“It’s more like she refused to sleep,” I said. “It took me a while to convince her to try.”
“And before you all ask, yes, I slept, and I slept fine,” Hannah said.
“Better than fine by the sound of it, you snored.”
“I don’t snore!”
“Of course not, sweetheart. There’s just a small bear hiding in them bushes over there, isn’t there?”
She elbowed me in the side. “Be careful, Carpenter, or you might regret those words.”
“Really?” She nodded in response. “I’d like to see you try.” I lifted my hand and flicked her nose like I knew annoyed her in an infantilizing way.
“Oh, you will. Rest assured, white knight, you will.” She gave me her best mischievous grin.
“I should get going.” I swallowed the last of my coffee and Anne grabbed my empty cup from me. “I’m the only one in this morning aside from some of my kitchen staff.”
Hannah set down her own mug on a side table. “Walk you to your car?”
Biding goodbye to her folks, she walked past me and I followed.
When I reached her side, our hands touched and I felt her cool fingers slide on the inside of my wrist until our palms touched. I interlaced our fingers and squeezed.
We reached my car and I paused. Our hands hadn’t parted as I fished for my car keys in my pocket.
I looked down at our joined hands, smirking. “Are you going to-?” Her lips cut me off as they made contact with mine for a millisecond. “W-what was that for?” I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want it to happen again but…
“Thank you,” she whispered and let go of my hand.
She looked cute all bashful and shuffling her feet. It appeared as if she hadn’t planned on her actions, taking us both off guard.
I moved toward her and brushed the strand of hair that had come loose from her ponytail. I grabbed the back of her neck with my hand and leaned in to kiss her forehead.
“You’re welcome. You should drop by for lunch or dinner some time when you’re up for it.”
“You should drop by for dessert.” She giggled nervously as soon as she realized her comment held a double-entendre.
I pulled away, releasing her to open my car door before looking at her. “I think I just got mine.” Hannah’s blush pinked her cheeks for the third time that morning, making me laugh. “And that right there was the cherry on top.”
She laughed. “Charmer.”
“Your mom seems to think so.”
“She was right.” She winked. “Call me?”
“You know I will.”
Chapter 26
I saw Hannah every day since her release from the hospital. Sometimes it was for an hour, and last night we had a repeat of Sunday night where I ended up passing out on her parents’ couch, which I’ll say was considerably more comfortable than the swing.
Nothing beyond that one kiss ever happened again. I was disappointed, but I did get plenty of lip to cheek and forehead kisses. I milked those about as much as I doled them out. Hannah seemed to need the little bits of tenderness I was able to provide.
Later in the week, Mike and Nicole came into Fairfax for lunch.
“What can I get you two lovebirds?” I asked when I got to their table.
“Our usual,” Mike said.
“Sure thing.”
After serving them their drinks, I didn’t go back until their orders were ready, at which point I sat down with them for some small talk.
Nicole had me laughing as she recounted how Mike had kept her in their hotel room. “My husband is such a horn-dog!” She giggled, cuddling closer into her husband’s side. It was clear she was playing up her disappointment at not having seen much of Italy, what with the sparkle in her eyes.
“I never heard any complaints.” Mike kissed her cheek. “How about I make it up to you with another trip?”
“Hmm-”
“You’d better take it,” I heard the familiar voice say. “Italy is worth a yearly visit.” I turned to face the voice and her eyes were on me. “Sitting on the job are we?”
“Hannah!” I got up to greet her with a kiss to her cheek.
She grinned. “Any chance a girl can get some service around here? I mean, there is a white knight that works here, right, or did I get the wrong place?”
Someone was feeling cheeky.
“Mike… Nicole, this is Hannah Parsons.”
“Congratulations on your wedding.” Hannah extended her hand, smiling.
I looked on as she shook Mike’s hand first, and then he peered up at me with a nod of approval, while she moved to Nicole.
“You alone?” I asked her.
She nodded.
