Hannah in my t-shirt and sweats without a trace of makeup definitely turns me on.
And I’ve got plenty of miles ahead to keep denying that fact.
We drive in relative silence until we reach the outskirts of Vegas. Somewhere along the way, I notice a black car behind us. It starts off right on my tail, and then it backs off. I don’t think much about it until it pulls up on my right and the driver—shades and a blue ballcap—rolls down his window and looks pointedly into my truck. Hannah’s asleep, her hair covering her face.
I stare back at the driver until he rolls up his window and turns his head back to face the road. Then, I accelerate and shift lanes so I’m in front of him. He again drifts back, and I put him out of my mind as a weirdo who’s got too much time on his hands.
Hannah sleeps on and off throughout the rest of the drive, her head leaning against the window until she jerks awake with a start.
“We’re just outside Sin City,” I tell her as she rubs at her eyes and yawns.
She bounces up and down on the seat. “I haven’t been here in years.”
“Really? It’s so close to L.A.”
“I know. But my ex was a workaholic. We didn’t do much for fun.” Her voice is devoid of emotion, but that almost sounds worse than if she were just sad.
“Why don’t we spend tonight here?” I hear myself say.
WTF?
“Really?” Hannah says. “I thought you wanted to camp.”
“I do,” I say. “But we can camp tomorrow night.”
“Okay.” She reaches over and briefly touches my arm. “That’s sweet of you to suggest we stay here. Thanks.”
“You deserve a fun night,” I tell her.
As we reach the Strip, Hannah’s phone rings.
She glances at the screen and immediately silences the caller.
Her phone rings again.
By the third time of her silencing it, I say, “Want to bury your phone in the glove compartment?”
She shoots me a grateful look. “Thank you. I’ll just turn off the volume until he gives up.”
He.
Don’t ask. Don’t ask. Don’t you fucking…
“Your ex-fiancé?”
Jesus, Mav. Can’t you leave well enough alone?
Hannah exhales. “Yes. He hasn’t accepted our break-up.”
Her voice shakes as she says it, and before I can stop myself, I reach over and pat her thigh.
My hand apparently likes Hannah’s thigh a lot, because now the fucker is resting on her leg.
Before I can attempt to awkwardly remove it, Hannah puts her hand over mine.
“You really do have a sweet side underneath all that bossiness,” she teases.
I pull back my hand, and she laughs.
“I’m not sweet,” I mumble.
“Bullshit.” She sounds delighted with her revelation. “I like your sweet side, Maverick.”
I frown. “Don’t get used to it. I’m not a guy you can trust, Hannah.”
“Oh, really? What kind of a guy are you?”
Someone who puts his family first and football a close second. And the two are intertwined—I need to play football to support my family. I’ve got no room in that equation for a woman.
As we drive down the Strip, I still can’t shake the feeling that we’re being followed. I glance in my rearview mirror.
A black car, the same one from earlier, is directly behind us.
As I merge left, the black car inches in behind us. I press on the gas and merge back to the right lane.
Two seconds later, the car does the same.
What the hell’s going on?
I jerk the wheel to the right and make a hard turn into a hotel parking lot.
The car follows.
I accelerate through the parking lot with the car on my tail.
“What’s wrong?” Hannah looks behind her. “Is that car following us?”
“Looks that way.” I clench my jaw tight and peel back onto the street.
The car does the same.
“Don’t worry,” I say to Hannah. “I grew up on the wrong side of Los Angeles. I know how to outrace some idiot who’s chasing us.”
It was a joke—sort of—but when I flick my gaze to Hannah, her face has gone white.
“That’s Craig’s car,” she says in a bare whisper.
“What?” I keep weaving in and out of traffic as I try to keep a few vehicles between us and the asshole tailing us. “Who’s Craig?”
“My ex.”
Shit.
Chapter Fifteen
Hannah lets out a string of curse words, some of which even I’ve never heard.
I’m too shocked to respond before she points ahead. “Pull in here. Craig’s not worth getting into an accident for. Believe me.”
“You sure you want to deal with him?” I ask her. “I can lose him.” I rev the engine to show her what I mean.
Out of my periphery, I see her shake her head emphatically. “I’m going to put an end to this here. I don’t want him chasing me across the country. It’s not fair to you.”
It’s not fair to you, I want to say.
I do what she asks and pull into the nearest parking lot. Sure enough, the black car pulls in right next to us.
I cut the engine and jump out first. Hannah follows, and by the time I make it around to her side, the driver’s side of the black car opens.
The guy who gets out isn’t what I expected. I don’t know what I expected exactly, but a pale-faced guy in a sweater and dress pants wasn’t on my radar.
Hannah’s a smoke show, and this guy’s…boring is the word that comes to mind. Not because of his looks, which aren’t unattractive depending on your taste. He’s got a runner’s body, and his eyes are a dull shade of blue. He moves like everything’s an effort, but he turns toward Hannah so fast I move closer to her instinctively.
“Hannah-bear.” He steps closer, right into her space, and goes to put his arms around her.
