Runaway Heart (A Game of Hearts #2)

by Sonya Loveday

  I sensed Hannah’s reservations.

  “Umm… I don’t think—”

  “Of course she does. We had nothing else planned for tonight,” the girl Charlotte cut in. “Come inside when you’re done, Hannah. I’ll hold your seat for you.” She wasn’t giving Hannah the chance to back out.

  I secretly wanted to thank her.

  “Fine,” Hannah relented, not really getting a choice in the matter. Her shoulders relaxed as soon as they walked away.

  “What brings ye to London?” I asked, absorbing every detail of her face like it would be the last time I’d ever see it.

  “I thought you didn’t live in London?” she blurted.

  “I don’t. Sorry to see me then?” I let go of her arms. Maybe I’d read her wrong. Maybe she wasn’t happy to see me. Maybe the tears in her eyes were from the bitter wind and nothing more.

  Her hand rubbed at the back of her neck. “No… just surprised. I wasn’t expecting… I didn’t think—” She hugged her arms, tucking her hands under her armpits as she stomped her feet.

  “Ye’re wearing rain boots? Your feet have to be freezing, love,” I said, pulling her against me.

  She let me hold her briefly before pulling back. “Is this as awkward for you as it is for me?”

  I thought about it for a second and shook my head. Awkward? No. There was nothing awkward about having her close again. Close enough to touch. Close enough she could no longer haunt my dreams because she was real and wouldn’t shift back into a mist that would hang over me.

  “I’m really happy to see ye again. I’d wondered about ye. How you were doing. What you were doing. Haven’t thought of much else to be honest,” I said, putting my arm around her shoulders. “Now, how about I get ye inside to warm up and then ye can tell me what brings ye to London?”

  “HOW EXACTLY DOES THIS TOURNAMENT work?” Violet asked as she leaned a little closer to Cherry.

  “We knock bitches down and win, or that’s the plan anyway,” Cherry answered, gripping her pint.

  After getting Hannah inside, I’d kept her close, putting my arm over the back of her chair. My fingers played with the ends of her hair. I couldn’t help it, having her so close made keeping my hands off her impossible.

  It took Hannah a while to settle in and stop fidgeting. I’d ordered her a pint and she downed it like a sailor come home from sea, so I ordered her another one. Two pints later, she was laughing along with the girls and seemed to be enjoying herself.

  The conversation remained light until Cherry asked, “So, Hannah, tell us the story of how you and Ed met.”

  “At a friend’s wedding,” I answered.

  “Through mutual friends,” Hannah said at the same time.

  “Rum Cay?” Charlie asked, eyes twinkling.

  Hannah’s forehead creased at Charlie. “How does he—?”

  “I knew you were the English guy,” Charlotte squeaked as the table shuddered underneath our glasses.

  “Ah, so you’ve heard about me?” I moved my arm from around Hannah and leaned forward, interested to hear more.

  Cherry rolled her eyes. “Maybe Charlotte has, but I haven’t. Hannah hasn’t said much about her trip. She’s just been pining about like some sad, little pup—”

  Cherry grunted a second later as she reached under the table to rub at something with a scowl directed at Hannah.

  Twin patches of red blazed along Hannah’s cheeks. It was clearly unraveling her.

  I couldn’t help but take advantage.

  “You didn’t tell her about our interesting first night together? I’m wounded, love.” I gave her a wink.

  “Don’t you dare,” she hissed back at me in warning.

  I knew she was ready to either bolt or hide under the table to dodge the pressure for details coming from her teammates.

  Hannah needed a good laugh, and I was just the one to give it to her.

  “Did Hannah tell you where we stayed the night before the wedding?” I asked my captive audience.

  “AND THERE I WAS WRAPPED up like today’s fresh catch. In my own hammock!” I said, as Cherry slapped the table with contagious laughter.

  “I was sleep walking!” Hannah defensively interjected, making those around us laugh even harder.

  “You made a good first impression, love,” I said, giving her a slight shrug as if to say, Well, it was the best I could come up with on short notice.

