You're Dangerous

by Casey McMillin

  Hannah could not figure out what Taylor was talking about. Her first thought was that it was the owner, who'd come by once already that morning to check on the progress of the boards.

  Then suddenly, Hannah's eyes got wide at the person who walked up behind Taylor. She then understood what Taylor meant about the breath mint. It was Jason Lane and he was as gorgeous as ever. There he was, looking larger than life when Hannah most likely looked like a chimney sweep, only with colored chalk—not that she would know what she looked like since she'd barely even glanced in a mirror for the last two days.

  Jason was honestly the last person she expected to see. He smiled from over Taylor's shoulder, and she moved in front of him, in a vain attempt to block his view.

  He smiled down at Taylor. "She wants to see me, don't you, Hannah?" He looked at Hannah with an easy smile. "Tell her you want to see me."

  Hannah could do nothing but nod.

  "See?" he said to Taylor. He turned and slid sideways through the doorway then walked over to where Hannah was sitting cross-legged.

  Hannah gave Taylor a thankful wave, and Taylor smiled before heading back downstairs. She turned back to Hannah and acted like she just remembered to tell her something.

  "Matt wants to come to the movies with us tomorrow night. He has to work, but he really wants to see it, so he's trying to get the night off."

  "Oh cool, tell him to call Anne. I think she's trying to pick up shifts," Hannah said.

  Hannah already knew that Matt wanted to go to the movies with them, and Taylor knew she knew. Taylor was just wonderful enough to say something like that to make it seem like Hannah had her own things going in front of the millionaire heartthrob, and Hannah wanted to kiss her for it. (Just on the cheek, and not like Jason was thinking, though.) Jason cleared his throat, and Taylor smiled at Hannah before leaving for real that time.

  Hannah looked up at him once Taylor was out of sight. She gave him a sweet, curious expression. "What are you doing here?" She glanced at a nonexistent watch on her wrist. "You're like more than twelve hours early for your coffee."

  "These look amazing," he said, ignoring the question. He gestured to the board that was on the floor in front of her. "I saw the ones downstairs already. They're really good, Hannah. How much is he paying you for this?"

  She cocked her head at him. "He's paying me what he always pays me," she said.

  "You mean you're just making minimum wage up here?"

  She made a slightly offended face. "I'm not doing anything harder than when I have to wash all the dishes by myself on a busy night," she said. "That's way worse than listening to music while I doodle, and I do that for minimum wage."

  He stooped down beside her. "What time do you get off?" he asked.

  She stretched her neck from side to side, wondering how much more she could handle. She'd already been up there eight hours, and had done way more than that the day before.

  "I want to try to finish this one before I leave," she said. "It'll probably be an hour, maybe a little more."

  "Can I give you a ride home?"

  "Oh, it's okay. I'll probably be a while, and I'll want to eat before I go home anyway." She stretched again, straightening her back and lifting her arms into the air as she smiled up at him.

  Jason studied her. He normally didn't have trouble getting girls to agree to a ride home, and her elusiveness intrigued him.

  "Do you walk to and from work every time?" he asked.

  "It's just down the street, remember?"

  "Yeah, but what if it's raining or cold or whatever."

  "Well, I haven't been here long enough to experience winter, but I'm sure that'll suck if I don't have my car by then. As far as the rain goes, I usually just bring an umbrella. It's no big deal. Either that, or Sam comes to get me."

  Jason didn't say anything about Sam even though he felt a swell of annoyance at the mention of a guy coming to pick her up when she needed a ride. He stared down at her. Her eyes were as black as midnight and she had her hair tied back in a scarf to keep it out of her face while she worked. He wondered if he could actually be this drawn to her or if it was just the fact that she didn't seem to want to give him the time of day.

  "Do you want to hang out when you finish up?" Jason asked, gesturing down to the chalkboard.

