Loving True (45 page)

Looking into her eyes he said, “I couldn’t stay it in
Montana
. There are too many memories of you there.” He moved slowly towards her, trying to close the gap between them, but she quickly brushed his words aside. Lies wouldn’t win her back.

“I’m surprised you didn’t send Joe Rowan to track me down for you,” True countered. She was determined not to show him that he didn’t affect her peace of mind.
 
Hayward
averted his stare at the mention of the private investigator’s name.

He sighed and looked back at her with his mesmerizing blue eyes, “Kitten, I’m so sorry about that. Please don’t allow it to keep us apart,” he said. His voice sounded harsh and raw.

“True, should I leave so you two can talk in private,” Daniel interrupted, getting up from his seat.

“Yes, I think you should leave, so we can talk alone.”
Hayward
snapped back.
 

She stared wordlessly at Daniel. Her heart pounded wildly inside her chest. The bright afternoon sun shone through the window down on his hair, she realized that her resolve was weakening. If he left her here with
Hayward
, she wouldn’t be able to resist his charms. Daniel had given her a job the second she called him, after leaving Campbell Construction and Design. Daniel had been her best friend for the last four months. At this moment, she didn’t want to deal with
Hayward
.

True wanted to hurt
Hayward
and make him want her at the same time. Her hand shook a little, as she reached out and touched Daniel’s arm, “No, I’m leaving with you. I’ve just lost my appetite.”

Daniel stared at her, baffled.
 
His expression changed into a smile. He took
True’s
hand and said, “Well, let’s go.”

Biting her lip, True looked away from
Hayward
as she walked past him. She felt his eyes on her back all the way out the door.

* * * *

Hayward
fell down into
True’s
empty seat with his hands between his legs. He felt his brother come up behind him. “
Clinton
, I really have lost her,” he whispered.
 
He felt as though a ton of bricks had settled in the middle of his chest. Why didn’t I tell her the truth all those months ago? True had walked past him like he was a stranger.
 
He closed his eyes and tried to relieve some of his pain, but it still burned deep in his gut. True was with Daniel now and there wasn’t nothing he could do about it.

The only woman he truly loved, more than anything else in the world, hated the sight of him. God, he never knew being in love with someone, who didn’t love you back, could be this painful. “I’m going back to the office and book a flight back to
Montana
.” He got up from his seat and walked right past
Clinton
.

* * * *

True barely made it to Daniel’s car before she broke down into tears. Daniel handed her a tissue from the dashboard. “True, why are you doing this to yourself.” He asked. “
Hayward
loves you so much and deserves a second chance to explain.”

She was sick with the struggling between keeping her emotions safe from
Hayward
and falling back into his arms. These past months had been hell without him. Nonetheless, how could she overlook what he did?
 
She tore at the damp tissue in her hand. Her fingers dropped the pieces into the change compartment of Daniel’s car.

“Daniel, I don’t want to hear this speech again.” Tossing the rest of the tissue away, she turned her head and looked out the window. Why did he always have to be so sensible?
 
She heard Daniel sigh beside her. He reached back across the seat and traced a pattern on the back of her hand.

“True, aren’t you the one saying a person should always be honest?” He asked

True frowned. Sometimes she really hated the sound of his voice, especially when he was right and she wasn’t. He always threw that in her face when he wanted her to do something. Now wasn’t the time to use her pet peeve against her.

No, doubt about it, Daniel enjoyed watching
Hayward
’s encounter with her back in the restaurant. No one else knew what a romantic at heart he truly was.
 

“Yes, I am,” True muttered. What good would it do to lie when Daniel already knew the truth? She was still head over heels in love with
Hayward
. Her heart had danced with joy, the second his eyes connected with hers in the restaurant.
 
His face had lingered in her mind all those months she spent in
California
.

Memories of him had been so vivid the first three weeks sometimes late at night she thought she had even heard Hayward calling her name, but it was only her mind playing tricks on her. She loved him so much, but why should she give him another chance?
 

“True, you can’t let
Hayward
go on thinking you hate him when we both know it’s a lie.”

True turned her head and looked Daniel in the eye. His eyes sparkled with determination, “I hate when you’re right,” she muttered underneath her breath.

With a long, exhausted sigh, he reached across her seat and cupped her chin in his palm. “I don’t want to be right
True
.” He replied softly. “I only want you to be happy. The only way that will happen is with
Hayward
.”
 
Kissing her lightly on the cheek, Daniel moved back to his seat.

She watched him start the car and pull out into traffic. The harder she tried to deny what Daniel said, the more it ate at her. She was upset that
Hayward
checked into her past without her knowing about it, but she loved him and wanted to be with him.

The second he whispered her name, he captured her heart all over again.
 
Turning in her seat
True
looked at Daniel, she asked, “Can you drop me off at the airport?” She thought she saw a quick smile appear on Daniel’s face, but she wasn’t positive.

“Why the airport and not CCD?”
Daniel asked, stopping at a red light.

“
Hayward
wouldn’t have stayed here after the way we parted at the restaurant.” She replied. “
Montana
is his home and that is where he is going.”
 

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Back in
Montana
,
Hayward
closed himself inside his office after he got off the long flight from
Stamford
. He didn’t want anyone bothering him. It was pitch black outside and not one star was in the sky. It matched his mood.
 
He jerked his tie off his neck and threw it into the chair.

Walking around the desk he pulled off his jacket, and flung it into the chair beside his tie. “Well, I ruined any chance I had of ever getting True back.” He said to the empty room.
 
