…
Avery stumbled into the elevator, blindly slamming her hand against the floor buttons. Her breath came in fast gasps. Too fast. Her racing heart thundered in her ears as she tried to fight the hyperventilation. Pressing her back against the corner, she put her hands on her knees and tried to slow her breathing.
How the hell had she let this happen twice?
She’d come to this floor so happy and full of hope. Then Lea had answered Hayden’s door, partially dressed, hair mussed, her clothes tossed on his bed. At first her mind hadn’t been able to compute what was happening. But the coy smile that had curled the other woman’s lips brought everything into startling focus. It was the same expression she’d seen when the skank sleeping with her husband had laid out the extent of his infidelity.
The smile that said once again another woman was taking up the space she should be occupying.
Then Hayden had stepped from the bathroom in nothing but a robe.
It didn’t take a genius to understand what she’d interrupted.
The elevator doors opened on her floor, and she ran out, only one thought in her mind.
Escape.
She’d been here before, and she had no intention of living through yet another humiliating encounter where a man she loved explained in excruciating detail why she just wasn’t enough of him.
Especially when she had the feeling that this time, such a meeting would leave even deeper scars than the ones Jon had inflicted.
A bitter laugh escaped her as she thought of his phone call. Had he cursed her, predicting Hayden would leave her in the end? Or had his words been pure coincidence?
She hated that he’d been right.
Slamming into her room, she grabbed her clothes and tossed them into her suitcase, not bothering to fold anything. Like a whirlwind, she packed in less than five minutes, wanting to be far away before Hayden came looking for her.
If he’d even bother to offer her an explanation. Maybe this was simply his way of breaking up with her. The report was done. The job was over.
As if the clock had struck midnight, her time had run out.
Grabbing the handle of her suitcase, she left the room, her mind singularly focused. She’d nearly made it to the elevator when the soft chime informed her a car was arriving at her floor. Not willing to take the chance it was Hayden, she ducked into the stairwell and went to the next floor down before getting on the elevator there.
Maybe you should talk to him, the sweet, naive part of her mind whispered. Maybe you misunderstood.
Misunderstood Lea’s barely covered breasts and Hayden’s hair wet from a post-sex shower?
Unlikely.
Exiting on the ground level, she jogged down the hall to the lobby and made a beeline for the driveway.
“I need a car to the airport,” she told the waiting attendant.
“At once, Ms. Clarke,” he replied, hurrying off to arrange a taxi for her.
Avery fished out her phone as she waited, calling Karen. Her friend answered on the third ring.
“Hey,” Karen said. “What’s up?”
“I’m on my way to the airport,” she said. “I need the report emailed to me. I’ll finish it on the plane. Damn, the plane. Can you check flights? See if you can get me on something early? I should be at the airport in half an hour.”
“Whoa, whoa slow down. Why are you going to the airport? We’ve got a week left on our contract?”
Her throat constricted. “I need to leave. Now.”
“Is everything okay?”
“No.” Now that she wasn’t moving, her panic was ebbing away, leaving nothing to keep the soul-rending pain at bay.
“What’s wrong?”
The attendant jogged back over to her, a taxi slowly following him.
“This way, Ms. Clarke,” he said, taking her bag and loading it into the trunk.
Avery ducked into the backseat and closed the door before the attendant could help her.
“The airport,” she told her driver.
“Avery?” Karen’s voice rose from the phone.
The car rolled into motion, and she turned to watch the hotel’s entrance, seeing a familiar shape run down the marble pathway.
Hayden glanced around at the waiting cars. He’d thrown on a pair of jeans and a shirt that hung open to the waist. There was a wildness to his actions, and she knew he was looking for her.
His blue eyes turned toward her cab, and she wondered if he could see her inside or if she’d driven far enough away. The relief at her escape was tempered only by the despair that had driven her into this cab in the first place.
“The flight, Karen,” she said, watching Hayden’s figure grow smaller and smaller as she left him behind. “Can you get me on whatever is leaving soonest?”
“According to my phone, there’s one in an hour if you think you can make it,” she said. “I’ll go back to the room and get my laptop. You should be booked in by the time you get there.”