“Just the one.”
“Okay, well perfect, you just need to keep it till tomorrow, then.”
Colton’s words sounded hollow even to his own ears. When he got his hands on those wolves he was going to make them pay. Where it not for them, he could have spent today charming her and casually flirting, a far more effective way of getting a woman’s attention that gifting her firearms.
“I don’t actually know how I feel about this. I’m kind of a person who tends to a gunshot wound, rather than one who inflicts it.”
“I get that, really I do, but you have to be careful around here. Most adults, especially when they’re in the woods, carry. It’s just a way of life for people around these parts.”
“I didn’t notice you carrying anything.” Hannah quipped. Colton wanted to laugh. He was about ten times more deadly than most weapons.
“I didn’t want to frighten you, but I do, usually.”
“I wouldn’t know how to fire one of these anyhow. I’m much more likely to shoot myself in the toe.”
“This is where target practice comes in. I can show you, if you want.”
“I’m not sure about this.”
“Do it for the town? Can you imagine what effect it would have on our tourism if a ‘Beautiful Young Doctor Killed By Rogue Wolf’ headline got out?”
She laughed a little, but reluctantly.
“Okay. I’ll try. But know that you are one strange man, Colton Sterling.”
“I get that all the time.”
At last she took the pistol from him, aiming it at his chest by accident before he lowered it for her. They walked a bit farther into the forest, still within view of the cabin so that Hannah would be safe. Colton was pretty sure that all romantic intent, if she’d had any to begin with, would definitely be gone by now.
“Okay, let’s just focus on a tree, and see how we do.”
He slowly and carefully took her through the motions of loading the cartridges and then unlocking the safety.
“It’s got a rubber grip, so that should help with recoil. To be honest, the Redhawk is always pretty smooth.”
Hannah nodded, but at the same time looked hugely skeptical. Colton decided to drop the details and just get her comfortable with pulling the trigger.
“Okay, use both hands…raise it up, look down the sight…”
Colton stood behind her, gently lifting her arms to the right height. She was driving him crazy. He felt his bear tugging at him, desperate to claim her. The act of touching her, even over a substantial amount of layers of clothing, was like electricity shooting through his body. She was damn divine. The smell of her hair that gently brushed past his face in the breeze made him rock hard, his body frantic to mate with hers. He took a step back, avoiding the chance that she might back up into his groin and feel his longing.
He cleared his throat.
“Right, great, good position, now release, pull the trigger.”
The gunshot echoed throughout the forest, sending napping birds fluttering out of their nests. The shot was a good one.
“Nice. You got it in the trunk.”
“Did I? How can you see that?”
There was a very faint groove in the tree where the bullet landed. Too late, Colton realized that the human eye probably couldn’t see it.
“You get used to knowing where a mark lands. Take a look.”
Hannah went up to the tree and inspected the bark.
“I did! I did it!”
“Yep,” Colton was bemused. For someone who didn’t want to shoot anything she was a pretty enthusiastic student. “Want to try again?”
“Yes!”
She bounded back over. Colton didn’t say anything. Hannah’s face looked alive and beautiful, her cheeks and nose reddened by the drive, and the bright blue of her eyes shimmered with excitement.
They shot multiple rounds. Sometimes they hit their mark, sometimes they didn’t. The more she aimed and fired, the more Colton relaxed. She wasn’t bad at all. If it came to it, he was pretty confident that she could protect herself. Colton had a history of dating women who liked their men big, tough and capable, largely because they tended toward the helpless and incapable, far more comfortable picking out a pair of shoes than unclogging a sink drain, but Hannah wasn’t like that. He found her straight-talking, and her obvious intellect refreshing. She may not like to ride too fast on a skidoo, but Colton felt that in genuine emergencies and high-risk situations, Hannah would be able to handle what was thrown at her.
Dusk settled in, and Colton felt confident enough in her ability to stop the lessons. As they walked slowly back to the cabin, Colton recalled the question that he’d needed to ask.
“Who are you visiting here, by the way?”
“Just a friend.”
Great.
“Anyone I might know?” Colton cursed himself for sounding so desperate, and also for deceiving her. Trying to get information from her that she clearly wasn’t comfortable divulging was making him furious.
“I doubt it.”
Colton dropped the subject. The clan would tail her if she left the cabin tonight anyway; they had no choice.
“Are you doing anything tonight? I wondered if you wanted to have dinner?” Colton asked.
“I can’t, I’ve got some business to discuss with my friend. Otherwise, I would have loved to, really.”
Hannah stopped and looked up at him. Colton forgot whatever it was he was going to say as he took in her lips, eyes, the small silver necklace that nestled in the dip of her collarbone that made him want to kiss the delicate, exposed skin there.
“Maybe next time you’re in Port Ursa.”
“Yes.” She sounded disappointed, and gave him a small smile. For her it was goodbye, and for Colton it was the start of a frustrating night and morning following her but keeping his distance. Damn whatever universal power presented him with his one true mate, only to take her back to Chicago where the likelihood of her return, or that she would remember Colton at all, would fade more every day.