  Hannah regarded him with a smile that looked slightly regretful. She let out a sigh before speaking, and when she did, her voice came out soft and vulnerable. "I mean, I like that you're here and everything, and I think you're probably one of the most beautiful looking people I've ever seen in my life, but, uh, I just don't really know what you're expecting to happen between us."

  "What do you mean? I'm not expecting anything," he said. "I just like your art and I think you're cool and I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out when you're done here."

  "You mean just hang out? Just like friends?"

  "No, Hannah, I don't mean hang out just like friends."

  She shot him a skeptical, slightly frustrated look. "Okay, see now this is what I'm talking about," she said. Her expression shifted to pleading, like she shouldn't have to be explaining this. "I know you're with a lot of girls, including the ones from last night, and I'm just not really at that level, you know? I'm just a regular girl with barely any experience with anything." She cringed and shrugged a little. "I know I should have probably thought of this before I drew on the bottom of your cup, but I think I might have bitten off more than I can chew when I flirted with you." She smiled shyly. "I honestly didn't think it would work."

  He adjusted, sitting down beside her and putting his arm around his knee. "So, you're trying to take back the flirting?" he asked. "You regret ever flirting with me in the first place?"

  She giggled. "I mean, I guess that’s what it boils down to, but it sounds so funny when you put it like that."

  "Well, it's too late," he said.

  "Huh?"

  "It's too late. You flirted, and now it's too late to take it back."

  She laughed. "Oh really? So what happens now?"

  "Now I get to flirt back," he said. His voice was soft and Hannah wanted to melt. Her body seriously felt like it was in danger of literally melting—all warm and gooey. She pictured herself turning into a big puddle on the floor with two eyeballs. She let out a little laugh at the thought. "You're dangerous," she said, still giggling.

  He stared into the depths of her inky black eyes. "I think you're the one who's dangerous." He was silent for a second before saying, "I need to let you get back to work."

  "If you changed your mind about the ride, I'll grab a bite to eat and wait for you."

  "You're really sweet for offering, but I don't know how long I'll be and I don't want you to have to wait around."

  Jason shrugged. "I'm not gonna beg, but I should warn you that I'm not easily discouraged."

  He reached in and barely kissed her on the cheek before he stood up. It was just a split second kiss on the cheek, for crying out loud, but the feel of his mouth on her face, and the smell of him made Hannah crazy with desire. She wanted to just pounce on him even though she didn't know what the hell she was doing.

  Instead she just gave him an unaffected smile. He smiled back as he stood to leave, and she watched as he turned for the door.

  ****

  Hannah got to work before seven the next morning. She wasn't getting pressure to get the job done fast, she was just the type of person who liked to complete a task once she'd started it. If it were up to her, she would have had them all done in one day, but it had been way too big of an undertaking for that.

  Taylor had to work downstairs at eight, and she went to see Hannah when she got there. "Nothing told me you were up here already," Taylor said, peeking around the doorway into the room where Hannah was set up. "Why'd you come in so early?"

  "This is my last one," Hannah said. "I'm just ready to get them done. I have the next two days off, so as soon as I can get it done, I'm finished for three days."

&nbs
p; "It looks like you're moving along on this one," Taylor said.

  "I am. It's going faster now that I'm learning how to use the chalk."

  "Matt can't make it tonight, and I got a call from a girl at my other job asking if I could cover for her."

  "That's okay," Hannah said. "It just started playing, so we'll have time to catch it before it leaves the theater. Hey, did I tell you Michael's selling me the Sentra?"

  "I heard about that," Taylor said. "That's a great deal."

  "I know. I'm excited. He said I could probably come pick it up in the next few days. Insurance isn't going to be as much as I thought, either."

  "That's awesome." Taylor gave her a big smile. "I better go help Nothing," she said. " You should come down and get some coffee before we get busy."

  "I will," Hannah said. Then she remembered. "Oh, can I ask you a big favor?"

  "Sure, what's up?"

