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It was impossible.
And try as she might, Hannah attempted to stay away from the small strip of fencing that separated the border between the McIntyre and Turner lands. But almost every afternoon, when the weather allowed, she climbed on one of the four-wheelers and drove the fence line until she ended up at the place that overlooked Turner land. She did this for days and never saw anyone.
And then on Friday afternoon, she hit pay dirt.
Josh was working on the old well house that stood twenty or so feet over the fence line.
She saw him glance up when he heard the hum of the engine and nerves tightened in her stomach as he stood to his full height and turned toward where she approached the fence. She’d been waiting for this, no matter how much she lied to herself, and when he began wiping his forehead on his shirtsleeve and walking over to the fence, she let the engine idle and waited.
She couldn’t read the expression on his face, but she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that said it wasn’t good.
He stopped directly in front of her, and stood on the opposite side of the barbed-wire fence, his brilliant green eyes running over her. She stayed silent and concentrated on the tic in his cheek, and tried to calm her raging heartbeat.
His words when he spoke were low, controlled, and as smooth as whiskey. “I’m thinking this can’t be a coincidence, princess.”
Embarrassed by the truth, Hannah immediately thought to deny it, but she didn’t want to lie. She remained silent as she tried to think of a response that wouldn’t completely humiliate her.
She waited too long and he began to remonstrate, “I kind of had the idea I’d already made myself plain. Maybe you didn’t understand?” His words were low and heated and even though she heard the controlled anger, his voice washed through Hannah like cold water on a hot summer day.
“I’m sorry,” she managed to softly apologize.
Josh continued to stare at her without speaking, and then in a rush of movement, his booted foot stepped on the second rung of barbed-wire and forced it down as his gloved hand simultaneously pulled up the third rung, and that easily, in a move that ranchers had been using for decades, he bent down and slid unscathed through the treacherous wire and stood in front of Hannah.
He pulled the leather work gloves off one at a time and stuffed them in his back pocket. Then he reached out and cut the engine with a twist of the key.
He stood over her where she sat on the cracked vinyl seat of the four-wheeler, her body turned slightly to his. He was so close she could see the beads of perspiration on his face and smell the heady, delicious aroma from the sweat that drenched his t-shirt. The masculine combination was almost more than she could stand.
Her eyes started to slip closed in a sharp, shocking, agony of arousal.
They flew open again when she felt his rough fingers on her chin.
His eyes glittered down at her, his nostrils flaring.
“Hannah baby, we have to get this straight between us. Maybe I should have spelled it out better. Do you know anything about the deadbeat asshole who calls himself my father? He’s always drunk. He’s in and out of jail—all the time. The sheriff watches me like a hawk because he thinks I’m just like him. He expects me to cause trouble one way or the other.” His thumb caressed her chin gently in direct contrast to the fierceness of his voice. “Now what do you think the sheriff would do if I suddenly took up with the fifteen-year-old town princess?” His eyes glittered down at her, giving her a moment to digest his words before his hand tightened on her jaw once again and he continued, “You need to stay away from me. Don’t make this harder on me than it already is. You don’t know what it’s doing to my insides—knowing I can have you, but I can’t.” His fingers unclenched from around her jaw and then became caressing once again. “You understand?”
Hannah tried to answer. She licked her lips and opened her mouth to speak but the words stalled again as Josh’s eyes fell to her mouth and his fingers tightened on her face.
Her throat closed up and no words came.
His eyes tangled with hers and seconds slipped by until an agonized, ferocious look crossed his features and he bit out, “Repeat after me, princess. Josh wants me.”
Shock and heat hit her system and she gasped.
His fingers shifted, slipped into her hair and his voice hissed out, “I’m serious. Repeat it. Josh wants me.”
“Josh, please—”
“Now!” he barked and she jumped.
“Josh w-wants me,” her voice came out shaky and soft.
“Josh wants me so bad his guts are tied in knots of constant pain,” he pounded the words through his teeth and waited.
His eyes seared into hers and she attempted to answer. “Josh wants me s-so bad—” she found it impossible to say and her words dwindled off.
He reached up and his fingers twisted through her hair until he was holding her face in both of his strong hands. He continued to punch out his words in third person. “He thinks about me constantly.” As he spoke, his gaze ran over her lips, her nose, and the hair that he held in his hands. “He lives from one hour to the next for the day he can sink into me.”
Hannah’s insides were lacerated by his primal words. It was almost more than her youth and innocence could handle. At the same time, an exquisite pleasure infiltrated her system at what he was telling her. He was telling her the truth. He wanted her just as much as she wanted him. Her body shook as the depth of his need and what he was trying to convey to her sank in.
He continued in a harsh biting tone, “But I don’t want Josh to go to prison.”
She was silent as she trembled in his hold.
“Say it,” he bit out.
A single tear escaped from her eye.
“Say it,” he growled, even as his thumb shot out and wiped away the tear.
Hannah sucked in a shuddering breath. “I d-don’t want Josh to go to p-prison.” Her eyes closed as more tears welled over.
His hands lifted from her and he took a step back.
“Good girl,” he praised. “Do us both a favor and remember that the next time you come looking for me. Repeat it to yourself if it helps. I’m dead serious, Hannah. You may feel grown-up, you may even know what you want, but the State of Texas doesn’t agree with you.”
He took another step toward the fence and turned once more to stare into her eyes. His voice only softened slightly. “You have to have mercy on me, princess. There’s only so much I can take before I’ll snap, okay?”
Her eyes clung to his and she vowed to herself she wouldn’t come looking for him again. “Okay.”
****
True to his word, Josh stayed away from her. But for the next few weeks, Hannah knew he was there, in the background of her life. She didn’t go looking for him anymore, but it was a small town, and she saw him around occasionally. Heated looks would pass between them, and Hannah knew he was feeling the same pull that she was. He obviously was very serious about staying away from her, and it almost killed her. But she persevered because she didn’t have any other choice.
What made it even worse for her was the developing relationship between Ava and Ethan. Ethan had finally put it on the line with Ty, and now he and Ava were officially together. Hannah had heard everything, or at least she thought she’d heard everything. Ava told her in explicit detail how Ethan kissed, what he said to her, what he tried with her, and what she let him do. Hannah wasn’t jealous so much as she was envious. She was happy for Ava, but she wished she had the same chance for a relationship with Josh.
But it wasn’t happening. And to make matters worse, Kayla had made some kind of move that must have frustrated Ty, and now he and Kayla were pretty much together. So now whenever Hannah went to Ava’s house, she usually ended up being the fifth wheel.
