by M. Stratton
Finally, his lips captured hers. With his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, she gave in and allowed herself to feel. There was nothing else she could do. He possessed her, and she willingly allowed him to.
The week flew by much too quickly for Hannah. While neither of them gave in to being intimate, they enjoyed teasing each other. They spent their days hiking, or taking tours of the canyon, by either horseback or jeep. There never seemed to be enough hours in the day to talk, or simply enjoy the quiet together.
One of the things she learned about Royce was his love of reading. She didn’t have to feel guilty about having her nose in a book whenever there was free time because he’d be right there reading along with her. They spent hours discussing different books and authors, and her to-be-read list grew to an almost unobtainable amount.
As Hannah opened the door to Lissa’s house, she knew it was all coming to an end. He was leaving the next day to start shooting another movie, and she was leaving the day after, heading to London to help Lissa. This was it until they began filming the sequel to the superhero movie both Royce and Will were in. She wondered how it would be, being able to spend a couple of months with him; she just had to get through the next seven weeks.
“It will go by quicker than you think,” Royce whispered in her ear as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“How did you know what I was thinking about?”
“Please . . .”
Hannah sighed. “How can you see through me so easily while others can’t?”
“Simple, because you matter to me. Besides the people who are close to you, the rest will only see what they want to see. They don’t dig below the surface. I see the little things you do that tell me if you are happy, or sad, anxious or angry.” He pulled her in closer. “Besides, how else would I know if a random pillow was going to be thrown at my head?”
“I could change that to something heavier you know.”
“No you wouldn’t. For some reason, you’re crazy about me.”
“The crazy part is right.” She sighed. “Really, what are we doing?”
Royce turned her around in his arms. “Hannah, my lovely Hannah, we’re two flawed humans who are doing their best to battle their demons, to keep them at bay, while building a future together.”
“Do we have enough to build a future on? We haven’t known each other that long. We have spent some time together, and that night in London, but what if—”
“Shhh . . . listen to me.” He brushed his hand over her hair. “Get those thoughts out of your head. You know sometimes all it takes is one meeting. Hell, look at Will and Lissa. Yeah, they knew about each other before they met, but I’m willing to bet they fell in love over lunch that first day. And while we aren’t them, they are both more romantic and happily ever after than us, that doesn’t mean we aren’t allowed to fall in love quickly.” He tipped her chin up. “Give me a chance. Give us a chance. We’ll find our way. We’ll build our own happily ever after.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“It is. You trust me, right?”
Hannah didn’t even have to think about it. She did. After Marc, she’d honed her skills on reading people, knowing it could be the difference between life and death. Of course, looking back, she saw all the signs flashing neon with Marc. Royce had none of those. Because she’d had a crush on him for so long, she’d always read everything she found on him. Basically, she’d been doing her research on him for years before she ever had the opportunity to meet him. “Yes, yes, I trust you.”
“Then that is where we start.”
“I’m scared.”
“Of course you are, so am I. But if something is worth it, no matter how scary, you give it your all. Because when you finally get what you’ve been wishing for, then, my love, it’s spectacular.”
Hannah lay her head on his chest and held on tightly, wishing with everything she had he was right.
As soon as Royce’s car pulled out of the driveway, he was on the phone setting up to pay a visit to Marc Clark. He was going to make sure the asshole never bothered Hannah again and if he tried to after he was released, well, he’d wish he was back in prison.
He’d done his research and spoken with his lawyer, gathering all the information he could. He didn’t want to be blindsided when the bastard was released, because it was coming. He was sure Hannah knew, but was either blocking it out, or trying to keep how worried she was from him, but sometime in the next three months, Marc Clark was going to be a free man.
Pulling up a familiar number, he pushed the button to connect the call. “Will, buddy, we have to talk about these women of ours.”
January
“So tell me everything,” Lissa said as she helped Hannah unpack.
She looked out of the corner of her eye at Lissa. “Why should I? I’m sure you already know.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lissa frowned at her.
“Come on, someone had to give Royce a key to the house.”
“I believe it was the security team.”
Hannah crossed her arms over her chest. “And who gave the security team authorization to do that?”
“Well, they know Royce and Will are friends, and of course, the four of us spent time together recently in London. They are supposed to keep up-to-date on everything we do, and who we are with. They just know.”
“Are you going to keep grasping at straws or are you going to fess up?”
“Well, it depends.”
“Depends on what?”
“How pissed off you are at me.” Lissa grinned at her.
“Your timing could have been better. He walked in on me while I was beating the memory of my nightmare away.”
Lissa’s grinning and teasing vanished. “Shit.”
“Yeah.” Hannah crossed over and sat down on the bed. “It was a little rough for a bit, but it all worked out.”
“So . . . you talked it all out?”
“Yes, we talked.”
“And that was it?”
“Yes, Mom, that was it.”
“Boring,” Lissa sing-songed.
“Anyway, we talked and we’re going to take it slowly, like the mature adults we are.”