  "I need you to put this on the bottom of Jason's coffee cup when he comes in later." Hannah reached for her bag and pulled out the cup she'd drawn on the night before. It was a picture of the two of them sitting on the floor with the chalkboard in front of them. They were pictured from behind, but you could clearly see who it was by the outline of their backs—Jason's shaggy hair and Hannah's do-rag were dead giveaways.

  Taylor's eyebrows rose when she looked down at the drawing. "Is something going on between you two?" she asked.

  Hannah laughed. "I don't know. Maybe the tiniest little spark of something. I think we might be feeling each other out a little bit. He's used to calling the shots and I'm making it harder on him than most girls, I think."

  "Hannah Garrison from Sparta making Jason Lane work," Taylor said.

  Hannah laughed again. "It's probably more about the fact that I'm scared to death of letting myself fall for a guy like him. I'm not exactly, umm—"

  "Oh stop," Taylor said. "You know what a rockstar you are."

  Hannah hadn't been fishing for the compliment. She was actually scared of him. She decided not to think about the impending doom of whatever relationship might or might not be in the works.

  "He won't be expecting it because I'm not working down there," she said out of nowhere, "so hopefully he won't even see it till he's gone. Don't force it. If you can't get it on there without anyone noticing, just don't worry about it."

  "Doesn't he know you're up here?" Taylor asked. "He was up here last night."

  Hannah hadn't even thought about that. "I don't think we have enough going on right now for him to come hunt me down again. It's like I said, we're just feeling each other out."

  "What if he asks? Do you want me to tell him you're up here?"

  "I guess you can, but I really don't think he will. He's usually in and out when he comes in the morning."

  Taylor took the cup and headed for the stairs.

  Hannah didn't come down for coffee—she was just never at a point where she wanted to stop, and besides pausing to stretch and rub her neck, she worked relentlessly.

  Jason came in the front door at five minutes after nine. Taylor was nervous about her secret mission, and she had been looking for him to come in for thirty minutes before he got there. She wanted to be smooth for her friend, and she hoped for the best with her ninja cup-sneaking skills. She told Nothing she'd take care of making Jason's Americano, and smoothly double cupped it with the drawn-on one Hannah had given her.

  Chapter 12

  Jason paid for his coffee and stood there to wait for it. Hannah's friend Taylor was working at the espresso machine, along with the atheist.

  "What are you seeing tonight?" he asked.

  Taylor hadn't expected him to speak to her, and she was already jumpy with the cup thing. "What was that?" she asked, leaning forward and pretending she hadn't heard him.

  "You said you were seeing a movie tonight," he said. "I was just asking what movie."

  "Oh, we were seeing a movie called Shameless that's playing at the Bijou, but Matt couldn't get off, and I got called in to work at my other job."

  "That's too bad. I heard it was good."

  "Me too," she said. She put the coffee onto the counter in front of him with considerable casualness. "Thanks," she said. "I guess we'll see you at the same time tomorrow."

  Jason grabbed the coffee cup, and in one motion, he gently lifted it far enough into the air to see the bottom.

  "No, no, no, no, what are you doing? You're not supposed to—" Taylor was reaching over the counter, trying to get him to put the cup down. He dodged her attempt to stop him, and instead, pulled the drawn-on cup from the outside so he could turn it over and get a good look at it.

  By this time, Taylor was a nervous wreck, and had left her spot at the espresso machine to come around the corner and stop him.

  "Where is she?" he asked, easily evading her efforts. "Is she here?"

  Taylor shrugged stubbornly.

  "Well this happened last night," he said, pointing at the scene on the cup, "so she must have given it to you today."

  Taylor shrugged again. She hated being caught.

  "Is she upstairs?" he asked.

  Taylor didn't respond, and Jason took that as confirmation. He slid the cup back into place and took his coffee with him as he went up the stairs. There was nothing Taylor could do to stop him. She had to get back to making coffee because the orders were starting to back up and Nothing was grumbling about the fact that she'd walked away in the first place.

