“Potato salad?” I basically growled the question, my hand tightly gripping the bowl so it didn’t fly out and punch Monroe in the face.
She glanced at my empty plate, before flicking her eyes to mine. “You don’t want any?”
“Not feeling very hungry at the moment.”
Her fingers brushed mine as she took the bowl from me. “Me neither.”
Turning away, she handed it off to Wes.
I lowered my voice as I dipped my head to whisper in her ear, “You need to eat something, Hannah.”
Her eyes narrowed in warning when she looked back at me. I knew it was a bad idea to poke an already angry woman. But she was a tiny thing, and I was pretty sure she’d already drank her weight in wine for the evening.
I saw the rise and fall of her chest as her breathing picked up, anger radiating. Wanting to ease the tension between us, I slid my hand down her bare thigh under the table. Her legs instinctively fell apart as a slow flush spread up through her skin. She picked up her wine glass, chugging the last of the liquid.
That was the only sign I needed to know we were both done with this dinner party.
Giving her a little squeeze above her knee, I cleared my throat, turning my attention to the rest of the table. “Tucker, Lottie, as much as I appreciate your hospitality this evening, I believe I’m gonna have to take my girl here and jet.”
“You didn’t even eat yet,” Wes spoke through a mouth full of food.
Tucker’s body jerked slightly. Wes grunted, grabbing at his leg under the table. “What the—” He glared across the table at his younger brother.
I refrained from releasing a rising chuckle, glad I wasn’t the only one getting abused by a sibling tonight. Or maybe I was just glad it was Wes on the receiving end.
“That’s true, and I’d hate to let this good food go to waste. Lottie, do you mind if we pack some up to go?” I asked.
“Not at all!” she piped up quickly. “I’ll do it for you.” She was rushing inside before I could object.
I stood from my seat, extending my hand to help Hannah to her feet.
She hesitated, her eyes darting from my hand to the others and then back to me. “Where are we going?”
“I thought you’d learn by now there’s no use in you asking that question, blondie.”
Honestly, I had no fucking clue. I just knew I didn’t want to be here. I wanted to be alone with Hannah.
She held my gaze for another minute, her fingers fiddling once again with her ring. Her head shook softly, and my stomach plummeted when I thought she was telling me no. Then she took my hand, a smile wavering on her lips as she stood.
I smiled, throwing my arm around her shoulders as Lottie came flying back outside with a couple of Tupperware containers. She and Leighton threw a variety of food in the two dishes before sealing them off and handing them to me.
The women exchanged hugs as they spoke in hushed voices. I shook the guys’ hands, getting a thatta boy slap on the back from Aaron, then waited near the back gate for Hannah to finish saying her goodbyes.
As we drove away, I looked across the cab at her. She was curled against the door, her hands resting in her lap, her eyes staring out the window. I knew just because she’d decided to come with me didn’t mean things were better between us. But I’d spend the rest of the hours I had doing what I could to fix things. There was no way I was letting her leave town again not knowing how I felt about her.
I tapped my thumb on the steering wheel as I turned off the main road leading to my property. It was the first place I’d thought to go. I parked us not far from the river, where we’d been on our first date. I shut off the ignition, leaving the key turned to “accessory” so the music continued to play and fill the painful silence.
Hannah’s hand went for the door. Before I had a chance to say anything, she’d flung it open and slammed it closed. With every angry step she took toward the river, the deeper the hole I knew I was in.
Roughing my hand over my head, I flung my door open to follow after her. She stopped near the edge of the river, her arms crossed over her stomach. A breeze swept through, and she shivered slightly. I wanted so badly to wrap her up in my arms and hold her tight.
I slowed my approach, stopping just at her back. “Han?”
She continued to stare at the slow-moving river, the crickets chirping somewhere in the dark.
My head fell back; staring up at the moon, I let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m trying my best here, Hannah.”
She turned to face me, her stance still protective, her shoulders falling slightly as she let a little of her guard down. “Just be honest with me, Billy. That’s all I want.”
“You want honest?”
She nodded, her eyes glistening in the moonlight with unshed tears.
“Okay. How’s this for honest? I don’t know how to fucking feel right now, Hannah. I’m so damn confused… I want to be happy for you. Shit. I am happy for you, babe. I’m so damn happy you got an interview. But at the same damn time I’m fucking miserable for us. I’m frustrated that you have to leave in the morning. I’m angry that there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m scared shitless that this is the end, and I’ll never see you again.”
“Billy—”
“I can’t fucking sleep, or eat, or even think about anything but you. Is that honest enough for you?”
Her hands darted out, dragging my lips down to hers as she pushed her damn sweet tongue inside my mouth. I groaned, my hands gripping her hips, then sliding to her ass so I could lift her into my arms. With a small jump, she wrapped her legs tight around me.
“I’m sorry, Billy. I’m so sorry,” she apologized between covering me in kisses.
I had no idea what she was apologizing for and at the moment, the last thing I wanted to do was talk more.
I dropped to my knees, taking her with me. I pressed her gently back into the soft, overgrown grass. Gliding my hand up her leg below the skirt of her dress, I hooked my fingers into the top of her panties. She moaned with my touch, her hands clinging desperately to me, her lips all over me—my mouth, my jaw, my throat.
“Billy.” She lifted her hips with her plea.
I sat back on my knees, sliding the lace down her legs as I went. I hesitated when they made it to her calves, a moment of sanity fighting its way into my head. As if she could read my mind, she lifted her hand, her fingers caressing my arm, a tenderness in her eyes.
“I don’t need a bed of roses, Billy. All I need is you.”
“Doesn’t mean you don’t deserve it, Han, or that I don’t want to give it to you.”
She lifted to her elbows before picking up her foot and slipping it out of the tiny piece of fabric, followed by the other foot. She kicked them through the air as she did.
I swallowed back the emotion I felt forcing its way through. “You might have a hard time finding those later.”
She shrugged carelessly. “Maybe I’ll just leave them, that way when you find them one day, you can remember me.”
I crawled back over her, forcing her back to the ground. I plucked a long blade of grass from her hair as I stared down at the beautiful woman below me. “I could never forget you, Hannah Montgomery.”