“What’s wrong?”
Aidan looked like he could puke.
“I just thought… You were trying to impress her. And at lunch, you were…” He took a sharp breath in. “You were flirting with her. Shit, James, what the fuck are you trying to pull? This is Hannah we’re talking about. Hannah. My sister. I mean, you know she’s off limits.”
“I like her, Aidan,” James confessed softly.
Though he looked like he’d been punched in the belly, Aidan managed to stutter out, “She’s dating someone.”
“I know she is,” James confessed again.
Aidan’s mouth worked a few seconds, before he leaned against the car and sank on the hood. The very fact he did that, potentially damaging the front of the car with his weight, had James’ stomach gurgling. He wasn’t used to feeling nervous. In fact, it was the last thing James was used to feeling. Nerves didn’t have a place in his life because they’d never been necessary.
Truth was, money bought a lot more than fancy things.
“What the hell kind of game are you playing, James?” Aidan finally said.
“I’m not playing any game. I’m just… I can’t get her out of my head, Aidan.”
His confession seemed to throw Aidan all the more. His partner shook his head, and then with a gasp, jumped off the hood, throwing a horrified glance at James before he studied the fender on the place he’d been seated for… who knew how many seconds. If the hood couldn’t take Aidan’s weight, then they really had no place in testing Orion for its roadworthiness. But then, Aidan always was over conscientious with the prototypes.
To James, they were, he’d admit, toys to play with. Expensive ones, granted. But that made them even more fun.
Sadly for him, Aidan’s rather bourgeois attitude usually spoiled his fun when it came time to testing their new cars.
While Aidan dusted the hood, he kept shooting irritated glances James' way. “You know you can’t take this any further, don’t you?”
James narrowed his eyes. “Do I?”
“Yeah. You damn well do,” Aidan roared. “You’ll hurt her, James. I don’t want you treating my sister like any other lay. I’ve seen the way you treat women, and the idea of you doing that to Hannah is so out of order, I can’t stand it.” He blew out a breath. “I don’t want to fall out over this, James, but this is something I can’t back down on.”
James gawked at Aidan for a second. “Are you being serious?”
“I’m being deadly serious.” Aidan rubbed his jaw, then wafted a hand at the car. “Today’s a prime example. You play with life, James. It’s a game to you. And as a guy who’s like your brother, and who lives pretty much in your pocket, just like you do in mine, it’s pretty fun to be around. But, like with the car you almost fucking wrecked today, Hannah is too precious to break. There’s no repairing the damage you could do to her, or to our friendship.” He let out a long breath and with a measured gaze, stared James straight in the eye, “I’m asking you, James. Not to do this.”
Though James’ jaw clenched with irritation, because even if it made him a dick, there was nothing worse than telling James there was something he couldn’t do, he had no choice but to nod.
Why?
Because Aidan was his fucking brother.
But even as the thought rippled through his head, he knew Hannah was…
What? he asked himself. Special? Was that too trite? Too low key to describe what she did to him?
James figured it was.
Though he understood Aidan’s fear, there was nothing he could do to combat it. To take it away. He knew his track record was shit, and he knew Aidan had been there to watch most of his love life first hand.
Just because he felt Hannah was different, didn’t mean he had a way of proving that to Aidan.
And the truth was, he didn’t dare argue about this because the risk was too high. The last thing he wanted was for this to put a rift between the two of them, and from the stubborn look on Aidan’s face, as well as the mutinous purse to his lips, that was the only way this was going to go.
With a sigh, he said, “I’ll tell her I don’t want to see her anymore.”
Aidan scowled. “You can’t do that. Fuck, James. You’ll just make it even weirder than it already is, dammit. You’re due to come over for the holidays. If you do that, she’ll think you’re not going to come to the get-togethers.”
“Do you still want me to come?” he asked softly, uncertain if this gambit with Aidan’s sister had already done irreparable damage to their friendship.
“Of course, I do,” Aidan blustered, annoyed at James' query. “Dammit, James, you’re family. You should be where you belong.”
Despite himself, he was touched by that. He had a family of his own, but they were distant. Disinterested. There was no changing that either. It was a habit of a lifetime. But the Sawyers were different. It was why he’d been so surprised by Hannah’s words about them earlier. He’d never imagined that they’d be putting the two siblings up against each other the way Hannah seemed to believe they did.
“Okay, well, I said I’d take her out to dinner, Aidan. I need to explain… Well, I need to explain something to her.”
His partner scowled down at the Orion.
“Just… tell her an important meeting cropped up. She knows how busy I am, and she has to figure that you’re equally as busy. It’s unfortunate, but I’ve often had to cancel dates with her because last-minute meetings took precedence.” He grimaced at his words. “Fuck, that makes me sound like such a shit brother.”
“Yeah, it does,” James slotted in, glad to be twisting the knife because even though he was downplaying this, that was exactly how he felt… like Aidan had stabbed him. Hard. He wasn’t sure if it was the lack of trust and faith in him—a trait shared by both siblings it seemed—or if he was being a brat, and thoroughly disliked having his toy taken away from him the way Aidan was doing… Well, he didn’t know if either was the problem, he just knew he was irritated as fuck with the man who was like a brother to him.
