Page 26 of Just One Kiss

"Well, then tell me, because this sounds interesting." Paul sat down and leaned back in the desk chair.

He took the chair in front of the desk. "I was with Hannah."

Disbelief ran through Paul's eyes. "No way. Hannah Stark? The one who can't stand you and tries to avoid you whenever she can?"

"That's the one. It wasn't planned. It was the result of a random and somewhat bizarre set of circumstances."

"Now I'm even more interested. What happened?"

"It started with a flat tire. I gave her a ride because she didn't have a spare. She was heading to her family's cabin at Wicker Bay, and I was going to the same location to check on Trevor Pelham."

"What's wrong with Trevor?"

"He's going through a bad breakup, and after losing his mom earlier this year, he's been a drunken mess. He said he was going up to the cabin to dry out, but when I got there, he wasn't there. Anyway, that's not the most interesting part of the story. Hannah went to her cabin to check on a hot water problem for her tenant, but the only one at the cabin was a four-year-old boy. He came with a note from the mother asking for someone to watch out for her child and not to call the police because he wouldn't be safe."

Paul gave him a look of utter disbelief. "Seriously? That's crazy."

"It gets crazier. The child is actually Hannah's nephew, the son of her sister, Kelly, who ran away fifteen years ago. Of course, Hannah was shocked by the realization that her sister had a kid and that she'd left him alone in the cabin."

"That's quite a story."

"We ended up getting caught at the cabin, because the storm was fierce last night."

"I know. I was lucky to arrive just before it hit. So, you and Hannah spent the night together."

"With a four-year-old chaperone," he said dryly. "Not that we needed one."

"Hannah still hates you?"

He wished he had a different answer. "Yes, but I think we took a step out of the past, which is what I've been wanting to do for a long time."

"Did you kiss her?"

"There might have been a kiss."

Paul raised his brow in surprise. "I'm shocked. She let you kiss her?"

"She kissed me back. Until she remembered that she didn't like me."

"What happens now?"

"No idea. The ball is in her court. And Hannah is so damn stubborn. She sees everything in absolutes. There is no gray area. People are good or bad, right or wrong. In her mind, I'm bad, and I'm wrong."

"She wouldn't hate you so much if she didn't also like you. But this dance that's been going on between you and Hannah—it needs to end, Jake. It's gone on too long. Even when you're with other women, you're never really with them."

"That's not true," he said, frowning at his brother's analysis of his love life.

"Yes, it is. That's why no one lasts longer than a few months. No one is ever Hannah. If you want her, then go get her. Don't let the ball bounce around in her court. Take it, shoot it. That's what you do best. What you don't do best is wait."

"You have a point."

"You need to either get her back or let her go so you can move on with your life."

"Since when did you get to be so smart?"

"I've always been this smart. You just don’t usually listen to me," Paul said dryly.

"Well, I hear what you're saying. It's good advice."

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