  She shook her head at me as her lips curled into the beginnings of a grin. “Well, if you think that’s a good one. Try this… Mr. Bartender here swiped a bottle of orange liqueur and didn’t realize it until after he’d made his getaway.”

  “Nasty stuff that, but I made it right,” I answered, putting my hand to my heart.

  “Please, tell me ye didn’t drink that stuff,” Charlie piped in, screwing his face up, pretending to gag.

  “No, we didn’t. When Ed realized what he’d done, he took the bottle back and brought me a real drink,” Hannah said, omitting the best part of the story.

  “Not just any drink, love. I brought ye an orgasm on the beach,” I said as the jeers started, then continued on, “courtesy of the bartender who said, and I quote. “First one’s on me.”

  The table erupted with laughter. Even Hannah joined in.

  “That was the start of a beautiful friendship,” I said, catching her hand and placing a firm kiss to her knuckles.

  She pulled her hand back sharply with a warning glare I ignored.

  “So, when is it ye compete?” I asked, taking the conversation away from Hannah and me before someone got up the nerve to ask what else happened when we were stranded together during the hurricane.

  “We have a bout tomorrow night. If we win, we advance on and so forth,” Cherry answered.

  “I know we’ll advance because we have an amazing team of ladies to get us there,” Hannah said, lifting her glass up. “To Team USA!”

  “You guys should come,” Cherry said, pushing back from the table. “And on that note, as team captain, I think we should call it a night.”

  Hannah and Charlotte followed suit.

  I wasn’t ready to let Hannah leave. Even if it was just for the night.

  “Where are you staying?” I asked as I stood to help her with her coat.

  “It’s a bed and breakfast a few blocks from here,” she answered, not giving me the name of it.

  “Cherry said she’ll get us tickets to their bout tomorrow. We just have to pick them up at the gate,” Violet said, popping up by my shoulder, interrupting us before I could pry the name out of Hannah. Violet’s arm snaked through mine as she all but bounced up and down. “Isn’t that exciting?”

  “Very,” I answered, not taking my eyes off Hannah, whose brow had furrowed together while watching Violet.

  “Charlie’s offered to walk them back. They’re just down the street at Granny Day’s Inn. You coming?” Violet tugged my arm to get my attention.

  “Of course.” I pulled my jacket from the back of my chair and held my other hand out to Hannah. “Ready?”

  Her eyes zeroed in where Violet had a death grip on my arm, and then she pushed her way past us without answering.

  “Is she okay?” Violet asked, as we both watched her hotfoot it outside and walk briskly past the others.

  “Violet, can ye just…?” I untangled her arm from mine.

  “Oh, sorry.” She fell into step with me. “I forget, ye know? Might be best you tell her about me.”

  I nodded, and then picked up my pace to catch up with Hannah.

  She sighed heavily as my stride met hers. “What, Ed?”

  “I’ve missed ye terribly,” I said, hoping she’d admit the same.

  “It shows,” she gruffly answered.

  “What’s amiss?” I bumped my shoulder into hers.

  She stopped at once, spinning on me. “Amiss? Look… I understand that you have a life. One that is separate and outside of the time we spent together, but don’t you think it’s a little unfair
to Violet the way you’re behaving?”

  She was bloody pissed. It was obvious in the way her mouth pressed in a cute little scowl as her eyes were scrunched on me, trying to hide the hurt.

  Even with knowing I could easily remedy it, I couldn’t bring myself to correct her right away in hopes she’d slip up and tell me I’d been on her mind too. Maybe it was a tad selfish, but I needed to know.

  “Unfair? No, I don’t think I’m being unfair.”

  She shook her head in disdain. “That’s a really shitty way to treat your girlfriend, Ed. You ignored her most of the night and, to add insult to injury—you kept touching me in front of her. You’re just lucky that she was caught up in all the conversation around us.”

  She jabbed me in the stomach when I tried to put my arm around her.