His fingers undid the top three buttons on his shirt and then he collapsed in the chair.

The rich scent of vanilla filled the space. True was everywhere in the room. He couldn’t look around without seeing a part of her somewhere. From the romance book lying on top of his blueprints, a half-eaten bag of potato chips over by the bookstand and he even saw a pair of her shoes kicked underneath her desk. Can I stay in this house with all the memories of her here to haunt me?
 

Groaning,
Hayward
dropped his head on top of his desk and fell asleep. He didn’t have a clue how long he had been out, but he woke up at the touch of fingers stroking the back of his hair and a soft feminine voice whispering his name.
 
“Ms. Pinson didn’t I tell you I didn’t want to be bothered,” he muttered without opening his eyes.

He heard a soft chuckle and mumbled. “Ms. Pinson had already left, so I let myself in.”

Hayward
’s head snapped up at the sound of
True’s
voice. This has to be a dream.
 
He lifted his head up off the desk and almost broke down at the sight of her standing by the edge of his desk. What was she doing here? Was she here to take him back or get him out of her life forever?

“Kitten, what are you doing here?”
Hayward
asked. Fear gripped him. He really didn’t want to know the answer. He
sit
and let True toss him out of her life.

“
Hayward
, we need to talk.” True whispered resting her hips against the edge of his desk.

“I don’t think I want to hear this.” He replied, shaking his head. “I saw how close you were at the restaurant with Daniel. If you’re with him now, I don’t want to know about it.” He stood up to leave, but True shoved him back down in the chair.

“Why are you always jumping to conclusions?” She asked. “Why can’t you ever listen first?”

“Don’t you understand I can’t sit here and listen to you tell me that you’re in love with another man.”
Hayward
confessed. “I love you so damn much and I ruined everything between us by continually lying to you. God, I got so caught up in my lies that I didn’t know how to stop.”

“You lied to me during our relationship.” She agreed. “Do you know the devastation I felt when I read that P.I. report? I couldn’t believe you would check into my past like that.”

“True, you intrigued me from the moment you stepped out of your car and I wanted to know more about you.” He stated simply. “I didn’t think we would fall in love with each other and after we did I could never find the right time to confess.”

“But you lied to me for months. You didn’t even come clean after you told me about Brooke and Tyler.”

“I know and I’ll always regret that. Is there a small part of you that still loves me?”
Hayward
asked. “Or have I lost you to Daniel?”

“Do you really think I could fall out of love with you and fall in love with Daniel in a span of four months?” She questioned.

Hayward
shrugged one shoulder,
then
fell back against the leather chair. “I don’t see why you would want to give me another chance after everything I put you through. I’m not a real sensitive man and maybe Daniel can give you what I can’t.” He exclaimed.

True knew what
Hayward
was up to. She wasn’t about to give in to him. She wasn’t the one who did anything wrong. If he wanted her back then he was going to work for it. “Well I have to agree with you, Daniel is totally different than you are. He’s doesn’t get jealous at the drop of a hat or hide things from me. I can open up to him and he’s there when I need him.”

“God, do enjoy standing there, ripping my heart to shreds?”
Hayward
asked. “True, I love you and I don’t care if Daniel is all of those things to you. I won’t stop until I’ve gained your trust and love.” He reached out and pulled her down into his lap. “You know that we’re good together.”

True laid her head against
Hayward
’s shoulder. She forgot how good it felt to be in his arms. “I haven’t forgotten how well we fit together. We were two halves of a whole.”

“No…we are two halves of a whole.” He corrected. “I’m not going to let Daniel have you
True
. If I have to start over from the beginning to win you back, I will.
 
I’m not handing the most precious thing in my life over to another man.”

The pain in his voice was her undoing. She couldn’t let
Hayward
go on thinking she didn’t love him. Leaning away from him,
True
looked into
Hayward
’s eyes. “I don’t think I’m going to be the most precious thing in your world anymore.” She whispered.

“I don’t understand…” He replied. “Do you not believe that I’m still in love with you? Tell me what I have to do to prove it and I’ll to it.”

True shook her hand and pressed her fingers against
Hayward
’s mouth. “I believe that you still love me. I know that I’m still in love with you.” She confessed.

Hayward
removed her hand from his mouth and stared into her eyes. “Then why are you saying you won’t be the most precious thing in my life anymore.”

True took
Hayward
’s hand and laid it against her stomach. His eyes grew wide when he felt the little bulge beneath her purple pantsuit.
Hayward
spread his hands across her stomach. “Kitten, are you pregnant?”

“Yes, I am.”

Hayward
pulled her gently into his arms and his lips caressed the side of her face. A light breeze blew in through the open window; it wrapped them in their own little cocoon. True didn’t know how long she stayed draped in
Hayward
’s arm before she heard him say.

“I promise I’m not keeping anything else from you True. All those months you were gone I learned my lesson. I don’t want to ever feel that type of pain again, ever!”

Hayward
held her closer to him and buried his face in the side of her neck. His words should have been muffled, but she heard them loud and clear. “I’m going to be a good father to our child. He won’t have to worry because I’m going to keep my promises to him.”

True laid her hand on the top of
Hayward
’s hand and stroked the hair on the back of his wrists. She knew that
Hayward
wasn’t going to let history repeat itself. “I know you’re going to be a good father. If I had any doubt that you weren’t, I would have never came back to
Montana
and told you.”
  

“I love you
True
.”
 
Hayward
breathed by the side of her neck.

“I love you too,
Hayward
.”