-twelve-.
Hailey.
I"ve been upright for seven minutes, but I"m still waking up. I"m standing in my kitchen, wearing Cole"s s.h.i.+rt that he left behind, waiting for the coffee maker to fill my mug. I wandered through the living room on my way to caffeine and flicked on the morning news, but all I can hear right now is The Black Keys still strumming away in my bedroom from my alarm clock iPod dock.
I need to have a shower. I press my fingertips to my lips as I blush over the memory of how Cole talked to me last night. How I talked to him. The taunting and the teasing and the little snippets of sweet in between.
This is a disaster waiting to happen, I know that, but for the next little while, I"m going to enjoy being ravaged by the big, bad wolf. Or maybe he"s a tiger, with those amber eyes, flecked with gold. He"s definitely something, that"s for sure.
I take a long, slow sip of coffee as I sway my way into my room. I turn the music off and stand in front of my closet, drinking my coffee, thinking about what to wear.
Mostly thinking about Cole.
But when I hear his name, it"s not in my head.
It"s on the TV in the living room.
This is Was.h.i.+ngton. Cole could be on TV for any number of reasons. I put my coffee on my bedside table and shake off the remaining cobwebs as I look for the remote to rewind the new story.
My heart starts thumping painfully as I watch the double fast rewind on the screen. Cole in handcuffs...somewhere. My thumb slips on the play b.u.t.ton, missing it, and I go too far.
My mouth falls open as the newscast begins. "Sad news for residents of Kentucky this morning as the wife of Representative Brian Fletcher was shot and killed in an apparent lover"s feud. Arrested without incident at the Fletcher home early this morning was her lover, Cole Parker. In an ironic twist of events, Mr. Parker first met Anabeth Fletcher when his crisis management firm was hired by her husband last year. The two struck up a friends.h.i.+p. Photographed together here at the National Gallery earlier this year..."
My Cole. Photos flas.h.i.+ng on the screen aren"t unfamiliar to me, of course. He"s been with a lot of women, mostly casually non-relations.h.i.+ps. Sometimes as a polite escort. He"s a good looking man, trusted by their husbands.
I sink to my knees. Oh my G.o.d. My chest hurts.
This is a mistake.
Surely this is a...
I flash over the last month. Cole"s sudden interest in me.
His surveillance of my apartment, totally unnecessary for my sister"s drama.
My conveniently public show of jealousy and his subsequent breakup with Penny.
Last night.
My stomach turns over.
He knows how much I hate the public scrutiny, how I"ve hidden from the spotlight of being a Dashford Reid. f.u.c.k, I don"t even want to be a Reid, no matter how common a name it is.
And he did this to me anyway.
He slept with me, knowing...
I gag on that thought as my attention is dragged back to the TV.
"An autopsy will be performed later today to determine an exact time of death. Mr. Parker, seen here earlier in the day wearing a dress s.h.i.+rt the police are now searching for..." The words all run together again in a maddening buzz as I look down at the blue s.h.i.+rt I woke up to. That I rubbed my face in and wrapped around my naked body with a smile.
That"s when I really get it.
I"m his alibi.
TO BE CONTINUED.
Hate f.u.c.k: part two will come out soon! To get your hands on an Advance Review Copy, make sure you a part of Ainsley"s Angels on Facebook or subscribe to Ainsley"s newsletter.
-acknowledgments-.
First of all, Sera Bright, for humoring me and understanding me and coaching me way more than she needed to as I blundered my way through writing in first person. Jules, Cher, and Nikki were also faithful first person cheerleaders. Thank you all for putting up with my grumping.
Elle Rush deserves all credit for the name of The Horus Group, and others in the TMI Room weighed in on the names for each of the guys-Kate, Amity, Melanie...thank you for helping to name Tag and Wilson.
Editing thanks to Rhonda Helms, the first person to read the entire thing from start to end, and flagged no less than a hundred things to make better. Be glad she did! Revision suggestions from Kate Willoughby, Annie Nicholas, Amity La.s.siter, and Molly McLain were also much appreciated. Dana Waganer"s eagle eyes caught all the missing words, and the bonus u"s, and any that she missed can be blamed on Cole"s dirty mouth-so distracting.
A million thanks to all my Zoe fans for understanding that I wanted to take a break and try something different. Turns out that the cliffhanger was the biggest difference, so I"m sorry about that! But thank you (a million times thank you) for pointing out that Cole and Hailey"s love story isn"t that different from anything else that I"ve written...just a bit rockier, maybe. And the p.u.s.s.y-slapping...that"s new. Ahem.
(Wow, awkward segue...).
Final thanks go to my family. My husband, who just looks at my covers and tells to go get it. My kids, who have no idea what I write but think it"s cool that I write. And everyone else: my sister, my in-laws, my close friends... I love you all beyond measure because you don"t blink when I tell you that I"m writing a book called Hate f.u.c.k. I have the coolest, bestest, craziest peeps ever.
~ Ainsley.
www.ainsleybooth.com.
