"Okay, anyone want into your panties?"
I choked on a cough. "What?"
"n, Sunshine. Anyone who asked you out and didn’t take ’no’ for an answer?"
"Alison seems to think a client of ours, Jeremy Marville, wants to date , but he’s a nice man who went through a nasty divorce. We had one lunch and he sent flowers. I highly doubt he’d do anything like this."
"Gonna check that out," he said.
"Go easy, okay?"
He nodded. "How did you start the business? It just doesn’t seem like you."
"It’s not, really. I had a business degree from Oxford." I sighed. "It was a drunken night out with Niall. I said we should design funny condoms and call them Spiffy Stiffies, then he said we could make stencils for won and call them Posh Pussies."
"You’re shittin’ ."
"He quit his job, ran with my idea, and here I am today." I shook my head. "It was started as a joke, believe it or not, and there’s no one more surprised than that it went anywhere. I ran the business, he ran the think tank and it worked. Weird, right?"
He chuckled. "It’s different."
"I don’t know anyone who’d want to hurt and Poppy, Hatch. Honestly. I’m pretty low-key." I bit my lip. "I don’t advertise what I do for a living. I wanted to sell it after Niall died, but honestly, the job kept distracted."
"Okay, Sunshine. We’ll keep diggin’."
"Mummy," Poppy cried, and rushed into the room. "You’re awake."
"I had a good night’s sleep." I smiled at Hatch over my daughter’s shoulder as she gently hugged .
Alison greeted and Hatch as Poppy released and smiled up at him. "Thanks for looking out for Mum."
"You’re welco," he said. "I’m gonna take off."
"Can you stay?" Poppy asked.
"I can’t, baby girl. Gotta get back to the shop."
"Hatch has to work, Poppet."
She sighed. "Okay."
He smiled. "As soon as your mom’s out of here, we’ll all go sowhere, yeah? Dinner or sothing."
Her face lit up. "Really?"
Hatch nodded. "Sure."
"Okay."
"I’ll see you later, Maisie," he said, and without even a glance back, he left the room.
I spent the next few hours hanging with Poppy while Alison headed off to run errands and grab so things for from ho.
After Poppy and I enjoyed dinner together, Ali picked her back up, and I was able to take a shower. The nurse even helped wash my hair and by the ti I climbed back into bed I felt like a whole new person.
I flipped on the television and settled in for a quiet evening. I didn’t typically watch TV, so this was a bit alien for , but I found myself transfixed by a dating show. The won lived in bungalows and n were flown in on a helicopter for the won to choose... a bit like a lobster in a tank awaiting the pot of boiling water.
Hatch walked in mid-way through the program and leaned down to kiss my cheek. "Hey, Sunshine."
"Hi." I smiled up at him.
"What are you watching?"
"So dating show. It’s like a modern-day Timber."
His eyebrows dropped. "I’m sorry?"
"You know, that dating app? You swipe left or right?"
Hatch cocked his head. "You an, Tinder?"
"Is it?" I giggled. "I always thought it was Timber."
"Nope. Tinder." He grinned and pulled the chair close to the bed.
I turned my head toward him. "So you’ve used it, then."
"Hell no. I don’t date and I don’t need an app to hook up."
I smiled. "No, I don’t suppose you would."
"How are you feelin’, baby?"
"I managed a shower, so I feel really good."
He chuckled. "Nice."
"They told I’m being released in the morning."
"Yeah?" Hatch frowned.
"You don’t want to be released in the morning?" I asked.
"How secure is your place?" he asked.
"I live in a building with a doorman and security. You have to have a code to park." I sat up a little. "Are you worried?"
"Yeah, Maisie, I’m worried," he said. "Don’t know who tried to kill you, so don’t know where they got to you."
I sighed. "Poppy’s scared as well."
Hatch leaned forward. "What kinda scared?"
"Scared, scared. She’s having a hard ti leaving alone. I get that any kid would feel that way after an accident, but I think her fear goes deeper. Poppy has an amazing sense of people and situations. She’s my litmus test. If she doesn’t like you, you’re probably a pretty awful person." I smiled at Hatch. "She adores you."
His eyes softened as he linked his fingers with mine. "She’s cool. I like her too."
I held his hand a little tighter. "I’m not this person, Hatch," I whispered. "I’m not the person who has soone trying to kill them. It doesn’t make sense."
"I know. We’re gonna figure it out." He lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed my palm. "In the anti, you okay with drivin’ you ho tomorrow?"
"Ali’s bringing Poppy by early. She said she’d co back and pick up, but I bet she’d like the break. If you’re okay with taking us both, then yes, that would be appreciated."
"Yeah, I’m good." He raised an eyebrow. "You okay with bein’ in your space, though?"
"You an because we only t five minutes ago and now I’m taking you back to my place?"
He chuckled. "Yeah."
I hit my pain pump and relaxed into my pillows. "Since nothing we’ve done has followed any sort of a normal tiline rule, I’m good. I trust you, which could be my downfall, because I don’t really know you, but I feel like I do. Does that make sense?"
"Complete sense."
"Really?" I cocked my head. "Because I feel like I’m high."
He dropped his head back and laughed. "Damn, baby, you’re funny."
"I’m not really. It’s the drugs." I smiled. "Are you going to show all your skeletons now that I seem to be showing mine?"
"Don’t think you wanna go there, Sunshine."
"I would very much like to go there." When he tried to pull his hand away, I held tighter. "What happened with your ex-wife, for example?"
He sighed. "Long story short, she told she couldn’t get pregnant."
"So you divorced her?"
He frowned. "Sunshine, she told she couldn’t get pregnant, but what she actually did was have two abortions."
"What?" I gasped.
"We were married for five years. She started steppin’ out on , but she ca back cryin’ sayin’ she loved , so I took her back. But when I got a call that she’d been rushed to ergency, I arrived to find out she was there with excessive bleeding due to an abortion. It was apparently her second."
"Oh, Hatch, I’m sorry."
"Kicked her ass to the curb and never looked back."
"I don’t bla you." I shook my head. "What a bitch."
"I think that’s generous."
"Yes, I think you’re right." I yawned. "I promise I won’t ever have an abortion. I an, I don’t plan on getting pregnant again, but even if I did, I’d never have an abortion."
I don’t know if he responded because I fell asleep almost before I got my words out.
Reviews
All reviews (0)