“No, you’re not,” Nicole said. “You can sit with us, if you’d like.”
I jumped into host mode. “What can I get you?”
“The same as what you brought me in the hospital if you don’t mind.” She made a point to look around. “I can see why people keep coming back. This place is great.”
“You sure it’s not the owner?” Nicole blurted out. Hannah’s head snapped in the woman’s direction, a look was exchanged between the two and then they both turned to grin at me. “I mean, look at him!” my best friend’s wife added.
Nicole and Hannah both eyed me from top to bottom like hungry cougars. “I know.” Hannah licked her bottom lip. “I bet you he tastes better than any of the desserts I make.”
“I’m wondering,” Nicole bit her lip, “maybe I should have sampled a few extras before saying I do.”
“Now wait a damn minute, woman!” Mike said. Nicole laughed at her husband’s protest.
“I’m not sure about that, but I’ll go put Hannah’s order in.” I turned to Hannah. “Can you try not to stir trouble between these two while I’m gone?”
“Relax, baby, there will only ever be you,” Nicole told Mike, to which the man groaned, making both women giggle as I walked off.
When I rounded the bar with Hannah’s order, my best friend let out a boisterous laugh. Hannah had a smirk on her face and a look in her eyes that I’d seen only moments before. What was she up to?
I put Hannah’s order down and sat down beside her.
“I like this girl,” Mike said.
“I figured you would.” I grinned and looked over at Hannah to find that she was looking at me. My hand found hers under the table and clasped it. She moved it to lace our fingers together.
Mike and Nicole bid us goodbye and then there was just Hannah and I.
“I like them,” she said.
“They’re great.”
We fell silent, then I was beckoned by Derek who had come in early for his shift. I had a quick conversation with the man before returning to Hannah’s table. This time I sat across from her.
The disappointment in her eyes, which was masked with a glint of something else, didn’t escape my notice.
“When are you off?” she asked.
“Now, actually. I’ve been done for fifteen minutes, but like a bad habit, I have a tendency of sticking around and helping.”
Her smile was slight, but still genuine. “How do you feel about helping somewhere else?”
“Sure, but I need to warn you, I can’t be held accountable for ruining your recipes if this helping requires baking.”
Her lips quirked and then her smile disappeared. “There won’t be any baking.”
Something wasn’t right.
I reached across the table for her hand. “What’s going on?”
“I’m supposed to go back to the house today,” she explained. “I tried with Mom and Dad a few times yesterday, but I can’t seem to be able to last more than an hour without feeling suffocated by memories. Lee’s parents asked that I pack up his things for them to take.”
I growled and her eyes flashed to mine. “Why in the hell are they in such a rush?” She shrugged her shoulders. “You never explained about his parents.”
She sighed and looked down at the tab
letop. “It’s a long story.”
She wasn’t ready to elaborate just yet. “It’s okay. I’ll go with you. We’ll get everything sorted.”
“Thank you. I might be weak when it comes to them, but it’s probably for the best that everything is out of my sight.”
I nodded. “It does make it easier.”
Chapter 27
We spent an hour sifting through Lee’s desk, filing cabinets and everything in the den. Ultimately, Hannah just huffed and said, “fuck it!” and grabbed the computer and the rest of the files, with the exception of their joined legal documents and her personal papers, stuffing it all in boxes.
She clapped her hands together as if ridding them of dust and whispered, “I have to do the bedroom.”
With an arm around her shoulders, I escorted her out of the den and let her lead the way to their bedroom. Hannah headed in and straight to the closet while my feet froze at the doorway. Somehow, it didn’t feel right being in there.
She turned to grab a box and stopped when she saw me watching from the hall. “Ben, you okay?”
I nodded. “It’s just that it’s yours and Lee’s bedroom. Honestly, it’s awkward for me to be in here, riffling through his things.”
She dropped the box she held in her hands onto the bed. “It’s just clothes.” She stepped closer to me. Wrapping her arms around my waist to hug me, she said, “Besides, I haven’t slept in here in the last year.”
