Chapter 474
Her easy agreement threw him off. He’d expected resistance. As she pushed off the table, she swayed on her feet.
Eric caught her arm before she tipped over, smirking. “Miss Pearson, are you sure you can still find your way?”
“Mm!” Hadley bobbed her head and pointed toward the front door. “That way.”
“Tsk.” He let out a low chuckle. “Brilliant. Come on. I’ll take you.”
Hadley didn’t resist as he guided her upstairs.
The moment they stepped into her room, she slipped free from his grip and disappeared into the bathroom.
“Hadley?”
Eric lingered by the door, unsure if she was sick. He didn’t step in and just waited.
Minutes passed. Still nothing.
His chest tightened. He rapped his knuckles against the door. “Hadley, you good in there?”
Silence. Not even a shuffle from inside.
“Hadley!” Eric knocked harder, his pulse quickening. “If you don’t answer, I’m opening the door!”
Still nothing. His jaw tightened.
Without hesitation, he shoved the door open—only to find her sitting on the floor, slumped against the bathtub.
“Hadley?” He rushed to her side, kneeling. “What’s wrong? Do you feel sick?”
She lifted her head and met his gaze. Then, out of nowhere, she smiled.
But there was no warmth in it. Eric’s stomach sank. His brows furrowed.
“Where does it hurt?”
“Nowhere.” Hadley shook her head, that unreadable smile still in place. “I’m okay.”
“Really?”
Eric didn’t believe a word of it. That look—it was the same one she had the day she broke up with Denver. Was she still thinking about him?
“Let’s get you up.”
He grabbed her arm, pulling her up. “The floor’s freezing.”
But before he could help her stand, she suddenly gripped his arm and whispered, “Eric, I’ve made up my mind—we should be together.”
Time screeched to a halt.
If not for the steady rise and fall of his own breath—the hammering in his chest—Eric might’ve thought he imagined it.
“Say that again.” Had he misheard?
No—he was sober. She was the one who’d been drinking, so he hadn’t imagined it.
“You didn’t hear me?” Hadley jutted out her lip, her tone almost teasing. “Then forget it…”
“Not a chance!”
Eric’s grip on her hand tightened. “Hadley, you can’t take it back. I know what I heard.”
Before she could react, he slid a hand behind her head and pulled her into his arms.
His voice dropped, rough with satisfaction. “You said it. That means we’re together.”
Hadley didn’t move. She had said it, and he had heard it.
Was there still room for regret? Could she even regret it?