Waffle batter oozed out of the machine onto her hands and onto the floor. Everyone in the room laughed, especially the kids. Audrey’s husband, who also worked maintenance for the hotel, ran inside to help her.

Covered in waffle batter, Hadley rushed out of the restaurant to the elevators. Once she was gone, I helped Bill clean up the mess, knowing she was going to be up in her room for a while.

“I think you guys need a new batter machine.” I laughed.

Bill snorted. “Tell me about it. This is the fifth time this year I’ve had to clean this mess up.”

I helped him as much as I could and then retreated to the stairs. Instead of knocking on Hadley’s door, I went into my room and unlocked the adjoining one, opening it carefully. Hadley was by the bed, slipping a clean T-shirt over her head. Not only were there hives on her arms, but they were on her back and legs too.

“I see you’ve had a rough time,” I called out, feeling like complete and utter shit.

“Jesus,” she squealed, jerking around. She held a hand to her chest, but then relaxed. “I knew I’d be hearing your smartass mouth sooner than later.”

I smiled. “So that’s why you don’t look shocked to see me.”

“I knew you could track me,” she said, holding up the phone.

“Nice work downstairs, by the way. What did the waffle maker ever do to you?” I thought it would make her laugh, but she turned away.

“Don’t remind me.” Huffing, she zipped up her bag. “I’m glad no one knows who I am. I felt like an idiot with everyone laughing at me.”

“Well, it was kind of funny.” She got quiet and started scratching her skin. “Are you okay?”

“Yep.”

“Yeah, sure. You just look like a lobster, no biggie. Come on, let’s get out of here. You’re obviously allergic to something.”

Glaring at me, she crossed her arms over her chest. “You expect me to go with you after you were such an ass to me? Speaking of which, how was your date last night?”

“There was no date, Hadley. I was just doing it to get a rise out of you. The same with the barn stalls. You really impressed me though.”

She stood up straighter, eyes narrowed. “Glad I could amuse you.”

“So . . . what do you say? Are you going to come willingly, or do I need to tie you up?”

Her lips pursed. “Knowing you, you’d like that too much. I’ll go willingly.”

She was right, I would’ve tied her up in a heartbeat, and loved every minute of it. She grabbed her bag, but I slipped it off her shoulder as she walked past. I thought she’d fight me on it, but she let it go.

“What changed? Why are you playing nice all of a sudden?”

Opening the room door, I held it so she could walk out. “I did some research last night. Let’s just say, I misjudged you.”

“Is this your way of apologizing?” she asked, strutting out the door.

“If I say yes, does that mean you’ll forgive me?”

She shrugged. “Probably not.”

I followed behind her down the hall, and Audrey winked at me as we walked past the front desk. With a smug smile, Hadley got in my truck and I caught the door before she could shut it. I knew that look on her face; it was the same look every woman got when they wanted to fuck something up. “You’re going to pay me back, aren’t you?”

Her grin grew wider. “You have no idea.”

Fuck, I was in trouble.

Hadley

My skin was on fire. It took all I had not to complain, but dammit to hell, I was miserable. The last thing I wanted was to give Blake a reason to tease me. However, something had changed in him. His whole tone was different, nicer even.

“Do me a favor and stay here. I’ll be right back.” He parked in front of a doctor’s office and shut off the truck.

“What are we doing here?”

“Lock the doors when I leave.” Once he was out, I locked the doors and watched him disappear into the entrance.

“Stop looking at him, Hadley. It’ll only get you into trouble,” I mumbled.

I hated it already, but he was the perfect muse for my new song: bad boy, sexy, gray eyes, and jeans wearing cowboy. In my song, the female was going to tame the wild beast, but I highly doubted anyone could tame Blake. I was sure the hundreds of women who’d ridden him in the past had tried and failed.

Since Blake was still inside, I pulled out my phone and dialed Felicity’s number.

“Hey,” she answered.

“Hey, how’s it going?”

“Not bad, just trying to dodge the pariah every time I come and go from the hospital.”

I groaned. “They haven’t let up yet?”

“Nope. They’re determined. You’re the only thing they ask about. I’ve even been offered twenty thousand dollars if I spill. I guess they don’t believe me when I say I have no fucking clue where you are.”

“It should die down soon. I’m sorry you have to deal with it all until then. I’m intentionally staying away from the TV. People probably think I’m in a mental hospital by now.”

She laughed. “Actually, that has been one of the rumors.”

I scoffed. “Such bullshit. How’s Nick doing?”

“Better, I think. The doctors are hopeful he’ll wake up soon.” That was good to hear. She sounded better as well. “What about you? Is dickface still being an ass?”

I chuckled. “As a matter of fact, no. I don’t know what’s up with him, but he’s been decent today. You know that song I started writing a couple months ago?”

“Yeah.”

“I think I found my muse. Maybe something good will come out of this tragedy after all.”

“Wait . . . are you trying to tell me this guy is hot? How old is he?”

“Maybe five years older than me?”

“Send him my way then. Just do me a favor and don’t fall for him.”

I snorted. “Not gonna happen, trust me.”

“Good. Remind me not to tell Nick about him when he wakes up. He’ll be ready to fly out on a plane and get you. When this is all over, maybe you two can actually give it a shot instead of pretending.”

“He knows how I feel about that. It would never work. We’ve already had a bunch of problems with the media and we aren’t even really together.”

“True, but I know he wants more. It would’ve been nice to have you a part of our family.”

I smiled. “We’re already family.” Blake waltzed out of the building with something in his hand. “I have to go. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Okay. And remember . . . don’t get attached. You’ll be leaving there soon.”

“You have nothing to worry about. I’ll talk to you later.” I hung up and unlocked the doors just in time for Blake to reach the handle.

He opened the door and tossed something in my lap. “That’s for you. It’ll help your skin.”

I read the label on the tube; it was prescription strength antihistamine cream. “Did you go in there just for this?”

“Don’t get used to it, princess. I’m not a nice guy.”

I smiled. “And I’m not a nice girl. Remember, you still have a payback coming your way.”

He burst out laughing. “I look forward to it.” He wouldn’t be saying that once I got done with him.

As soon as we arrived at his ranch, we got out of the car and he grabbed my bag. “What made you change your mind about me?” I asked, following him to the door.

“Does it matter? I apologized for being a dick, didn’t I?” He opened the door and held it wide for me.

“And I appreciate that.” I held up the cream. “But the Blake I met wouldn’t have given a rat’s ass about my skin. I want to know what changed.”

Sighing, he set my bag down. “Why do you care?”

“Because I do,” I said, scratching my arm.

His gaze landed on my reddened skin. “I think we need to focus on one thing at a time.” Taking the cream from my hand, he nodded toward the couch. “Sit down. I’ll put this on your back.”

Eyes wide, I gasped. “I’m not taking off my shirt.”