Hiding Out (5 page)

Aside from the cocktail dress, he had never really been able to study her figure.  Apparently she was riskier with her workout wear.  Sporting black spandex shorts and a gray running bra enabled viewing of her flat abdomen and toned muscles.  He would have sworn that she had less than five percent body fat. 
Too thin.
  Was she running too hard?  Could she not afford to eat right?  Was she depressed?  These were just a few of the questions that plagued him.

Sensing she was slowing down, he decided he had better announce himself rather than risk startling her.  “I’m glad to see you took me up on the use of our facilities,” he began in a louder than normal voice.

Turning off the machine, Haley nodded.  “Thank you for the offer.  It was very generous.”  She stepped off the treadmill and began her warm down stretches.

He had much he wished to discuss with her, but he knew he had to build her trust first.  He was about halfway through his jog when he noticed she seemed to be heading to the locker room.  “Um, Miss Iverson,” he said slowly.

She smiled quietly.  “You can call me Haley outside of the office.”

Smiling widely, he responded, “Only if you call me Samuel.”

Cocking her head to one side she considered his request.  She shook her head and his heart fell at the thought that she wasn’t comfortable enough with him for this degree of informality.  “You seem more like a Sam to me.”  He was taken aback, but she shared her reasoning.  “Samuel is an old cold name.  You have been so sweet to me; I’d really like to call you Sam.”

No one had ever called him that.  Though his family was close, even from birth he had been referred to by his given name.  His parents hated nicknames.  “I’d like that,” he said shyly.  “So, Haley, if you want to hop in the hot tub in the ladies’ locker room and meet me out here in about forty minutes, I’d love to have my driver drop you off at home then we’ll pick you up again later for dinner.”

This time there was no hesitation.  “I’d love to,” she responded with a smile.  “But…I’m afraid of getting used to this,” she finished quickly and jogged to the locker room door.

“Get used to it,” he urged under his breath, “because I could get used to taking care of you.”

After Sam walked her to the door, Haley had rushed to the bathroom to get ready.  Once positioned in front of the mirror, she gave herself an overly critical appraisal.  Well, she was thin at least, although the bones around her hips jutted out a bit too much.  If food could regain its taste, maybe she would eat more.  Her complexion was clear, but dull.  That could easily be remedied with some exfoliation and a nice mask.  Everywhere she looked, she saw room for improvement.  With a sigh, she had to admit to herself that she had neglected her body as of late.  She had hoped if she ignored it, everyone else would, too.  It was time to start changing that.  Certainly Sam was used to having beautiful women accompany him to all of his functions.  And she wouldn’t want to embarrass him. 
Or me,
she thought glumly.  

After arriving at her apartment, Haley was so busy tending to all her deficiencies that she barely noticed how quickly time was passing.  Suddenly, a knock sounded on her door just as she finished moisturizing.  Biting her lip, she wrapped a bathrobe around her panty clad body.  Would he recognize this as a demonstration of her trust?  She hoped so.

When she opened the door, Sam thrust a box of chocolates at her.  He had considered flowers, but when he thought about her in her running wear, he knew that she needed something to eat more than she needed something to smell.  His eyes had widened ever so briefly when he saw her attire, but he pulled himself together in an instant.

“Would you rather I wait out in the hall while you get dressed?”  He asked seriously.

Smiling shyly, Haley responded.  “No, you can wait in the living room if you want, or help yourself to a drink in the kitchen.”  She headed down the short hall to her room.  “I’ll be quick,” she promised, closing the door gently behind her.

Sam listened intently, but he didn’t hear a lock. 
She must trust me a little,
he thought.  “I guess I’ll just make myself at home,” he said loudly enough for her to hear.  His mouth seemed strangely dry, so he decided to check out the contents of the fridge.  No beer.  No wine.  No liquor of any kind.  Seeing that his selection was limited to milk or water, he poured a half glass of two percent and realized old habits die hard.  He had spotted the big bellied bear cookie jar and moved to study its contents.  He soon discovered the bear wasn’t a cookie jar after all.  There must have been thousands of dollars in it.  And that was when Haley chose to make her grand entrance.  Instantly, he knew he looked guilty.

