Page 116 of Spring Break Fling

I pulled her close, wrapping my arms around her waist. “Maybe not. But they’re not entirely wrong.”

Hannah sighed and leaned into me. “I know. I just… I’ve worked so hard to get where I am.”

“And you’ll work hard wherever you go next,” I said softly. “Sometimes the path forward isn’t the one you expected.”

She sighed. I could tell she was unsettled.

“You okay?” I asked, stepping behind her and resting my hands on her shoulders.

She sighed. “I just have a hard time taking advice from them. It’s triggering. I know they’re trying, but it feels like they haven’t earned the right to tell me what to do.”

I frowned. “You think that’s what they were doing?”

“Don’t you?” she asked, her brow arching.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “It didn’t feel like that to me. It seemed more like they have an outside perspective, like I do, and they’re just encouraging you to put yourself first.”

She looked down, processing that. “Maybe.”

I tilted her chin up, forcing her to meet my eyes. “If you could do whatever you wanted tomorrow morning—quit, not quit, move—what would you want your life to look like?”

A small smile tugged at her lips as she stepped closer, her hands resting on my chest. “I’d want to wake up with you in Miami. I wouldn’t work for Clarke anymore. We’d spend our days riding backroads, making love on beaches, and maybe… talking about kids one day.”

That last part caught me off guard, but not in a bad way. I just hadn’t expected her to say it out loud.

“Kids, huh?” I murmured, brushing my thumb along her jaw.

Her cheeks flushed, but she held my gaze. “Maybe.”

I leaned down, pressing a kiss to her nose. “Then you should quit your job and come home with me.”

She laughed softly, her fingers trailing under the waistband of my jeans, teasing me. “Maybe you’re right.”

My heart raced. “Would you actually consider it?”

She tilted her head, her smile softening. “With how good I feel right now and how much I want this to work? Yeah, I’m considering it.”

Hearing her say that sent a thrill through me I couldn’t quite explain. I kissed her deeply, backing her toward the couch. She tugged at my shirt, and soon we were tangled together, the weight of the night’s tension melting away.

40

HANNAH

Iput on my power suit. I had two, but this one was my favorite. It fit right and it made me feel confident. Today, I needed to be confident. I needed to look like I was ready to kick ass.

I walked into the living room where Nikko was sitting on the couch flipping through channels.

He whistled low, looking me up and down. “Wow, you look like you’re about to go to war.”

I smoothed down my blazer. “I am. Sort of.”

We had been going over this, and with Nikko’s encouragement, I was finally ready to do it.

We were going to take the next step in our relationship.

I was terrified.

And excited. It was a strange feeling.