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“Why wouldn’t I want to take the prettiest, sweetest, sassiest girl in town on a date?”
Lord. He said the loveliest things. And every time he said something like that or gave her one of those soft looks, she felt herself growing stronger.
She wasn’t going back to old-Hannah. She didn’t think she could ever be her again.
But new-Hannah wasn’t who she wanted. She just wanted to be Hannah.
And maybe, with some time and help, she could figure out who that was.
“I dunno. Maybe because she cries all the time.”
He sighed dramatically. “That is certainly an issue.”
“Hey!” She whacked him on the chest. “Rude!”
He grinned down at her. “Six tonight?”
“Six tonight.”
“That’s my gorgeous girl.”
He kissed the tip of her nose and then lifted her back over to her seat.
“Wait there while I come around and open your door.”
She waited, and he opened the door before lifting her down.
“Thanks.” He grabbed her bag and handed it to her. “Does it look like I’ve been crying?” She wiped at her cheeks.
“Yep.”
Awesome.
“Hey! What’s going on? Why are you crying?”
Turning, she saw Melody rushing toward them, looking furious. Behind her were Carlie and Josie, looking equally upset.
What was happening?
22
Melody stepped between her and Raid, pushing at his chest. “You stay away from her, you big bully! You were supposed to make her feel better, not make her cry!”
“Mel!” She stared at her friend in shock as the tiny woman glared up at Raid, her hands on her hips.
She looked to Carlie and Josie, waiting for one of them to step in and try to settle Melody down. Except they were both frowning up at Raid, looking like they’d like nothing more than to kick him in the balls.
Wait. Crap.
She’d just remembered. She was the peacemaker of the group. It was up to her to calm them all down.
“You guys are overreacting,” she started to say.
“Overreacting?” Melody cried. “You’re crying! He made you cry.”
“Raid didn’t make me cry.”
“You don’t have to protect him, Hannah,” Carlie told her, pushing up her sleeves. “We have your back. We’re not going to let him hurt you.”
She put her fists up.
As though she was seriously about to fight Raid.
Hannah gaped at her.
“Yeah, big boy. We’re going to make you hurt for hurting our friend,” Josie told him, raising her chin.
“You guys, Raid didn’t make me cry!” she yelled.
What the heck? This was ridiculous.
“Get behind Carlie, Hannah. We got this.” Melody pushed Raid again.
Right. This was getting out of control. She had to do something before Raid got hurt. She risked a glance up at him, expecting that he’d look angry.
Steven would have been furious. Steven would have walked away, and then lost it at her later.
But Raid just gave Mel, Carlie, and Josie a calm look. “It’s good you’re looking out for your friend, but to do that, you actually have to listen to her.”
She sucked in a breath and waited for the others to react.
“What do you mean? Of course, we listen to her,” Melody said. “We always listen.”
“You’re not right now,” Raid pointed out gently. “She’s trying to talk to you and you’re all ignoring her.”
The three of them turned to look at her, and Hannah swallowed heavily. “Guys, I love that you’re trying to look out for me. But Raid didn’t cause my tears. Well, he sort of did, but not like you’re thinking. They were sad tears, then happy tears. Promise.”
Uh-oh. They didn’t look at all that convinced at her words.
“Darlin’, I can get them to listen, but you have got to do some better talking,” Raid drawled. Now he looked amused.
Damn him.
She glared at him. He winked at her.
“You’re lucky you’re cute,” she muttered. “Because you have a really annoying personality.”
He threw back his head and laughed. “You love my personality.”
“I think you lied when you said you’d spoken to Molly. And that those T-shirts might be fake.”
“Damn, you’re funny.” Leaning forward, he placed his hand around the back of her neck and drew her into him. And then he kissed her forehead. “Tonight, at six.”
“I’m not sure. I feel like I might be busy.”
“Doing what?”
“Emptying the dishwasher.”
“I did that while you were in the shower.”
“Vacuuming.”
“I did that yesterday.”
Rats. Wait. She had one for him.
“Declogging my shower.”
“Tonight at six. You’ll be there.”
It wasn’t a question, but a command.
“Fine,” she muttered grudgingly. It was all an act. She wanted to go out with him. Although, the idea of a date was kind of terrifying.
“Later, ladies. Thanks for looking out for my girl. I’ll put your bag inside, baby.” He ran it into the clinic. Which was kind of silly when it barely weighed anything.
But still so sweet.
My girl.
Holy. Crap.
She was his girl. And she had a date with Raid Malone.
Oh God.
Oh. God.
Raid ran back out and took off. Melody looked up at her. She reached for Hannah’s hand, then seemed to think better of it and snatched her hand back.
