“I’ve got it,” he said quietly as he rushed to her side to lift the heavy wooden object. He righted it once more before turning to look at her. She was exasperating. What if she had been hurt? He turned ready to demand why she expected she could move what took two big burly movers to relocate originally when he saw the look on her face.
Huge tears had welled in Hannah’s eyes, threatening to spill over, and her hands were on her back. She was biting back the pain as best she could. “Thank you,” she murmured. “I didn’t mean to cause so much trouble.”
At the sight of her, and completely without thinking, he rushed to enfold her in his arms. “Oh, God, Hannah,” he mumbled into her hair. “What were you thinking?”
“I wanted to surprise you,” she answered weakly.
“Well done,” he said wryly, “I’m shocked.” Suddenly, he was aware of dozens of eyes on them and scowled. He released her long enough to shut the blinds and the door. Thoughts flooded his head. He had just ruined it. She couldn’t work in the office any more. Everyone would think there was something going on between them. They might even find out they were living together. He sighed.
“I’m sorry.”
She sounded so sad it nearly broke his heart. “Don’t be.” He said more gruffly than he intended.
“I really am self-sufficient,” she insisted. “I don’t want you thinking I’m helpless.”
“I don’t,” he responded before arching his brow wickedly, “although I am questioning the wisdom of many of your decisions.”
A smile softened her face. She chuckled for a moment, but had to stop due to the sharp shooting pains. Gingerly she eased herself into the hardest chair in the room.
Gavin rubbed his hands together. If he didn’t, he would be over there, rubbing on her. He knew precisely the pressure he needed to apply, the way to manipulate the muscle to ease the tension and soreness of her back. Once again, despite his plan to bring her pain, he was more focused on removing it. “We need to get you to the doctor,” he said.
Her chin jutted out proudly. “I can do it.”
“Yeah, darling, I’d love to see you try.” He leaned toward her from behind his desk.
She blushed, knowing he was right. “Fine,” she acquiesced. “When?”
Studying the clock, he admitted, “We’ll wait until the office clears for lunch. Can you last another half an hour?”
“Certainly,” she said proudly, although deep down, she wasn’t so sure.
“Good,” he said calmly. He glanced at a pile of papers he didn’t recognize on his desk. “What are these?”
“Some people dropped them off after you left,” she said, shrugging involuntarily and bringing on a fresh wave of pain.
Gavin smirked. He knew what he would find. As he opened file after file, he was met with pages and pages of blank white paper. He should fire the whole lot of office supply wasting gossips. And those were just the men. A frown affixed itself to his face. He held his head in his hands and tried to figure out what to do.
At last he spoke. “This was a mistake,” he said simply. Then he remained silent until he felt the office was quiet enough for him to take her to the doctor.
And in that time of silence, Hannah brooded. He had called this a mistake. She could only assume he meant the part about hiring her, moving her into his home, and bringing her to the office. Clearly she wasn’t fit for public consumption. Well, he had to give her thirty days notice. Until she had that, she would sit and wait and contemplate her next move. At least it was a pleasant alternative to the physical pain. Hannah was a planner.
“You heard the doctor,” Gavin growled as they pulled into the driveway with the girls a few hours later.
“I will take care of myself later,” she argued in a low voice. I have too much to do…” The girls needed a meal, then baths and books before bed. There would be clean up after dinner as well. Maybe around eight she could relax. A wistful look fell over her face as she thought about enjoying a few minutes that evening in the hot tub.
“You will take care of yourself now,” he commanded, interrupting her reverie. He parked the car in the circular drive so that her door opened to the sidewalk then threw an arm in front of her as she prepared to climb out of the vehicle. “What did I tell you?” He asked exasperated.
“I forgot,” she complained. She eyed the pill bottle clutched in her hand. “So how long will it take for them to kick in?” She asked.
“Well, you would have to actually take one first,” he reminded angrily. Turning to face the girls in the back seat he said, “Why don’t you head upstairs to your mom’s room and find her bathrobe and bathing suit.” He turned to Hannah. “Where are they?”
She crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly refusing to help out. “I have to make dinner,” she argued.
“I’ll have something delivered,” he countered, preparing for her next argument.
“The girls need baths after dinner.” She stared at him evenly.
“Tonight they can shower without your assistance.” She opened her mouth to protest, but he stopped her before a single sound could be uttered. “I’ll check to make sure they get all the soap out of their hair.”
Her eyes narrowed. “And I have to read to them before bed.”
He sighed. This is where it would get difficult. “I’ll carry you upstairs.” He closed his eyes, hoping he could somehow avoid going into that room.
“All the way to my bed?” She asked with a doubting eyebrow raised.
