by Ali Parker
I laughed. “I doubt that. If he wanted me, Jack, he knew where to find me.”
“I know, and he should have chased you down and professed his love for you, but like I said, he’s got a big fat ego that gets in the way of his happiness. He loves you. I can see that. He’s never been like this before. I saw the way he looked at you on the dance floor at your wedding. He was practically beaming with pride. I don’t know what happened the following morning, but I think you owe it to yourself to give him a chance to make it right,” he lectured.
“Jack—”
“Hannah.”
“I can’t let him hurt me like that again,” I whispered.
“I know and I’m so sorry he did the first time. Trust me, I kicked his ass for it,” he grumbled.
“Not really,” I said, smiling.
He laughed. “Oh no, I really did. Although, some will say he kicked my ass. I think we can call it a draw. Neither one of us walked away unscathed.”
“You two fought?” I asked in horror.
His deep laugh told me they had. “We did. I’m telling you, he is absolutely miserable and has no clue how to handle himself. He lashed out and I happened to be the lucky one to get the punch.”
“I’m so sorry, Jack.”
“No, don’t be. This was all my doing from the very beginning. If I would have worked this out with him a long time ago, he wouldn’t have dragged you into our dirty family drama and caused you heartache. In a way, I’m glad he did, though. He fell in love in the process of trying to beat me to the inheritance, which is pretty funny when you think about it.”
“I’m glad you can laugh about it. I’m not quite so sure I see the funny side.”
“You will one day, if you get your butt over to his place and make him talk to you. I know you are no pushover. Make him talk. He needs a strong woman to keep his ass in line and you’re the woman for the job.”
I smiled, thinking about me keeping the big, alpha male in check. That was a ridiculous notion. “I don’t know. He was pretty angry with me. What if he doesn’t want to see me?”
“He will. He does. I want you both to be happy. If you’re happier without him, then I won’t ask you to take him back.”
I thought about that and wasn’t sure what the answer was. “I don’t know.”
“Don’t take too much time. The longer you two wait to hash this out, the more damage can be done.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, afraid to know the answer.
“I mean, the longer you learn to live without him and he you, you aren’t going to feel that pull to try and work things out. You’re both going to be jaded and angry and I have a feeling, you will both be very miserable. You two were right for each other. I don’t know why, but you two clicked.”
I smiled, thinking about how well we clicked. We’d made a baby together. I had felt like we got along so well, but then everything blew up in my face. I was terrified to go through that again. I had barely survived the first time.
“I’ll think about it, but I make no promises. He hurt me, and I really don’t want to give him a third chance to do it. I have to think of—” I stopped myself.
“You have to think of your own interests,” Jack finished for me.
“Yes,” I quickly agreed.
“I understand. You could give it a chance. If he can’t see who you are and what you can offer him, then I understand you have to walk away. I won’t blame you for a second. I don’t want you to have any regrets. If you don’t at least try, I have a feeling you are going to always wonder if you missed your chance at real happiness,” he said, and I wanted to hate him for saying exactly what I had been thinking.
“Thank you,” I whispered, emotions making my throat raw.
“But, Hannah?”
I sighed, knowing that had been too easy. “Yes?”
“Don’t give up too easily. He’s a tough nut to crack and he might resist at first, but you are a stubborn, strong woman. I know I’m asking a lot, but please give my brother the chance to love and be loved. I have a feeling you are the only woman in the world who will ever get this opportunity,” he said in a soft voice.
I nodded. “Okay. I promise I will think about it, but I make no promises I will sacrifice my own heart,” I said before ending the call.
I slid the phone back into the pocket of my white lab coat. My hand immediately went to my belly, spreading out over the tiny bump that was forming. I had to think about my child. It wasn’t just me in this mess. I knew it wasn’t fair to deny my child a father who I knew would love him or her. I didn’t know what to do. I glanced up at the clock. I only had fifteen minutes left in the lab. My mind was no longer on the lipstick. I cleaned up and let myself out. I had a lot to think about.
I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of crawling back to Grayson and begging him to give us another chance. I had been the one to walk away and for good reason. I didn’t want to be married to a man who didn’t trust me. It would only spawn much deeper issues and cause strife in our relationship whether it was all faked for the cameras or not. We had a child to consider. I didn’t want a baby being brought up in a tense home.
I sighed as I climbed behind the wheel of my new Lexus. I had purchased it a couple weeks ago after spending countless hours reading reviews and studying the various safety features. I wanted to make sure my baby was as safe as possible.
When I got home, there was a package waiting for me. It was the first of many to come, I thought with a smile. I had a lot of shopping to do as I prepared for my new addition. I thought about Grayson and what he would say and do if he found out I was pregnant. I didn’t know if he would be happy at the thought of his baby or thrilled because he had secured his inheritance. I had to think long and hard about what I would do. My gut told me to stay away. My heart said to give him a chance. My heart was the crazy bitch who got us into the mess in the first place. Her judgment couldn’t be trusted.
