Chapter 14
Hayden
She surprised me.
Again.
For some inexplicable reason, Gabriella always seemed to jolt and throw me off my game. How the hell did she do that?
I studied the spitfire before me, perplexed. My head was still spinning over the fact that I’d just told her I was going to pursue her—even though I had repeatedly tried to convince myself I was done with women and relationships entirely.
And she didn’t even know my name yet?
That didn’t seem like it should be possible.
“Hayden Carmichael,” I said, holding out a hand because I wanted to feel her flesh against mine as well as appear more professional and in control of my faculties than I actually was.
“Hades Carmichael?” she murmured, making a face and nodding before saying, “Hmm. Makes sense.”
“Hayden,” I corrected. “Not