He swallowed hard. “All the way to the hall outside your bedroom.” He knew she felt she was winning, so he reminded her of her proclamation. “I thought you were self-sufficient,” he challenged.
Her eyes narrowed once more. “You are an evil, evil man.” Her shoulders drooped in defeat.
“Now tell the girls where to find your suit and bathrobe,” he urged.
Sighing, she gave the girls the information and sent them on their way. Moments later, Gavin was at her car door, not merely opening the door for her, but gently pulling her forward until he was able to lift her and haul her into his arms. She gasped in surprise. He was treating her as though she were precious, fragile, and important to him. Her eyes began to fill with unspent tears, so she turned her head towards his chest so he couldn’t see.
Pausing just inside the door, Gavin asked sadly, “Am I hurting you?”
Cautiously she shook her head. How would she ever be able to explain all the new feelings that kept assaulting her, ever since she had been in his employ?
Once they reached the study, he set her down in one of the leather chairs before the sofa. “The girls should be here any moment with your robe and suit,” he said quietly. “I trust you can change without assistance.”
She very nearly laughed. “Don’t worry. You will not have to attend to my every need. And you most certainly will not have to see me naked.”
Why was that not a comfort to Gavin? He wouldn’t mind taking care of her. Maybe it was because she worked so hard to be independent that it seemed like such a triumph if he could do something for her, something that she couldn’t do herself. “I’ll be just outside the door; when you are decent call for me.” Turning on his heels, he wandered out to the foyer and leaned against the wall.
Seconds later, the girls came struggling down the stairs with the bathrobe. “I wanna give her the robe,” one of them said.
“I got it off the hook. I should get to give it to her.”
“I dragged it down the stairs.”
Gavin almost laughed. “Well, I bought it,” he chimed in. “I guess I should give it to her.” He reached for the robe. The girls’ faces drooped. It was not the reaction he had imagined. Dropping to his knees, he said, “What if we go in and give her everything together?”
The girls beamed shyly at his suggestion, glanced at each other, finally nodding their approval. With one girl in each hand, they entered the study together, each one feeling triumphant.
It took longe
r than she expected to get changed as gingerly as she was moving. While she worked, she concentrated on other things to alleviate the pain. Currently, she was comparing Brett and Gavin. Gavin had surprised her. He was gentle and affectionate, far from the cold-hearted businessman she imagined she was hiring on with. He seemed determined to take care of her, which was a new and unusual experience. He even seemed to be bonding with the girls. In the last few days he had spent as much time with her children as their own father had over the last month. She sighed. And she didn’t even have to wonder how Brett would have responded to her injury. After he was done berating her for hurting herself, he would have moaned about having to chip in and help more. Apparently she was better off as Gavin’s employee than she ever had been as Brett’s wife.
Convinced that all her parts were covered, she called half-heartedly for Gavin. As quickly as he entered the room, she was convinced that he had been hovering just outside the door. “I’ve been giving this some thought,” he said. “I think you should be in the hot tub every day while we try to get those strained muscles to heal. You need to take it easy or you’ll wind up bedridden.” His face turned a shade of pink. Why just last night in what little sleep he had managed, he had dreamed just that: Hannah in bed, riding him. He changed the subject. “If you don’t take care of yourself, I’ll be forced to hire help for the help,” he joked. “And we should probably have you massaged every weekend to be safe.” Then without another word, he swung her into his arms and carried her to the patio, depositing her on the side of the hot tub while he assisted in the robe removal.
He meant to take an almost nurse-like approach. Moving slowly, he held her wrist as he tugged the robe over her shoulder. There was a momentary hitch as he untangled it from her bikini top. Heart pounding, brow furrowed, he ran his hand tenderly around her back to feel for the hang up. Goosebumps formed all over him as he grazed her soft, warm skin. At last, success, and her robe was removed.
His heart gave an extra robust thump against his rib cage once her bikini was revealed. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. It was exactly what he imagined she might wear; a simple two-piece with solid brown bottoms accented with a belt that matched the teal print of the halter-top. Gavin had no desire to make her uncomfortable under his gaze. He moved instantly to help her into the hot tub and left very specific instructions that she wasn’t to get out until he returned, then hurried away.
Minutes later, Gavin found himself in his haven, the study, staring at his desk while he massaged his temples. He was disgusted…with himself. How quickly his desire for revenge had turned into lust. How quickly he forgot he wanted to cause her pain when he saw her suffering. How he wanted to spend every moment with her, unraveling all her little mysteries, and worse…making her happy.
Clearly, this revenge wasn’t going to work out as intended anyway. She could never ever return to his office. So now what was he going to do with her? Leaning back in his chair, Gavin gazed around the room. The place did need some sprucing up. As Hannah had indicated, it appeared that his decorator hated him. And Joe did give her a more than reasonable estimate to redecorate the entire house. And if worse came to worse, he was sure he could find a hundred little things that needed doing that had simply been pushed to the wayside, given his busy schedule.
