Vera's expression didn't let up. "Nevertheless, I must ask you to observe the rules. You haven't been with us for very long. New staff, especially nursing assistants, should not become too familiar with our elderly residents."
Indignation rose in Hannah, but she forced it down. She needed this job. And she needed to get on the right side of her boss if she was to continue working here when she started college.
"You're right," she said, shoulders stiff, hands gripped together. "I'll try to remember."
"And another matter," Vera continued. "The person I saw you talking to on the street the other day, I recognize him. It's Derek Carmichael, isn't it?"
Hannah nodded, surprised and uneasy.
"I hope you're not involved with him." Vera's lips pinched even tighter. "He's a very unsavory character."
"Unsavory?" Hannah's chagrin resurfaced. "He owns a successful business. He's a presenter on Better Homes."
"He's also the deviant I caught cavorting with a girl in my front yard. Naked!"
Hannah remembered the incident. Vera had called the police and turned the hose on the unfortunate pair. "That was years ago. He can't have been more than seventeen. He's an adult now."
Vera pursed her lips. "He hasn't changed. Didn't he get arrested with that trashy singer, Marla something?"
"She was arrested, not him."
"If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas."
Furious arguments rose to Hannah's lips, but Vera dismissed her before she could get a word in. Maybe it was for the best. The way she was feeling, she would have given her manager a verbal blast and almost certainly been fired.
But a few minutes later, as she was driving home, she thumped the steering wheel and muttered a few choice words under her breath. She wasn't surprised at Vera criticizing her anymore, but she hated that the mean-spirited woman still held a grudge against Derek.
He's an adult now. The words she'd used to defend him came back to nag at her. Yes, Derek was an adult now. He wasn't the teenager she used to know. She could see that now.
She blew out a breath, trepidation dancing along her veins as she contemplated how much of a man he was. He was mature but still retained a cheekiness. Look how he'd showed off his dancing to her last night, and egged her on to let her hair down. If they'd been alone, she might even have tried to twerk … God, what was she thinking? She was so not going to twerk for Derek Carmichael.
She forced her mind to other, more important, matters. She had contacted the owner of the house Caleb had told her about, and he had told her to pick up the key from the agent so she could inspect the place. Now that she had finished work for the day, she had a couple of hours to get the key, visit the house, and return to the realty office before it shut.
Half an hour later, she had the key and had pulled into the driveway of the house in question. The large property sat on a quiet street. The front yard was overgrown, with long grass and thick bushes. The house was tiny, a cute cottage looking a bit worse for wear but with no serious structural damage.
She explored the house and liked what she found. The inside was musty and tired, but it just needed a good clean, lots of paint, and airing out. In the kitchen, some of the shelves were loose and broken. Maybe Caleb could fix those for her. Derek would be even better at it, seeing as he was a carpenter.
But she wasn't going to call him, though both he and Caleb were expecting her to. He would be the perfect person to help her, but it was a bad idea to purposely spend more time with Derek. Not while he still had such a hold over her. Just look at what he'd done to her last night with a few minutes of dancing, and that had been with Caleb nearby. If she was alone with him here for hours and hours … God knows what crazy things she'd do.
No, better to play it safe and avoid him.
Derek placed the packet of nails on the sales counter of the hardware store and reached in his back pocket for his wallet.
"Hey, Derek. Nice to see you again." Amber beamed at him as she rang up his purchase. "Is that all for today?"
"Yes, thanks."
Amber slanted her eyes at him. "Hannah was here just half an hour ago."
"Yeah?" He hadn't seen Hannah for a couple of days, and he hated to admit it, but he missed her. He had spent his time doing repairs around his grandpa's house and searching for a suitable care assistant, but all the while he had thought about Hannah and wondered when he'd see her again.
"Mm-hmm. Bought some paint and brushes. Said she was starting on her new house."
"What?" Derek exclaimed. "She's got the house already?"
"Yup. I'd help her, but I'm short-staffed at the moment."
"Crap. She was supposed to call me for help." Somehow that stung.
"I asked her if she was going to get you to lend a hand, and she just muttered something unintelligible." Amber cocked her head to one side. "Is everything okay between you two?"
Derek didn't know how to answer. Amber was the only person who knew about him and Hannah spending the night together, and most likely she also knew that Hannah didn't want a repeat. But he hated the fact that Hannah hadn't called him because of that one-night stand. Because she was embarrassed? Well, that was too bad. He wanted to help her, he'd promised Caleb he'd help her, and help her he would.
"Everything's fine." He shoved the spare change into his pocket and scooped up the packet of nails. "Thanks. I'll get out to Hannah's right away."
He was halfway to the door when Amber called after him, "I have her address if you need it."
Shaking his head, he returned to the counter. "I'm getting ahead of myself."
"Aw, it's nice to see you so enthusiastic." Amber scribbled the address on a piece of paper and slid it toward him. "Tell her to thank me."
He nodded his thanks and headed out again.
It didn't take him long to find Hannah's future home. It sat on the edge of town, a small cottage almost lost in the wilderness of an overgrown garden. Derek parked his car at the curb, got out, and swung open the rickety front gate. Hannah was standing on the jungle of front lawn with her back to him, gazing at the house. At the squeak of the gate, she spun around.
Derek's chest constricted as his greedy gaze slid over her. Tattered blue jeans, scuffed sneakers, loose T-shirt half sliding off one shoulder. Honey-streaked hair caught up in a casual ponytail. He drank in his fill. Only Hannah could look so girl-next-door wholesome and hot-damn sexy at the same time. His body stirred. He wanted to scoop her in his arms and press his lips to that bare shoulder of hers.
"Oh." Her brows lowered. "How did you … "
"I spoke with Amber. You were supposed to call me." He couldn't help sounding slightly accusing.
"I didn't realize I was supposed to do anything." She blew out a breath, drawing his attention to her lips. Goddammit, she had a hold on him.
"Well, I'm here now." And he wasn't going anywhere. He could be just as stubborn as she.
Her face softened. "Sorry. I didn't mean to sound so churlish. How are you with wasps?"
"Wasps? Where are they?"
She gestured at the house. "There are two nests right above those windows and I can't open them without getting a room full of angry insects." She pointed at a broom half hidden in the long grass. "I've been psyching myself up to knock off those nests, but now that you're here … " She looked back at him and smiled. "I know you're not allergic to wasp stings. Not after you got stung raiding Mrs. Hickson's pear trees."
"Huh. You remember." What he remembered most from that incident was him lying on his stomach in the Willmetts' bathroom while Hannah soothed the stings on his back with ice. That had more than made up for his grandfather's lecture and having to work in Mrs. Hickson's garden as payment for all the prized Asian pears he'd eaten. "So you're glad I turned up, hmm?"
"I guess so."
"Even though you didn't call me on purpose."
"I haven't hurt your ego, have I, trying to do something on my own?"
"Yeah. My manly ego is crushed."
She waved at the house. "Well, you can restore your manly ego by crushing those nests."
He hefted up the broom and gripped it firmly, making his biceps pop against the sleeves of his T-shirt. "How's my manliness looking now?"
"Just awesome." Pressing the back of her hand to her forehead, she pretended to swoon before she gave him the thumbs-up. "You want me to film this and upload it to YouTube? I can see the title already. ‘Celebrity carpenter Derek Carmichael gets rid of pesky wasps with one killer blow.'"
"Uh, no filming, just in case you get ‘Celebrity carpenter Derek Carmichael gets his ass kicked by angry wasps.'"
"Oh, I don't want you getting hurt. Maybe I should call an exterminator."