Page 54 of Billionaire Unforgettable: Tanner

I knew I was taking a risk by admitting that, but she was right. We had to be honest with each other about everything.

Her eyes widened as she looked at me, but her lips turned up in a small smile. “I think I already suspected that, but I’m glad you fessed up.”

“No more lies, Hannah. I want you to trust me. My only defense is that I was desperate to spend the weekend with you, and I didn’t want you to be alone on the road late at night.”

“You should have told me the truth,” she scolded lightly. “But to be honest, it’s kind of flattering to know you went to all of that work just to spend time with me.”

“I’d do almost anything to spend time with you,” I admitted.

“I’m not used to that,” she confessed. “Things were so much different at the end of our relationship.”

“Get used to it,” I told her. “I’m not the same man you knew at the end of our relationship, and I’m sure as hell not going to piss away a possible second chance.”

She cocked her head as she sent me a puzzled glance. “You really wanted to be with me that much? This isn’t guilt talking?”

“Hell, no,” I said irritably. “I do have regrets about how things ended between us, but yeah, I just wanted to be with you because it feels good. If that makes me selfish, I don’t give a fuck. It doesn’t feel right when I’mnotwith you. Being with you makes me happy, Hannah, and I haven’t been happy in a long time.”

“I think it makes me happy, too,” she said with a small sigh.

“Youthinkit makes you happy?” I teased.

She blew out a long breath. “Okay, since we’re being honest, I do like being with you, Tanner, and sometimes that scares me. I’m also starting to trust you, and that terrifies the hell out of me, too.”

My gut ached as I ran a thumb over the soft skin of her cheek. “I know, sweetheart. It’s going to take time to lose that fear, but know that I’d rather cut off my balls than to hurt you again. I never meant to hurt you the first time.”

She nodded. “I think I realize that now, and I forgive you for making a mistake. I made plenty of my own in our relationship. But this is a little scary for me, and I’m not sure that we can start over again.”

“I’ll wait,” I vowed. “I’ll eventually convince you that it’s possible.”

“You’re that sure of yourself?” she teased as she lowered her forehead to mine.

“Yep,” I said as I reached behind her head to hold our position because the playfulness and my contact with her felt so damn good. “My persistence and stubbornness is one thing that’s never changed.”

“You’re bullheaded,” she accused playfully.

“Guilty,” I conceded readily.

When I really wanted something, I could be a pain in the ass, and I’d never wanted anything more than I wanted Hannah.

Shewasgoing to be mine.

It wasn’t conceit or cockiness that made me believe that.

It was the knowledge that my future happiness and my life depended on making that happen.

She climbed out of my lap as she said shakily, “Then I guess we just take this one day at a time. You should probably know that if I wasn’t starting to trust you, I never would have told you all of the things I did tonight.”

I didn’t try to pull her back to me, even though every instinct I had was screaming at me to do just that.

I had to get some physical distance from her before I did something I would probably regret.

Something Hannah wasn’t ready for right now.

It was going to have to be enough that I was making some headway in gaining her trust.

My father had always said that the best things in life were worth the wait.

My father had been a wise man, and I knew that he was right, but he’d never mentioned just how torturous that wait could be.

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