“Will, you can stay the night here in the guest bedroom. We’ll talk more in the morning. Weather is supposed to be bad for a few days. It was pure stupid of you to even try to drive here in this mess.”
He opened his mouth to protest and remind the man that his daughter had been out in the storm as well, but the cold that still clung to his numb toes reminded him that he was the idiot who slid headfirst into a snow embankment, not Hanna.
Instead, he nodded. “Thank you for the offer. I’ll be out of your hair in the morning.” It wasn’t what he wanted. He’d hoped to have a few days to talk to her, to explain. To apologize.
He glanced out the window, winter still wreaking havoc on the world just on the other side. Maybe the snow wasn’t so bad after all—
Hanna pushed back her seat and stood, revealing wet jeans that clung tightly to her curves. The annoyed glare she cast him said it all. “Oh yes, when your car is piled in three feet of snow by then. What are you going to do, walk back to Duluth to hail the next airplane out of here? That’ll be a fine sight to see. Wait, you probably have a private jet to take you wherever you want. Maybe it can land out on the frozen lake.”
Her dad stood and put an arm around her, whispering something in her ear. She glanced back at Will, scowled, and marched up the set of stairs he hadn’t noticed before in the corner of the kitchen. There must be two sets of them, because he’d also seen larger ones when he came in the front door. While the old farmhouse looked pretty big, deterioration could be seen in the peeling paint and decades-old decor.
His picture-perfect condo in Nashville flashed in his mind. Such a contrast. They’d always been opposite, even from the first day of taping for The Price of Love. He, the CEO bachelor looking for love, and she, the small-town teacher with morals tighter than some of the other contestants’ skinny jeans.
Why everyone had wanted him to pick her, the one who fit in the least with his life, was beyond him.
He wouldn’t have had to listen to them. He could have picked Stephanie.
But he didn’t. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why, except that there was something about Hanna he couldn’t let go of.
Jim turned around, arms crossed in front of him. “She won’t sleep a wink tonight because of you.”
Guilt landed directly on his shoulders, where it belonged. The show aside, he’d hurt an amazing woman who didn’t deserve it any more than she deserved to be saddled with him, a sorry excuse for a fiancé, not to mention CEO. “I’m sorry. I hadn’t meant for this to happen. All I wanted was to—”
“I know. You wanted to say you’re sorry. Not sure how you couldn’t say that with a phone call or a well-worded letter on that fancy letterhead of yours.”
He would have loved to shoot off an e-mail to fix this and go on his way. But his board of directors had other ideas. No way could he admit that just yet, though. “I honestly thought I was doing the right thing. I couldn’t get Hanna out of my head, and my heart told me to come.”
Which made no sense. It had just been business. That’s it.
Jim’s eyebrows hiked up so high they almost touched his receding hairline. “Your heart? You telling me you still have feelings for my daughter?”
A spark lit in his belly, but Will doused it immediately. He couldn’t have real feelings for Hanna. They’d only known each other on the show for, what, six weeks? And until the end, he’d been dating a slew of other women.
But those other women hadn’t plagued his dreams almost nightly.
Plus, she was a painful reminder to him of a time long before that stupid reality TV show.
Picking her had been strategic. Purely—mostly—strategic. And had backfired exponentially. “My feelings for Hanna are complicated. But regardless of that, she’s important to me, and I’ve hurt her. I want to make it right.”
Despite the plans his board had in mind, that much was true.
Hanna’s father studied him for a moment then stood and stretched his hands over his head. “I don’t know about you, but I’m beat. We’ll talk more tomorrow after we get a little sleep.”
Will stood and held out his hand. “I appreciate you letting me stay. I know this isn’t ideal, but—”
Jim ignored the outstretched hand and folded his arms over his chest. “Son, let’s get a few things straight. First, I don’t care who you are. Hanna and I, we don’t let strangers die of hypothermia out in the cold. Second, you and I are good. You’ve apologized, I’ve accepted, and we’ll get on with it. The good Lord expects nothing less of me. You’ll have a little harder time with Hanna, although I have faith that she’ll come around, too. Third”—his index finger dug into Will’s chest—“under no circumstances while you are stuck under my roof will you put the moves on my daughter, you hear?”
He swallowed hard. “Yes, sir.”
“Now, while you’re here, help yourself to whatever you need. Our home is your home.”
CHAPTER THREE
Hanna plopped down at the desk in her room and buried her face in her arms. God, please, please just make him leave.
This couldn’t be happening. Maybe she’d wake up and it would all be a dream. Lifting her head, she pinched her arm, her nails digging into her skin.
She sighed when the world remained intact while her arm sported nice, nail-trimmed red marks.
It was nothing compared to the knife wound in her heart that had just started healing—put there by none other than the half-frozen man who now sat downstairs at the kitchen table.
What had possessed him to come all the way up here from Nashville, anyway? She could have asked him, but honestly, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer. Her defenses were not to be trusted when it came to Will, and he needed to leave, sooner rather than later. He was a smooth talker and had a way of getting under her skin and climbing into her heart before she even knew he was there.
But not this time.
She would not be taken in by him.