My body jolted at that revelation, but when her body stiffened against mine, I gave her a squeeze that seemed to relax both of us. “Can I ask you a question?”
“You know you can,” she mumbled into my chest.
“I know why your parents aren’t helping you out with all of this but, why me?”
She pulled away, pressing her forehead into my chest. “I don’t know.” She sighed. “Maybe it’s because you’ve been through similar. You understand.” Then she looked up at me. “I trust you.”
Her bright green eyes pierced through me on that monstrous admission.
I leaned in to rest my forehead against hers. “I’m going to have to start collecting more than cheesecakes and Italian pastries as rewards for all this help I’m giving.” I smiled. “If not, I’m bound to put on a few pounds.”
My eyes zoned in on her slightly parted lips, causing me to lick my own.
“We shouldn’t.” Her hands tightened into my shirt and pulled me closer instead of pushing me away.
“No, we shouldn’t.” Yet, it seemed as if we were powerless to stop. “You started it a few days ago by my car.” I squeezed her hip with one hand, pressing her against me, while my other tangled itself into her hair at the back of her head.
“So I suppose you’ll end it, right?” Her eyes seemed to dare me to do just that.
I groaned, no longer giving a shit, and closed the distance between us.
Her lips were warm and soft. Our kiss was slow, testing…respectful. Hannah’s tongue came out to tease my lower lip, but I didn’t open for her. I wanted to savor the moment in case it never happened again.
Hannah let go of my shirt, wrapped her arms around my neck and feathered her fingers through my hair. Her tongue tested the waters a second time, and I caved. If the taste of her lips was that intoxicating, I could only imagine what the rest of her mouth would be like.
The instant I took charge and plundered her mouth, her knees gave way and I held her tight against my body. I pulled away with a few extra pecks and nuzzled her nose with mine.
Hannah regained her footing, the evidence of lust in her eyes. “Where the hell did you learn to kiss like that?”
My laugh was husky. “You’re pretty amazing too.” I winked. “But we should finish this. What time were they supposed to drop by to pick everything up?”
Regretfully, her dazed expression dissipated. “At four, why?” Her hands came from around my neck and stopped at my chest.
“Because if that clock is right,” I pointed to the device on the bedside table, “we have under half an hour left.”
“Fuck!” Hannah’s arms dropped and she moved away from me.
After Lee’s stuff was packed up, I remained out of sight while the Parsons came in and carried everything out.
It was damn hard to obey Hannah’s wishes with what I ended up hearing.
There were three voices – two male, one female – which had proceeded to verbally attack Hannah. They spouted out everything from tear-downs to blame, and worse.
“It should have been you!” the woman stated. Lee’s mother was a real piece of work!
It made me sick to hear them treat such a devoted and resilient woman with so much disrespect and hate.
In the hour after they’d left, I was the one left to pick up the broken pieces of Hannah, comforting the sobbing woman, working to convince her that she wasn’t to blame for anything that had happened.
It’s not my fault. Yes, that mantra was used again.
Chapter 28
I didn’t get to see much of Hannah over the course of the next few days. With being an employee short at Fairfax, and being called in for fire duty during the evening, I was dead on my feet.
As Saturday morning came, my latest fire call left me sitting on a hospital gurney with a nurse fussing over me as I waited for the doctor’s all-clear. That’s not what had me frustrated, however. I hated myself for having to call Hannah, canceling our scheduled day of baking. I had been looking forward to seeing her.
The woman in question came rushing through the cubicle curtains. “Thank God you’re all right!” I hadn’t been expecting her, but damn, was she a sight to see.
The feel of her hands all over my bare chest filled me with warmth as Hannah looked me from head to toe, the nurse having stepped back. Hannah’s hands moved from my upper torso, to my neck and settled on either side of my face. She was a real mother hen, and I found that I enjoyed it.
