“I’m not a child, dearest.”
“Tell that to someone who hasn’t seen you hide bread rolls in your underwear, lady.”
I leave before another argument can ensue and rip the dress I’d bought at the thrift store off the hanger. I like it, with its pale pink, knee-length skirt and sweetheart neckline, but I’d spent money I can’t afford to spend now that I have a helper-please Jesus let me find a new one soon-to pay.
Forty minutes later I am showered, dressed, and made up enough that the dark circles under my eyes aren’t on show, and I look presentable enough to feel better than I should.
As I pace my room and wait for the doorbell to ring, I allow a small measure of guilt free of the tight leash I have it on. I’m lying to everyone I care about — Nana, my best friend — because I feel awful about admitting I’m about to engage in an affair with a taken man.
God, that test had better be negative, because if it’s not, I am in such deep trouble.
I hear Chrissie’s voice and a deep laugh of amusement and rush out to see Gregory standing in the doorway, smiling broadly at Nana.
“You seem nice enough, I suppose,” she’s saying, and I watch something flicker deep in his sherry eyes as she gives him a thorough inspection and nods decidedly. “At least you’re clean. Now remember what I said, young man. Be good to her, or I’ll find you. I’ve absolutely nothing to lose at my age, and that makes me more dangerous than you know.”
It’s ridiculous, but I want to laugh right now. And apparently so does he, if the twitch of his dimples is any indication.
“I would never hurt your granddaughter, Mrs Newman,” he says, looking up at me intently. “Hannah.”
I could stand here and drag things out. I mean, Nana is by no means easy to deal with, but I grab my things and walk to join him instead, striving for a calm I don’t feel.
“You be good now, you hear? Chris, if she gets testy there’s a tranquiliser gun in the closet,” I joke, waving and pulling the door closed behind us.
It’s only as we’re stepping out of the building that he speaks, and I gnash my teeth to keep from cursing immediately.
“I didn’t realize your grandmother lives with you. That must be…difficult,” he observes, handing me into my seat.
Difficult? No, difficult is becoming this liar I now am. My nana is child’s play compared to this.
“She’s seventy-three years old, and she’s gotten herself kicked out of almost every home she’s been in…there’s no other choice,” I say, leaving out the startling truth that I enjoy having the old bird around.
I know, I’m just as surprised. Turns out Nana is a great conversationalist, when she’s not going bonkers, and after everything that’s happened I relish the distraction.
“She’s…”
“Don’t,” I warn darkly.
“Eccentric,” he growls, throwing me a dirty look as he changes lanes and speeds up. “I was going to say eccentric. I like her. She doesn’t suffer fools and she says it straight. That’s a rare quality that I’ve found only in you.”
I ignore the compliment and look out the window, tensing when I notice where we’re headed.
“I don’t want to go to your house.”
He grunts and speeds up, telling me without words how much he cares what I want.
“We need to talk somewhere private, and—”
“So go to your place in the city,” I insist.
I’d sworn to myself I would never travel this route again, and now that I am I know being in that house…I’m only human. I have too many feelings swirling inside me right now to stand in that house and be the cold, detached Hannah I need to be.
“Sorry, darlin’, this isn’t up for discussion.”
What a surprise, I think, huffing back in my seat and folding my arms as I glare out the window. By the time we reach his home I’m well past hungry and irritable enough that I have high hopes for the course of the evening. Although, admittedly, it has not been easy to work myself up into a dander with him sitting so close, his smell wrapping around me, intoxicating me with memories of our one night together.
“Here we go. Wait for me to come around,” he orders, forcing my hand away from the door to wait and scowl as he opens it and takes my hand, pulling me out and into his heat. “It’s just you and me tonight.”
I mutter under my breath and force myself to follow as he unlocks the door and leads me in, the heat of his hand enveloping mine sending tremors into places I don’t need tremoring right now.
“Take a seat on the sofa. I’ll get us drinks and a plate.”