As Hudson walked away, Brett felt his heart rate increase. He thought about what had already happened with Hannah and could only imagine what Hudson would think about it. Figuring she’d find out what he did for her, Brett couldn’t help but worry about how she’d react.
After an hour, he was sweating pretty heavily and kept getting water from the cooler he’d packed. It was unseasonably warm for mid-May.
***
Hannah got up at ten o’clock and looked out her bedroom window. She’d checked every day to see if Brett was back and found herself excited to see him. She left her hair down and put on a dark purple bikini under a short, see-through cover.
Her mom and dad were at the table looking at the paper and eating breakfast when she entered the kitchen.
“Good morning. When do you all leave again?” Hannah asked.
“Good morning, sweetheart. We leave in a few weeks. I’m not looking forward to being away from you, so maybe you could come visit at one of the stops on the tour for a week or two,” Lorna said.
“That sounds great, Mom. Do we have more tea?” Hannah asked as she opened the refrigerator.
“Yes. I think Gloria made some yesterday,” Lorna answered.
Hannah fixed two glasses.
Todd glanced at his daughter.
“Sweetheart, who’s the tea for? Do you have company?”
“No. I’m going to take a glass out to the landscaper since it’s really hot today.”
Lorna looked at Todd and smiled.
Hannah walked toward Brett and felt butterflies in her stomach. He was facing her, and she saw him glance her way. “Hi, Brett, right?”
“Yep,” he replied while taking off his work gloves.
Hannah was relieved to have sunglasses on. She couldn’t help but admire his hot, sweaty body.
“I brought you more tea. It’s ridiculously hot today.”
Shit, there I go talking about the weather again.
Brett took the glass from her and walked over to his truck. He came back carrying the empty glass from the time before.
“I’ll trade you,” he said with a smile as he handed it to her. He wiped the sweat again from his forehead.
“You’re right, it’s really hot today. I hope this isn’t going to be the trend this summer.”
He took a long drink of tea. She pictured him in some kind of music video with the glass tilted back while sweat dripped from his gloriously tanned body.
“I appreciate the tea, but I bring a cooler of water with me. I don’t think you’re going to want to bring me a drink every day for the next few months.”
“That’s a lot of time to make the yard look good. I’m about the only one who’ll get to enjoy this. I mean the yard, of course.” Hannah glanced down for a second.
I’m an idiot. I might as well have told him I plan to drool over his hot body all summer!
Brett smiled at her. “I better get back to work.”
“Um, I wanted to let you know there are bathrooms right over there next to the pool in that brick building.” Hannah pointed toward it. “I know it’s annoying having to get buzzed back in every time you leave, so please feel free to use them.”
“Thanks, I’ll take you up on that one. It’s been a pain having to leave each time and go to a gas station.”
“OK, see you around.” Hannah walked back toward the house.
Chapter Five
Brett worked at the Masons’ on Friday. After being outside for five hours, he needed to use the restroom. He decided to take Hannah up on her offer of using the pool house restrooms. Glancing toward the house, he saw her friends and her sitting in chairs by the pool.
Knowing Hannah was going to eventually find out that he rescued her at the party, he decided he would get it over with, so he started walking toward the pool. The suspense was killing him. Since he couldn’t stay anonymous, he wanted to know if she would be upset with him.
All four women were stretched out in their lounge chairs. Hannah leaned up a little and tilted her shades.
“Well, girls, it appears you’re going to get to meet the hot landscaper. I told him yesterday he could use the restrooms. I figured it would give us some eye candy for the summer.”
They all giggled.
Brett was nervous as he approached the pool, and it was making him angry. They were barely out of their freshman year, so he didn’t like that they were intimidating him. Determined to regain control of the situation, he planted a big smile across his face and acted as if nothing ever happened.
He saw Chelsea make the realization first. He wanted to laugh when he saw her lift her shades and smack her friend’s arm. When he was almost to them, he saw all three of Hannah’s friends with their shades up and mouths hanging open.
Hannah looked at them.
“God, can you all at least make your drooling less obvious?” she asked, whispering.
“Hannah, if you don’t mind, I’m going to take you up on that offer to use the restroom.”
“No problem. I’d like to introduce you to my friends. They practically live here, so you’ll see them a lot this summer. Brett, this is Chelsea, Morgan and then Jasmine,” she said, pointing to each of them.
He stood towering over them with his large hands on his hips. He couldn’t help but notice their firm bodies in bikinis, but he didn’t find them as attractive as Hannah.
“I’ve met Chelsea already, but it’s nice to meet you, Morgan and Jasmine.”
Chelsea’s eyes grew large.
“You better watch not to burn today. The sun’s intense,” he said with a sly grin before he walked to the restrooms.
“How do you know him, Chels?” Hannah asked quietly.
Chelsea looked at Morgan and Jasmine before she turned back to Hannah.
“Um ... um, can we talk about it after he goes back to work?”
Hannah yanked down her shades as she reclined back in her chair. “I swear I don’t get you all sometimes.”