  “What if I told you a million Violets could never compare to you?” I baited her.

  “I’d say you were a big, fat jerk,” she answered, picking her pace up to get away from me.

  I caught up easy enough and put my hand on her shoulder, halting her. “I’m serious, Hannah. There’s not a single person that could be more to me than you are. And Violet isn’t my girlfriend. She’s just a friend.”

  She snorted. “Does she know that?”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle. “She does, yes. Besides, she’s more likely to be your girlfriend than mine.”

  Hannah’s head tipped to the side as a look of confusion rolled over her face. “What?”

  “She’s gay,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. “I met her a while back at the pub when Charlie had a girls’ night with strippers. Violet, not one for that sort of atmosphere, ended up needing a ride home. I offered because I wasn’t all that interested in being manhandled after the two blokes Charlie hired finished rousing them all up. After that, we became really good friends.”

  Her hands came up, fisting the front of my jacket. “You’re an unbelievable asshole.”

  I’d have thought she was mad if not for the telltale twist of her lips as she fought the urge to smile.

  In that moment, I really wanted to kiss her until neither of us could see straight.

  “I really have missed that smart mouth of yours, love,” I said, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her close, completely content when she allowed herself to lean against me.

  The moment was broken all too quickly when she heard the rest of our group coming up the street and stepped back. I let her go, choosing to give her some space.

  “How long are ye staying?”

  “About two weeks. The tournament is only set to run until next week, and then we decided to take a few extra days to sightsee before we head back home for Christmas.” She dipped her head as she scuffed the rubber soles of her boots against the pitted sidewalk.

  Two weeks, I thought, my heart jolting with excitement.

  “So plenty of time to see ye then.” I lifted her face and placed a kiss to her cheek.

  Her body stiffened. Uncertainty and mistrust danced circles in her eyes. “Ed, we really shouldn’t. What happened back at Rum Cay… that was—”

  “Just the beginning, love,” I answered right before Charlie bumped his fist into my arm, giving me a chance to turn away from her protests.

  “So, Charlotte told me the girls will be here a while. It wouldn’t be proper not showing them ‘round, yeah?” Charlie winked in Charlotte’s direction.

  She rolled her eyes, but betrayed herself by giggling.

  This is my in. My way of keeping Hannah in my orbit.

  “Right.” I looked back to Hannah’s face, which was painted in confusion. “That’s the best idea ye’ve ever come up with.”

  Hannah worried her teeth back and forth over her bottom lip as she listened to us making our plans. She looked like she couldn’t decide if she wanted to run for the hills, or stay put.

  “Does that sound good, love?” I asked, barely touching the tip of her elbow to gain her attention.

  She nearly jumped. “What?” she asked, her eyebrows forming a V.

  “Meeting up tomorrow after your match¬—”

  “Bout,” she corrected,

  I smirked at her. “Bout,” I repeated. “Does that sound good?”

  Her eyes opened and closed on an exaggerated sigh. I had to restrain myself from touching her. Kissing her.

  She tugged me away from the others as they talked about all the places they’d really like to see.

  “Okay, but only if we can set some ground rules,” she said as she tried to mask the fear in her eyes with confidence.

  For you, anything, I thought. “I happen to be an excellent rule follower.”

  She still looked a little unsure. “Okay, so…” she started to say, laughing nervously. “Umm, I think we should keep ourselves inside a casual friend zone. There shouldn’t be any needless touching or flirting. And definitely no kissing.”

  “Especially not the kissing,” I added, getting a kick out of how hard she was trying to come up with rules I knew we’d both end up breaking.

  She looked at me, unimpressed, and continued, “And no long conversations where we talk about our pasts and grow closer. Oh, and no gifts or phone calls. Basically nothing except you showing us around town and me leaving when the time is up.”

  “Sex?” I asked, sounding hopeful, tuning out her desire to run away from me.

  “No. No complications.” She crossed her arms tight against her chest.

  I cleared my throat, pointed my finger in the air, and stopped her mid-sentence. “Can I add a rule?”