He bent down toward her slowly, transfixed by those welcoming lips, hoping that they would rise to meet his. Instead her head ducked away, and she took a step back.
“Bye Colton.”
He smiled and took a step back, “See you, Hannah.”
11
She’d found the restaurant easily, too easily. She was about ten minutes early, and if her memory served her correctly, it was likely that Brad would be ten minutes late. The restaurant was nice, homey and warm. There was a fire roaring away in one corner of the room, and combined with the low-level lighting and the softly playing music the atmosphere was romantic and intimate.
Hannah half wished she were here with Colton tonight instead. She was still kicking herself for moving away from him at the last moment when they said goodbye. She couldn’t be totally sure, but she thought he might have been about to kiss her. She’d moved out of the way partly because she was nervous, but partly because that kiss would have most likely led to more. She knew she wouldn’t have stopped anything, and from her experience men weren’t usually the ones to put the brakes on intimacy.
She was already falling for him. Her own insistence that she stay a maximum of one night had been put on hold by Brad. She knew that if something started with Colton, she’d want to stay longer. No way would one night be enough time with that body. Not only that, but she found herself frustrated that she didn’t know more about him. She wanted to hear about what it was like growing up here, what his brothers were like, how he was running such a successful chain of stores at such a young age. He couldn’t have been more than a few years older than her.
She sipped slowly at her glass of wine. Straight after Colton left, she’d taken a hot shower, when clearly a cold one would have been more beneficial to her current mood. Colton Sterling just wouldn’t leave her headspace.
She was gazing out of the restaurant window when Brad approached. He’d gone to a lot of effort, she noticed. He w
as dressed in a black suit and a tie, and was clean-shaven. She rose to greet him, holding out her hand. Mistakenly, or perhaps deliberately misreading her signals, Brad dove in and kissed her on the cheek.
“You look amazing, Hannah.”
“Thank you – nice suit.”
He smiled at her and sat down. He eyed her glass of wine, seemingly pleased.
“We should order a bottle.”
“Um, okay. Sure.” Hannah never really drank more than one glass or two, but she didn’t want to be a downer on the evening before it had begun.
He ordered wine from the waitress as she handed them dinner menus.
“I come here a lot. Do you mind if I order for you? I’ve got a pretty good idea of what you’d like.”
“That’s confident. Why not?”
Hannah put the menu back down, but not before she’d seen the prices. They were pretty steep by small town standards. Brad must be doing well to frequent this place. She was impressed. His garage may not have looked like much, but he was obviously working hard to keep it profitable. The Brad she’d known had been a bit of a slacker, she was pleased that his attitude had changed. It almost tempted her to tell him about her plans to open her own practice.
“How are you liking Port Ursa so far?”
“Loving it. It’s so beautiful, and it’s amazing to get actual fresh air. It’s been a long time.”
“Not desperate to get back to the city yet?”
Hannah laughed, “No, not desperate. It’s just work that I need to get back for, otherwise I would have extended the trip.”
“How’s your family?”
“They’re good. I haven’t seen them in a while, but I still speak to mom about once a week, and dad almost as often. I spoke to your sister when I was tracking you down.”
“Yeah, well. You know what she’s like. I haven’t seen her much.”
Brad looked away, shutting that line of conversation down. Hannah regretted bringing it up. Family was always a bit of a sore spot for Brad. She knew better than that.
“So, you dating anyone in town?”
“No, I’m married remember?”
Brad smiled at her to show he was joking, but the comment threw Hannah. She took another sip of wine, hoping the waitress would return to take their order.
“Seriously though, the right woman must have escaped me. I’m not big on the dating scene.”
“She’ll come along,” Hannah smiled, “Just a matter of time.”
“Oh, I know.”
Brad looked at her, his eyes meeting hers in an intense gaze. Small alarm bells started to ring, but Hannah ignored them. She was absolutely positive that Brad had zero interest in attempting to reconcile their relationship.
The waitress arrived, and Brad gave the order—seafood gumbo as an appetizer, and pan seared trout and Lobster brisket as an entrée, along with a lemon sorbet desert. Hannah had really been expecting a casual working dinner, maybe going over some of the finer points of the documentation. She hadn’t been prepared for any extravagance on Brad’s part.
“It’s really nice of you to take the time to meet me. I appreciate it. Port Ursa is a pretty friendly place.”
“Other locals been friendly, then?” Hannah could detect a slight edge to his voice.
“Sure. Everyone I’ve met. I helped a kid in a store yesterday. Her mother and the guy in the shop couldn’t thank me enough. It was sweet.”
Brad nodded.
“More wine?”
“I’m good for now, thank you.”
He poured a glass for himself, looking satisfied as he took a deep gulp.
“Nice stuff. So, tell me about medical school. Was it all it was cracked up to be?”
“Honestly? I loved it–every minute. It was hard work, and I don’t think I’ve slept a full eight hours in about six years, but It’s been worth every second.”
“And what now?”
