Unexpectedly Yours(11)

No, this was the opposite of serendipitous. This was a fricking  nightmare. She forced herself to make eye contact and was instantly  caught by the piercing blueness of his eyes. Was he thinking about last  night? She hunted through her mind for something neutral to say and came  up with, "Did you know Amber owns this store?"

"Yeah, she told me last night." A slight smile crinkled his mouth.  "That's why I came here." He turned to Amber. "I'm looking for a grab  rail to install in the shower."

Amber, who'd been unusually silent so far, set aside her coffee and  stepped up. "Yes, I have a few models. I'll show you where they're  kept."

"I'd better get going," Hannah said, quickly moving toward the door.

"Hope I'm not chasing you away." His blue eyes swept over her, like he was revisiting the things they'd done together.

"I-I was leaving anyway. See you, guys."

Derek gazed at her for another moment before he nodded, and from behind  him, Amber gave her an exaggerated wink. Hannah exited the store, but  instead of walking back to her car, she loitered in the doorway of a  vacant building nearby, her mind racing, until five minutes later Derek  reappeared.   





 

The moment he spied her, his eyes lit up, making her heart skitter. Why did he have to be so damn gorgeous?

"Hey, Hannah," he said.

"I need to talk to you."

Before she could continue, a car rolled past them, the female driver  giving them a hard, curious stare. Hannah's heart sank as she recognized  her manager at the wheel. Trust Vera to catch her loitering with the  hottest guy in town. The car revved up as if Vera was showing her  disapproval.

With a sigh, Hannah returned her attention to Derek. "Did Amber talk to you about … anything?" she asked.

"We had a pleasant discussion about screws and drills."

She sucked in a breath. Screws and drills. Why did hardware sound so dirty when Derek talked about it? "Nothing about us?"

"No." He looked at her more closely. "You told her about last night?"

"I didn't tell her. She guessed." Hannah chewed on her lip anxiously. "Are you really staying another two weeks?"

"Yes. I can't leave my grandpa at the moment. Last night-while I was with you-he slipped and fell."

"Oh, Derek, I'm so sorry. Is he badly injured?"

"No, just a few bumps and bruises. He managed to haul himself to bed."  Derek grimaced. "He was supposed to call me if he had any problems, but  of course he didn't. I'll have to hire a care assistant for him. In the  meantime, I'm doing a few repairs around the house to make it safer for  him." He motioned to the bag tucked under his arm.

"That's very good of you." Especially since Otto wouldn't appreciate Derek's efforts.

"You know he's a doomsday prepper? He's hoarding all this food, fuel, medical supplies."

"Wow. So he thinks the end of the world is nigh?"

"That, or it's just his way of telling the rest of the world to get lost."

"Well, at least he's making plans for survival." She felt more than  sympathy for Derek. He worried about his granddad, even though Otto  didn't deserve it. "You could offer to make him a proper fallout  shelter."

"Ugh, don't encourage him."

"That might be a spin-off from your Better Homes show-‘Better Fallout Shelters.'"

He smiled slowly. "With handy tips like ten ways to cook lentils and beans?"

"If the fallout shelter is crowded, maybe go easy on the beans."

Derek chuckled. "Good point." Then his smile faded a little. "So I had to stay, even if my filming hadn't been delayed."

"Yes, I realize that, but I just didn't expect to bump into you so soon."

"You don't have to sound that disappointed."

She shifted under his scrutiny. "You should have warned me at least."

"I don't have your phone number." His eyes narrowed. "So you are having regrets."

He stood there, legs spread apart, six-foot-three of hard, sexy male,  with a wistful expression on his face that caught at her heart.

"No, of course not." Her voice softened. "I just don't want people to find out what we did."

"Don't worry. I'm not going to tell Caleb."

"It's not just Caleb. I don't want people gossiping about me."

"You don't care about gossip."

"Yes, I do. This is a small town. People around here know you're a TV  star, and they still remember my mom running off with a guy ten years  her junior. I don't want to be compared with her. I don't want people  calling me a-a cougar."