Lightning fast, her arm goes out to block him.
“Craig. It’s over.” She points from herself to him. “This. Us.”
“But…” He takes another tentative step closer.
She instantly steps to the right, meaning she’s now brushing up against my side. I don’t move. She doesn’t either.
Craig looks between us as if noticing me for the first time.
“Who’s this?” he asks Hannah rather than addressing me directly.
“This is…” I don’t miss how she hesitates, and no doubt her ex doesn’t either. “My…he…”
“I’m her date,” I say, filling in the awkward silence without thinking about what my words sound like.
Craig spits out a laugh. “Her date? To what?” He gestures around us. “Her date to a casino? My Hannah doesn’t gamble. She’s not a risk-taker. It goes against her nature.”
“I’m not yours,” Hannah says with daggers in her eyes. “And who Maverick is…it isn’t your business.”
“Maverick?” Craig assesses me with a dismissive glance before turning all his focus on Hannah. “He looks like a jock. You’ll fuck him and get sick of him in a week.”
I chuckle. “I think you’re selling me short there, buddy. I’m worth at least two weeks.”
Hannah puts her hand on my arm gently. I know she’s asking me to shut up, but I can’t stop.
“And when was it your business anyway?” I continue.
Craig crosses his arms over his chest and faces me fully now. “Your shotgun rider—or easy fuck for the night…”
“Watch it,” I growl. “Don’t speak about her that way.”
“Whatever,” he says. “Do you even know anything about the woman you’re so busy defending? Did you know she already has her master’s degree and wants to be a professor?”
No, I did not know that. And I’ve never been out with a professor or someone who could qualify as one. But the new information just makes me more interested in Hannah Walsh.
I shrug. “We’re still learning about each other.”
Craig’s dull eyes brighten ever so slightly as he bares his teeth at me. “She’ll tire of you so fast you’ll be staring at her back as she runs back to me.”
Hannah puts her hands on her hips. “Craig, how did you know where I was?”
“How do you think?” he says with a gross wink at her. “I put an app on your phone.”
Hannah’s face turns red and she raises her hand like she’s going to slap him. “You asshole. You never told me you did that. When did you get a hold of my phone?”
He shrugs. “When you went to the restroom at work one time. I snagged it and downloaded the app. Bingo. Took two minutes.”
Hannah drops her hand. “I want to slap the fuck out of you right now, Craig. But you’re actually not worth the sting on my palm.”
“I’m not leaving Vegas without you.” He glances pointedly at her hand. “I see you’re still wearing the ring I gave you. That must mean you haven’t given up on us.”
Hannah flushes red. She looks down at her hand and practically rips the diamond-encrusted ring off her left ring finger.
“Oversight,” she says as she shoves the ring at him.
He rolls the ring between his fingers as he stares at her. “You’re really going to throw away the past six years?”
“You did that all on your own.” Her voice cracks, but she holds her head high. “You chose to screw somebody behind my back.”
Christ. This loser cheated on her?
“And even if it was a one-time thing like you claimed, this relationship isn’t healthy anymore. For either of us. We both need to move on.”
The fucker just stares like he’s seeing a whole new side of her.
I’m staring, too. Hannah’s tough and she’s strong and I find it…hot as hell.
Craig tries to recalibrate by taking control again. He curls his lip in a sneer. “I’ve already moved on, darling. Remember what you walked in on?”
“You’re a prick.” Hannah shakes her head like she’s disgusted with him.
But I catch the flash of hurt in her eyes before she looks away.
And I want to kill this guy for putting that look on her face. I want to destroy him for being the reason she feels even an ounce of insecurity.
I step forward, forcing him to back up until he hits the side of his car. I’ve got about five inches and forty pounds on him, and I’m all muscle. He’s not so stupid that he doesn’t know he’s outmatched, and his expression goes from taunting to fear.
“Stay the hell away from Hannah from now on,” I say forcefully. “Unless she reaches out to you, leave her the fuck alone. Are we clear?”
I wait until he nods before I back up. Then, I take Hannah’s hand and help her up into the truck.
“Doesn’t mean I have to leave Vegas,” the coward says as he ducks back into his car. “I’m going to hang out here tonight, too. So maybe I’ll see you two around.”
I wait until I’m inside the truck with the windows up before I say to Hannah, “We need to get that app off your phone.”
Chapter Sixteen
Hannah
“I’m already on it,” I say as I start searching through my phone.
I successfully find and delete the app just as Maverick’s large hand covers mine, stopping me from typing.
I look up at him in confusion.
“That’s a good start, but I think we should get you a brand new phone,” he says. “We don’t know what else he installed. He may have done more than just track your whereabouts.”
“You’re right.” I pull my hand out from under his and toss my phone onto the floor in frustration. “Fuck, he was so paranoid. So controlling. Shit, it pisses me off. Sorry for cursing.”
“Your mouth puts mine to shame.” He shoots me a half-grin. “I like a dirty mouth.”
I laugh. “That’s good because my ex suddenly pushes all my swear buttons.”
I glance to my right and am relieved that Craig has already left the parking lot.