Tugging open her laptop, she clicked on the bookmark she’d made months ago, clenching her jaw when the now-familiar YouTube video popped up on the screen.
She’d watched the humiliation over and over the first few months. Analyzing every word, trying to figure out just where she’d gone wrong.
Her journal had a running list of over a hundred things she could have seen, should have seen, and would have done had she seen who Will really was—a lying player who only cared about dollar signs and his precious image.
But today, she needed to watch it one last time to remind herself.
She picked up the laptop, flopped onto her bed, and after taking a deep breath, clicked PLAY.
Collin, the show’s host, strode along the white, sandy beach, looking suave and casual in khakis rolled up to his calves and a half-buttoned Hawaiian shirt. “Welcome back to the finale of The Price of Love. Now, I know you’re all chomping at the bit to find out who William picked to spend his happily-ever-after with. Will it be Sultry Stephanie or Holy Hanna, as you viewers have dubbed them? Well, it’s time to find out.”
The camera faded out then focused on Stephanie, bathed in a long red dress with a slit that almost reached her bikini line.
Hanna grabbed a pillow and hugged it to her chest to calm her racing heart. If only he’d picked Stephanie. For that matter, why hadn’t he? She’d asked herself that question a thousand times. While Hanna had been the viewers’ “choice” for him, all the social media outlets had agreed: Stephanie was much more William’s type.
Hanna focused back on the screen, where the woman in red walked down the pebbled trail toward a waiting William Preston. He stood, dressed in a black suit that accented his broad chest and shoulders. The Caribbean Sea danced in the background of the breathtaking Jamaican beach as if the waves were trying to show off for the viewers. The camera zoomed in on Stephanie as she stepped up to Will, a haughty look of expectancy on her lips. Then she winked, the classic move that had given her the sultry label. “William.”
He reached out and held her hands then smiled. “Stephanie.”
A moment later, she pulled Will to her and raised her lips, but he gently pushed her back and shook his head.
His it’s-not-you-it’s-me speech lasted a few minutes, followed by tears and scalding words of anger and a few bleeped-out words from Stephanie.
He tried to follow her to talk, but she threw her coin at him, the trademark of The Price of Love show, and flung herself into the waiting taxi.
Hanna took a trembling finger and moved the cursor to skip the next part, but she snatched it back. No. She’d watch the whole thing in all its humiliating glory.
After more dialogue by the host, Hanna appeared on the screen, walking down the path toward William, her fingers clasping on to her coin for dear life.
The tangible price of love that seemed so corny now but was such a big deal to her at the time. The coin was a little gold piece with a heart in the middle, surrounded by the words The Price of Love. It was a nod to the theme of the show—rich guys who were too busy with their careers to date, coming on the show to find women in hopes that they could weed out the ones who were in it for the money.
Each week, after crazy, over-the-top dates, the contestants presented the wealthy man with their heart, and the guy chose to accept it or not.
But after all those weeks of dating and having her coin accepted, it hadn’t occurred to her that she was trying to give her heart to a man who wasn’t even close to worth the cost.
She clenched the covers of the bedspread. This is good for you, Hanna. Remember.
Yes. She had to remind herself. Of his deception. Of what a smooth, fake jerk he could be.
Of how naive she’d been.
This last episode, she had pulled out all the stops to look her best, unlike some of the previous ones where she’d opted for sweats and an old T-shirt around the house, a stark contrast to the other contestants who constantly tried to look their best for the camera. No, at this last ceremony, every detail was perfect. Her long blond hair was down, just how William had liked it. She’d had it curled and just the sides swept up into glittery combs.
Her gown went against everyone’s suggestions, but it was one of the few dressy outfits she’d worn on the show that was her. Past women chose to wear long evening gowns for that final potential proposal, but she wasn’t most women. The ivory, embroidered dress came just above her knees with a high boatneck that was modest yet classy.
She remembered all the rhinestone numbers they’d tried to fit her with, but when she’d glimpsed this one in a storefront in Duluth, she’d known it was the one.
Then again, she’d also thought Will had been the one, too. She’d been right about the dress but oh-so-wrong about the man.
William took her TV-self’s hands. She remembered the thud of her heartbeat, the sensation of that stupid coin pressing between their hands, the fear that her sweaty palms would repulse him, and the calm reassurance of his hands squeezing hers.
His eyes had locked in on her, and she’d known immediately he was going to ask her to marry him.
Her stomach had filled with butterflies, but all that remained now were the dead corpses of squashed bugs.
On the screen, she accepted the ring with eyes full of tears, and then William took her face in his hands and kissed her, the coin dropping to the ground, forgotten and probably swept up and thrown away by the cleaning crew later.
Her heart thrown in the trash—oh how appropriate.
Hanna’s stomach twisted into a hard, sickening knot. With shaking hands, she scrolled forward a few minutes past all the lovey-dovey fake stuff to the part she needed to see the most.
Collin appeared again, this time lounging on the beach in a chair, looking cool, calm, and irritating. “Now, the happy couple will be letting us know their plans soon, but I thought we’d have one final chat with the bride and groom before we say good-bye, letting us know their feelings in their own words. Remember, they haven’t been able to see each other for the last two months while the show aired, so these were filmed separately. You can see them together in public for the first time tomorrow morning on the ALIVE morning show.”