“I just wanted a cookie to go with the milk,” he said quietly.

Exhaling slowly, she said, “Well, I didn’t think I was being robbed.”

“No,” he said sadly.  “You thought I was snooping.  That’s even worse.”  He walked over to her and slowly moved to gently rest his hands on her shoulders.  “I’m sorry.”

She wanted to respond.  At the moment, however, all she could concentrate on was the warmth radiating from his hands being absorbed by her bare skin.  It was amazing.  “It’s okay,” she said quietly, staring into his eyes.

But then he did it.  He broke the spell.  “Where did you get all that money anyway?  And why isn’t it in a bank?”  The second the words escaped his lips, he regretted them.  He didn’t mean it the way it sounded.  Sure, he was curious, but mostly he was concerned.  If anyone ever broke in, she could lose everything.  Naturally, Haley wouldn’t understand that. 

She stepped back and glanced at the door.  “We don’t want to be late.”  Haley grabbed her wrap from the back of the sofa where she had laid it minutes before and walked toward the door with her clutch in a death grip.

Always the consummate gentleman, he held open her apartment door and locked it for her.  He held open the building front door.  He offered a hand as they exited the vehicle.  It was one gesture after another, but she was painfully silent.  They were waiting in the restaurant’s bar for the client and his wife to meet them when Sam finally managed to break the silence.  “Haley, please.”  It wasn’t what he said so much as how he looked when he said it.

Sighing, she said, “I inherited some money.”  His heart sank.  “And I can’t put it in the bank.”

Tired of waiting for a complete explanation, he began guessing.  “Because of credit issues?”  Her face wrinkled up.  “Because you don’t have identification?”  She bit her lip.  “Because you are hiding out?”

She took a breath.  “It’s not that simple,” she whispered.  “Don’t expose me, Sam.  Just this once, instead of playing hide and seek, let’s play sardines.”

“I’m not sure I understand,” he said slowly.

Haley straightened.  “In hide and seek, the person is revealed as soon as he or she is found.”  She watched a moment to see that he was following along.  Satisfied, she continued.  “In sardines, once the person is found, the seeker climbs on in and joins the hider.  No one is caught.”

Thinking on what she had just said, Sam leaned in to within a couple of inches of her face.  “From what I recall of sardines, the players have to get mighty close.”  He watched her swallow really hard.  “And,” he added with a small degree of satisfaction, “it also means you have to let me in.”

At that moment, they were joined by the other couple.  The Vanderhoffs were in their late forties, Haley guessed, and very wealthy.  More importantly, however, they were warm and inviting.  Both took her hand during the introductions.  She noticed Mrs. Vanderhoff’s eyebrow raised when Haley was introduced as a friend.  It didn’t take her long to drag Haley into the bathroom so they could gossip like teenagers, either.

“So, what do you really think of our Samuel?”  She asked while she powdered her nose.

Haley already felt self-conscious.  She hadn’t packed any cosmetics in her purse, other than her lipstick.  Taking an extra few seconds to dry her hands and pretend to be checking her make-up, she finally responded.  “In what respect?  We work together and now I am accompanying him to some of his social obligations.”

Mrs. Vanderhoff was taken aback.  So Haley tried again.  “Maybe ‘obligations’ isn’t the right word,” she said quietly.

“Oh, no dear.  These dinners and everything else business men do on their off time tends to fall into the category of a social obligation.  They consistently focus on their success and doing whatever is necessary to achieve it.”  She blotted her lipstick.  “I was reacting simply because you mentioned that you work together.”  It was definitely a question disguised as a statement.

