Stolen Desire (The Lust List: Kaidan Stone #3) (2 page)

The whole time I drive, the paps are right on my ass, and a flame ignites in my chest. Why the fuck won't they leave me alone? I know they'll just go back to my house, but I really don't want them following me to the station, asking questions, sparking gossip. As soon as I'm off the freeway, I take a sharp turn onto a side street, trying to lose them.

The paps speed up to catch me, so I take another sharp turn, my tires squealing against the pavement. A truck pulls out of a parking lot out of nowhere and doesn't see me coming, doesn't stop, and I let out a scream as I slam on the breaks. I screech to a stop inches from his door. But the paps behind me are still hurtling around the corner at full speed, and there's no way they can stop in time.

I brace myself, horrified, everything happening in slow motion. The first pap's car slams into my bumper, and my car rams into the side of the truck.

I careen forward, and the world goes dark.

My eyes flutter open, and I blink against the bright light.

“She's coming to,” a distant voice says.

Then all the sounds of the street rush in on me. A beep in the distance, people talking, and the red and orange lights of an ambulance. I focus on the face above, and recognition dawns on me. Charles. Kaidan's driver and bodyguard.

I realize I'm lying down, and I try to jerk up, but a gentle hand presses me back down. I look to the side and find a paramedic there.

“You were in an accident and passed out,” the medic says. “How do you feel?”

Why is Kaidan's bodyguard here?

“Hayley?” The medic repeats.

“I feel fine.” Everything's hazy, but my mind is clearing.

The paramedic shines a bright light in my eyes, and it shocks me fully awake.

“She's tracking,” he says. “Do you have a headache or neck pain or any pressure in your head?”

“No. No. Nothing.” I say, insistent. I sit up and swing my legs over the edge of the gurney I'm on. I'm instantly woozy and reach out a hand. Charles grabs me, steadying me without saying a word. He’s huge, with broad shoulders and dark brown skin. My eyes lock onto the holster at his waist, and a chill runs through me. Why does everyone I know have guns?

I tear my eyes away to glance behind him, to the crowd on the sidewalk. Paps are snapping away. I shoot them daggers and scoot over so Charles's back blocks their view.

“Are you nauseous?” The paramedic asks. “We need to make sure you don't have a concussion.”

“I'm fine.” I wave the paramedic away and look up at Charles. “How did you know I…?”

I trail off as a car pulls up on the other side of the ambulance. Kaidan jumps out, dressed in a well-tailored black suit. He's clean-shaven, his hair perfectly styled.

My chest expands, and warmth shoots through me as he heads my way. When he's at my side, he cups my chin and lifts my head, examining me for visible wounds. I stare up at his deep brown eyes filled with worry, at the curve of his jaw, and my muscles relax, the tension going right out of me. My cheeks flush as I remember last night, but Kaidan isn't thinking about that now, and I shouldn't be either. He lets go of my chin and grabs one of my hands and squeezes. My chest caves, and I slump forward on the gurney, fighting back the sudden urge to cry.

“Is she okay?” he asks the paramedics.

“I'm fine.” I peek between Charles and Kaidan and see the blue car that hit me. The pap who was driving it is pale-faced and sweating, leaning against his car, not looking my way. He has a phone pressed to his ear. I frown, and my nails bite into my palms so hard it hurts. Then I catch a glimpse of
my
Mercedes in front of the pap's. The front and back bumpers are completely mangled.

I sigh. “
I'm
fine, but my car isn't.”

Kaidan turns my face away from the mess and meets my gaze. “I don't give a fuck about the car.” He looks back to the medics. “Are you taking her to the hospital?”

“I'm clearing her, but we can take her if she wants to go.”

“No. I'm taking her to my doctor.”

“Kaidan—”

“Shh. Charles—make sure you get all the necessary insurance information and get her car to the shop. If she needs to give a statement, she'll give it after I've taken her to the doctor.”