“Use my phone for now if you need to look up anything.” Maverick unlocks his phone before handing it to me.
As he pulls back out onto the Strip, he says, “Was he like that when you were together?”
“What do you mean?”
“Paranoid. Controlling. Was he like that in other ways, besides how he invaded your privacy with the app?”
I freeze, Maverick’s phone forgotten in my hands. “Let’s just say he was a worse boyfriend than I was willing to admit for a long time. His main focus was his work, and I’m beginning to realize I had just become a means to an end.”
Maverick’s jaw clenches. “He didn’t deserve you.”
I swallow.
After a beat of silence, I say quietly, “Thank you for saying that. And for defending me against him. I’m not…used to anyone having my back.”
Maverick
I don’t answer her.
For the entire drive along the Strip, while we find a store to get Hannah a new phone and turn in her old one, and then when we pull up to the hotel we decided on, I don’t respond to Hannah’s thank you.
I hand the concierge the keys to my truck, and Hannah and I grab our bags and head for check-in.
As we wait in line, both of us quiet, I finally shift to face Hannah directly.
“You’re welcome,” I say to her. “But I don’t want you to feel like you have to thank me for doing something you’ve always deserved.”
Her pretty pink lips part in a surprised “O.” God, the things her expression makes me think of should not be crossing my dirty mind right now.
I tug at the purse strap slung over her shoulder playfully. “Are you planning on risking a lot at the casinos tonight?”
She laughs. “Not a chance. Being unemployed can make a person go conservative real quick.” She sucks in a breath. “Maverick.”
I tilt my head. “Yeah?”
“What do you think about sharing a room again?”
I blink. “Um…”
“Not in a romantic way,” she goes on hurriedly. “But Craig said he was staying here for the night. Knowing my luck, I’m going to bounce right into him somewhere. I’d rather keep up the charade of us being on a date. So on the off-chance that he sees us here, it makes sense…”
“To share a room.” I finish her sentence smoothly and not like my throat is thick with discomfort. “No problem. I’ll ask for two beds.”
“Great.” She smiles at me brightly like this will be no big deal. “Good idea.”
Good idea, my ass.
This entire trip was a terrible idea, and the deeper in I get with Hannah Walsh, the worse it becomes. She’s going through an even worse breakup than I imagined, and yet my attraction to her hasn’t diminished.
Focus on what she needs, you dick.
Hannah needs a friend, not a lover.
Not a lover, I repeat to myself.
She had one of those, and look how it turned out for her.
And I’m most certainly not boyfriend material. Maybe one day, when I’ve paid off my dad’s medical bills and have established myself professionally. Maybe then, I could commit to a woman and make her happy. But right now, I’m not in that place. So I need to make sure I keep Hannah in the friend zone. Ignore my dick and use my brain. Shouldn’t be that hard.
Chapter Seventeen
Hannah
“Choose whichever you prefer.” Maverick gestures to the two beds from where he’s standing way back at the door.
It’s almost like he’s uncomfortable being in here with me. And I’m right there with him.
Because I can’t stop thinking about having sex with him.
Trying to appear unaffected, I walk over to the beds and toss my bag of new clothes onto the one closest to the window overlooking the city. “This one’s perfect.”
Our hotel room is larger than our one in the motel last night. The floor-to-ceiling window takes up nearly the entire wall on one side, an
d the flat-screen TV is positioned across from both beds. The décor is a desert theme with a painting of cacti and red rocks.
“This is pretty.” I spin in a circle and take in the room.
Maverick barely glances around him as he drops his bag on the bed closest to the bathroom. “I’m glad you like it.”
His stomach growls, and I laugh. “I forgot you’re a big athlete. You must be starved. It’s way past lunchtime.”
He flashes a beautiful smile I’ve never seen out of him. “You should see me in season. My dad used to say his entire salary could be spent on groceries for his oldest son.”
That’s the first time he’s mentioned his family. “Are you close to your father?” I ask him.
He nods. “He’s my biggest supporter.”
“That’s nice. Does he go to all your games?”
His eyes flash with emotion. “He used to. But he was in a car accident a few years ago. So he can’t travel very easily.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. That must be hard on both of you.”
He closes down his expression. “It is what it is. I try to help with my three younger brothers as much as I can. Right now, getting financial security is the greatest gift I could give all of them.”
“You have three brothers?” I smile. “Four Court boys. That must have been a challenge raising all of you.”
“Yeah. My dad’s been a single parent for a while now, and sometimes I don’t know how he did it.”
The opening is there for me to ask about his mom. Part of me wants to know. And part of me doesn’t want to pry.
I choose not to pry.
“I’m going to freshen up before we go eat.” I grab my bag and go lock myself in the bathroom.
Outside of my wedding day, I rarely wear makeup. But, we’re in Vegas, baby. So I put on some lipstick from the light red tube I purchased at the mall this morning, and I add a dab of mascara. I brush my hair up into a high ponytail and fasten it with a hot pink elastic.
Bossy Baller: A Hero Club Novel Page 5