Lissa’s mouth hung open and she blinked at Hannah before they both busted up laughing.
“Okay, okay, we’re adults. I’ll leave out the mature part.”
“Good.” Lissa laughed. “Because, I can’t picture the mature part.”
“Shut it.”
The two friends smiled at each other. “I really missed you.”
“Yeah, sure,” Hannah waved her off. “You and Mr. Panty-Melter probably lay naked in front of the fire while he quoted more Shakespeare to you.”
“Well . . . yeah . . . but still, we couldn’t do that the whole time you were gone.”
“Blah. Seriously, what did you do while I was gone? Anything I need to take care of?”
“Well, when the Panty-Melter wasn’t getting into my panties, I wrote. Besides, you spent the whole day traveling. You’ve only been here for an hour. I think anything I may need can wait until tomorrow or the next day. Let your system adjust to London time.”
“I need to stay busy.” Hannah started to panic. She was afraid Lissa wasn’t going to let her fill her days and nights up with work.
“Boy, do I understand what that’s like, but you are going to do a better job than I did.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Do I really need to spell it out? Things are going to be status quo . . . we go about normal business, nothing extra.”
“Come on, Lis. Throw me a bone, something. There is no way I can have that much free time.”
“Look at it this way; you can catch up on your reading.”
Reading wasn’t going to cut it. Every story she read, she saw Royce as the hero. Hannah narrowed her eyes at Lissa, her mind whirling. She knew she had to be smarter than her friend and somehow sneak arou
nd. There was no way she was going to be relaxing on this trip. She needed to make sure time flew.
Lissa and Will were in their bedroom, lying in bed together at the end of the day. She propped her chin on Will’s chest. “I’m worried about Hannah.”
“Darling, she just arrived.”
“Yes, but I know her. She’s not going to take any time off and is going to overdo it.”
“Like someone else we know.”
“Hey.” Lissa tickled his side. “I’ve learned my lesson.”
“Sure you have.”
“Anyway, I think I’m going to talk to Beau about helping us keep an eye on her and making sure she doesn’t go overboard. She’s going to come up with some brilliant plan and keep it from me, but spend her extra time working on it so she doesn’t have to dwell on Royce. I’ll guarantee that.”
“As you well know.”
Lissa nipped at his chest. “Stop it. We aren’t talking about me.”
“Yes, dear.”
“William . . .”
“Melissa . . .”
She sighed. “Seriously, we need to keep her on her game. At some point in the next three months, Marc is going to be released. Just because he can’t travel outside the United States, doesn’t mean he won’t. I can’t lose her.” Her voice broke on the last word.
Will sat up and pulled her onto his lap. “Darling, I know. We’ve already increased the security around the house and on set. We’ve hired extra help, and you’ve gone through them all with a fine-tooth comb making sure none had any connection to Marc. While everyone is over here, there is more security being added to your house and we’re already looking for the perfect property to rent for the next movie. We’re being as proactive as we can be.”
“You weren’t there the last time. I don’t know how she managed to survive. Most people wouldn’t. They would have given up.” Lissa stared off as she absently laced and unlaced her fingers with his. “I never liked Marc. I never trusted him, but she loved him, so I pushed my feelings aside. It was my fault it happened.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“I feel like it was. I was the one who gave her the trip to Las Vegas. I was starting to bring in a lot of money and wanted to do something special for her. She’d been working so hard for me with little or no money. She believed in me and I wanted to spoil her. A fun girls’ trip. He didn’t see it that way. Since I was single, he assumed we’d be chasing after men. I mean, come on; there is no one more loyal than Hannah, and me . . . ? I enjoy people watching more than actually interacting with them.”
“Darling, it wasn’t your fault. He is totally to blame for his actions. If it hadn’t been the trip, it would have been something else. It was just a matter of time.”
“My head knows that, my heart says something different. I remember getting the phone call, but not how I got to the hospital. I have no idea how long I sat there waiting to hear if she’d live or die. Finally, they let me see her.” She leaned her head against his chest. “It was . . . worse than anything I could come up with in a book, well, maybe not, but you know, seeing it in person, real life . . . Anyway, that was when she moved in with me. I helped her get back on her feet and I kept writing. Every man I killed in a book was him. I wanted him to suffer like she had. I wanted revenge for her so badly I could taste it.”
Will rubbed her back. “It’s only natural.”
“After the bastard went to jail, we took self-defense classes. Over and over we took them until it was all second nature. Slowly, we rebuilt, and she healed, as much as she could. See, that bastard chipped away at her. She didn’t think she should be able to have her happily ever after.” She pulled away and looked Will in the eye. “But she does, my God, Will, if there is anyone who deserves a happily ever after, it’s Hannah. We have to keep her safe.”
“You have my word. We’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe.”
