Page 23 of Billionaire Unforgettable: Tanner

“Then I’ll walk you home,” he offered as he fell into step next to me.

He didn’t have a jacket on, but he was wearing what looked like a very warm, navy sweater that looked amazing on him because it contrasted those gorgeous blue eyes of his.

Dammit!I’d thought that my attraction to Tanner would be gone by now.

Not only was my physical attraction still alive and well when it came to him, but there was also something different about Tanner that intrigued me.

I do not need to explore why Tanner seems…different.

The man was trouble for me, wrapped in one gorgeous, gigantic package.

“That’s not necessary, Tanner,” I protested.

Crystal Fork wasn’t exactly a high crime area, and I’d gotten around in Seattle by myself just fine for a long time.

“It is necessary,” he said huskily. “It will give me time to convince you that we really do need to be friends for a while. You know how slow this town is to come around.”

“I don’t want to be friends,” I said bluntly. “Look, I appreciate what you did tonight. If the town still wants to snub me, I can’t change that.”

Once we’d left the light of the bar, the streets were dark except for an occasional streetlight.

I sped up my pace, but Tanner had long legs, and he didn’t really need to make any big adjustments to keep up with me.

“Of course you can change it,” Tanner protested. “Hang out with me for a while.”

“I can’t,” I said stubbornly. “I don’t want to spend time with you.”

Be strong, Hannah. You can do this.

“Do you hate me that much?” Tanner asked solemnly.

“Yes. No. Dammit! I don’t hate you, Tanner. I just don’t want to spend time with you,” I said breathlessly.

“We had some really good times together, Hannah,” he reminded me as he took my arm gently and pulled me to a stop. “At one time, we were best friends.”

Tears welled up in my eyes, and I finally snapped. “You hurt me, Tanner,” I said as I punched him in the chest. “Yes, it’s been over seven years, but you hurt me so badly I wasn’t sure that I would ever be able to pick up the pieces of myself and put myself together again. I can’t just forget that. I was a mess when I first got to Seattle. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. I could barely get out of bed in the morning because I was so damn broken. I will never, ever, go through that again, and being with you brings all of those bad memories back every damn time I see you.”

I punched him again before he gently took my wrist to stop me, and wrapped his arms around me so tightly that I could barely breathe.

“I’m so fucking sorry, Hannah,” he rasped against my hair. “I know I was a total dick. I was hurting, too. Maybe I had no right to feel that way since I drove you away, but it killed me to think of you being with anyone else but me back then.”

All of the pain that was still locked inside me suddenly burst free, and I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck and sobbed against his shoulder like my entire life was ending.

It was all of the old baggage I’d probably carried for years that I didn’t realize was still there.

The anger.

The sorrow.

The longing.

The broken dreams.

I wasn’t sure how long we stayed that way in the middle of the sidewalk in the dark, but when I was done, the panic I’d felt about being close to Tanner had subsided a little.

I reminded myself that it wasoldpain, probably some things I had unintentionally buried years ago.

“I’m sorry,” I said, a little embarrassed as I pulled away from him and swiped the tears from my face. “I thought I was over it, but I went to a pretty dark place for a while after I left. I’m afraid of ever going back to that place again.”

---