Derek tipped back his head and let out a laugh that came from the depths of his chest. "You? A cougar?"

Oh, she wanted to hit him. Her hands curled into fists. "I'm glad you find it so funny."

"It is funny." His grin was as wide as the Grand Canyon. "I'd love it if  you went all cougar on me. I can just see you all glammed up in a hot,  tight dress and killer heels and fake eyelashes."

"Oh yeah? And would you like being called a boy toy?"

He shrugged, eyes simmering. "I'd like to be your boy toy. A lot."

Why was it so hard resisting him? "You can't be my toy anything. We're not going to repeat last night, remember?"

He sighed. "Yeah, I remember."

"From now on, we'll just treat each other like we used to."

"Are you going to tell me to get a haircut and do my homework?" The teasing light was back in his eyes.

"If you don't watch out, I will." She glanced about as several more cars  streamed by and hitched up her bag of groceries. "I'd better get going.  Good-bye, Derek."   





 

"Don't look so worried. I'll be out of your hair in two weeks."

She hurried away, feeling Derek's gaze still pinned on her. Two more  weeks of Derek in town. How would she cope? She'd just have to avoid him  as much as possible. Her job and her search for a new home would keep  her occupied, and Derek had his grandpa to worry about. They didn't need  to see each other for quite a while.

The thought should have reassured her, but instead it left her feeling rather flat.



Hannah frowned at the text message from her brother on her phone, wondering why fate was conspiring against her.

Derek's coming 4 dinner. Okay with u?

Caleb had only texted her an hour before he was due at her place, and  without a thought had invited Derek along. But then again, Caleb had  been bringing Derek to dinner for years, most often without any prior  notice. So she couldn't be too mad at him. She couldn't be too mad at  Derek for accepting the invitation, either. Caleb would've thought it  very strange if Derek turned down the chance to catch up with them. But  how was she going to act as if everything was normal all night? What if  she slipped up and gave herself away by staring at Derek for too long or  touching his leg or something?

She tried to distract her worries by checking on the chicken roasting in  the oven and making gravy. When the front door opened and two male  voices sounded in the hallway, she stiffened, hastily wiping her hands  before tidying her hair and clothes.

She'd just whipped off her apron when Caleb and Derek sauntered into the  kitchen. While Caleb landed a kiss on her cheek in greeting, Derek hung  back, his expression bland and unreadable.

"Hope you don't mind my dropping in like this," Derek said when she was free.

"Of course she doesn't mind." Caleb clapped a hand on his shoulder,  looking surprised. "This is your second home, remember? You're welcome  here anytime. You're like family."

Derek's deep blue eyes held Hannah's, and her heart twisted at her brother's words.

"Caleb's right," she said quietly. "You're like family." And therefore out of bounds.

They sat around the kitchen table, and Caleb carved up the chicken while  Hannah ladled out roast potatoes, carrots, and peas. She couldn't  settle, not with Derek sitting at right angles to her, so close to her  that every once in a while his knee bumped hers under the table,  triggering a flush of memories in her. Caleb did most of the talking and  luckily didn't seem to notice the tension between Hannah and Derek.

"You're a big kahuna now," Caleb ragged Derek. "Got your own fan club yet?"

"Why?" Derek replied. "Do you want to be the secretary?"

"Oh, sure. Then I can tell your fans about all the mischief you used to get up to."

"Fine by me. Everyone loves a bad boy."

Derek's eyes were on Hannah again, and hers on him. It seemed she  couldn't go five minutes without taking a peek at him, and Caleb must  have been blind not to have noticed. Either that, or his sister and his  best friend having the hots for each other was such a ludicrous concept  it never entered his mind.

"Don't they, Hannah?" Derek's question jerked her back.

"You're not a bad boy anymore." Although he did still get pulled over by the cops.

"I'm not? So I'm a respectable guy any girl could take home to meet her parents?"

The loaded meaning behind his question made her tense up. What did he want from her?