Challenge Accepted - A Contemporary Romance (9 page)

“Hayley, that heap won’t get you halfway there. The engine is making sounds like it’s due for a major overhaul and the tires are nearly bald.”

She raised her eyes to his, not questioning the validity of his assessment, but determined to follow her conscience. “I have to go. I’m sure I’ll make it.”

“Let me drive you,” he offered, his face concerned.

“Oh, no.” That’s not necessary,” she responded hastily. “You have so much going on here.”

Her panic made no sense, but the idea of her father meeting Colt sounded all Hayley’s alarms. The understanding between them was too new, too fragile and important to her. She couldn’t subject Colt to the full blast of her father’s obnoxiousness, couldn’t allow him to be cross-examined and found wanting, the way so many others had. The only men her father approved of were the ones he found for her.

Besides,
a tiny voice in her head,
who knows how Colt would react to your father.

“You’re important to me,” Colt interrupted her scurrying thoughts. “I want you to be safe.

She hesitated before saying in a small voice, “You could lend me the Suburban.”

Colt managed not to flinch. He didn’t exactly consider his car an extension of himself, but he'd hate to see it smashed, particularly if Hayley was in it. On a good day, she drove like the devil was on her tail. He could just imagine how distracted she'd be today.

More than anything, he wanted to be with her as she faced this situation. He saw the hesitation on her face, however. The woman clearly didn't want him anywhere near her father. The fact hurt. He'd thought they had taken some hurdles in the last twenty-four hours. She had come to him last night like a woman breaking free and he never wanted to let her go.

"I'd rather drive you there," he said, with forced easiness. "Given my past experience with you behind the wheel."

A weak smile crept over her face. "My father can be...overwhelming," mentioned Hayley with obvious hesitation.

"I'll take my chances." Hell, driving her to San Diego ranked low on the list of dangerous things he'd do for Hayley.

"Okay," she said with a sigh as though making a great decision. "I'll need to go by my apartment to change."

CHAPTER EIGHT

Colt waited in her tiny living room as she changed. She had been silent as he drove her home, locked in thoughts he could only guess.

He looked around the cluttered apartment, his gaze stopp
ing on a toppling pile of architectural restoration books decorated with a lacy peach bra. A pair of sandals lay under the tiled coffee table and a bottle of pink nail polish sat next to a potted plant.

Definitely Hayley's place, filled with books, plants, overstuffed garage-sale reject furniture. Yet, it was warm and inviting. Her scent per
vaded the room, some combination of shampoo and the natural aroma that was hers alone. Desire curled through him.

The bedroom door opened, drawing his at
tention, but the woman who stepped into the living room couldn't be Hayley. She wore a demure, knee-length dress in a deep shade of beige and carried a little purse in one hand. On her feet were sling-back pumps and she actually had on hose.

Colt stared at her, registering the severely subdued hairstyle and the perfect make-up. Where in the hell had his woman gone?

"I'm ready," she said nervously as she glanced at her reflection in the wall mirror.

"Good," he managed. "You look beautiful."

Her smile wavered tremulously. "Thank you."

"Well," he said, a little stunned by her transformation, "let's go."

The drive from Redlands to San Diego took two hours. Colt had time to consider the change in her. She sat next to him in the Suburban, her feet crossed at the ankles, her beautiful face as still and lifeless as a frozen pond.

None of it made sense. Anxiety over her fa
ther's illness, he could understand. But this head-to-toe transformation went way deeper than that.

The closer they got to San Diego, the more convince
d he was that he'd somehow stumbled onto a clue, but he didn't understand the connection. Surely, Hayley didn't think she had to become someone completely different to go see her father. Was this what she thought Haslett wanted? An immaculately dressed female robot?

She couldn't be right. What father could prefer a lifeless Hayley to the bright, spunky woman Colt was coming to love?

Hayley clutched the handle of her purse more tightly as Colt pulled up in front of the hospital. The building looked sterile and cold, the very place for her businesslike father. He'd always believed in technology and he never settled for less than his money could buy.

Why didn't that matter? Why couldn't she summon up her hard-won detachment? He wouldn't be any different, she knew. Even at death's door, Henry Haslett would be Henry Haslett.

The reality of that should have tempered her fear of losing him. What would life be like without her father, domineering as he was?