Kaidan helps me off the gurney, and tears brim in my eyes as he leads me back to his car. “Are you sure you're okay? Charles said you passed out.”

“I feel a little woozy… My head hurts a little. But I don't think I have a concussion or anything.”

Kaidan opens the door for me and lets go of my hand so I can sink into the seat. He runs back to my car to grab my purse and give Charles the information he'll need when the cops show up.

I sink back in the seat and inhale the masculine scent of Kaidan's cologne. My heart's thumping fast, and my chest is too tight when he gets into the car and pulls back into the street.

What the hell just happened? I should feel grateful Kaidan showed up to take care of me, but it feels like I lost control of my life yet again. How did Charles find me so fast?

Kaidan's clenching and unclenching his hand on the steering wheel, and he grips the stick shift tightly, switching the gears fast… and not smoothly.

“Tell me exactly what happened,” he finally says, his voice deep and even.

“Didn't
Charles
tell you? Was he following me?” I’m being snappy, and I don't know why. I feel like I'm on the edge of a cliff, about to go over.

“I want to hear it from you.”

“The paps were trailing me all morning, and one hit me. That's it.”

“I heard you were driving recklessly,” he says tightly.

“Excuse me? I was trying to lose them. They caused the accident.”

“Well, you won't have to worry anymore. Charles will take you anywhere you need to go from now on.”

I sit silently for a moment, my chest getting tighter and tighter until I feel like I'm suffocating. “Did you or did you not have him follow me?” I choke out.

“Yes.” He doesn't sound one bit sorry.

“I don't need a babysitter.”

“Apparently you do.”

“Wow.” I sink back into the seat, my fists clenched tightly at my sides. My heart hurts. This is the kind of shit my dad used to do to me. Having one of his guards watch my every move so his assistant could punish me for stupid things. “You know the paps weren't all over me before I started dating you. They pretty much left me alone.”

Kaidan stiffens beside me as we stop at a red light. He stares straight ahead, jaw clenched. “Maybe you shouldn't be dating me then.”

My lips part, and I cross my arms over my chest. “Why are you doing this? You could have just let the ambulance take me to the hospital.”

He doesn't answer, just looks straight ahead, driving carefully until he pulls into a parking lot in front of a gorgeous building that looks more like a home than a doctor's office. But a small gold-toned sign out front says Dr. Azim Nassef.

I get out of the car the second it stops and start marching for the door. If Kaidan wants me checked out, I'll get checked out. Then I'm going home. My heart's beating a wild rhythm in my chest, and my breathing is labored when I reach the door. I really don't feel so good. My head hurts, and all my emotions are threatening to overtake me in a wave. But I'm determined to hold it all in until I get home and can cry alone.

“Hayley.”

I whirl around as I reach the entryway. “What?”

Kaidan's hard expression melts away as he reaches me. He searches my face and brushes a strand of blond out of my eyes. I flinch at the touch, and his eyes soften.

“I don't care about the paps. I won't let anyone get between us,” he says, his voice low.

For some reason, his words are like a stab in my heart, and I can't stand looking at him anymore. I push his hand away. “No one else
needs
to,” I say quietly. “You’re doing a great job of that yourself.”

I push open the door and walk into the waiting room beyond. The place is decorated like a high-end hotel lobby, with marble floors, Persian rugs, and plush upholstered couches. A crystal chandelier hangs in the center of it.

“I need your information,” Kaidan says from behind me. I shove my purse at him and stand there as he heads for the front desk. I'm wavering on my feet, suddenly feeling light-headed because I can't breathe.

The nurse leads us right back, down a hallway with wooden floors and walls decorated with impressionist paintings.

She takes us to a room that looks more like a boutique hotel room than an exam room—if it wasn't for the line of metal machines against one wall and the exam table in the center of the wood floor.

