"This is Omar Sampson and he's going to make sure nobody comes around while you're at my place," Garrett said, when Hailey met him out in the hallway.

After the introductions, Garrett showed Omar around the premises. Garrett had expressed to her earlier that he would have a trusted employee house sit for her. She finished packing as Garrett gave Omar instructions.

She double-checked to make sure she had everything. Garrett knocked at the door. "It's open," she shouted.

"You're only going away for a weekend," Garrett said, as he noticed her two huge suitcases. He grunted after he reached down to pick up the bags. "Man, what do you have in here? The kitchen sink."

"Just a few essentials. Now come on because you owe me dinner."

"Since I have you for the entire weekend, why don't I take you out somewhere tonight but cook for you tomorrow night."

Hailey blocked the door entrance way. "I don't know. I was looking forward to a good home cooked meal." Hailey decided to stop torching Garrett. "Okay. Tomorrow night. No excuses either."

She followed him down the stairs. She waited while he gave his employee some more instructions. "If anything and I do mean anything happens no matter how small you may think it is, call me as soon as possible."

It took less than forty minutes to get to Garrett's place. She was surprised that he lived in a subdivision not too far from hers. She had never had a reason to know where he lived. She was impressed at the houses. "I see you're full of surprises," she said out loud.

The garage door opened and she saw his black sports car parked next to the open space. She waited for Garrett to punch in his security code and then followed him into his house. A nice floral fragrance filled her nostrils as he guided her through the house. "I know this isn't grand like your place, but it's home," Garrett said, as he hauled her luggage inside.

"Are you kidding me?" Hailey asked. "I love your home. It's not what I expected from L.A.'s top bachelor."

"Life with me is full of surprises Ms. Barnes." By now, he was opening up a door to a mid-size bedroom. "Here's where you'll be sleeping." He placed the bags next to the bed. "I'm not sure where you want your things. There's a walk-in closet right there. A bathroom connected to the room so you don't have to go down the hall."

"Who decorated for you? One of your women?" Hailey asked.

"For the record, very few women have seen my place."

She grunted. "That's hard to believe."

"I'm too old to play games. If I say it, I mean it," Garrett assured her.

"I would like to wash up some, so I'll meet you in about thirty minutes," she said.

"Don't you mean an hour?"

"Thirty minutes," Hailey responded.

Garrett said, "I've never known you to be ready in less than hour for anything."

She reached her hand out. "I bet you I'll be ready in thirty."

"Loser buys the pizza," Garrett said, as he shook her hand.

"Okay, you're ticking into my time. Scoot," she said, pushing him out of his own guest room.

Garrett didn't realize that as an ex-supermodel she was used to dressing in a hurry; she just chose not to. She liked taking her time, but a bet was a bet and thirty minutes later, Hailey was calling out for Garrett. They both had a huge smile on their faces. She said, "Make sure you have enough for the tip."

"Do you want everything on your pizza?" he asked.

"Everything but onions," she responded.

An hour later, they were sitting in the living room on the floor around his coffee table eating and watching a movie. Although they were not out at a five star hotel or at some big Hollywood premiere, Hailey was having the time of her life doing absolutely nothing with Garrett.

She leaned her head on his shoulder. "I wish I would have talked to you first."

"Me too," Garrett confessed.

"Let's make a pact. Neither one of us will bring up you know who."

"Well, I wish it was that easy. Tre and I are friends and you forgot we're business partners as well."

"Oh yeah, I forgot. You've made some bad decisions in your life."

"Wow. Well thanks."

"Not concerning me though."

"So what do we have Hailey? Are you saying, you're willing to give me a chance? A chance to be your man?"

Hailey didn't respond right away. "Garrett, I need to be sure. I've wasted too much time pining after the wrong man. I don't want to leave one dysfunctional relationship for another."

"A relationship with me will be nothing like Tre's. Trust me."

"Easier said than done," Hailey admitted. Hailey placed her hand on one of Garrett's cheeks. "Can you give me some time?"

Garrett responded, "By the end of this weekend I want an answer."

"Why do we have to rush?"

"We've both wasted too much time with other people. I don't want to waste any more."

That's exactly what Hailey wanted to hear. She kissed him intensely. Before long, Garrett was laying on top of Hailey's clothed body. "Baby, you're making it hard on me to resist you," he said, in between kisses.

"Okay, we'll stop for now." Hailey said, as they both brushed the wrinkles out of their clothes.

Hailey didn't know if she should feel relieved or disappointed that they each went to separate rooms that night. She thought about Trevon before going to sleep. At one point, she did love him. If she was honest with herself, it had been years since she had actually been in love with Trevon. She was just a woman who hated to lose. Hailey felt like she had invested so much time and energy into their untraditional relationship that the thought of him marrying some other woman made her temporarily lose her mind.

Now that she had her full senses, Hailey would no longer settle for being anyone's booty call. If she couldn't have the real deal-the type of relationship she felt she deserved, she would remain by herself. Hailey preached women's empowerment to her audience and fans. It was way past time for her to live the life she had been lecturing about. Hailey decided to take charge of her life.

~ 27 ~.