  Jason stood in the doorway and watched Hannah for a few minutes as she drew. Her back was turned, and she never heard him or glanced toward the door.

  "I got your cup," he said, finally.

  She jumped and gasped, grabbing at her chest as she turned. "What? Oh my God, are you serious? What happened? I told her to sneak it on there."

  "She was extremely sneaky," he said. "Other than the fact that she used two cups instead of that little sleeve thing."

  "Oh, gosh. Did you just look at it straight away when she handed it to you?"

  "Yes I did."

  Hannah covered her face and laughed, imagining the sight. "What did she do?"

  "She came around the counter trying to stop me."

  Hannah continued laughing, thinking about her poor friend. Jason put his coffee onto the floor and crossed over to where she was sitting on the floor. When he reached her, he stuck out his hand to help her stand up. She put her hand in his, and he pulled on it, lifting her until she was standing. She let out a little gasp as he wrapped an arm around her back and pulled her into his arms.

  "You're gonna have to put your money where your mouth is," he said.

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "It means, if you're gonna keep drawing me pictures, I'm gonna start thinking you like me."

  "How could I not like you?" she whispered. Her eyes locked with his, and she felt herself giving into the urge to feel some hope that things might work out.

  "Let me take you out," he said.

  "Like on a date?"

  "Yeah, on a date. I know your little movie plans got canceled. When do you get off work?"

  "You mean today? I'm not really on the clock. I just have to finish up with this board and then I'm off for the next two days."

  "Will you go somewhere with me tonight?"

  "I guess I could handle that."

  "I'll pick you up at five then."

  She pulled back. "I hope I can be finished by then."

  "I believe in you."

  "Where are you taking me?"

  "You'll see."

  ****

  Jason got to Hannah's apartment just before five o'clock that afternoon. He was wearing cargo shorts, sandals and a T-shirt, and Hannah caught herself feeling relieved that whatever they were doing didn't include fanciness. She stared at him wondering how was it possible for anyone to look so scrumptious.

  "Did you finish?" he asked.

  It took her a second to realize he was talking about the chalkboards. "Definitely," she said. "I was done at
about two o'clock. It took so much longer than I thought it would. I'm just glad to have it done. I see chalk letters when I close my eyes."

  "You said you're off for a couple of days," he said. "Why don't you grab a bag and throw some stuff in it just in case you decide to spend the night away from home tonight."

  She looked up at him like he must be joking.

  "I'm not kidding. I think you should be prepared just in case."

  "Jason, this is exactly what I was talking about earlier. You can't just think I'll be okay with shacking up with you on the first date." She wanted more than anything in the world to shack up with him, but she knew she had nothing to offer him in that department. She figured being elusive was her best option.

  "Just go get some clothes, Hannah."

  She was stunned by his bluntness, and obeyed without further argument. "Are you kidding me right now?" she mumbled. The question was directed at herself since she couldn't believe she was doing something she knew would get her into huge trouble. No matter how dumb the idea was, Hannah just couldn't stop herself. She went into her bedroom and threw some clothes into a bag before coming back into the living room where Jason was waiting for her.

  They got into his car, and he drove them a little ways out of town. The sign at the driveway they eventually pulled into said they were entering a yacht and country club. He parked near the marina.

  "Is it safe to assume there's a boat involved in this little excursion, or is there a restaurant here?"

  "There is a restaurant, but we're just getting takeout," he said. "And, yes, we're getting on a boat."

  "I should have known you'd have a boat."

  "My dad has a boat," Jason said, "but I bring it out more than he does."

  They got out of the car, and Jason grabbed their bags from the trunk. "I'm bringing them just in case. There's no pressure, but it's better than having to come back to the marina if we change our minds."

  "You mean we can spend the night out on the lake or river or whatever this is?"

  "Of course—if we decide to. And it's a River—the Cumberland." He smiled at her, thinking he couldn't imagine anyone ever looking cuter than she did right then.