Chapter 57
Grayson
I wasn’t accustomed to going in to the office on a Saturday, but after cutting out of work so much this last week to check on Mom, I was a little behind. Not to mention, I had kind of checked out in general the past six weeks. I’d flip-flopped between caring and not caring about the company’s success. I couldn’t believe I thought I would be able to take a vacation.
Things would have fallen apart without me. I knew it was a shitty management style. I needed to delegate more. Jack was the right-hand man and could handle this stuff if I let him, but I was too afraid to let go of my control. I wanted to trust him, and I did a lot more than I had two weeks ago, but the company was difficult to give up control of—even a little. The whole situation was why I needed to take a step back and enjoy a little rest and relaxation on a sandy beach somewhere. I needed to get my head straight. There was too much shit bouncing around and making me crazy. Mistakes, missed opportunities, and drama were making it hard for me to prioritize. Everything was different. What I thought I wanted had changed. Now, I wasn’t sure what I wanted, which left me feeling lost with no clear direction. It wasn’t something I was used to feeling.
I had told Jack I didn’t care about the inheritance, but we both knew it had been a lie. I didn’t want the company and I did at the same damn time. I had never felt so out of sorts in my life and it was all because of the mess with Hannah. She had gotten into my head despite my trying to keep her out. I was convinced Jack had no part in any schemes to steal the company from me and I owed Hannah an apology, but I couldn’t possibly say it to her. Humble pie was not my thing.
“Get it over with,” I muttered as I took a seat behind my desk.
I needed to sign the divorce papers and just be done with the whole damn thing. I had been stalling. I was taking a wait-and-see approach. It wasn’t working in my favor. Instead, it was only prolonging the misery and negatively affecting my work and my ability to make good, sound business decisions.
I pulled up an email that had been sent a couple
days ago and had gone unanswered, like so many others. My assistant did what he could, but some of the stuff that came through had to be handled by me. I hadn’t done a lot of handling as of late. I read the message line and groaned. It was from one of the suppliers for Hannah’s company.
“Shit,” I muttered, reading the email about a change in their product and an increase in price.
I didn’t know much about the company, but I knew it couldn’t tolerate a rise in supply cost. I had done my best to honor Hannah’s wishes by not jacking up the sticker price on her products, but this wasn’t a cost the company could afford to absorb. It would have to be passed on to the consumers, which was sure to make it unaffordable and less desirable for some of the client base.
I quickly sent an email to my research team and asked them to do some polls and surveys. We needed more information about the people buying the makeup and if they were loyal to the product and able to afford it with a marginal price increase.
I had a feeling the change in product would have a ripple effect in the quality of makeup as well. The whole thing was way out of my area of expertise. I needed Hannah. She would have taken care of this in a heartbeat. She would know exactly what would happen and how to counteract it. I remembered she said she was looking into other suppliers. I had no idea if that was still an option or if she had left that information somewhere for the new CEO to find.
I was sure it was the kind of thing that happened often in the business. She’d probably been there and done that and wouldn’t have to think twice about coming up with a solution. Amber might know what to do. I sent off a quick email to her, hoping she wouldn’t tell me to fuck off. I doubted it. I was the boss after all, even if she didn’t like me and had barely muttered more than two words to me in the past couple of months.
I couldn’t call Hannah and ask her what to do. On the other hand, it was a good excuse to call her. I tapped a pencil on the desk and debated the best way to handle the situation. The idea of calling Hannah and hearing her voice was enticing. It was even better that I had a valid reason for calling her beyond the fact I just wanted to hear her voice. I knew she would tell me to ask the woman who had stepped into her recently vacated role as the CEO. Unfortunately, the new CEO wouldn’t understand.
“Son of a bitch,” I muttered.
I hated that I had made such a mess of things. I wasn’t one to rely on anyone and was used to handling things with an iron fist. I hadn’t bothered researching the makeup company much before the acquisition, assuming Hannah would have it well in hand. I never expected her to actually get up and leave. It was hard to admit I had screwed up. I knew I had and now the company could go bankrupt despite my bailing the damn thing out. I wasn’t used to failure. If the company failed; I failed.
I finished answering emails and checking the schedule for the coming week before locking up and heading back home. I had nothing else to do. I had never felt more alone in my entire life. I was used to being alone and even relished it, but now, I felt alone in the world. Having Hannah in my life had given me a taste of what it was like to have someone happy to see me or wondering where I was when I didn’t call. No one gave a shit where I was or what I was doing.
Justin had his busy family. I had called to see if he wanted to go golfing today, but one of the kids had a game. I knew once his twins were born, I wouldn’t see much of him. He’d be a busy daddy. After each of the others were born, he went into full lockdown. With twins, I doubted I would see him for months. I felt like everyone was abandoning me.
Jack apparently had a woman, which was news to me. I didn’t think my mom knew about the mystery woman either. If she had, she would have pointed that out long ago to help calm my worry that Jack was trying to steal Hannah away. I was intrigued by the idea of Jack being in love. Would he marry? I was happy for him—jealous, but happy.