Kaidan still has my purse, and I avoid looking at him as he sits down with it in the armchair off to the side of the exam table. The nurse takes my vitals while the awkward silence between Kaidan and me intensifies, and a few seconds after the nurse leaves, a tall, dark-skinned man in slacks and a button down shirt enters.

“Mr. Stone,” he says in a thick accent, inclining his head. Then he looks at me. “Hayley? You were in an accident, I hear.”

I nod, unable to speak as he checks my heart and feels my scalp. “Are you sensitive anywhere?”

I point to my forehead, and he looks at it and checks my eyes again like the paramedics did.

He asks me the same questions the EMT asked me, but this time I realize I
am
feeling a few of the symptoms.

“I do have a slight headache,” I say.

“I'll get you some pain medication to dull that. Stay awake for a few hours, and monitor how you feel.” He rips a piece of paper off his pad and hands it to me. “If you start feeling any of these other symptoms, you need to get to the hospital immediately.”

I nod, and the doctor leaves. Kaidan gets up, dropping my purse on the chair, and follows the doctor out of the room. I get off the exam table to grab my purse, and when I do, I can make out murmuring from the other side of the cracked door. Curiosity overcomes me, and I take a few steps toward the door, ears perked.

“Is your brother well?” the doctor asks.

“I have no idea what he's up to now,” Kaidan says tightly.

“And you? Are you sleeping?”

“Some.”

“If the drug I gave you isn't working—”

“It works when I take it.”

“You should take it every night.”

My heart thumps harder, and I step away from the door, so I can't make out the words anymore, and sink into the armchair. I shouldn't be listening to that. But why is he on sleep medication? I don't have time to wonder, because Kaidan comes back into the room and shuts the door behind him. I get to my feet and sling my hobo bag over my arm.

He looks at me, but I can't read his flat expression. The blank look in his eyes makes my chest tighten again.

“I need to get back to work. Charles is coming to get you and take you home. You can call my drivers any time you need them—until your car is fixed.”

My heart suddenly clenches, and I let out a little gasp and clutch my chest, breathing fast.

“What's wrong?”

I shake my head mutely, and he comes over. “Sit down.”

I fall back in the chair and try to breathe, but my throat feels closed off, and I'm getting dizzy. “I have a co-pay on my car insurance. I can't pay it.”

He crouches down to my level and rubs my leg. “Breathe. Take a deep breath.”

I'm having a panic attack, and that knowledge does nothing but make it worse. I breathe in and out, trying to get enough air as I focus on Kaidan's gold-flecked, brown eyes. They aren't distant anymore.

I’m so ashamed that he's witnessing this. I don't have these often, but when I do, I can usually hide until they're over. “I don't have my inheritance yet,” I blurt out. “It's… tied up.”

His brows come together. “What do you mean?”

“I mean… I'll get it,” I choke out, not wanting to tell him about the condition, about Serena's diamond. “But I don't have it yet, and… I don't have the money to pay my insurance and get my car back.”

“Don't worry about it. It'll be taken care of.” He squeezes my leg. “Look at me.”

I pull my gaze from where his hand rests on my thigh, and when I meet his eyes, warmth radiates through me at the look in them. He runs his other hand along my cheek. Then he leans in and presses his lips to mine.

My body responds to that, and my breath evens out, the panic attack fading. I lean into his kiss. His tongue teases my mouth, and as I open it to him, wanting floods me, and I clench my thighs together to ease the ache of it.

The warmth of him—the scent of him. If he'd wrap me in his arms and take me again, I'd forget all of this and have that sense of peace like I did as I slept last night.

But he pulls away too soon, running a gentle hand through my blond hair.

“Charles will be here any minute, and I'll have him stay with you. Let him stand outside your door to dissuade any aggressive paparazzi.”

“I don't need—”

“Please.” His expression is pleading, and I don't understand the veiled look in his eyes. My annoyance at him having me followed fades, and all I see is how much my accident has worried him. He
cares.
Truly.

“Fine. Okay. Charles can stay.”

He gives a small nod and pulls me to standing.