I snapped.

“I’m going to say this because I love you, and I think we made a mistake in ignoring the whole fiasco.

Unless you get over that woman and what she did to you, you’ll never really live.

She’s moved way on. At this point, the only person you’re hurting is yourself.

” He shook his head. “Actually no. You’re also hurting Danielle. ”

My gaze sharpened on him. “I’m not hurting her. We have an agreement.”

“Are you blind, asshole? She was devastated when you left her. And for what? So you could parade around a bunch of women you don’t care about?

Why did you really leave, huh? What did you break her heart for?

Because I see the way you look at her. You want her back.

You’re just too scared to admit it to yourself, and she deserves someone brave enough to battle his demons for her. ”

“Fuck off,” I snarled.

He grinned at me. “You know I’m right.”

“You’re not.”

“Really? And that’s why you get all pissy anytime I hug her?

” The smile vanished. “I’m only going to say this once.

Danielle and I are friends who have zero chance of being more.

But that doesn’t mean someone else won’t come sweep her off her feet one day.

And when that day comes, it’ll be too late for you. ”

My jaw clenched. He wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t know, but I still hated the image that formed in my mind. Danielle was mine .

Except she wasn’t.

Because I was a coward who’d let my trust issues and past experiences ruin us.