Precious Consequences(43)

Hayley’s eyes open as if she can hear me thinking about her. “Hey sleepyhead,” I murmur, turning onto my side and resting my head in my palm. She smiles up at me with bright green eyes.

“G’morning.”

I lean down, licking my lips in anticipation of our lips touching, when her hand shoots up to cover her mouth. I frown. “What are you doing?”

“I have to brush my teeth first,” she mumbles from behind her hand.

Chuckling, I pull her hand away and grasp her nape gently. “I don’t care about that. Just kiss me.”

My mouth finds hers and I roll over so that she’s tucked beneath me. My tongue slips into her mouth, devouring her moan and exploring. Her hands slide down my back and dip into my boxer briefs. She squeezes my butt, digging her nails into my flesh. I shiver and feel her lips tilt into a knowing smile against mine. Minx. Two can play at that game.

My hand trails up, under my shirt that she’s wearing, and I cup her breast. They’re the perfect size and fit into my palm like they were made just for my hands. Her hips start grinding and she rubs against my morning hard-on. Her teeth sink into my bottom lip and she bites down.

“You drive me crazy, baby girl,” I mumble into Hayley’s mouth.

“Right back at you,” she throws back. All my blood has rushed south and while I’m eager to have a repeat, or several, of last night, there’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to her about. It’s important, and I’d rather get it out of the way now than have it pop up later.

I roll onto my back and pull Hayley on top of me.

“Oh, I think I’m liking this.” She grins, straddling my hips. Her head dips and her lips start peppering kisses all over my chest.

“I was hoping we could talk,” I tell her.

She tenses. “About what?”

“It’s nothing bad,” I reassure her. I thread my fingers through her long, gorgeous brown hair and gently tug until her chin comes to rest on my sternum. She bites her lip nervously. “But it’s important.”

“Is this the part where you tell me the sex sucked and it’s time to leave?” She only half teases. I can hear the apprehension in her voice. “Because if that’s the case then I’d rather leave without you saying it.” She tries to push herself away from me but I trap her with my arms.

“Hey, it’s nothing like that, I promise.” Did she really think I’d leave her after one night? Given my track record, I don’t blame her. All the more reason for us to have this conversation, so that she can see that I’m serious about her and about us. “Will you just trust me? Please.”

Hayley nods and settles her head on my chest again, her eyes on me. I shift back a little and rest my head against the headboard.

“I wanted to ask you about Ari,” I start, gauging her reaction carefully.

“What did you want to know?”

“Well for starters, is her father in the picture?” I ask. She looks away from me and I know it’s a sensitive topic, but if we’re going to do this, I need to know what I’m going into. Throwing a toddler into the mix does complicate things and I’d be lying if I said I had a clue what I’m doing.

Hayley lets out a breath, and replies, “No, he isn’t and I don’t think he ever will be.”

“What made you decide to keep her?”

Hayley’s eyes glaze over and I feel guilty for bringing it up. “It’s okay,” I tell her. “You don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to.”

She shakes her head. “No, it’s fine, I just haven’t spoken to anyone about it in a really long time.”

Her fingers start tracing invisible patterns on my skin and I lay silent, just watching her.

“When I found out I was pregnant, I was already with my grandmother. I left a lot of bad decisions behind when I left home, and I didn’t want having an abortion to be another one. So, my grandmother and I agreed it would be best to see the pregnancy through and then give the baby up for adoption before my parents had the chance to find out.” I watch the way her lips move, hypnotized by the sound of her voice. “But when I heard her heartbeat for the first time, I - I...” Hayley stutters and I start to rub soothing circles on her bare thighs. She swallows and manages to gather some composure before continuing. “I knew there was no way I could give her away. I realized then that after a string of bad choices, and irresponsible decisions, keeping her would be the one thing, the one decision I got right. She was my second chance. I remember thinking that I wasn’t ready to be a mom, but then I held her for the first time and it all changed. The way she looked at me, it was like she knew who I was and I couldn’t bare the thought of another woman getting to share her life with my baby. She was mine and I was hers…”

Hayley tells me the story about the day Ari was born and how she almost died. She tells me how scared she was of losing Ari and how she didn’t know if her life could continue without her. I devour every word, the way she says it, how she feels when the words come out of her mouth, the way her eyes glaze over and shine with a mother’s pride. Looking at her, only one word comes to mind. So I sit up, bringing us chest-to-chest and nose-to-nose.

“Remarkable,” I say quietly. “And brave. My brave girl.”

I place a feather light kiss on her lips and feel her shudder in my arms. She pulls away, her green eyes wide and open. “Now can I ask you something?”