Warning bells started ringing in her head.  “I’m a temp,” she said quietly.  “I’m filling in for an old friend as his personal assistant.”  It wasn’t that she was ashamed of her current career.  It was that she was afraid her current status wasn’t good enough for Sam.  And then she caught herself. 
He’s my boss.  This is work.  It’s not like we’re getting married or anything. 
She moved to leave the confines of the bathroom, but Mrs. Vanderhoff wasn’t finished.

“Glad to see that he’s finally loosening up and breaking some of his silly rules,” she murmured.  She shot a knowing look at Haley then they wandered back to the table.

“What did you think?”  Sam asked as they stretched out in the back of the limo on the way home.

Kicking off her shoes and folding her feet under her, Haley smiled warmly at him.  “The food was amazing!”  She prepared to say more, but he interrupted.

“How could you tell?  You barely touched it.”  He gestured to the doggie bag she was taking with her.

“Did I embarrass you too much when I asked for the food to be packed?”  She asked blushing.

“I don’t do leftovers, unless it’s Chinese,” he replied.

“Well, I don’t do wasteful,” she retorted.  “As I was saying,” she shot him a warning look, “I had a lovely time.  Thank you.”

Sam was beaming.  “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”  He caught her stifling a yawn.  She had turned her attention out the window and was leaning heavily into the corner.  He knew she was tired.  She had to be.  She worked almost nine hours, followed it with a brisk run, and now it was nearly midnight.  Sam watched as her eye lids fluttered shut.  They turned the corner rather rapidly and she slid across the leather seats and fell into his waiting arms.  Having anticipated this, he had caught her very smoothly so that she wasn’t even jostled. 

Seeing she was struggling to wake up and move back to her side of the vehicle, Sam whispered, “It’s okay.  Just rest.  I’ll make sure you get home safely.”  He stroked her hair as she lay curled up in his lap.  She had been tense at first, but his patient, persistent, gentle touch had soothed her nerves.  He leaned forward to remove his coat and lay it over her.  “Sweet dreams, Haley.”

At that, Haley tensed.  “No,” she mumbled.  “No dreams.”

And he was reminded of his earlier conversation with Ellen.    The glass partition lowered.  “Are we still driving Miss Iverson home, sir?” 

He thought for a moment, gazing at her lying there almost peacefully.  It was nearly Saturday.  He had a guest room.  Or, better, he could give her his room and sleep in the guest room.  Sam smiled.  “No, we’ll bring her to my place.”  The driver’s eyebrow rose, but he didn’t care.

When the car pulled up in the front of the house and the driver opened the door, Sam gathered Haley in his arms effortlessly.  She couldn’t have weighed much more than one hundred pounds even with all that added fabric.  He wound his way up the grand foyer staircase and down the hall.  He pushed open the double doors with his foot and laid her on the bed.  He toyed ever so briefly with undressing her, but didn’t want her to wake up scared and ashamed.  Instead, he simply removed her shoes, draped a throw over her and gave in to the need to kiss her on the forehead.  Haley stirred but didn’t awaken.

Walking over to the closet, he picked out a pajama bottom to go along with his racer back t-shirt.  Sam changed in the bathroom and heard her wrestling around in the bed.  As he placed his clothes in the laundry, the whimpering began.  “No, please.  No, please.”  His heart began to pound fiercely in his chest as he rushed to her side.  “You’re hurting me,” she whimpered as she thrashed about.               

Sam felt suddenly helpless.  He sat on the bed beside her, but dared not touch her.  It was worse than Ellen described.  And all he could do was wait.  At last the dream ended and Haley was left sobbing quietly, drenched in sweat.  He thought of the guest room way down the hall and knew he couldn’t leave her.  He pulled the chair and ottoman closer to the bed.  From the closet he grabbed another blanket.  “I’ll be right here when you wake up, Haley,” he whispered.  Then he sat down and settled into the chair facing her for an uncomfortable night’s sleep.