“Thank you.” I brushed my lips against hers, then led her back to bed.
She cuddled up to me, her head on my chest, listening to my satisfied heart. Listening to the heart that wondered how the hell I’d be able to leave her again.
Which was why I couldn’t say the three words sitting on the tip of my tongue. As much as I loved Hailey, and because I did love her, I couldn’t tell her the truth. I couldn’t ask her to come with me to L.A. I couldn’t introduce her to my world. I couldn’t expect her to put her life on hold and come on the road with me. Everything about my life would destroy all that made her special.
So, instead, I traced lazy circles on the soft skin of her lower back, hoping that deep down she would hear the words I couldn’t say.
After a few minutes, Hailey’s breathing evened out, and for a few seconds I allowed myself to believe this was my new permanent. That every night and every morning for the rest of my life, Hailey would fall asleep and wake up in my arms.
But while my brain knew this was all only temporary, I wasn’t so sure my heart was on the same page—or even in the same book.
Careful not to disturb Hailey, I moved from under her. She muttered in her sleep, then curled up under the covers. I grabbed my notebook from the nightstand. Using my cellphone to light the page, I scribbled down the lyrics that poured from my heart.
And like the last song I’d written since moving in with her, the words easily poured onto the page.
Chapter 24
Nolan
The first thing I noticed when I stirred from my sleep was the warm body pressed against me. The second thing I noticed (well, third after the raging hard-on) was Hailey’s scent.
I smiled and lightly kissed the naked shoulder peeking from under the covers. Hailey stirred, pressing her hot ass against my cock.
“Mornin’,” I murmured into her ear. I had no idea of the time, but judging from the sunlight streaming into the room, it had to be midmorning.
“Hmmm,” she replied, which I took to be a positive sign.
My hand shifted under the cover and brushed against her full breast. This time she sucked air in sharply. I cupped the warm flesh and traced circles around her nipple. This was met by a moan from Hailey and her body jerking back against me.
From the bedside table, my phone played Jared’s song. I ignored it and moved my hand down Hailey’s stomach to between her legs. I palmed her heated *, which was already aroused and waiting for my touch. “God, Hailey. You’re so fucking ready for me.”
I interpreted her answering moan to be an agreement, then slipped a finger between her folds to tease her. My thumb brushed against her clit.
“Oh, God, Nolan,” she called out.
Jared’s song played again.
Again I ignored it.
With a little more pressure this time, I circled her clit, and I swear she was this close to coming.
The song played for the third time, and I was ready to hurl the damn phone against the wall.
“You should probably answer it.” Hailey shifted away from me, not giving me much choice.
I reached for my phone. “Hey, what’s up?” Lucky for him he couldn’t read my mind.
“Who the hell are you?”
At his near shout, I yanked the phone from my ear. “What are you talking about? You know who I am.”
“What they’re saying about your name. Is it true?”
“What are they saying?” Not that I needed to ask. I had a painful suspicion I already knew.
“That your real name isn’t Tyler Erickson. It’s Nolan Kincaid.”
Fuck! How the hell…? Who the hell…?
My head flopped forward and I shoved my hand through my hair. “It’s true.”
I smoothed my hand against the sheet, ironing out the creases. If only it had been as simple as that when it came to the mess of my life. If only it had been as simple as stripping the bedding from the bed and starting fresh.
“But why?” Jared said. “I don’t mean why the name change, but why didn’t you tell me? Why am I only finding out now?” The hurt in his voice almost gutted me. He was right. I should have told him. “I’ve told you things I’ve told no one else. Why? Because I trusted you, Tyler—or Nolan, or whatever your real name is.”
“Nolan is my real name,” I muttered.
Hailey moved to kneel behind me on the bed and held me close, sharing her strength. She tenderly kissed the bare skin on my shoulder.
I smiled at her, the movement small but genuine. “And I’m sorry,” I told Jared, “but I had my reasons for keeping it a secret.”
“Are you in trouble?” he asked.
“No, nothing like that. I needed to escape my past and couldn’t do that with my old name.” Since I had nothing to lose by telling him the truth, I told him about my family and how I couldn’t remember that night. Better he found out from me than from the media.
“I’m sorry, Ty…Nolan.”
“Once the police finished questioning me, I ran off to L.A. Where I’ve been ever since.”