Unexpectedly Yours(12)

"Oh, absolutely." She went for a lighthearted tone. "You'll be running for town councilor before too long."

"Town councilor, huh? So can I count on your vote?"

His muscular arm brushed against hers, sending a frisson of heady  attraction through her veins. She swallowed, aware of her brother's  presence.

"That depends on your policies."

"Oh, she's tough," Caleb crowed at Derek. "You'll have to work harder on Hannah."

"I don't mind." The heat in Derek's eyes told her how much he wanted to work on her.

Before her blushing got out of control, Hannah pushed her chair back  from the table. "Enough of that. Is everyone ready for dessert? I baked  pecan pie." Derek's favorite. She must have subconsciously been thinking  of him this afternoon.

"No one makes pecan pie like you." Derek's smile sent another wave of  flutters through her. God, he was turning her into a silly airhead.

"I like baking pies," she said.

"You could bake pies for my election campaign."

"Like I said, that depends on your policies."   





 

He chuckled. "You are tough."

She went to fetch the dessert, and the conversation turned to more general subjects.

"Hey, sis, I just remembered." Caleb looked up from his second helping  of pie. "I think I've found a house for you. A friend of mine's uncle  owns this house a few miles from here. He says it's pretty small, but  the rent is cheap. Are you interested?"

"Sure am." Hannah nodded enthusiastically.

"Apparently it hasn't been occupied for a while, and it needs some work,  but the owner's willing to pay the cost of supplies and give you two  weeks free rent."

"I can do some cleaning and painting. You got the owner's number?"

"I'll text it to you tomorrow."

"Oh, Caleb, you're a lifesaver." She got up and hugged her brother.  "I've been looking for a place but there's nothing in my price range,  and I was kinda thinking I'd have to stay here. Not that I don't get  along with Rosalind, but, well … "

"I know." Caleb patted her hand. "Can't get two cats to share the same litter box."

Trust her brother to voice her dilemma so colorfully. "Something like that."

"I'm real busy at work this week, though." Caleb looked worried. "I  won't be able to help you fix up the place until the week after."

"That's okay, I can manage on my own."

"I'll help you." Derek spoke up, his eyes trained on Hannah.

Her heart flipped. "Oh, you don't have to do that-"

"Hey, thanks, man." Caleb nodded at Derek.

"No problem. I've got some spare time."

"You know where my dad keeps his stepladders, don't you?"

Hannah huffed out a breath as she pressed her hands to her hips. "Excuse  the little woman for speaking up, but don't I have any say in this?"

Both men glanced at her.

"We're just looking out for you," Caleb said. "Right, Derek?"

"Right." Derek's gaze was steady and earnest. "You're in charge, Hannah. I'll just provide the muscle."

Her brain turned a little mushy at the thought of Derek's muscle. God,  why was she so affected by him? Why couldn't she still view him as her  brother's friend? Everything between them had changed, and she couldn't  push him away without arousing her brother's suspicion.

"Fine." She'd deal with this later when Caleb was out of town.

"Great." Derek actually seemed pleased. "I'll leave my number with you, and you can call me when you need help."

"You can do that right now." Caleb picked up Hannah's cell phone from  the nearby kitchen counter and handed it to Derek, and within a minute  Derek was in Hannah's contact list.

Hannah didn't comment. She wouldn't call Derek, she decided. Even though  she'd really appreciate his help, she couldn't risk being alone with  him again.



After dinner, Caleb and Derek cleaned up the dishes while Hannah took  out a load of clean clothing from the dryer and carted it upstairs to  her room. She was returning downstairs when she heard loud music pulsing  from the living room. She walked in and stopped in amazement.

A dance video game played on the TV, pop music blaring out, while Caleb  and Derek strutted and shimmied in front of the large screen. She  couldn't believe what she was seeing. As teenagers, these two wouldn't  have been caught dead dancing like this, and now they were bopping  around to the sound of "Moves Like Jagger."

"Hey, since when did Dad and Rosalind have an Xbox Kinect?" Caleb yelled over the music.