“I’m fine, really, just a little headache. Candace would have never worried like-” My mouth snapped shut. Shocked, I cursed my sudden bout of verbal diarrhea. “Hannah… I-”
“It’s a damn good thing I’m not her then.” Her lips quirked upward, worry in her gaze still present.
“You’re right about that.” I pulled her into me and wrapped my arms around her, taking in the scent of her hair.
“Where’s your shirt?” she mumbled into my neck.
“The medics tore what was left of it to shreds before they strapped me to the backboard.”
“What the hell happened?” She pulled away to see my face. “I thought you said that this volunteer business was safe.”
“It is, for the most-part. I rushed into the building to get to someone who was trapped. Part of the floor above fell on me.” I saw the look of horror cross her face. “Sweetheart, it’s not as bad as it sounds. They were just floorboards.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better.”
I smoothed her hair back and away where I framed her face with my hands. “I’m okay. Anyway, I managed to get the guy and myself out. They sent me here to make sure I didn’t end up with a concussion or damage my lungs.”
“Didn’t you have your mask?”
“I did until I got to the victim,” I explained. “I was an idiot and took my mask off to share it with him.”
“But I thought you guys aren’t supposed to do that?”
I nodded. “You’re right. We weren’t too far from the exit. I thought I had time. I just didn’t expect to have the building come down as fast as it did. The medics told me that had I not shared my mask with that man that he would have most likely ended up in the morgue.”
Hannah’s hands rubbed my arms in a soothing motion. “What happened to him?”
“He arrested as we got here, apparently. His lungs are pretty bad too, but they think that he’ll make it.”
“That’s horrible!” I nodded. “Is there anything I can do? Do you need anything?”
Could this woman be any sweeter? “After last night,
I think I need a good shower, a comfy couch, a couple of pain killers for my head, and a few movies. What do you think of that?”
“I think junk food is needed, and baking is overrated.” She smiled. “I’m just happy you’re okay, but you’re right.”
“About what?”
“You do need a good shower.” Her nose scrunched up. “You smell like a piece of beef jerky.” I laughed out loud. “It’s a good thing I like the stuff.” She winked.
“It’s a good thing I like sweets, because you smell like some kind of treat.” I leaned toward her, making her giggle.
“I was playing around in the kitchen when you called.”
I nuzzled her nose with mine. “Mmm.”
Hannah moved to stand closer between my thighs, her hands landing on them, while I gave her lips a chaste kiss. The heat from her grip made it hard to remain respectable in front of the nurse who now eyed daggers at Hannah’s back.
Hannah had other ideas that superseded respectability, however. I groaned when I felt her hand rub up my thigh and she leaned closer. She nuzzled my jaw, pulled back and pecked me on the mouth before pulling away with that glint in her eyes.
“Why do I sense that you’re up to something?” I asked.
“When am I not up to something?” She grinned. “So when can you get out of here?”
“Right now,” the doctor said as he waltzed into the exam room. I hadn’t noticed his appearance until then. Hannah moved to stand at my side, her hip brushing the outer side of my thigh with her close proximity. “You’re clear to go, Mr. Carpenter. Your lung function is normal, and there’s no concussion, which means you can sleep soundly tonight.”
All of this was said while the doctor eyed Hannah from top to bottom with a heated gaze of appraisal.
“Do you mind?” I growled.
Hannah’s head jerked to the side where she looked at me as if I was being rude, but when she realized what I was seeing, she moved closer to me and I wrapped my arm around her waist.
Doctor Feelgood saw this and said, “Right. Here are the papers.” I took them from his hands in a brusque manner. “We signed them so all you need to do is fill out your share and submit them to your insurance. I’m sure I don’t need to say this, but if you have any difficulty breathing, dizziness, loss of vision or consciousness, have someone bring you in.” With another quick glance at Hannah, he turned and walked off.
To Forgive & Hold Safe (The Broken Men Chronicles Book 4) Page 8