“Thank you.” Lissa rested her head back on his chest knowing she could trust him without another thought. She hated reliving Hannah’s attack; even after all of this time, she couldn’t imagine what Hannah felt or what she was going though. The next seven weeks were going to be long for her and she had to do whatever it took to make sure Hannah took care of herself and didn’t miss Royce too much.
“Beau, I’ve got this, really, you don’t have to stay.” Hannah glared at Will’s assistant and the man who had become a friend to her. Since Will and Lissa had become a couple, she and Beau had been thrown together, trying to keep both of their employers happy, and together as much as possible. Thankfully, they got along and Beau felt more like a brother, one who she could talk to about anything.
“But, dear, it will go quicker if I help.” He smiled at her.
“I. Don’t. Need. Your. Help.” Hannah was tired of everyone following her around making sure she wasn’t doing any more than her assigned jobs. She wasn’t sleeping well and she was missing Royce something fierce.
“Come now, tell Uncle Beau what’s bothering you. It can’t be that bad.”
Hannah sighed and started to shut down her computer.
“Where are you going? I thought I was going to help you?”
“I’m going to go somewhere where I can be by myself. You know, alone.”
“Don’t be like that.” Beau reached out and stopped her. “I’m serious. Let me help you.”
“I can’t tell you what’s wrong because I don’t know what’s wrong.” She threw her hands up in the air and let them drop. “It seems like every time I turn around someone is right there with me. I never have any time to myself. Lissa won’t allow me to work these other projects I want to. This movie is taking longer than it should to finish. It’s been one thing after another.”
“And you miss Royce.”
“Yes, dammit, I miss him.”
“Oh, honey, come here.” Beau opened his arms wide and Hannah went into them. “These things happen. You’ll be seeing him again before you know it. I know you don’t like to admit you might actually need help, but you know we’re all here for you. And Lissa has been exactly where you’ve been. She’d be a good one to lean on.”
“But I can’t lean on her.” Hannah pulled away from him and started pacing. “See, I’m a planner. I have to plan everything. I think and think and think, come up with every different scenario, and the ones I am coming up with . . . my life is going to change so much.”
“Of course it is. It can’t stay the same way forever.”
“You know what happened to me, right?” She waited for his nod. “Well, Lissa has done so much for me. I can’t abandon her, and that’s what is going to happen.”
Beau sat down in a chair and crossed his legs. “You can’t be naïve enough to believe she doesn’t already know that, or that she expects you to stay.”
“No.” Hannah sighed and sat down in the chair next to him. “I’ve been thinking, even if it doesn’t work out between Royce and I, well, things are going to change. Lissa and Will are going to get married. She’s going to continue to write books; he’ll continue to star in movies. They’ll have kids, do family stuff. Do I spend the rest of my life following behind them? Not having something of my own?”
“You know the answer to that question. You don’t need me to answer it. Do you resent Lissa?”
“Resent? Oh, no, never. I’m so happy for her. Finally, she’s getting everything she dreamed of, and then some. No, she totally deserves it. But how happy will I be?”
“What do you want?”
She frowned at him. “I’m not sure.”
“Yes, you are. You aren’t ready to admit it to yourself. That’s the difference.”
“How’d you get to be so smart?”
“Oh, I’ve always been a genius; in fact, I come from a long line of them. How do you think I’m able to keep the great and wonderful William Martinsson in line?”
Hannah laughed. “Yeah, I see how well that goes.”
Beau chuckled. “He’s so bloody polite. It’s hard no
t to let him run amok once in a while. It makes him happy, and Lord knows the fans are ecstatic.”
“Seriously, what should I do?”
“As Will would say, ‘You only have one life. Don’t spend it all on the negative. Do what makes you happy and in turn, you will make others happy.’”
“Hmm . . . how’d he get to be so smart?”
“Oh, he’s even smarter than me, the bloody bastard.”
“Who pissed in your cereal this morning?”
“What do you mean?” Hannah asked Royce. They were on their usual she-just-woke-up and he’s-getting-ready-for-bed call.
“You’ve got that thing going on between your eyebrows.”
She rubbed at the place he indicated and knew she was scowling. She hadn’t slept well, and when she woke and looked outside, it was raining, again. Cold and wet, they needed the sun to come out to film the final scenes for the movie. At this rate, they might be done by July.
“It’s all this stinking rain. And it’s so cold; I can’t ever seem to get warm.”
“Oh, honey, if you’re looking to get warm, I’m your man.” He smirked.
“Ha! If only you weren’t thousands of miles away.”
“I can hop on a plane, be there,” he checked his watch, “in approximately ten hours.”
Hannah sighed and touched his face on the screen. “I wish, but it’s a waste of time and money. If the weather would clear, we could be out of here in a few days. Besides, you’re in the final days of your shoot, too. No, we’ll be together soon enough.”
“Not soon enough for me.”
“Not helping.”
“This time I wasn’t trying to help.”
“Ass.”
“Yeah, but I’m your ass.” He grinned at her.
“You actually do have a nice ass.”