Slowly, a smile spread across his face. At least he had a valid reason to keep her in his life. Just as quickly, it was replaced by a frown. When had he ever worked so hard to keep a woman in his life? When had he last felt so strongly about a woman period? He sighed. Hannah had been soaking for nearly an hour. He had better go remove her before she wilted.
The hot tub had worked wonders. As soon as Gavin came to get her, Hannah was ready to leap out of it and get back to business. “Slow down,” he warned as she hastily reached for her robe.
Her cheeks were pink, she knew, but she hoped he’d think it was from the heated water she had been in and not his heated gaze. She felt her cheeks grow warmer at his chastising. “Sorry,” she mumbled.
“Do I make you uncomfortable?” He asked as he helped her into her robe, grazing her skin with the back of his hand.
Hannah tilted her head to the side a moment. Sometimes she thought he actually enjoyed making her uncomfortable, other times she felt guilty even considering it since she had thoroughly mucked up his life in the few short days since she’d been a part of it. “Sometimes,” she admitted. Sometimes when I catch you staring at me, she thought. Sometimes when you touch me and I suddenly feel as though I could go up in flames. Her eyes closed momentarily as she thought about him touching her, relishing the quiver in her abdomen.
She sighed. “Well, I’m ready to make dinner now.”
Gavin nearly growled. She was so stubborn. “Too late,” he said as evenly as he could manage.
“How can I be too late?” She asked, glancing about for a clock.
“Because I already ordered dinner, just like I told you I would.” He folded his arms across his chest and raised an eyebrow.
“And I told you that I was going to earn my keep around here.” Hannah folded her arms in an effort to match his stance. The entire time she soaked, she had pondered his words. He thought this was a mistake. She couldn’t be cut loose so quickly. Even with thirty days notice, the girls deserved some stability in their lives.
He stiffened. “We need to talk about that.”
Feeling around behind her, Hannah found the steps. She suddenly needed to sit down very badly. Swallowing her fear, she lowered herself to a seated position. “Go ahead,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper.
“I can’t have you working at the office as my personal assistant any more,” Gavin said evenly. He kept clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides. If he didn’t, he knew he’d be by her side, soothing away that frightened look. He closed his eyes as images of Hannah pressed against his chest assaulted him.
“So, this is my notice,” she said, as bravely as she could muster, yet instantly tears formed in her eyes.
At that, Gavin was completely undone. He had gathered Hannah in has arms almost as quickly as he had drawn breath. One arm was wrapped around her back, pulling her as close to him as their bodies would allow, the other hand was knotted in her hair. “No, you ridiculous, exasperating woman,” he muttered into her hair.
Relief seeped through her and Hannah pushed herself far enough away to look into his eyes questioningly. “Then what?” She asked.
And Gavin knew exactly what she meant. What was to become of her? He didn’t want to answer that question yet. He wanted her to answer some of his own. “Is this the kind of marriage you had, the kind of relationships you’ve had that you believe yourself to be so…disposable?” His voice was incredulous. How could any man not want her in his life? He’d known her for a few days and couldn’t imagine not having her around. That idea nearly knocked the air from his lungs.
“Yes,” Hannah responded, breathily, struggling to hold back tears that were a combination of relief and recognition of the damaged insecure woman she loathed to have become. Her throat hurt from holding back a symphony of sobs. Her body shuddered from the effort.
“Oh, Hannah,” Gavin moaned into her hair. “I couldn’t do that to you, or the girls.” He stroked her back, her shoulders, and gently lifted her onto the edge of the tub so that she was forced to look him in the eyes. He forced her chin up with his thumb, caressed his way up her jaw line until he held her face in his hands. “I think we’ll both be more productive with you working from home.” He gave her a tender smile.
He was teasing her, she realized suddenly. She perked up some and offered a hesitant smile in response. “Just what does that mean?” She playfully demanded.
Smiling more widely now, Gavin responded. “I won’t ever get anything accomplished if I spend every afternoon at the doctor with you.”
Laughing, Hannah swatted at him playfully. “Fine, you wretched man! We’ll discuss this further at dinner. Right now I want to get dressed.” And wi
th that, she was lowered ever so gently to the patio before heading up the stairs to her room.
Gavin was still standing there on the patio with a silly smile on his face when the squealing began. Without hesitation, he flew up the stairs, taking two at a time. Panting and out of breath, he found himself standing inside his old bedroom. Recouping his senses, he quickly backed out of the room, grabbing at his heart.
Second Chances Page 10
