Chapter 7: All Night

JAYDEN

Jayden forced his dirty mind to shut the fuck up. It had been a good night, and he didn’t want to ruin it. What he’d told her earlier was true. With Hailey, he didn’t have to pretend to be someone else. They’d come back to Hailey’s house in the city after the fireworks, after stopping at the all night market to buy things for marshmallows. Both had changed into jeans and sweatshirts before sitting by the fire.

“I will,” he said. “I was just busy watching you. You looked like you enjoyed it.”

Jayden had enjoyed it too, but now he sat there with a hard-on that wouldn’t quit.

“I did.” She nodded. “I don’t let myself eat chocolate very often anymore.”

“Why?” He pushed a marshmallow onto the stick and held it over the fire. Not eating chocolate every day was unthinkable to him. He wanted it almost as much as sex. Well…not as much as he wanted sex with Hailey, but enough to always keep some around.

Hailey rolled her eyes. “I think I have plump genes. I’m not exactly skinny, Jayden.”

Jayden’s eyes swept over her body with desire. She looked healthy and fit, but no workout seemed to slim her curvy hips or round ass. Thank God. He had never liked supermodel thin, and he was glad she still had the soft curves of her hips, ass, and those plump breasts. She was fucking…perfect.

“I think your genes look just fine,” he said, his voice hungry. She was curved in all the right places. Her warm, sexy body fit against his like it was made to be there. “You’re beautiful.”

She stared at him in surprise, and for a moment Jayden lost himself in her green eyes, soft and shining. Her fiery hair framed her lovely face. He wondered if that was how she’d look when she came for him.

“You’re on fire,” Hailey said, half amused, half worried.

It took Jayden a moment to realize she meant his marshmallow. He pulled it out of the flames and blew on the burning blob. “I like them burnt,” he lied as he squished the blackened marshmallow between chocolate and graham crackers. The melted chocolate alone made it worth eating.

She wrinkled her nose as she watched him eat the gooey mess. “How is it that Damien hasn’t come looking for you? Aren’t you staying with him?”

“I never asked him. He probably thinks I’m staying with Gavin. And Gavin probably thinks I’m staying with Damien. I’m hoping they don’t compare notes.” Every one of the King siblings had a home on the peninsula, though Gavin was the only one who lived there full-time.

“You can stay here with me. It’s not like I don’t have space,” Hailey said honestly.

Jayden’s private jet was parked at the airport outside town, his pilot waiting for whenever he was ready to leave. “I’ll probably just fly out. The jet’s on standby.”

“Unlike the rest of you, I had to fly commercial like most people,” Hailey teased. “Eric is taking me back to Colorado, though. Then he’s flying on with Damien to California. Damien has business there.”

Jayden finished the last bite of his burnt marshmallow s’more. “Why is it you never wanted me to manage your money for you?”

Hailey had never asked, but Jayden would have gladly invested her fortune like he had for Gavin and Damien, turning her large inheritance into billions. It was what he did best which is making some money grow into a lot more.

“The money never meant that much to me, and you’re busy. Money is nice when I need something, and it gives me freedom. But I don’t really care if it grows or not. I already have more than I could ever spend in one lifetime, even if I lived extravagantly, which I don’t.”

“I’m never too busy to take care of you, Hailey. What are you doing with the money?” he asked roughly.

She explained how she had kept her fortune once she got it, and Jayden winced. Not a single dollar was in solid stocks or investments. Christ. “Money market accounts and bank accounts don’t make you much money, Hailey.” The investor in him cringed. “I can’t believe Eric didn’t step in.”

“Nobody needs to step in,” Hailey shot back, angry. “It’s my money and I don’t care how fast it grows. I told all my brothers that, and they finally stopped bothering me. I hardly spend any of it. The only things I’ve bought since high school are a small condo in Aspen and my cars. I went to college, remember? I can actually work.”

Damn, she looked stunning when she was pissed. Her green eyes blazed, and it only made Jayden harder. Hailey had always been independent, which was why her useless ex-boyfriend had never made sense to him.

She was sweet, but not the kind of woman to put up with a lot of crap from any man, not even her bossy brothers. “You’re not working right now. You should be making more income,” he argued sharply. “Especially if you’re going to keep picking guys who don’t even have a job.” Fuck. That burned. Nothing annoyed him more than imagining any man but him touching Hailey.

“I am” Hailey stopped herself and took a deep breath, refusing to finish. “I’m doing fine,” she said more evenly, looking away from Jayden.

“Are you really fine, Hailey?” he asked fiercely, closing the short space between them. He gripped her chin and forced her to meet his eyes. “Or are you feeling just as lost as I feel right now?”