He was onto me, even if she didn’t have a clue. His territorial instincts flared as she introduced us like everything was normal and platonic between us, because to her they were. But not to me, not anymore.
Not since that dream.
And he knew it, with just one look at us. He said nothing about it, but he didn’t have to. I read him loud and clear.
She was his.
Theirs.
Straight.
Got it. So I respectfully bowed out and left her life.
So why did it fucking suck so badly? She was just someone I met a few days ago in a professional setting.
But she was also someone I spent hours upon hours with, talking about everything under the sun. Someone who asked me things about the bits and pieces of my life that mixed to make — me.
She didn’t ask about my makeup. Or my style. She didn’t ask about the tattoos or the piercings on my face.
She asked about my dad.
She asked about my childhood.
She asked about the reason behind my passion for my job.
She asked about the clients that touched my life every single day.
She took part in a special project for K-9 Arlo.
She cared, even if it was just for a work assignment.
I wasn’t used to that kind of interest in me. The real me. And I believed that was why I was so fixated on the entire thing.
Dallin interrupted my thoughts, “Why did you cancel on Hannah?” I made sure my mask of indifference was in place as I turned to look at my boss, standing tall and wide in my doorway like some dark monster.
“She had everything she needed for the piece.” I picked up the last of my things that I was gathering to go home for the night before he cornered me.
“She doesn’t.” Dallin squinted at me as he crossed his arms over his enormous chest. “She has a photo shoot scheduled here next week.” He tilted his head toward me. “For pictures of you in this space.”
I cringed, forgetting she wanted to do pictures here at the shop. “She can take pictures of the shop,” I sighed, “I don’t need to be in them.”
He watched me closely, like he was trying to read my mind. And I felt sweat form on the back of my neck as he stared. Out of everyone I knew, if someone could read minds, it was Dallin Kent.
The man knew everything. Just like Parker said, he was always five steps ahead.
“I trusted you to take care of this.” He finally said, “Through to the finish. I’ve never known you to throw in the towel on a project before.”
“I didn’t.” I pulled my bag over my shoulder. “She got the information for the piece, D. I gave her what she needed.”
“She needed you.” He snapped.
My brows pinched over my eyes. “What does that mean?”
He just stared at me, and I suddenly felt like that fourteen-year-old girl back in my dad’s house when he busted me with some shitty homemade ink job on my leg. Dallin’s disappointment in me made little sense, as I couldn’t fathom why it mattered to him.
“Never mind.” He sighed, backing up out of the doorway. “You have a flat tire on your car. I already called for a tow. They should be here soon.”
“Seriously? Again?” I groaned, suddenly remembering what the grumpy neanderthal from the side of the road the other day said about getting the spare changed right away. What was that, two days ago now? Three? Damnit. “Thanks.” I whispered, watching him walk away as guilt threatened to push me down into the dirt. I walked out of the shop, ignoring everyone else as my thoughts of the perfect little girl next door overwhelmed me on my way to the parking lot.
It was as if my thoughts conjured the real thing, though, leaving me wondering if what I was seeing was an illusion.
“Hannah.” I slowed my pace as she stood up off the bumper of her car parked in front of mine. She wore a pair of cut-off shorts and an oversized band tee she had knotted over her belly button, and I felt overwhelmed with the desire to see what she looked like wearing just that shirt and nothing else. Did she wear Knox’s shirts at home like that? With nothing else on underneath of it?
Why the fuck was I imaging her wearing his clothes in their home?
“Hey.” She put her hands in back pockets and tilted her head slightly. “I didn’t want to come in and disturb you at work.”
“So you lurked in the parking lot?” I questioned, glancing around. “How long have you been waiting?”
She shrugged, and a blush crept up her cheeks. “A few hours. I didn’t know what time you were done for the day.”
“Hannah.” I sighed, hating that she sat out here that long because she was afraid to come inside.
“I just wanted to let you know the article will publish in two weeks.” She licked her lips, drawing my attention there like I hadn’t wondered what they tasted like all on my own. “I’m coming back with a photography team next week and doing a shoot of the space and then it will all get formatted.”
“You wrote it already?” I opened the back door of my car and set my bags inside. “How bad did you make me look in it for ditching you?”
She chuckled and kicked a stone on the ground. “Maybe only slightly villainous.”