Aidan scowled at him. “Thanks for making me feel better.”
James shrugged. “Not here to do that, bro. You know that. You also know Hannah isn’t often in the area. I’m actually mad at you for not telling me you were doing shit like that. I know how close you two are. If I’d realized you were cancelling dates on her for meetings, I’d have jumped in for you.”
“I know why now,” Aidan snarked.
James huffed. “I mean, I’d have taken over the meetings for you. Not gone to dinner with her.” He rolled his eyes. “Now you’re being a pain in the ass.”
“Fuck, James, can you blame me?” He ran a frazzled hand through his hair. “I need to go. I have too much shit to be doing than to be worrying about this.” He shot James a look. “We good?”
“Always.”
Aidan nodded, walked around Orion’s hood, then held out his fist. They bumped knuckles, nodded at one another, then Aidan headed back toward the offices, leaving James to stare at Orion and the light-flooded track that was their personal playground.
Well, not officially.
But hell, there had to be some perks to being the boss.
With a grunt, he turned his back on Orion and the garage that was a dead zone at that moment in time. Everyone had signed off work hours ago, and though there were people working night shifts in other parts of the building, unless there was an emergency or they were buried in a project, they let the technicians work through the day.
Considering Orion was the result of their most recent project, and the only thing wrong with her thanks to his foray up the mountain was a slashed tire which had required minimal effort to replace, all was right with the world.
Well, not for him.
He had to break tomorrow’s date with Hannah, and damn, if that wasn’t the worst news he’d had all year.
Chapter 6
When the doorbell rang, Hannah felt nothing but relief.
Her parents were staring at h
er like she was insane, and maybe she was. Maybe that was her current problem.
Insanity.
Was there a simple cure for it? She didn’t know. If she could go to the pharmacy and ask for a remedy, she knew she’d have taken it, because she was sick and tired of all the upheaval. She was reaching the end of her tether, and had no idea how to grasp a hold of control.
These weird feelings had been growing and stirring inside her for what felt like months. Had it been longer? Or had kissing James been the catalyst?
She didn’t know, didn’t want to know if she was being honest.
With a sigh, she trudged down the long hall and headed for the door. When the buzzer sounded again, she grumbled under her breath but didn’t call out. If she did, her mom would only have a go at her later. Call her out for being unladylike or some shit like that.
When she opened the door, and saw James standing there, shoulders hunched against the bitter wind that had stirred up over the past hour or so, she cocked a brow at him then leaned against the door.
He frowned at her. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
“Depends, why you here?”
“I need to talk to you.”
Hannah tilted her head to the side, then smirked. “Aidan found out.”
James’ frown deepened. “Do we have to discuss this on the doorstep?”
“Am I going to like what you have to say any better here than in the lounge?”
“Probably not,” he admitted with a sigh.
She pursed her lips. “That’s a shame.”
When his eyes widened, it almost amused her to see him surprised. For a man as cocksure as James Arias, he certainly displayed interesting traits around her. A part of her wondered if anyone else was capable of pulling the rug out from under him, but there was little point in wondering for long.
Not if he was there to brush her off before there was anything really good enough to brush away.
“I don’t know why I said yes anyway,” she told him easily, then watched his eyes widen with irritation. Before he could say anything, or Hannah could for that matter, her mother popped up.
“Hannah? Who’s at the door? Why don’t you invite them in, girl? Goodness me, it’s freezing out there.”
“You’re not wrong, Diana, it is,” James called out, making Hannah cock a brow at him.
He could have run off. He’d done the deed. Had told her, in person—which was better than she’d expected because he could have simply texted her—that he couldn’t go to dinner. Why wasn’t he trying to make an escape?
Before she could do little more than complain, her mom was saying, “James? Hannah, why haven’t you invited him in?” And the man himself was pushing past her, a smug look on his chops as he did so.
She couldn’t glower at him, not without earning another rebuke from her mother, so she merely said, “I didn’t think he wanted to stay.”
“Why wouldn’t he?” Diana immediately retorted. “He’s family. Is Aidan with you, dear?”
“No. He’s working, Diana. It’s all hands on deck now the prototype is approaching road testing.”
“Apparently not all hands if you’re here,” Hannah said snidely, earning a glare from her mother.
Diana wafted her hands at James who followed her motions and headed into the lounge. Though the sight of the family room always filled Hannah with warmth, it was a double-edged sword. She loved being in here. Had some of the best memories. This had been her grandmother’s room. She’d lived with them from Hannah’s fourth birthday and had been here until she’d died two years ago.
Her death was why Diana was so different now. Her mom had never used to be such a stickler, but since Granny Rose’s passing, grief or whatever, had turned Diana into an A-class bitch.
The truth was, Hannah found herself constantly reeling from the differences between the mother who had raised her to the one standing here today. Unfortunately, her father was dealing with the new Diana by blindly supporting her, even if her mother’s preaching made no sense.