"Since Rosalind bought it for when her grandkids stay over. Why aren't you guys playing car racing games like you usually do?"

"We checked. There aren't any," Caleb puffed, flinging his arms in the air.

Hannah couldn't take her eyes off Derek. He was grooving and bumping  with minimum effort and maximum effect, his lithe body moving sinuously.  He looked a little goofy, but he didn't seem to care.

"This is more fun than Grand Theft Auto." Derek beckoned to her, gyrating his hips in time to the song. "Come and dance."

Oh God, those hips of his. Last time she'd seen them move like that had  been in her bed. Warmth surged through her, and it wasn't from the  temperature in the room.

"Woo!" Caleb spun around and executed what looked like a few karate chops. He wasn't paying much attention to them.

Derek shifted closer to Hannah, his face glowing. He hummed the lyrics softly so that only she could hear.   





 

"You've got some moves, all right," she couldn't help chuckling.

He took her hand. "Come on. It's easy. Show me your moves, Hannah."

She couldn't resist. The touch of his hand and the eagerness in his eyes  sucked her in. Before she knew what was happening, she was swinging her  hips, punching her arms, and rolling her shoulders as she tried to keep  up with the dance moves on the screen. And Derek was dancing right next  to her, but he wasn't looking at the TV. Instead, he watched her, his  face lit up with delight, as if he couldn't believe she was doing this.

She could hardly believe it herself. She couldn't remember the last time  she'd danced. And it felt good, incredibly good. As the song  progressed, she let herself go. She could be goofy like him. The  exercise was invigorating, but, to be honest, the most exhilarating  thing was the look in Derek's eyes as he watched her and matched her  moves with his. He was so close to her, his body brushing against hers,  every now and then his hand stroking her shoulder or arm.

Adrenaline pumped in her blood. She felt young and alive and flushed with energy.

"Hey, watch this," she called out recklessly. She pumped her fists in the air, at the same time thrusting her hips.

Derek had stopped dancing. He sucked in a breath, his eyes pinned on her. "You're going to give me a heart attack, Hannah."

Suddenly she realized that they were alone in the room and she was practically grinding her crotch at Derek.

She shot upright, blushing hard. "Where's Caleb?"

"He went to get a soda. He missed your raunchy solo. How does it go again?" Smiling, Derek mimicked some of her moves.

Hannah pressed her hands to her flaming cheeks. "Oh, God. I don't know  what got into me." She hurried over to pause the game, needing to put  some distance between them.

"You had some fun, that's all. You should do it more often."

She was saved from having to answer by Caleb strolling in with three  cans of soda. "Did I miss anything?" he said as he passed the cans  around.

"Yeah, Hannah's twerking." Derek was still watching Hannah, a grin lingering on his lips.

Caleb's eyebrows shot upward. "Huh? I didn't think Hannah knew what twerking was!"

She downed a deep gulp of soda, desperate to cool herself. "He's kidding. Of course I wasn't twerking."

"Didn't think so." Caleb seemed uneasy, as if he didn't want to imagine  his sister shaking her ass on the dance floor. "Maybe we should find  another game." He moved over to the games console to rifle through the  other games.

Derek shuffled up to Hannah. "I liked that game," he murmured low enough that only she could hear. "It's fun dancing with you."

Yes, but dancing with Derek was also way too arousing, and she couldn't  let herself get carried away with him again. Derek's moves were  definitely more dangerous than Jagger's.





Chapter Seven

"A word with you, please, Hannah." The vinegary set of Vera's lips warned Hannah that she wasn't about to enjoy that word.

She followed her boss into the nurse manager's office and stood with  hands behind her back, waiting for the criticism that was sure to come.  She didn't have long to wait.

"I saw you talking to one of the residents earlier and couldn't help  noticing the casual way you addressed her, using her first name. Here at  Avalon House the staff must always treat residents with the utmost  respect and politeness."

Hannah gaped at her boss. "I hope I always do, but Mrs. Diaz asked me to  call her Sofia. She said it made her feel more at home."