Colt parked and got out, coming around to open her door. She didn't acknowledge the courtesy. They walked up the sidewalk and into the lobby, the doors closing silently be
hind them.

His arm came around her as she hesitated in front of the elevators. "Did your father's assistant tell you his room number?"

"No." Hayley felt as if she were in a fog. Coming back seemed arduous, every movement requiring greater effort. But she couldn't stay away, couldn't ignore her father's distress, despite the fact that he'd ignored hers all her life.

"I’ll find out," Colt offered, leaving her to stand by the elevator.

A different memory flashed through Hayley, the velvet feel of Colt's naked skin against hers, the electricity crackling between them. She closed her eyes, absorbing the sensations.

With him, she felt alive. Challenged, annoyed, breathless, but very much alive.

"He's in 207." Colt pushed the elevator button and up they whooshed.

Hayley stepped out onto the second f1oor. She'd walked three paces before she realized he was no longer beside her. Swinging around, she found him standing still by the elevator.

"I'll wait here for you," he said, his dark eyes filled with compassion.

She hesitated, both tempted and disturbed. Leaving him
standing here seemed like a violation of the very emotions she was guarding.

For so long he'd seemed like the enemy, like an echo of everything she'd been fight
ing. But here in this cold place, he looked like heaven on earth. Colt interfered with her work and tried to change her mind about things, but he fought
with
her, engaged with her as a worthy opponent.

And he made love to her as if she were the only woman in his world.

"I-I'd like you to come with me."

The expression in his eyes deepened. He smiled reassuringly as he joined her.

Hayley turned and walked to her father's room, Colt's arm strong around her shoulders.

The heavy door to the private room stood open. Ensconced in white pillows lay her fa
ther looking somewhat small in the extra-width hospital bed.

"Princess!" Henry Haslett's face lit up as he raised a heavy hand.

"Hi, daddy. How are you?" She crossed to the bed, returning her father's hug.

"Oh, I'm fine." The older man turned, his shrewd eyes lighting on Colt. "Well, Granger. Nice to see you again."

Hayley turned, feeling stunned as Colt shook hands with her father. They knew each other? Colt knew her father?

"I hope you're doing better, Mr. Haslett," he offered.

"Sure, sure. Well," her father said with a wink at Colt, "I guess you two are seeing a lot of each other, huh?"

She barely heard Colt's noncommittal reply.

Why hadn't he ever mentioned that he knew her father?

Watching the two of them chat as if they were on the golf course, Hayley felt the stir
ring of her temper and a deep, foreboding fear.

Never once in all the time they'd worked together had Colt even hinted that he knew Henry. A familiar suspicion sprouted like an evil seed. Was Colt capable of courting her for her connection with Henry? Had he kept quiet about his acquaintance with her father because he knew she was determined to break free?

It didn't seem possible. How could Colt have known about the estrangement between them? Hayley tried to shake off her confusing thoughts. Regardless of this development, she was here to see her father.

"Dad, Thomas said you had a heart attack," Hayley in
terrupted, an unaccustomed boldness mingling with her concern.

Normally, she would have followed her fa
ther's lead, but darn it, she'd rushed to his bedside and she had a right to know what was going on.

"Oh, I'm fine." Henry dismissed a major health problem with the wave of his hand. ''I'm just glad to see you, honey."

"A heart attack shouldn't be dismissed, Dad."

Henry laughed, the sound weaker than his usual hearty boom. "Oh, honey, they'll slap in a couple of bypasses and it'll be business as usual in a few weeks."

Hayley moved to smooth his covers. "A coronary bypass is serious business. You'll need to take better care of yourself. Slow down a little."

"Nonsense." An irritated frown puckered Henry's face. ''I'm at my peak. I can't waste time coddling myself."

"You'll kill yourself," she protested.

Henry laughed again, his satisfaction at her concern obvious. ''I'm fine. Listen, princess, when are you going to stop being so stubborn about the apartment? I've got a brand new complex in Redlands that would be perfect for you. It's the very best-
Jacuzzi, personal security service, everything."

"No, thanks, Dad. I'm fine where I am.” Hayley felt herself recoiling. Her father couldn't even take her concern for him seri
ously.

A familiar expression settled over his face, a mingling of
irritation and anger at her resistance. "Hayley, when are you going to give up this decorating nonsense and come home?"

