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James huffed. “You never said.”
“Wasn’t down to me. It’s her love life, not mine.” Aidan frowned. “She told you he was controlling?”
“Yeah. Said it was one of the reasons that she left her job. All of it coming at her at the same time was too much pressure. She said she couldn’t cope.”
“That doesn’t sound like Hannah,” Aidan remarked, surprised.
“No. Exactly. We’d spoken earlier that day when the tire burst. Everything she said, when I threw in that new info, it just made me put two and two together. I didn’t like the number I came out with.” James studied his friend. “Is it going to be a problem if we’re together?”
Aidan huffed. “You’ve got to get near her first, and it seems Hannah’s doing a bang-up job of stonewalling you.”
“I know. But I’ll wear her down. Eventually,” he conceded ruefully, then, his frown turned somber, more serious. “I have to. I don’t have any say in this.”
Silence fell between them. “What are you saying, bro?” Aidan asked softly.
James shook his head, but he didn’t meet Aidan’s eyes. “This is serious, man. I-I can’t let her get away.”
And with that, he reached for the phone and tried her number.
Again.
Chapter 10
Mark was nice.
That categorized him well.
In front of her friends, her family, her other colleagues… everyone thought he was pleasant and amiable. And he was. That was the truth. But closed doors changed all that. Changed him.
He was as controlling as ever.
The night—Hannah’d taken to thinking of it in italics—she’d been so overwhelmed by what had happened with James, that Mark’s sudden presence had floored her.
She hadn’t wanted to talk to him, but at the same time, his presence had brought her back to reality with a bang.
Whatever she was to James, it wasn’t a permanent thing.
Why had she messed up something that was permanent to be with something that was temporary?
That thought had been why she’d entertained Mark for that moment.
But now she was getting sick of entertaining him.
They weren’t even dating; she’d not even said she’d taken him back, and old habits were already dying hard. He was always around. Always close to hand.
She was too independent to appreciate that. If she needed help, she’d ask for it, but Mark had never understood that. She’d only just left him at a coffee shop an hour ago and already he was calling her.
Her phone rang, and she reached over to turn off the ringer as she’d done the first three times. But when she saw James' number come up on her cell, she glowered even more. He’d rung what seemed like a thousand times, and she’d consistently ignored it.
What was it with the men in her life at the moment?
None of them were acting in any way she could predict.
Mark had flown across the country without her asking it of him, and James, rather than ignoring her existence after they slept together, wasn’t letting go.
But, it all boiled down to James. It always had and always would, and she had to admit, she hated that.
Hated the power he had over her.