The lounge had changed very little over the years. Save for the sofas, that is. They never lasted long. A huge flat screen TV hung on the back wall and before it, there was a comfortable, cream leather sofa complete with matching armchairs mirroring one another. The space was large though, large enough to have another smaller seating area around a sash window on the northern wall, and on the southern, there was a desk where her mother usually worked.
Her father saw James and his eyes lit up. It was a long time since she’d seen such a reaction aimed her way, and she couldn’t deny, that particular home truth hurt.
Shrugging it off as she’d been doing since Granny Rose’s death, she plunked herself down on the sofa and watched as her dad hugged James before handing him a scotch from the drinks tray on a dresser underneath the TV.
“What brings you out this way, James?” Edward said, but before James had the chance to answer, her mom barged in with, “Has Hannah discussed her situation with you and Aidan, James? Those two were always thick as thieves, so I can’t imagine he doesn’t know. I can’t think either of you approve.”
“I don’t need your approval, mother, so why would I need my brother and his friend’s?” The waspish retort had the room as a whole freezing in place.
“Are you going to let her speak to me that way, Edward?” Diana snapped.
“Yes, he is, mother, because I’m not speaking to you impolitely. You’re intruding upon my life. You have no say in what I do or why, and you can’t stop me from living here either.”
Hannah cast James a look to see how he was processing this unfortunate conversation and had to stop her lips from twitching at how wide his eyes had opened. Damn, if they were any wider, they’d fall off the sides of his face.
“Really, there’s no need for this,” her father blustered, but that was nothing new. Her father was exactly that. All bluster.
“We have no say in your life, do we? Don’t you even want to know what we think? That we utterly disapprove of you just abandoning your fiancé in Florida, and quitting your job without telling us you were coming back?” Diana’s lips tightened. “It’s the height of irresponsibility.”
James’ mouth fell open at her mother’s indiscreet words, but rather than say a word, Hannah got to her feet and sauntered out of the lounge. An argument immediately started between her parents; each one blaming the other for her wayward ways. It came as no real surprise when moments later, James was at her side, walking with Hannah, in silence, to her room.
“Should you really come up here?” she demanded. “I thought you were frightened of my brother?”
James didn’t jump at her bait. “What’s going on, Hannah? I thought you were dating that ass, not engaged to him? And what do you mean you don’t have to ask them to stay here?”
Ignoring the former question. “It’s my house,” Hannah told him succinctly.
He grabbed her arm and dragged her to a halt. “You’re kidding?”
“Why would I joke about something like that? Granny Rose left it to me in her will.”
“This place belonged to your grandmother?” James said.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you act so surprised before.”
“Trust me. This is no act. Why didn’t Aidan tell me?”
“Because it had nothing to do with either him or you,” Hannah retorted with a huff. She was about to fold her arms, but decided against it in favor of starting to walk down the upstairs hall to her bedroom.
“We care about you,” James pointed out softly, as he kept pace with her.
Care?
Dammit, she was drowning in care.
Frustrated, she stopped in the hall, propped her hands on her hips, and declared, “You never cared about me before Labor Day.”
His eyes flared wide in shock. “You know that’s not true.”
“What? You’ve always had brotherly feelings for me until then?” she scoffed, then, unable to help herself, leaned into hi
m and pressed a hand to his chest. When tension flowed through him, she wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.
“Things are different now,” he admitted, his tone rough.
With need? She didn’t know. Wasn’t sure.
For herself, she felt it.
The attraction.
It had always been there. She’d just felt like it had always flowed in a one-way direction from her end. Which was probably why she’d always thought he was a jerk.
Not fair, but when did sexual attraction, of the unrequited variety, ever have to be fair?
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he lowered his head. His breath brushed her lips, and she felt certain he was going to kiss her. Her own parted, ready and willing for his to brush hers, and then he jerked back.
“Not here,” he hissed. For the first time ever, he looked flustered. His jaw was hard, his eyes narrowed with need, and she recognized that if he was tense, it was because he was as overwhelmed by what flowed between them as she was.
Her hand burned where it had touched his chest, and she curled her fingers against her palm to contain the heat.
They stared at one another for what might have been a lifetime but was probably less than a minute. Desire arced between them, so forceful, so all-encompassing, her entire being seemed to be caressed by the power ricocheting between them.
“How many times? You’re too soft on her!” Her mother’s voice appeared from downstairs.
The shriek had them both jolting to attention. Hannah closed her eyes, utterly embarrassed by her mother’s words, but more than that... mortification battled with disappointment. That was the first honest look they’d ever shared. Where their walls had been lowered, and the truth had been allowed to flow between them.
Before he could see her humiliation, which had to be etched onto her face, she turned on her heel and stalked down toward her room. When he followed, his heavy steps trudging behind her, she wasn’t sure whether to demand he leave or insist he stay.
When she opened the door, she turned to him. Having come to a decision in those thirty seconds, and with a bravery and a recklessness that stunned even her, she declared, “If you come into my bedroom, you will be spending the night.”
One Kiss: A Brother's Best Friend Romance Page 5