In theory, the thought of having a future with me scared her. But in practice, she was right alongside me. We were spending nearly every night together. Eating lunch with each other most days. Talking about next year and things we could do to the house. Only when she was met with talking about actual commitment stuff did she really show how nervous it made her.
Things were moving forward whether she was willing to admit it or not.
Hell, it made me nervous, too. I’d thought I’d found someone who wanted all of that with me, and it turned out she hadn’t. Who knew? The pressure of it might have been the reason she ran straight into the arms of another man.
I didn’t want Hannah to feel forced, but I wanted her next to me at night. Every night.
I wanted to share the bathroom and not have to plan times to see her. I wanted her with me, and if that made me some sort of crazy person, then I was one hundred percent crazy.
We’d only been together a few months, but it was so right.
And, if it caused a fight trying to talk to her about it, so be it. We’d argued before. It was worth the risk.
“One more dance and then I think I’m going to need to get off these feet,” she said with her head on my chest, another song ending, after over an hour of dancing.
That was all I needed to hear. Of course, I wanted to get her to my place, but I wasn’t ever going to leave while she was enjoying the night.
“Let me take you home,” I said.
“I don’t want to go home. I want to go to your place.” Her voice was laced with disappointment, misunderstanding what I’d intended.
I placed a kiss on her lips. It never got old hearing that she wanted to be with me.
“That’s what I meant. Trust me, I’m not letting go of you all night. And maybe not tomorrow either.”
Just like that, the peril in her relaxed, and she sweetly kissed my neck as she hummed her agreement.
We walked to the front, arms around each other, not caring who saw or what they thought. She didn’t want to let go and I wasn’t going to suggest it.
“The black Escalade,” I said to the young guy who was acting as valet for the night. He couldn’t have been more than sixteen. The golf course was probably his first summer job.
It didn’t take him long and he hopped right out, rounding the Escalade to open the door for Hannah.
“Ms. O’Fallon, you look real, real pretty tonight,” he said, squeaking a little on the first real. I loved that he didn’t call her Mutt.
He held the door for her, and I took a second to watch as she followed his lead and got in.
“Thanks, Joey. I think standing next to Dr. Renfro makes me look better. His good looks rub off.”
“No, ma’am. I think it’s the other way around,” he replied, no squeak, and shut her door.
He might be young, but that little dude had some game.
Inside, I shut my door and teased her, “I might have some competition.”
“Did you hear that? I think you’re right.” She shined under kindness and compliments. I loved how this town treated her that night, like they were seeing what I’d been seeing all along. A strong, beautiful woman, who didn’t need to be with a man, but chose to be with me.
“Well, before you go riding off into the sunset on a golf cart with him, I’d like to remind you of that thing you like me to do with these.” I slid my hand up her bare leg, and we drove slowly through the lights they’d hung down the stretch of gravel leading to the highway, which she seemed to be enchanted by.
“I’m not remembering exactly,” she countered. Being facetious, she spread her leg, just enough, to tempt me. “Help a girl out.”
I had two options, help her out on the way home, or make her crazy and drive a little too slow.
I chose the latter and she was almost climbing out the window before we pulled into my drive.
I heard under her breath as she hopped out. “I bet Joey drives faster than you.”
Before I was out of the SUV, she’d already marched inside, shoeless. I decided to make her wait a little longer, just for fun.
She was already upstairs when I walked through the kitchen door, and I took my time, taking off my vest and hanging it on the back of a chair.
As much as she acted like she hated anticipation, she thrived on it. I got off on making her crazy.
In an old house, you could hear all of the sounds. I listened to her bare feet pat across my wooden bedroom floor and I heard her hop into the bed.
She was still playing with me, too. “Do you need help getting up the stairs? You’re killing me,” she said loud enough I could have heard her outside.
I laughed to myself from the stairs where I was quietly making my way to her.
She didn’t know I was as close as I was. Didn’t know I could see her down the hall as I climbed to the second floor.
She lay in my bed, the duvet pulled back, exposing the white sheets underneath. Her flawless tanned skin contrasted with the sheet and the white lace thing she was wearing.
Whoa. Where did that come from?
Things quickly changed. I didn’t feel like wasting time anymore and almost fell up the last step.
I sauntered down the dim hallway, and when she finally noticed I was coming, she sat up on her knees, letting me see her.