HATE.
F*@K.
part two.
by Ainsley Booth.
HATE f.u.c.k: Cole & Hailey Part 2.
It"s all fun and games until someone gets hurt. Then it"s business as usual.
Cole:.
I f.u.c.ked up, but I can fix this.
Hailey:.
This can"t be fixed.
Not a standalone story! Part one is currently available, click here.
Part three, the conclusion of this serial, will be released at the end of April, 2015.
-one-.
Hailey.
I have never been so worried and so p.i.s.sed off at the same time.
It takes me a solid half-hour to climb up off my living room floor. In the shower, I scrub my skin raw, getting the smell of Cole off me-and then I instantly regret the loss of him. Which only makes me cry again, because he was just arrested and that can"t be good.
I need to tell someone he didn"t do it. I mean, he can"t have done it. Right? The man who made love to me-or at least, f.u.c.ked me with a crazy level of intensity and all the feelings-just hours before did not leave my apartment and shoot a woman.
He has to be covering for someone.
It has to be a mistake.
I scrub myself all over again.
Out of the shower, I call in sick to work. I"m already late, but they don"t seem to mind-big surprise, Hailey has another drama. I will never get the permanent job at this rate, but somehow that doesn"t seem quite as important as clearing Cole or protecting my quiet, little life. After I change my name, I can start job hunting again.
After carefully choosing my best trying-not-to-be-noticed outfit and finding my biggest, darkest sungla.s.ses and matching baseball hat, I head out the door. I can"t go to the cops. There"s no press here, but there will be at the police station downtown.
And I"m still a Reid. It"s not in our nature to voluntarily talk to the authorities.
No, there"s only one option.
I get in my rarely used car and head for the offices of The Horus Group.
I remember from our very first briefing with them, they chose their office building for a few reasons, including the fact that the underground parking garage has three entrances and the entire s.p.a.ce is covered by video surveillance.
Cole held my gaze. It was the middle of the night, and we were in full panic mode. If my father was arrested...
"If anything ever happens, and you"re scared...you come to us. The press can"t come into the parking garage. Circle the block and call us. We"ll make sure you can get in safely."
The next day, my car was taken for window tinting.
Today"s the first time I"ll actually need to do this spy routine, and I can"t even pretend I"m not nervous.
It"s a slow drive, being rush hour, and sure enough, when I finally get there, cameras and people are blocking the first entrance to the parking garage, the one beside the main doors to the building. But around the block, the back entrance looks un.o.bserved. I pull in to the gate then press the code I"ve memorized.
My heart thumps painfully as I get out and head for the elevator. Nerves p.r.i.c.kle my skin, and I have a little freak-out when I press the b.u.t.ton for the second floor and nothing happens. All of a sudden, a small screen above the b.u.t.tons lights up, and I see the receptionist for The Horus Group.
"Ms. Reid, my apologies for the elevator being locked down." The second floor b.u.t.ton lights up, and the car starts to move. "See you in a minute."
I nod mutely before she disappears.
When the doors slide open, she"s waiting with a bottle of water for me. "I"m Ellie, by the way, if you don"t remember me. I didn"t know we were expecting anyone."
I look around.
"They"re not here. There"s been an incident." She looks so calm.
"Yeah, I saw the news. I need to talk to..." Well, Cole probably isn"t an option. "One of them. As soon as possible. It"s about what happened."
"I"ll let Jason know you"re here. I"m sure he"ll be back soon. Do you want to wait in a meeting room? Can I get you anything?" She"s moving toward the desk, totally efficient. Not freaked out in the least-I don"t get how she can be calm.
"No, thank you." I watch her for a moment. My age, probably, maybe a year or two older. Pretty. Capable. Does she know she works for soulless b.a.s.t.a.r.ds? "I"ll just wait here."
"Okay." She offers me a quiet smile and picks up the phone.
Twenty minutes later, Jason walks in from the stairwell. He looks intent, busy. Uncharacteristically dressed-down in jeans and a black t-s.h.i.+rt, and I realize that he too probably got out of bed in the middle of the night.
"Hailey!" His voice is friendly and welcoming, but his gaze is hard and flat.
My pulse flutters in my neck, and I"m not sure I can actually form words. Maybe this is a mistake. "Where"s Cole?"
He pulls his brows together.
"Maybe we should go up to my office," he says, pointing to the third floor.
Upstairs, there"s a large conference room in the middle, across from the elevators, and offices are at the front and back of the building. Jason"s is at the front, looking down at the main entrance. I walk to the window. What looks like the entire Was.h.i.+ngton press corps is now ama.s.sed out front.
Jason doesn"t bother to follow my gaze before saying dismissively, "More of them followed me here."
"I got in the back entrance no problem," My voice trembles, and it"s so quiet I"m not sure he can even hear me.
"We"ll make sure you get out without being noticed, one way or another." When I turn around, he"s still standing beside his desk. He waits until I settle in the chair opposite before he sits down himself. "You saw the news today?"