  “Of course.” She tilted her head to the side. “This is a two-way street.”

  “Exactly, which is why the only thing I want to add as a rule is that there’s no lying to each other and to ourselves about what we feel. I hate lies. They never end well, yeah?”

  She dragged in a long, slow breath, as if she couldn’t decide if she wanted to accept that as a rule or not.

  “A two-way street,” she repeated under her breath. She looked back up at me. “Okay,” she replied. “No lying.”

  I had her right where I needed her to be. “Okay then. So, tomorrow?”

  “Tomorrow,” she answered, a slow smile forming on her lips.

  “Good night, Hannah.” I dug my hands in my pockets to keep them from touching her again.

  It wasn’t time to break rules yet.

  “Night.” She turned away to follow Charlotte and Cherry. They called out their good nights, heading for the cheery front gate wrapped in a string of white Christmas lights.

  I didn’t want to… wasn’t near enough ready to, but I left Hannah outside Granny Day’s gate with a smile. As I walked back toward the car, the warmest sensation I had in months felt like it was about to burst forth from my chest.

  She was here and, even though she was hesitant, I had days to work on showing her how right we were for each other. To try to get inside that pretty head of hers so I could learn every square inch of her beautifully complicated mind, because I knew what I wanted.

  I wanted her. Wanted to tell her everything about me… every failure, every success, and memorize everything about her in return. I wanted to know every inch of her body like the back of my hand. Wanted to paint a smile on her face only I could give her.

  She was a puzzle I was only just beginning to work out. A puzzle that required patience and understanding… two things I was excellent at.

  Hannah spending time in London was somewhat a miracle gifted to both of us. I wasn’t about to waste a single second of it.

  IT HAPPENED AS QUICK AND as bright as lightning crashing to the ground and then disappearing, leaving you wondering if you had really seen it. Leaving you waiting for the echoes of sound that told you what you saw and felt was real.

  Seeing him in the alley unreeled every emotion I’d worked so hard to gain control over on the plane ride to England. It was like being on a hardcore diet of only lettuce and air, and then being shoved into a restaurant that had all of your favorite foods.<
br />
  It didn’t matter who you were… you were going to order a plate.

  How could I have not gone up to him and said hi when I’d first seen him outside the bar? How could I have ignored the way my heart felt? Like it had been transplanted inside the body of a girl who knew how to feel and react to the guy who held it.

  I wasn’t that girl. I didn’t fall in love. I didn’t wake up and fall asleep thinking about the same guy. Thinking about what he was doing in that moment. Wondering if he was thinking about me too. Getting butterflies at every thought, and then getting jealous when another girl entered the picture.

  Maybe I wasn’t her before Rum Cay… but I am now.

  I couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment where I lost control. Maybe in between the kisses and passion back in Rum Cay that swallowed up my soul and spat me out on a plane home without a real idea on where we stood and a constant itch to return there.

  Maybe it was the conversations that happened between us as easy and as effortless as breathing. The words that rushed past my lips in waterfalls enchanted with an uncommon need to show him who I was on the inside, despite my reservations.

  Or maybe it was the way his eyes lit up every time he looked at me… every time he really looked at me, like he saw past all my bruises and inner scars, down to the core of who I was, and actually wanted that person.

  Maybe it was that.

  Morning came and went. The preliminary bouts slipped through my fingers like water, leaving my head spinning with the excitement of tomorrow’s bout. I was one step closer to my goal, and one step further from having any form of control over the organ pumping mad amounts of blood through my body as I got ready in my room to meet up with Ed.

  That’s why you set rules in place, Hannah. To protect yourself. To have the control you so easily give up around him. Think of the rules and you’ll be safe.

  Right. Safe.

  How could I be safe when he was knocking on my door and my chest felt like it could explode from the force of my heart beating?

  I gave myself a quick once over in the mirror, spritzed some floral perfume on my neck and wrists, and then dashed for the door shouting, “Coming.”