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“I shouldn’t have done that.”
The thump to his chest with her free hand took him by surprise.
“Don’t be a fool. That’s nothing, and I bruise far too easily anyway. I rather like them.”
He reared back, sure she must be having him on, but Hannah traced the remnants of his possession on her skin and sure enough her lips curved into a fond smile.
“I know, it’s not politically correct and all that jazz, but I liked you going all caveman on me. Trust me, if I hadn’t I’d have told you. And before you ask, no, I can’t explain why, and it doesn’t really matter, but these are the fun kind of bruises. Trust me, I know the difference.”
Her voice wobbled on the last few words, which added to the bad feeling he was having about all this.
“Meaning?” He didn’t mean that one word to come out quite so forcefully, and, sure enough she jumped and took a step away from him. Logan cursed under his breath and scrubbed a hand over his face. He was so fucking tired of all this shit.
“Forgive me, I just need to know that you’re truly okay with this. I didn’t mean to—Fuck.”
He stopped talking and downed that measure of whisky after all, the burn down his throat a welcome distraction from the churning unease in his gut.
Hannah sighed and stepping closer took that glass off of him.
“I’m okay with this, truly.” She worried her bottom lip with her teeth, when he looked at her, a sure sign that she was mulling something over, and then she straightened her shoulders as though she’d come to a decision.
She looked toward the closed to door of Rhia’s room and nodded.
“She’ll be okay, too, you’ll see. It will take time, but with your love and stability she’ll get over the nightmares.”
Logan snorted in answer. “You assume me to be capable of love.”
Little Hannah rounded on him, hands on hip, and he swallowed a groan. She had no idea how beautiful she looked when she got all riled up like this. It made him want to fuck her all over again, but with his niece sleeping fitfully mere yards away, he really would be a bastard on act on that impulse. Besides, Hannah was his employee, and they’d muddied the waters enough. It was best to end this right here and now. Especially as he got the distinct impression that losing himself in her luscious body again would only give him ideas. He shouldn’t crave a repeat experience so soon. Rather than fuck her out his system, he seemed to have achieved the opposite. What the fuck was that all about?
Usually, once he’d fucked a woman he couldn’t wait to get rid of her. What made Hannah so damn different, other than the somewhat fraught circumstances of Rhia’s arrival, of course? That had to be the reason why he felt so out of sorts. All the more reason to distance himself. Morning couldn’t come soon enough all of a sudden.
“Don’t be an ass, of course you love her. That much is obvious, and she loves you, too. You just need to find the right nanny for her. Why does she have one anyway? Surely, she’s old enough to go nursery. There’s an excellent Montessori one not too far from work. I think she’d thrive there. Not cheap, but money is hardly an issue for you.” She glanced
around the opulent surroundings of his suite with a smirk, and he shrugged.
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
Hannah rolled her eyes at him, a move which made his hand itch to spank that insolence out of her, but he didn’t have the right to do so. She might consent to some erotic fun in the bedroom, but out of it was an entirely different matter. Even more reason to distance himself, because this woman made him wish for things that could never be.
“Clearly not. Seriously though, it worked wonders for my sister. She’s thirteen years younger than me, and well, I’ve been looking after her since she was born. My mother…” Her voice hitched, and she didn’t look at him when she continued speaking. “Let’s just say she wasn’t much of a mother. I managed to get Sarah into our local Montessori with the help of the social workers, and she thrived there, away from the violence at home, you know.”
All the puzzle pieces clicked into shape in his head, he blew out a breath, not at all sure what to say to that, so he simply nodded.
“Anyway, it could have been worse. Her good for nothing boyfriends never hit Sarah, at least. I didn’t fare quite so well, but I learned pretty quickly to stay out of the way. Wardrobes were our friends, too. We used to pretend we escaped to Narnia.”
He swore under his breath, and his fingers itched anew to do some real damage on her behalf, but that wouldn’t achieve anything. Instead he crossed his arms over his chest and forced himself to simply listen. He owed her that much, and he instinctively knew that she didn’t talk about this often.
“I left home with Sarah the minute I turned sixteen. Got a job at Premiere Events in the mailroom of all places.” She laughed and glanced his way. “Then I’m sure you know that, after studying my personnel file.”
Logan grinned and shrugged.
“I was very impressed by that resume by the way. It’s how I knew this auction idea of yours would work. Of course, I didn’t plan on this.” He gestured between them and rather enjoyed the way Hannah’s cheeks turned pink.
“So, this wasn’t all just an exercise in getting into my knickers then?” she asked.
Logan threw his head back and laughed.
“No, though once I saw you up for auction I had to have you.” He sobered and tapped her nose. “Just for tonight, of course. I meant what I said about this having no effect on our standing at work.”
