Chapter 44

• Hayley We are all sitting at the dining room table the next day having a feast of a lunch prepared by chef when the dogs go crazy, whining and running in circles in front of the main door. “What’s up girls? Do you need to go outside?” Just then the front door opens and in steps Xander. I am out of my seat in seconds and manage to squeeze my way between the dogs kissing and jumping up on Xander to get my hug in. I can hear the others at the table laughing at the attention the dogs and I are giving Xander. “Hey babe,” Xander grins at me while holding me close. “Welcome home,” I grin back. Gran and the guys meet us halfway to greet Xander who takes a minute to walk up to Sebastian who is patiently waiting in a corner of the room to be acknowledged. He bends down to pick him up, “Hey big guy. I missed you too.” Sebastian positively beams at my husband and purrs in delight as he gets his ear scratched. My heart melts at the scene. A sure-fire way to get to my heart is through my animals. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home today?” scolds Gran. “It’s called a surprise for a reason Gran,” he smirks at her. Xander joins us for lunch and I can’t stop grinning from ear to ear. He sits next to me and rests his hand on my thigh as he engages in the conversation around us. Unlike him, I can’t multitask with him this close to me, so I just listen to the conversation around me dreamily trying to ignore the wetness forming between my legs from Xander’s hand on my thigh. When he squeezes my thigh and looks at me, his green eyes are flecked with gold and I realise he knows exactly what he’s doing to me as his hand travels higher up my jean clad thigh to the junction between my thighs. He very, very gently caresses my privates through the thick fabric of my demin before moving his hand back to my thigh and leaning over to me to whisper, “It will be worth the wait, I promise,” with an evil smirk. “Ahem..” Tyler clears his throat with a grin and I stick my tongue out at him, “Like I was asking before Haley decided to hog my friends attention ....how about a game of pool before we leave?” “Sure,” replies Xander. I watch the guys play pool for a while before deciding to catch up on some work before Xander’s free again. When I checked my work email this morning, there was so much admin to catch up on and mail to acknowledge. I am engrossed in work when I hear Henry’s voice, “Hey sis.” “Henry. Is the game over already?” “Nah I just bowed out early. What are you up to?” “Oh... catching up on some work.” “I bet you can’t wait until your notice is served.” “Definitely, but I have to make sure I give them a good handover.” “So, has that jerk of an ex tried to contact you again?” I’m not sure what to reply. II already lied to Xander and if I tell Henry what happened, he definitely would not be quiet about it. “Not really,” I reply noncommittally. “If he does, you know you can call me right? I consider you my sister. You are family.” I feel so guilty lying to Henry about Keith, “ Thanks. I consider you to be family too,” I reply and I mean it. “Gran said you weren’t feeling well?” “Yeah, I think its just the stress of my shifts and giving them a clean handover before I leave. I was just tired.” “Okay, well I’m going to head out now. I just wanted to say goodbye.” “Thanks for coming over Henry,” I say as I hug him goodbye. I walk back down with Henry and join the rest of the guys for a while. They are laughing and joking busy stuffing their faces with the snacks Chef provided. With the amount these guys eat I will never understand how they stay so ripped. They each have bodies to die for and they don’t even take diet and training that seriously. Tyler says his goodbyes as the sky begins to darken and Xander and I both walk him out. “You look tired.” I say to Xander as we stand on the front steps, waving goodbye to Tyler. “I am, we had to get a lot in today to be able to make our flight home.” < “How about you go take a nice hot shower and when you’re done I’ll give you a back massage?” “Sounds heavenly babe” Xander snakes an arm around my waist and its so sudden, I can’t hide the wince that contorts my face, “Hayley, what’s wrong?” Xander asks, concerned. “Nothing. I slipped getting out of the shower and hurt my side.” “Let me see,” he says as he gently lifts my shirt to reveal the ugly purplish, brownish bruise covering my side, “Fuck Haley, this looks bad.” “Dr Guzman came by yesterday when I wasn’t feeling well, I showed him my side as well and as nasty as it looks, it should be gone in a little while.” “You should have told me Hayley. Is the fall because you weren’t feeling well?” “Xander it is just a bruise. I am fine... how about you get into that shower while I finish up work? The sooner we are both done, the sooner we can spend time together.” “Okay, I do need a shower.” While Xander is in the shower, I open my laptop and get comfortable on my bed while I go through my emails. My phone beeps once and I ignore it to finish what I’m typing. It beeps again and then at least four times after that. Hmm who could be sending so many messages.? I pick up my phone to see a whole slew of images from an unknown number. Curious, I open the message and download the pictures attached. It takes a while to load but when it does, my heart stops and my eyes dilate. It’s image upon image of Keith and I at the restaurant. It looks like we are on a date. Oh my God. There’s a picture of me leaning against the wall to get away from him but his hand is caressing my face and his body is flush against mine. It looks like were are lovers looking into each others eyes... nothing like what it really is. This can’t be happening. I scroll down and all the images look like Keith and I can’t get our hands off each other. Who would send this to me? Who would even take this? God help me, what is going on here? What do I do?