Page 43 of Always Right

The stacks of papers lined up on the dining room table seemed endless. I had forgotten how absolutely fucking draining the process of opening a business could be, but there I was again, with Lisa, signing paperwork and apparently deciding what color scheme to choose for the restaurant. She took a sip of her water, setting it down on the table once again while I typed an email on my laptop.

My head pounded, but alas…it would be another late night.

“Do you mind if I order dinner?” she asked, scrolling through her phone. “I’m starving.”

I glanced at her. Her blue eyes were exhausted, though I could still see the glimmer of excitement in them. “You should go home, Lisa.”

“And leave you to choose the décor? And color scheme? No way.”

I rubbed my temple, leaning back on the chair and closing my eyes. Once upon a time, this would have been easier but there was too much shit to deal with, both on the business side and personal side.

Hannah and I barely talked.

Her words from the day when I invited her still stung, no matter how much I told myself that she didn’t mean them, I knew deep down they held some truth. Hannah would always be hurt.

“Seriously, though. What are we eating?” I opened my mouth to speak, but a knock on the door kept me from doing so.

Lisa furrowed her brows. “Are you expecting someone? It’s late.”

There was another knock. Quiet—almost so quiet I didn’t think it was real. I stood up, thankful for the reason to stretch out my legs.

But I didn’t expect to see her there.

Hannah smiled—a soft, shy smile…the type I hadn’t seen in a long time. She hadn’t said a word, but her cheeks took on a rosy color that matched her oversized sweater and overpowered the discoloration on her cheek from the bruise. With her hair falling over her shoulders and her face bare of any makeup, I didn’t think I’d ever seen her look so beautiful.

Or more fucking perfect.

The feeling in my chest intensified, the need of pulling her into my arms and tasting her lips, feeling her tongue against mine.

But she didn’t want that.

Her soft brown eyes swirled with all the things she refused to say…so I spoke for her.

“What are you doing here?”

“I…um…Nathan has been closing the gallery lately and so I thought it was a good idea to bring you dinner.” Her delicate throat moved as she swallowed, her nerves getting the best of her. “Both because I know you’ve been working a lot, between the restaurants and the girls and well…as an apology, too. For the things I said that day when you invited me to the opening.”

Hannah never apologized.

I glanced to her hands, then met her eyes again. “Where are the girls?”

“Deborah is watching them.” She let out a quiet laugh. “If I would have picked them up I would have talked myself out of doing this.”

My mind told me to turn her away, to avoid giving her a chance to cause us both more damage, but I couldn’t. Not when she was in front of me, so fucking open and vulnerable.

“So,” she shifted on her feet, extending her hand with the paper bag, “here is dinner. It’s Mexican from that place near the gallery and it’s really good and I think you’ll like it.”

I leaned against the doorframe, taking the bag from her hand and ignoring the electricity that flowed between us when my fingers brushed her skin. “Stay. Let’s eat.”

She hesitated. Hannah wrapped her arms around her body, her gaze traveling from me to the hallway that would lead her away from me, but in the end, she gave me a single nod and took a step forward. She quietly walked into the apartment for the first time since she told me she was pregnant.

The pictures of us together were gone…but the memories were more present than ever. Lisa’s eyes widened when she saw Hannah appear, but her expression quickly turned to excitement.

I’m never going to hear the end of this.

“Oh…” Hannah ran her tongue over her bottom lip, the action sending a jolt of desire down my body. Fuck…she didn’t realize what she did to me. “I didn’t know you were working.”

Lisa waved her off with a quiet laugh. “You’re welcome to stay. This is a pain in the ass and I’m getting tired of listening to Derek cursing the laptop.”

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