Brett went back to work knowing what Hannah’s friends were about to unleash on her. He couldn’t help but find it amusing. He glanced back and saw the girls sitting up in their chairs.
Chelsea grabbed hold of Hannah’s hand. “Hannah, baby, I have to tell you something, and I need you to not freak out.”
Hannah lifted her shades and pulled herself up in her chair. “What?”
“Ok, umm ... your landscaper, well, he’s the guy that carried you out of the party last weekend.”
Hannah jumped out of her chair, tipping it over and almost falling on the ground with it.
Brett heard the loud noise and glanced back to see Hannah standing over her friends. He burst out laughing.
“Oh God no! Please tell me you’re playing a prank on me.”
“Sorry, chick, it’s him. He’s your knight in shining armor,” Jasmine said.
“Yeah, it’s most definitely him,” Morgan added.
Hannah sat her chair back up. “I feel like the biggest fool ever. I talked to him yesterday, and he never said a word.
“He should’ve said something instead of letting me stand there like an idiot!”
“Don’t get mad at him. He probably didn’t want to embarrass you by bringing it up,” Morgan said.
“How am I ever going to face him? Now it’s going to be so weird out here this summer.”
Chelsea looked up at Hannah from her chair. “It’ll blow over. Just thank him next time you talk to him and move on. I’m sure he won’t bring it up after that.”
“He’s freakin’ hot, in college, and obviously a good guy. Hannah, you need to find a way to get with him. He’s the total package, and I bet he has a nice package, too,” Jasmine said, giggling.
“Like that would ever happen now. He probably just sees me as an immature, easy freshman girl who gets hammered.”
“No, he seemed genuinely worried about you. He cradled you in his damn arms,” Chelsea said.
“I’m sorry, girls. I just want to go in and be alone.”<
br />
“OK. Are we still on for tomorrow night at The Stables?” Chelsea asked.
“Sure. I’ll have Hudson drive us.”
Brett felt bad after he looked up and saw the girls were gone. He loved watching her friends squirm, but he felt bad thinking of how embarrassed Hannah probably was.
Chapter Six
On Saturday, Hannah watched out the window all morning trying to get the nerve to talk to Brett. She finally decided to get it over with. She felt a need to wear clothes instead of a bikini. She worried he might find her slutty after seeing her at the party, so she opted for a blue top with white shorts.
She walked past her dad and his friend Jim as they sat on the patio. She hated Jim with a passion. As she matured into a woman, he’d become different toward her. She caught him staring at her body whenever he was around, and she found it gross since he was in his late forties and a family friend.
“Hannah, aren’t you going to say hi to Jim?” Todd asked.
She rolled her eyes and turned back around.
“Hi, Dad and hi, Jim.”
“Hi, Hannah, good to see you again,” Jim said with a seductive smile. She waved at him and quickly walked away. Her body shivered over the creepy vibe he gave her.
She continued walking toward Brett and felt like a ball of nerves, realizing she was crushing on him badly.
“Hi, Brett.”
Brett sat his sandwich down and turned around. He was sitting on the edge of his truck bed.
“Hi, Hannah.”
She saw his warm smile and felt less nervous.
“Would you have a few minutes to talk?”
“Yeah, sure. You wanna have a seat?” he asked, pointing to the spot next to him.
She jumped up on the truck. “I’m sure you know what happened after I introduced you to my friends. I want to thank you for helping me out at Olivia’s party, and I’m really sorry it happened.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything yesterday. I worried it might embarrass you. It’s no big deal. Any decent guy would’ve done the same thing.”
“I disagree. I’m sure there were other decent guys at that party, and they didn’t take the time to help me.”
“I just happen to be standing at the right place at the right time.”
Hannah turned her body sideways to face him. She wanted to gaze into his blue eyes forever. “Really, thank you for getting me out of there and making the guy delete the photos. My parents would kill me if those leaked out.”
“You’re welcome. I’ve witnessed some bad shit at parties over the years. You really need to watch it.”
“I know. I don’t normally drink that much. I’m not gonna lie. I was pretty embarrassed when I found out you had to hold me all that time. I hope I didn’t do anything too embarrassing. I also heard your friends were giving you a hard time.”
“You were fine, and they were just jealous they didn’t have a beautiful girl in their arms.”
Hannah could feel her face warming.
He just called me beautiful.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I swear I was respectful to you the whole time.”
“I believe you. Since you were at the party, do you go to Vandy?”
“Yeah, I’ll be a senior.”
“That’s cool. I’ll be a sophomore. Have you been a landscaper very long?”
“I worked at a nursery in high school and started landscaping my freshman year of college. I really like it, except for when it’s a hundred degrees.”
“We’ve lived here a long time, but my parents never got around to hiring anyone to do the backyard. I can’t wait to see it finished. I guess I should let you get back to your lunch. See you around, Brett,” she said with an alluring smile after she jumped off the truck.
“Bye, Hannah.”
All she could think about the rest of the afternoon was Brett’s gorgeous eyes and how he thought she was beautiful.
Chapter Seven
I’m an idiot. Why did I tell her she’s beautiful? She’s definitely going to get the wrong impression.