I let out a long dramatic sigh. My mom had my other brothers and my brothers had one another and their wild ways. I had no one. I knew it was a problem of my own making. It didn’t make it any easier to deal with.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Bancroft,” the doorman greeted me with a friendly smile.
“Hi, Bob,” I muttered, lacking the enthusiasm to make it a truly heartfelt greeting.
Bob grinned at me with a strange look on his face. I immediately ran my hand over my face to see if I had something clinging to my face. I felt nothing.
“Have a great day!” he said as I began to walk away.
I turned to look at him, wondering what the hell was wrong with the old man. Maybe he was going senile. “Thanks,” I muttered and headed for the elevator, still stuck in a funk and unwilling to drag myself out.
Why had I done this to myself? Why had I shut out everyone? I was destined to die a lonely man if I didn’t figure some shit out in a hurry. I’d never really thought much about it before, but after having a small taste of what it was like to be part of a couple, I wanted a companion throughout my life. My parents had an excellent marriage and loved each other a great deal. I had always taken that for granted. Now I knew how precious it was and how hard it was to maintain a relationship like that.
I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the back of the mirrored wall of the elevator. “Snap out of it,” I grumbled.
I was not going to bitch, moan, and cry buckets for what I had lost. It was gone. Shit happened. No point dwelling on it. There were plenty of women out there that I could choose from. None of them would be her, but at least I would have someone warming my bed at night. I’d always have a date for whatever function it was I was roped in to attending. It would be a companion. I was sure I could find someone who I got along well enough with.
The elevator dinged and I opened my eyes as I stepped into the large area that housed a couch and a few fake plants. My apartment was the only one on the floor. I had no idea why there was essentially a waiting room outside my door and I didn’t care. When I looked up, I saw her, and my heart nearly stopped beating in my chest.
“Hannah?” I said, watching her knock on my door with me standing behind her was strange.
She turned around and I thought she looked prettier than she had in my dreams and memories. Her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, making her cheekbones look more pronounced. It looked like she had lost some weight in her face, but she was still beautiful as ever. She looked at me. I was afraid to move. If I moved, she wouldn’t be there. I would have to accept it was all a figment of my imagination. The image before me was nothing more than my brain tricking me.
“Hi,” she said and then I knew it was real.
Hannah was standing in front of me. She’d come to me. I was overjoyed, relieved, and stunned all at the same time. It had been seven weeks almost to the day since I had seen her last. My eyes feasted upon her beauty. I still couldn’t move. I wanted to hug her, touch her in some way, but was afraid to make a move. She could be there to serve me with divorce papers or tell me how much she hated me. Instead of saying or doing anything, I simply stood and stared.
Chapter 58
Hannah
It had been so long since I’d seen him in person. He looked exhausted. I wondered if he had been out late the night before. The thought made me crazy with jealousy, which I quickly dismissed. I had walked out on him. I had no claim to the man, even if I was carrying his baby. Jack had obviously been wrong about Grayson pining over me.
“Hi,” I said, the word came out as a whisper.
He was so damn good looking. I hated how attractive he was. I couldn’t resist looking into his eyes. I could see the turmoil and my heart immediately went out to him. All thoughts of jealousy vanished as I looked at him stare back at me.
We stood like that for what felt like forever before he finally stepped forward. “Would you like to come in?”
I shook my head and stepped to the side as he walked toward his door, his key in hand. “No thank you.”
He cocked his head to the side. “You came here for something, right? Or did you
really come just to knock on my door and then leave.”
I rolled my eyes. “No. I came by to see how you were.”
“To see how I was?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
He was making me nervous. I couldn’t be this close to him and not want to touch him. I watched him unlock the door and all I could think about were those fingers inside my body, his hands on me as he gave me the best pleasure I had ever experienced in my life.
“Come inside. I’d like to talk,” he said in that smooth tone.
“I should go,” I replied with no conviction at all.
I stepped backward, not wanting to be within arm’s reach of him. I didn’t trust myself and by the way he was looking at me with hunger in his eyes, I didn’t trust him either.
“Hannah, you came here because you wanted to talk. I want to talk to you as well. I won’t bite—unless you want me to,” he said in a husky voice.
I took a deep breath. “I wanted to check on you. I’ve checked. You’re alive. I’m going to leave,” I said, feeling foolish.
“Hannah, come in. You don’t have to stay. I’d really like to talk,” he said again.
I sighed, knowing I was fighting a losing battle. “Grayson—”
He stepped toward me. His large body crowding mine. I could feel heat emanating from his body and was lost. “Fine.” I growled.
He opened his door and I stepped through with him close behind me. When I heard it shut behind me, I felt a bolt of excitement race through my body. I walked toward the living room, noticing a suitcase near the door.
“Going somewhere?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I was. My trip was postponed, but I hope to go eventually. I’m saving time by leaving the suitcase packed.”
I smirked. “Nice.”
“Can I get you a drink?”
I shook my head. “No thank you.”