Hannah deliberated. It was the perfect time to tell him about her plans. Anything else would be deceptive, but she still didn’t feel comfortable telling him. She was also mildly embarrassed. If she told him now about the plans to open her own practice, she would need to explain about the money, and then he would understand the reason she was suddenly, after so long, interested in getting a divorce. It would sound crass, like she didn’t trust him not to come along one day and take half of her assets.
“I’m going to wait and see. No firm plans yet. Keeping my options open.”
“Right.”
He gave her a tight smile.
“Did you ever think about me at all–during those years?”
Hannah was taken aback by the question. It was a pretty rapid conversation change, and she stumbled over her answer.
“Well…of course, sure. I often wondered how you were doing…” the sentence trailed off into silence.
“I thought about you a lot.”
The waitress brought over the appetizer. It smelled mouthwatering, but Hannah wished they hadn’t ordered three courses. She didn’t understand what Brad’s deal was. They had been apart for so long, their marriage had been a bit of a joke, and they’d barely given the false marriage a shot. Now it was almost like he was taking her out on a date, when she had purposely come into town to obtain a divorce.
“You must think a lot about Matt, too.” Hannah tried to keep the topic on safer ground.
“Not as much as I thought about you.”
“Brad- ”
“I know what you’re going to say,” he interjected, “Don’t worry about it. You were busy, I don’t expect you to have given me a second thought.”
“It wasn’t like that, Brad.”
“Sure. But we were good together, you and I.”
“When we were at school, yes, we were. I loved hanging out with you, we had some really fun times.”
“It was more than that. We had a connection.”
Hannah almost choked on her wine. Brad’s version of their relationship was not hers. She had cared for him, liked him a lot, but it had been a typical high school romance–a little bit intense at times, mainly because Brad had been the first guy she ever slept with, but it had been an immature, sweet relationship. Nothing more.
“Brad. We should really discuss the divorce papers. I’m sorry to hurry you, I know it’s rude, but I need to be out of here on a flight tomorrow.”
“No.”
“What?”
“Hannah, listen, I want you to give us a shot. I’ve been thinking about it. We worked well together. We never gave the marriage a chance, and now we have an opportunity.”
“When exactly did you think about this? After I came to see you yesterday? Brad, this is madness!”
Other diners were starting to look around and Hannah lowered her voice, “You haven’t thought about this at all.”
“I haven’t stopped thinking about you since you went off to college.”
“Bullshit. You didn’t contact me once in all that time. ”
“I wanted to! I just also didn’t want to get in the way of your career.”
Hannah knew he was lying. She had no idea why this was happening, or what exactly was going on in Brad’s head, but she had heard enough to be absolutely furious with his behavior.
“So, you’re really not going to sign the papers? Even if there’s no way in hell that I’d be willing to give this another shot?”
“Hannah, calm down.”
“Brad, I’m mad as hell at you right now. If you’re not going to give me a logical explanation for all of this, I’m leaving.”
“Don’t.”
Brad’s hand reached out and clasped hers. She instantly tried to pull it back, but his grip tightened.
“Are you kidding me?”
“Hear me out— ”
“Let go of my hand. Now.”
Reluctantly he released her. Hannah grabbed her purse from the back of her chair.
“How much do I owe, roughly?”
“Hannah, you’re being hyster
ical.”
“Don’t patronize me. I want to leave. How much do I owe?”
“It all comes down to money, doesn’t it?”
Hannah paused, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. I’ll pay. ”
“No, come on Brad, what do you mean?”
“The reason you left me—because you thought I’d be a hopeless drop out.”
Hannah lowered herself back into the seat. She felt crushingly guilty, not really certain whether it was true or not. Had she left him because she knew she couldn’t support the both of them? Perhaps.
“Brad, it’s not like that. I just want to get on with my life, that’s all. Really.”
“I want to get on with my life, too, and I want you in it.”
Hannah sighed, pushing her hair back from her forehead in frustration.
“I’m sorry Brad, I don’t want that.”
Brad stood up, leaving a wad of notes on the table.
“Let’s get out of here.”
Hannah nodded and walked toward the exit, her head spinning. She hadn’t expected this to get so out of hand. The cold air hit her like a slap in the face as she entered the parking lot.
“Hannah,” Brad gabbed her arm as she prepared to walk toward her car, “wait.”
She spun around. Once again his grip was too tight, enraging her.
“Let go of me!”
He didn’t. Using the grip he had on her arm he yanked her against him, pulling her up to his chest.
“Hannah, listen to me, I want us to be together!”
She didn’t bother arguing with him this time. Clearly, he was in no mood to be reasonable. With the other arm, she shoved against his chest, forcibly. He hardly seemed to feel it. His grip tightened, and he grabbed her other arm, locking her in his grip completely.
“Get your hands off her.”
The voice came from behind Hannah, but she recognized it. Colton Sterling.
12
“Fuck off, this is between me and my wife.”
The word was viciously spat out, but even if it hadn’t been, Colton would have recoiled. His wife?
Colton recognized Brad Crawford. He ran the local garage, and was reputed to be a nasty piece of work. Worse, he was an integral part of Jackson’s pack. Simon, their current leader, considered Brad his pet lackey.
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