He actually found her more than beautiful, but he wasn’t about to date Lorna Ray Mason’s daughter. When he got back to the house, he heard Dylan playing his guitar in his room. He didn’t see the other guys, so he took a shower and crashed on his bed.
Several hours later, Matt knocked and entered Brett’s room. “Get up, man. We’re all going to The Stables tonight.”
“Is there a way I can get out of this?” he asked, without removing his face from his pillow.
“No way. If you want to meet someone younger, then you have to go out. It’s not gonna happen from this room.”
The guys drove two cars and didn’t get to The Stables, a local country bar, until around ten. The bar was right at the entrance and the dance floor was in the center of the room with tables filling the perimeter.
Matt, Brett and Austin hung out at a small, round table after buying a beer. The three of them routinely gave Cody and Dylan a hard time about their dancing, but Brett knew the two of them would go straight out to the dance floor.
They insisted it was the best way to get a chick to go home with them. Brett spotted a few women that were attractive, but no one was really catching his eye.
“Brett, I just saw your little girlfriend dancing with Dylan,” Austin said, laughing.
“What are you talking about?” Brett asked, not making eye contact with him as he continued to scan the outer perimeter of the dance floor for women.
“There,” Austin replied, pointing to a spot in the middle of the dance floor.
Brett looked that direction and saw Dylan dancing with Hannah Mason. “Funny, Austin.” He felt his heart rate rising as he got the same protective feeling he had when he held her exactly one week earlier.
He noticed her black cowboy boots and her tight jeans about the time he saw Dylan’s hand partly on her ass. He glanced around the room to find her friends and saw they were on the dance floor with different guys.
“I wonder how they got in here,” Matt said.
“Think about who she is. You know she draws a crowd, not to mention how hot they all are. It’s good business for the bar. They probably get in everywhere,” Brett said as he turned away from the dance floor again.
“Man, it’s too late to run now, but Julie’s making her way over here,” Matt said.
“Great, not what I need tonight,” Brett said.
Julie was thirty-five at the time he dated her a year before and was tall and blonde. He hadn’t seen her since they broke it off.
“Brett, how are you?” Julie asked before she hugged him.
“I’m good. It’s nice to see you again. What have you been up to?”
“I have some news. I got engaged,” she said.
Brett heard her enthusiasm as she held her ring out for him to see.
“That’s great news,” he said relieved.
“Is the lucky guy here tonight?” Matt asked.
“No, I’m out with my girlfriends. I still have to get out once in a while,” she said with a sly grin. “I should get back to my friends. Bye guys.” Julie kissed Brett on the cheek and walked away.
Matt looked at him. “You dodged a bullet, man.”
“No kidding. I don’t want to go back down that road, but I’m happy for her.”
Dylan and Cody sauntered to the table.
“Did you all see me dancing with Hannah Mason?” Dylan asked.
“I saw, and don’t dance with her again,” Brett said in a demanding tone. All four of the guys looked at Brett.
“You’re not telling me who I can or can’t dance with.”
“Look, I don’t care who else you grind on in here, but I didn’t save her ass last week just so you can have your way with it.”
“You don’t know her, so she’s fair game. You’re not going to fuckin’ tell me I can’t dance with her.”
Brett glared at Dylan.
“Actually, I do know her. I’m
working at her home every day. Leave her the hell alone, or we’re going to have problems tonight.”
“Come on, Cody, I don’t know when Brett became such a bitch,” Dylan said as they turned to walk away.
“Bro, that was not cool. What the hell’s up with you?” Matt asked.
“If last weekend is any indication, she’ll probably get trashed, and we all know Dylan has no qualms about taking drunk girls home to fuck.”
“You’re probably right, but why do you suddenly care?” Austin asked.
“I already said why, so drop it.”
“Damn, look at that chick,” Matt said, pointing.
Brett noticed she was a pretty brunette. “I don’t see a dude with her, so you better go for it.”
“I’m making my move.”
Austin patted Matt on the shoulder. “Good luck, she’s one of the best looking ones in here.”
About an hour later, Brett noticed Dylan and Cody dancing with some other girls when a slow song came on. He usually didn’t drink much but had lost count of his beers trying to numb the feelings he was having for Hannah. The next thing he knew, she and Chelsea were walking toward them.
Austin saw them coming and chuckled.
Chapter Eight
Brett was caught off guard when Hannah threw her arms around his neck to hug him. He reluctantly hugged her back.
“Hi, Brett,” she said in his ear.
Dammit, why does she have to smell so good, like strawberries?
“Hi, Hannah. It appears you didn’t learn your lesson last weekend.”
“I already have a father. I don’t need another one. Are you stalking me now?”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Brett said icy before he turned his back to her. He didn’t like her attitude. He recalled her being mature and kind when sober and decided she had no business drinking.
She pulled on his arm.
“I’m sorry. Please look at me.” Brett turned around and noticed her eyes were a shade of bluish green. He recalled them looking different each time he saw her.
Brett and Hannah (Soul Mates 101 Series) Page 3