“Why?” I asked, confused. “I thought it was pretty clear what I wanted.”
Okay, so I’d never mentioned marriage.
Until today, I’d never mentioned living together, either, but it’s what I’d wanted almost from day one.
“We’ve been so happy,” she said tearfully. “But—”
“You don’t want to marry me,” I said gruffly as I fastened my pants back into place.
The knot that had been sitting in my gut tightened so hard and fast that it almost made me double over.
It had never occurred to me that Hannah didn’t want exactly the same thing I did.
“Tanner, I—”
Her statement was interrupted by the loud dinging of the elevator outside my office door.
Hannah’s eyes widened, and she scampered to grab the pieces of her underwear on the floor and stuffed them in her purse.
“Tanner,” Devon bellowed from outside my door. “When in the hell did you start locking your office?”
“Oh, God,” Hannah said, her face a little panicked. “We’ll talk later, Tanner.”
That wasn’t a good sign.
I knew Hannah.
If she really wanted to marry me, she would have flung herself into my arms and saidyesimmediately.
“Never mind,” I said stoically. “I won’t throw that suggestion toward you again.”
I felt like a dog with a wounded paw, and I wasn’t about to let anyone touch that wound again.
I knew I was reacting like an idiot, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself from going into a defensive mode.
Hannah was the one person in my life who could completely destroy me, and I’d obviously misread every one of her actions during the last few months.
How was a guy supposed to handle that?
Hannah flinched as Devon pounded on the door. “Open the door, Tanner. I want to make sure you’re still alive.”
“I’ll just…go,” Hannah said as she grabbed her bag. “You have an important meeting today. Please eat.”
“Hannah?” I said hoarsely as she scrambled toward the door.
When she turned back, tears were rolling down her face so fast there was no way she could swipe them away this time.
I wanted to ask if her answer was definitely anoto my suggestion of getting married, but when I saw those tears, I didn’t need that answer.
For some reason, Hannah didn’t want to marry me.
Hell, we hadn’t even said that we loved each other.
Had I gotten everything that had happened between the two of us so damn wrong?
“What?” she prompted.
I shook my head. “Nothing. I guess I’ll see you when I see you.”