Part 9 (1/2)

-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.

.

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.