Hanna’s face, happy and delusional, popped up on the screen. She gushed about how much she loved Will, how she was sure that God had led them to each other, even in this odd way that didn’t seem normal to most people. How they didn’t know their plans just yet, but that obviously with Will’s job as a CEO, she’d agreed to relocate from Minnesota because she could teach kindergarten anywhere. Future Preston babies? Oh, someday she’d love that, but let’s not rush things just yet. She answered Collin’s questions with well-worded answers, relying on the same steady brain that allowed her to handle five-year-olds with ease.
Next, William’s handsome face filled the screen, his smile eager.
Hanna clenched her fists at the image of the man who had made her think he was her dream come true in flesh. He was larger than life, the epitome of the handsome, professional businessman.
Too good to be true. It had been there all along—it was the clue she had needed to see to send him packing before he could do damage to her heart.
It tied closely with the “Sure I believe in God, I was practically born with a Bible in my hand” line he’d given her more than once right before he quickly changed the subject.
His deep voice echoed from the computer. “Hanna is like no woman I’ve ever met. Some women walk into a room and fireworks go off, threatening to explode and torch the place at any moment. Hanna walks into the room, and there’s peace. You just can’t help but smile when you’re around her, and it makes you want to be around her more.”
The host chuckled. “So, what, no fireworks, though?”
William laughed along with him. “Oh, there are fireworks, don’t get me wrong. But the kind that consume your heart, not threaten to blow up in your face.”
The camera panned out to show both William and Collin. Collin leaned forward in his seat, elbows on his knees. “All right, the question we all want to know. You and Hanna have had no contact since the end of the show, of course. But you were allowed a weekend off camera with each of the final women as a last shot to get to know them. On behalf of all America, the question we’re dying to know the answer to: Just how holy is Hanna?”
William shifted his position in the chair and fiddled with the lapel on his jacket. “I—Hanna and I had an amazing weekend. Let’s just leave it at that.”
Blood pounded in Hanna’s veins as she watched the moment for the thousandth time, her heart begging him to clarify, even though she already knew what he was going to say.
Collin raised his eyebrows. “Amazing, huh? As in—?”
William laughed and winked. “Amazing. Definitely.”
The host shook his head and shrugged. “I guess Holy Hanna isn’t quite as holy as we all thought she was. Well, it was great chatting with you, Will. We wish you and Hanna the best of luck.”
Will just smiled and nodded. “Thanks, Collin.”
With a shaking hand, Hanna closed the laptop and shoved it to the side.
Amazing.
Definitely.
Who would have thought those two words would completely ruin her world?
A piercing ache attacked her skull as well as her heart. She buried her head into her pillow, allowing tears to flow, tears she’d promised herself she was done with months ago.
She’d gone on that stupid show at the pressure of her best friend, who’d signed her up as a joke. But when she’d decided to go for it, she’d sworn that no matter what, she wouldn’t compromise who she was for the sake of a show.
The press and social media had dubbed her Holy Hanna. She’d been so angry at first. But then Dad, sweet, wonderful Dad, reminded her there’s nothing wrong with being holy.
Well, evidently there was.
Because once that aired, her life had been flushed down the toilet, right along with her reputation.
She didn’t really w
ant to take a trip to the sewer to retrieve it.
Will squinted through the darkness, eyeing the carpeted floor of the guest bedroom. Even though the tan shag had obvious wear and tear from years of use, it still looked more comfortable than the rock-hard mattress he was sleeping on.
Correction. One actually had to be in a state of slumber in order to be labeled “sleeping.” “Lying in agony” described it more accurately. Every limb of his body, now defrosted but not happy about the drastic change from close-to-frozen to toasty warm, screamed at him.
Maybe if he lay still long enough, he’d fall asleep and dream he was on his nice Tempur-Pedic back in his downtown Nashville condo.
After a minute of listening to nothing but the howl of the wind outside and a grandfather clock somewhere in the house tick-tocking the seconds going by, sleep was still a distant dream. Instead, his botched mission ran through his thoughts as he struggled to figure out a solution to get it back on course.
Reconciliation with Hanna looked far from reach. And the board of directors’ hope of a renewed relationship? Plain laughable. He’d have to throw down some thick charm and extreme lies to even come close.
Charm he could do. Lies, however, weren’t really his thing anymore. A vague stretch of the truth was what had gotten him into this mess in the first place.
Besides, he’d climbed his way to the top through old-fashioned hard work, unlike some other people he knew. No way would he stoop to what others wanted him to do, specifically his CFO, Doug Perry. If the man suggested one more scheme to improve sales numbers that reeked of potential scandal, Will would have no choice but to go to the board of directors and request he be replaced.
He should have done it months ago, but since he was in hot water himself, he hadn’t wanted to bring even more negative attention to the issue.
But his job was on the line now. He had to think of something.
Will stretched his legs beneath the homemade quilt and cringed at the cracking sounds his body made. His stomach decided to moan its complaint at the same time.
The Engagement Plot Page 2