AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She frowned. “So, what do you do?”
“I work and I spend time with my family.”
Her frown deepened. “Do you mean … are you saying that you’re …?”
He nodded. He felt like a shit. He’d made it sound like he was married – andshefelt bad. That was the worst part. He’d madeherfeel bad. That hadn’t been his intention, but it was too late to take it back now.
She set her half empty glass down and got to her feet. “I should go.”
He watched sadly as she hooked her purse back onto her little wheeled carry-on. Just watching her should make him feel better. Everything about her – the purse, the case, the way she was dressed, the way she carried herself, all of it said that she came from money – that he’d been right when he said they didn’t run in the same circles. He knew it was better to just watch her walk away because he shouldn’t be feeling as attracted to her, as genuinely interested in her, as he was. But he didn’t feel good – about any of it.
She took a step and he wanted to go after her, but he forced himself to remain seated. It was better that she left thinking he was a jerk. Better that whatever might have happened between them just didn’t.
His mind couldn’t help but rerun the same thought it had earlier.If she doesn’t turn around, she’s not interested.And just as she had earlier, she turned and looked back at him over her shoulder. This time, though, there was no smile. She shook her head sadly and hurried away.
Chapter Three
As soon as she was off the plane, Hannah hurried as fast as she could to the baggage claim. It was a big airport, and hopefully there’d be no chance of her running into Grady again. She shouldn’t care – she didn’t care, dammit! He was a jerk. A good-looking, charming, seemingly sweet jerk – and all of that just made him more of a jerk. She should know better. Any guy who hit on her always turned out to have some major flaw. In the grand scheme of things, Grady wasn’t the worst of them – not by a long shot. But he was married. Ugh! And there she’d been ready to go all the way out on a limb and ask if he wanted to see her again.
She tapped her fingers impatiently as she rode the escalator. And she’d gone and told him he was a bronzed, beachy god! Boy did she feel stupid. And she pitied his poor wife. Ugh. He probably had children, too. He must. He’d said he didn’t socialize much because he spent his time at work and withhis family. Just … ugh!
She should probably swear off men. They were all no-good, lying, cheating … Well, to be fair not all of them were that way. It was just her. It had to be. She attracted them. Nathan was even worse. But Nathan was her own fault. She’d had her doubts about him from the beginning. He’d been too charming, too sweet … hmm, perhaps there was a common theme there that she should have picked up on before. She’d thought Grady was sweet and charming, too. And of course, good-looking. Perhaps that was it? Perhaps she didn’t need to swear off men, just the good-looking seemingly sweet and charming ones? They were the ones she went for, and they were the ones who broke her heart. At least Grady hadn’t broken her heart. She’d known the man for less than hour, but she’d already started thinking that something might happen between them. She’d been about to suggest that they might see each other again. If it had been up to her, he would have broken her heart because she would have gone all in – after some stupid, supposedly romantic, pick-up line in an airport.
She stormed her way through the baggage claim and tapped her foot as she waited by the carousel. She should have done as Jacob had said and let him come to LA to pick her up. In the future, she should just listen to him. If she’d done as he said, she’d be sitting in the company jet right now, sipping champagne with her brother – and she never would have even crossed paths with Grady Whatever-his-name-was.
“What’s rattled your cage?”
She turned when a very familiar voice spoke just behind her. There he was. Her beloved, if occasionally infuriating, big brother. She flung her arms around his neck. “Jacob!”
He pecked her cheek and then carefully extricated himself from her embrace. “Hannah.” He gave her a puzzled smile. “It’s good to see you, too, sis. But what’s going on? You’re standing here tapping your foot like you’re in a big hurry – which you never are. And as much as I appreciate the enthusiasm of your greeting, I don’t believe that you’re just that pleased to see me.”
She blew out a sigh. “Sorry. It just … I’m pissed, okay?”
His eyebrows drew together. “No. Not okay. What’s rattled your cage? It’s not like you to get upset.” His expression softened. “Tell me all about it and I’ll go kick their asses for you.”
She had to smile. She loved Jacob more than anyone else in the world. Well, except their middle brother, Xander, but she rarely got to see him, so Jacob bore the brunt of her affection. “It’s okay. If you need to kick anyone’s ass, it’s probably mine.”
“Why? What happened?”
She pursed her lips. She probably shouldn’t tell him; he’d be mad at her, but what the hell. “A guy tried to pick me up in the airport, and I kind of let him.”
Jacob scowled, and Hannah knew too late that she shouldn’t have said anything. “Hannah!”
She shrugged. “He was cute, and he seemed really nice.”
“Until?”
“Until we realized that we both live in Napa.”
“And?”
“And he started backpedaling – turns out he’s married.”
“And?”
“And what? You don’t think that’s bad enough?”
“I think that’s nothing compared to the scenarios that were running through my mind. If he hit on you in the airport, you only knew him for what an hour? Two at the most.” His eyebrows drew together again. “I’m assuming that you didn’t do anything crazy in that time?”
