Page 53 of Billionaire Unforgettable: Tanner

I shrugged. “I was pretty depressed when my father died. I can’t compare that depression with the clinical depression you went through, but I know how damn hard it was to crawl out of that hole. You’re a brave, determined woman, Hannah, and that’s one of the things that I always loved about you.”

“I wasn’t that brave before I went through that depression,” she denied.

I tightened my arms around her waist. “You were. I just don’t think you were able to see how brave you were before you sought help in Seattle.”

She shook her head. “I wasn’t able to really see any of my good qualities. I’m sorry. I should have been honest with youabout the way I was feeling. But I wasn’t ready to face those things myself back then. It was easier to just pretend that those emotions didn’t exist.”

Hell, she had no idea how much I understood burying emotions that were fucking painful to bring into the light of day.

I reached up and stroked my hand over her silky hair. “Don’t be sorry for being human. We all make mistakes. We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t. You were as close to perfect as a person could get in my eyes. I wish I would have known that you were battling your own demons. I would have tried to help you slay them.”

She shot me a soft smile that made my chest ache as she replied, “You know, you probably would have tried to slaughter those demons for me. But it wouldn’t have worked. Until I was able to fix things and internalize those truths myself, nothing else would have helped. I had to believe I was worthy, deserving, and be at peace with who I was, Tanner. I finally got to that place, but it took a long time to get there. I’d gotten so good at pretending that I was okay that even I believed that I was most of the time.”

I got what she was saying because I’d done that myself after we’d broken up.

She took a deep breath before she continued, “I can admit that it would be hard to just be your friend, too, but part of me is really afraid of the feelings that I still have for you. Obviously, I’m still attracted to you, but I’m not sure it’s wise for us to try to start over. And you’re right, wewouldhave to start over. We’ve changed too much to have the relationship we did before. You’re also correct about me not wanting that relationship back again. I wasn’t honest with you, Tanner. I was so insecure that sometimes I was trying to be someone I wasn’t. I don’t really want to be anyone but myself anymore. I’m a little more selfish than I used to be. I still care about other people, but I take careof my own needs, too, because I know that I’m worth it. I won’t sacrifice myself to make other people happy anymore.”

Fuck!She had no idea how attractive that was to me.

She saw herself the way that I saw her, and she went after exactly what she wanted with the confidence that she could do whatever the hell she wanted.

Maybe some guys got off on getting their ego stroked and having a more submissive female.

But I was not one of those men.

Being challenged by her was pretty damn hot.

“I think taking care of yourself is pretty fucking sexy,” I said as I grinned at her.

She snorted. “I think you’re completely insane. Nobody thinks being selfish is sexy.”

I shook my head. “It’s not selfish to stand up for yourself and know your own worth. I happen to like that about you. You’ve gotten pretty sassy. Itissexy.”

When she threw her head back and laughed, something that had been coiled tightly inside of me finally relaxed.

It was the first time I’d actually heard her laugh like that since we’d met up again. It felt so damn good to know that I was finally seeing a Hannah who wasn’t as guarded with me as she’d been before.

When she’d recovered, she answered, “You’re probably the only man in the world who thinks that’s sexy.”

I grinned back at her and winked. “Good. I think I should be the only man whose opinion really matters to you.”

She lifted a brow in a flirty way that I loved. “That’s a little cocky and presumptuous.”

“Admit it,” I drawled. “You kind of missed my bossiness.”

She sighed dramatically. “Maybe I have. A little. You wouldn’t be Tanner Remington without trying to take control of everything.”

“I have tried to tame those instincts,” I reminded her.

“Don’t,” she insisted. “It’s part of your nature, and I can handle the real you. I’m not afraid to take you down a peg if you get too cocky.”

My dick twitched because I knew she’d do exactly that.

She added, “I want us to be real and honest with each other, Tanner. Right now, I don’t know where all of this is going, but we have to be honest with each other. Always.”

A twinge of guilt gnawed at me.

“Okay, then I’ll start by admitting that I set this whole trip up simply because I wanted to be with you for the weekend. I did have lunch with a friend here, but I wasn’t planning to before I knew that you were coming to Helena. I also didn’t want you driving those remote highways alone at night, and I selfishly just wanted to be with you.”

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