Her Collateral Bride: A Lesbian Age Gap Romance

to do so, that kind of punishment was petty and made her feel

sick. Haley was happy. Laughing. Thriving. Beautiful. The

woman was a siren, slipped from the water and made real.

“Yes, well,” Claire snapped at a loss for words. She was

done with this. With the loss of control she felt. “You have an

hour before dinner. I’ll be in my office until then. And, Jean,

clean up the mess, please. If you’re teaching her to cook, teach

her properly. A messy kitchen like this wouldn’t be tolerated

anywhere.”

“Yes.” Jean nodded, and because he had a healthy amount

of self preservation and common sense, he didn’t tack on the

word ma’am at the end. “Yes,

Miss Finley. Absolutely.”

Claire left, her head already starting to pound. She hated the

thundering of her pulse and heart. She’d done this to herself. It

was best to remember that Haley was innocent, and Claire had

no right to drag her into the shadows, no matter how much she

wanted revenge. She’d made that promise and she was going

to stick to it, no matter the wicked thoughts her brain was

conjuring up.

As she entered her office, the bubbly laughter started up

again. Claire slammed the door and sunk into her chair. She

pulled up the spreadsheets a little too angrily. She was rattled.

Her breathing was off. She was off. These things didn’t

happen. She was never not in control of herself.

She just needed a few days to get used t it. This was as

disruptive for her as it was for Haley. In a few days, she’d be

back on her game. She’d be able to ignore her house guest and

her grating laughter with effortless ease.

Chapter 4