Page 9 of Haze
“Haze?”
The breathless voice halted his steps. He didn’t know anyone that knew him here, so his radar was on high alert. Slowly, he turned, and his eyes widened. It washer.
The woman who invaded his dreams often.
The woman who’d disappeared on him like a damn ghost.
The woman whose name he never got.
Slowly, his grin stretched across his face and turned into one of charm. His eyes traveled down her petite but curvy body, and his dick twitched. When he met her eyes again, he said, “Thicka, we meet again.”
Thicka.The name had swirled around her mind countless nights when she remembered how he slow stroked her and how good he felt inside her.
The attraction Devyn had for him was undeniable, but it was masked by nerves bouncing around her. How could this be happening to her right now? She felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. Panic set in as she gazed into the eyes that were so identical to her daughter’s.
When her staff told her there was a disturbance on the showroom floor, she never thought Haze would be at the center of it.
“Thinkin’ ’bout how you gonna run off again?”
His voice broke through her thoughts and snapped her out of her daze. She blinked slowly a few times before she finally decided to bless him with her voice.
“Can you come with me to my office?” Her tone came out clipped and sharp. She could feel her defense mechanisms shooting up.
With one last sneer at John, her poor employee Haze had just been assaulting, Haze looked at her and nodded. She turned and rushed away from the scene Haze had just made. When she passed by one of her managers, Hailey, she muttered, “Make sure everyone is okay. If anyone needs to take the rest of the day off, let them know they can do so with pay. I’ll handle the situation from here.”
Hailey nodded, her shiny brunette hair falling behind her shoulder before she scurried off to do as she was told.
Devyn glanced behind her to make sure Haze was still following her before she continued on her way. Nerves bounced around her, but she kept a mask of indifference as she moved through the dealership. The building was her father’s pride and joy and had been handed down to her. She always walked through it with a sense of pride, but at the moment, she felt shame and guilt weighing her back down like a deranged monkey.
When they reached the back of the dealership, she cleared her throat and gestured for him to enter her pristine office. The floors were white marble that matched her sleek marble desk. Every folder and paper was in its place, and the large windows overlooked the beautiful lot full of luxury cars.
Devyn entered behind him and closed the door. She sucked in a breath when she noticed the photo of her and Hazel on her desk, framed in gold and on display for anyone to see. On display forHazeto see. Discreetly, she slid behind her desk and sat down before she grabbed the frame. After sliding it into herdesk drawer, she looked at Haze, who looked out at all the cars on the lot. Her heart pounded, but she silently thanked God for saving her from having to explain the photo to him. Because best believe if he saw it, he would have questions. Hazel was his damn replica, and there would be nothing she could do but tell him the truth.
You should tell him, bitch.
Devyn’s teeth clenched.
Not like this.
She needed time to process Haze randomly popping back up into her life. God clearly wanted her to do the right thing, but that didn’t feel so easy to her.
Think of Hazel.
A sharp pain of guilt hit her chest. She was thinking of Hazel. From the moment she found out that she was pregnant, Hazel became her entire world.
You aren’t seeing the bigger picture.
At this point, Devyn realized she wasn’t arguing with herself. God spoke directly to her, and she needed to tighten up. As she blinked away tears after her inner battle, Haze caught her off guard and turned toward her. His eyes pierced her. Paranoia ate at her.
Does he know?
“How long you worked here, Thicka?”
The question caught her off guard. She had been so sure he was about to ask her about the daughter he didn’t even know he had.
After taking a deep breath, she finally responded in a shaky voice. “I own this place.”
Haze’s brows rose in surprise. “Ain’t no way.”
