“One week. You have one week.”

Chapter Eight

Hayden flopped back onto the cracked leather seat and signaled the bus driver to drive. Quickly. Before one of the three dozen kids behind her on the bus remembered they needed to pee or say another final goodbye to their parents. Deborah, the other volunteer for today’s expedition, dropped into the seat across the aisle, looking equally shell-shocked. Hayden had made this trip to a farm upstate as part of her Clean Air charity once a week throughout the entire summer, the goal being to take underprivileged kids out of the polluted city for the day, giving them a chance to experience life outside of Manhattan. Today marked their last trip of the season and she still hadn’t discovered a way to load the excited kids onto the bus without it turning into a three-ring circus. Did that make her the ringleader or a clown?

Her relieved exhale was lost among the shouting and laughter coming from the back of the bus, but she couldn’t deny feeling a sense of accomplishment. She’d watched the children flourish over the summer, working with animals and spending time around nature. While Hayden preferred the city, she’d never once felt trapped by limited financial resources, as if she couldn’t leave. Her family’s frequent vacations had made sure of that. Yet she was painfully aware that she could have easily been one of these kids if it weren’t for her father. As always, the reminder of her father’s selflessness caused an invisible weight to press down on her shoulders. Only now it felt twice as heavy.

She’d had a difficult time sleeping last night. After having her mother drop the Stuart bombshell on her, she’s been kept wide-awake by the possibility of an arranged marriage. It certainly didn’t help matters that she suddenly wanted a man she despised, or should despise, rather. Time had flown while she pondered her fate, tossing and turning in bed, the ticking clock on her decision already speeding by in a blur. Sometime around 3:00 a.m., Hayden thought she had the crisis solved. Her mother mentioned her father’s reluctance to use the money set aside in her name. She would just have to convince him otherwise.

Unfortunately, she’d promised her mother not to betray their conversation to her father, putting her back at square one. Marrying Stuart. One week left her little time to attempt much else.

Even with such a heavy choice occupying her mind, the memories of her night with Brent refused to fade. An image of his intense expression as he drove into her swam through her head. Brent. Damn. Just thinking his name made her feel hot and anxious. Her body buzzed, begging for more of the stimulation he’d provided. More of what she might very likely never experience again. No, she had to stop thinking in terms of mights and maybes. They weren’t traveling down that orgasmic road ever again. Even if she somehow got out of marrying Stuart, she didn’t want to engage in a physical relationship with someone who couldn’t see past her lifestyle to the person underneath. Having sex with someone who disliked her and everything she represented made her feel used. Hurt. Something she wasn’t expecting.

Regardless of her damaged feelings, she’d been unable to go five minutes without thinking about him. Then almost immediately, thoughts of the conversation with her mother would intrude and thinking of Brent would start to hurt for an entirely different reason. A cycle she could really do without.

The bus jerked and sputtered, shooting Hayden forward in her seat. What the hell? Their driver met her eyes in the rearview mirror and shrugged. Always a comforting sign. Even less comforting? When the bus made an eerily human-like groan and coasted to a stop on the side of the West Side Highway. Hayden sat glued to her seat for a moment, waiting for some divine intervention to save them. After casting a panicked glance at Deborah, she twisted around in her seat. Traffic on the highway was already backing up. Horns honked. Drivers snaked past shaking their heads. For once all the kids were completely silent, all wearing disappointed expressions, no doubt thinking this unforeseen disaster meant they would miss their last week escaping the city.

Then all at once, those sad expressions focused on her. Oh God, they were all counting on her and she’d maxed out her skill set organizing the outing and loading them onto the bus. Judging from their faces, it was painfully obvious, even to the group of fourth graders, that their leader was sorely lacking.

“Shoot,” Hayden muttered under her breath. She rose and went to the driver. “Do you know how to fix this thing?” He didn’t even have the grace to answer. Simply shook his head and climbed off the bus to light a cigarette. She took a deep breath and dug her cell phone out of her pocket. Ten minutes later, she got through to someone at roadside assistance. “An hour?” She practically shouted into the receiver. “I’m in a bus with thirty-six kids blocking a lane on the West Side Highway. Does impending mutiny really not count as an emergency?” The unhelpful voice on the other end went silent, obviously not finding amusement in her harried joke. She heaved a breath. “Okay…look, just forget it. I’ll figure something else out.”

“They say an hour,” Deborah chimed in when Hayden hung up, “but look at the traffic behind us. It’ll take a tow truck two hours just to get through to us.”

Super helpful, Deborah! A Nerf football flew past her and got lodged on the dashboard. Restless energy became a tangible thing on the bus. Hayden knew she needed to figure out something quick. It appeared she was on her own in resolving this problem. She knew what she needed to do, but her reluctance to call Brent and give him the satisfaction made her dial his number extra slowly. Before he even answered, she was already irritated with him.

Brent answered sounding amused. “We’re going to need a bigger boat.”

Even in her annoyed state, she couldn’t help but feel a hint of relief that he hadn’t ignored her call after their argument the night before. “What are you talking about?”

“Your personal ringtone is the Jaws theme song.”

Hayden smirked as if he could see her. “Can’t see how that makes any sense. Jaws had a sequel. We won’t.”

“Oh, yeah? Then why are you calling?”

Shit. Just say it. “Try to keep the gloating to a minimum, but I need your…help.”

“What’s wrong?”

She was momentarily thrown off by how instantly and genuinely concerned he sounded. Why couldn’t he just gloat and make this easier for her? “Oh, not much. I’m broken down in a bus on the West Side Highway. With a bunch of kids who are about to go Lord of the Flies on my ass.”

“That’s you?” He cursed under his breath and she could hear the sound of tires squealing in the background. “They already sent over a car. They’re having to reroute traffic. You’re causing major delays, duchess.”

“Not helping.”

“I’m on my way,” he assured her, adding, “Don’t go anywhere.”

“Couldn’t resist, could you?”

…

Lights flashing on the top of his Emergency Service truck, Brent pulled to a stop in front of the stationary yellow school bus, wondering not for the first time what the hell Hayden was doing on a bus with schoolkids. He radioed dispatch to alert them that he’d arrived on the scene, then climbed out of the vehicle, immediately searching through the windshield for Hayden. He’d been hungry for a glimpse of her since last night, but he’d never imagined it would be under such odd circumstances. A motorist passed the bus, blaring his horn, and Brent sent him a dark look.