The next morning, while Hailey slept, Garrett checked with Omar to get an update on what was going on at Hailey's place. Garrett felt relieved. No strange events were reported. Hailey remained sleeping, so he decided to surprise her by cooking a hearty breakfast. This time when he went to her room, she was awake. His labor was worth it when Hailey gave him her trademark smile. He wanted to melt as he placed the tray over her legs in the bed.

"A woman could get used to this treatment," Hailey said, as she took a bite out of her food.

"This is only the beginning."

"You're not going to eat?" she asked, in between bites.

"I've eaten. You were sleeping so hard earlier that I didn't want to wake you up."

While Hailey was eating breakfast and getting dressed, Garrett retrieved his messages. All was well with his clients as some of his employees that worked the night shift checked in. The doorbell rang as he was disconnecting the call.

Without asking who was on the other end or looking out the peephole, he opened the door. Trevon was standing on the other side. "Man, I thought you were going to be at the gym this morning so since you didn't show up I decided to stop by."

"You should have called first." Garrett wasn't ready for a confrontation. He hoped Hailey stayed in the other room.

"I tried, but I kept getting your voice mail."

They stood in the foyer. "Then that probably means I was busy."

"Hey, I was just coming over to apologize for how I acted yesterday."

"No problem. But hey I got company so we can catch up later."

"Oh my bad. I should have known. I just wanted to get that off my chest."

Before Trevon could turn around and leave, Hailey's voice rang out, "Garrett, what's on our agenda for today?"

"I know that's not who I think it is," Trevon said, as he turned and looked in the direction where he thought he heard Hailey's voice.

"Tre. Calm down," Garrett said, while rubbing his sweaty palms.

"Is that Trevon?" Hailey asked, as she entered the room dressed in a pair of jeans and t-shirt. "Hey what's up?"

"What's up? You're what's up. My best friend and my girl."

Hailey crossed her arms. "I haven't been your girl since forever."

Garrett, trying to keep the peace, said, "We're all adults here so let's sit down and talk about this."

"Man, you're a joke." Trevon's veins in his neck seemed to poke out.

Garrett said, "Look. What happens between Hailey and me is between us. You and Hailey are not together. You have a fiance so you need to worry about her and who she's with."

Trevon asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Garrett almost let it slip but caught himself. "Nothing. All I'm saying is that you're getting married soon. Your concern should be about Shareeka. Let me worry about Hailey."

Trevon threw a punch at Garrett but he ducked before it could land. Garrett got him in a headlock. "We either talk about this like two mature adults or you get the hell out of my house."

"There's nothing to talk about. This was the ultimate betrayal," Trevon said, as he squirmed to get loose.

Garrett released him. Trevon stood up but looked dazed a little. He looked back and forth at Hailey and Garrett and said, "You'll both pay for this." He didn't wait for them to respond. Trevon walked out the front door and slammed it.

"Wow. I've never seen him that upset," Hailey said.

"He'll be alright."

"There's something more going on here. You two used to be tight," Hailey said.

"Our friendship hasn't been right for a very long time now. Our interests don't lie in the same place."

"Have you tried talking to him about it?" Hailey asked.

"Men don't talk about those things," Garrett responded, as he led her to the living room and sat next to each other on the sofa.

"But you were boys long before I knew either one of you. I don't want to be the cause of your friendship ending."

Garrett took his hand and wiped the strand of hair off Hailey's forehead. "That's why I care about you. You put up this front, but you are a very caring person. I wish others could see this side of you."

Hailey tilted her head down, avoiding eye contact with Garrett. "It'll be our little secret," she said, in a hushed voice.

Garrett spent the next few minutes talking to Hailey about his confused feelings for his best friend. "I don't blame him for being upset. I would have tried to punch me out too."

"I have a feeling something more is going on here," Hailey commented.

Garrett let out a deep breath. If he wanted their relationship to progress, he knew what he had to do. He hoped Hailey would understand what he was about to reveal. "If we're going to be together I don't want any secrets between us."

Hailey crossed her legs up under her. "I'm listening."

"Trevon's fiance Shareeka and I have been sleeping with one another." Garrett felt uncomfortable telling her about Shareeka but he didn't want her to find out another way. He watched the shocked look on her face.

"How did this come about?"

"We met before she ever met Trevon. I had no idea the woman he claimed to love was the same woman I had been knocking boots with until much later."

Hailey said, "Talk about a real life soap opera."

Garrett caressed Hailey's hand. "That's why I say he and Shareeka deserve each other. Neither one of them knows anything about being committed to one person."

Hailey said, "I can't say I'm surprised about her. She looks like a gold digging tramp. But you. Y'all been boys for too long."

"Like I said, I had no idea he was her man until much later. She was just a booty call to me."

"But you could have stopped once you found out. In fact, you should have told Tre."

"Believe me, Tre doesn't tell me everything. Although you're the first one I've ever loved, I was in a serious relationship before and Tre slept with her. He doesn't know I know that."

"Go back to the part where you said I was the first one you've ever loved," Hailey interrupted.

Garrett didn't mean for his feelings to slip out. Now he had no choice but to be honest with her. "Hailey, I can't say exactly when it happened, but I am in love with you. I want you to be my woman."

For a moment, they forgot about Trevon and his problems.

"Can you honestly say you're ready to leave the other women alone? I mean your roster is bigger than any rapper's I know."

"Hailey you're more than enough woman for me. Keeping up with you will be a full-time job."