Tears prickled behind her eyes and clogged in her throat. ''I'm sorry, Dad. I just can't."

"Well, at least you can let me set you up decently, introduce you to some important people. It's embarrassing to have my daughter grubbing around in filthy clothes cleaning other people's houses."

Hayley drew in her breath as if girding her
self for battle. ''I'm renovating, Dad, not cleaning. It's a dirty business."

"All the more reason for you not to do it," he declared. "If you came back home and ran the thing right, we'd have a construction crew to do the actual work. You could direct them. Wouldn't even have to get your hands dirty."

"I don't mean to disappoint you, Dad." Hayley bit her lip. "But I like doing actual work. I need to be on my own."

*

Hayley stared through the Suburban's windshield at the dark night, forcing her body to relax against the seat as they drove out of San Diego. The chasm between her and her father had never seemed bigger. All he had wanted to talk about was getting her to "come back home."

"It must have been difficult growing up as Henry Haslett's daughter." Colt didn't take his eyes off the road as he broke the silence. "He always has to be the boss."

"At least I never went hungry," she responded with perverse defensiveness, unable to talk about feelings that seemed especially raw. Seeing her father always left her churned up inside, but this situation topped anything she'd faced with him.

"His cardiologist seemed optimistic."

"'Yes, I just hope Dad listens to him more than he does to me." Hayley's hands clenched in her lap.

"Your father cares for you, Hayley." Colt sat behind the wheel, his body relaxed as he drove.

"Is that what it's called?" She leaned her head back against the seat. "Seems like being loved should give me some say in the relationship, too."

"I said he cared," Colt said sardonically. "I didn't say he was very good at showing it."

''I'm supposed to just know, huh? And accept his dictatorship so he feels loved in return?" Her throat tightened as another wave of realization hit her. Her father more than likely felt as unloved by her as she did by him.

"He'd probably be less protective if you had brothers and sisters, but you're all he's got." Colt glanced her way.

"You know what?" Hayley leaned forward in her seat suddenly. "I hate that. I'm all he's got, and yet I end up feeling like I don't have anything. Certainly not the life I want."

"He's a pain," Colt agreed. "Controlling, overbearing, and insensitive. But he's the only father you have."

The truth of that welled up in her. Damn it, why couldn't it be simple? Why couldn't she love her father without feeling she had to always play by his rules?

"My father was strict," mentioned Colt. "I had to work with him summers and weekends when I was a kid. Even when I had other things I wanted to do. But I'd give anything to have him back."

"Colt, why didn't you ever tell me that you knew my father?" She'd held the question back as long as possible. Now that they were away from prying ears, she had to know.

His face was expressionless. "I don't actually
know
him. My company subcontracted on a project for him, that's all."

"But you've met him before," she persisted. "And you never mentioned it."

"Yes. Once. In
a meeting with ten other people." Colt glanced her way. "Does it make a difference that I met him?"

"It just seemed strange that you never told me." Hayley struggled to put their connection in perspective
. In
her old life, she'd gotten used to being courted for her connection to Henry. Her heart told her there was none of that in Colt's feelings for her, but her head reminded her of all her initial reservations. Had she grown so accustomed to being directed by others that she was now attracted to a man who saw nothing wrong in leaving her in the dark about things?

As far as that went, she wasn't even exactly sure what Colt felt for her.

*

Hayley climbed down the scaffolding, her neck and arms aching from the painstaking work of painting the small details. She subsided on the dry grass of the lawn in the shade of a tall oak. Leaning back to stretch, she closed her eyes and let the heat of the day soak into her.

Working on the house felt like coming home again. It settled her jumpy nerves, helped her deal with the daily progress reports on her father that Thomas phoned in. With her father improving, she gratefully immersed herself in the life she'd made here.

Only the coolness between Colt and herself felt like a hollowness inside.

The shadows over her face darkened and a fat drop of water fell on her bare leg. Hayley's eyes flew open.

"Care for a drink, lady?" Colt knelt over her, holding o
ut a can of soda, condensation dripping down its sides. His eyes were impossibly dark above her.

Hayley propped herself on her elbows, studying his face. It had been two days since he'd driven her back from San Diego and dropped her off at her apartment. Apparently sensing her turmoil, he'd avoided her at work since then. She hated to admit it, but she'd missed him horribly.