AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Fine. I’ll come in.”
He climbed out of his truck and followed Tanner into the clinic, where he was already smiling down at the new receptionist.
Raid didn’t even know her name. He hadn’t been in recently. Which was surprising for him.
He was leaning against the wall, waiting for Tanner to finish with the smiling receptionist when he saw her walk into reception.
He tensed. She was back? When did she get back? And why the hell had no one told him?
Raid waited for her to look over at him. To see him. Would she get all flustered and trip up? Or would she crack out some joke? Maybe try to flirt badly with him.
Except . . . maybe she’d come back with the guy she was seeing. Fuck. He deflated at that thought.
Shit. Did he still feel something for her?
Not good.
“Ariel, do you know where this file is?”
He frowned as he glanced over at her. Why did her voice sound so flat? So lifeless? That wasn’t Hannah at all. And she hadn’t once looked up from the piece of paper in her hand.
Then his gaze moved over her and he noticed that her hair was covering half her face. But that wasn’t as strange as what she was dressed in. She was wearing this oversized black shirt that went down to mid-thigh. Loose and shapeless. It almost looked like a man’s shirt.
Did it belong to her new man?
Raid had to hold on to the jealousy that threatened to take hold as he studied her. She was also wearing some wide-leg, black pants. Maybe that was fashion now. He didn’t know and didn’t care. Raid was a man with simple fashion needs. Jeans and a T-shirt in summer. Jeans and a long-sleeved shirt in winter. A jacket if it got really cold. Sometimes a Henley too.
Boots and a hat.
All he needed. All he cared about.
If this was the latest fashion, then he didn’t think much of it. But none of that mattered. What he was concerned about was this wasn’t what Hannah wore.
In summer, she always wore dresses and skirts. Happy clothes. Bright colors with lacy cardigans. In winter, she’d wear trousers but always with a cute blouse. Modest clothing that still looked sweet and feminine.
And she always wore color. Always. She was like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. Well, when he wasn’t getting the colors messed up.
And yeah, he realized he’d just thought of her as a ray of sunshine. He was getting fucking poetic. That made him feel a bit queasy. But it didn’t mean it wasn’t true.
He was also just realizing that he’d actually paid attention to what she wore. How had he not clued in earlier that he was into her? He couldn’t even tell you what Mia was wearing when he saw her this morning.
Shit.
Was this because of her new guy? Was he forcing her to dress like this?
Okay. Shit. He needed to stop thinking about Hannah. And her man.
“Hannah?” Tanner asked, and she glanced up at his brother.
Raid nearly flinched as he took her in. She was pale, with dark rings under her eyes. And her face looked gaunt.
What. The. Fuck.
He took a step forward before he even realized he was going to do it, and her gaze shifted to him.
In her eyes, he saw something flash. Something that looked like raw, unadulterated pain.
Fuck.
Fucking hell.
He sucked in a pained breath. What the hell?
Then, a shutter came over her face, and without even acknowledging him, she turned her gaze away from him.
What was going on?
Why wasn’t she looking at him? Was she upset with him? But why would she be? And she was barely looking at Tanner. Hannah would typically have been full of empathy, worrying and fussing. They’d both been into the clinic a lot over the years and she’d never been anything but caring and sympathetic.
Well, other than when she was trying to run from him, banging into things, or hurting herself.
Right now . . . she looked almost cold. And that wasn’t something he’d ever thought he’d associate with Hannah.
“Hannah,” he called out.
She didn’t even turn to look at him.
What. The. Fuck.
Okay, perhaps he’d gotten used to the way she reacted around him. To the sweet way she would blush, stare at him, or trip her her own feet.
How she’d stare at him with this look of adoration. Yeah, he might have taken that for granted slightly. And maybe he’d been a dumb asshole for not realizing that all of that meant that she liked him. At least not until it was too late. He’d cursed himself for that. But he hadn’t expected that in the month he was away, she’d find someone else.
That knot in his stomach tightened again.
“I apologize for interrupting, Tanner,” she said in that same monotone voice. “I’ll come back, Ariel.”
