I leaned in and kissed her on instinct. She pinned herself to me and pushed me towards the bedroom.
An hour later we were laying in her bed, naked and sweaty. I played with her hair, twirling it around my finger for I don’t know how long. At some point I noticed a change in her breathing, so I looked at her. She was about to doze off. I didn’t want to sneak out while she slept. From now on I would only leave while she was wide awake.
“I have to go back to the bar.” I leaned in and kissed her shoulder.
“Who goes to a bar on a Sunday?” She turned towards me, but her eyes were closed.
“Regulars.” And Patrick Hayes’s men. I had to ask Kieran if they came to keep an eye on me, or it was just their new gathering spot. “I think it’s because of the cutest bartender in the city.” Her eyes flew open. She stared at me silently but warily. “I asked Clem if she knew how you found me. It’scuteyou tried to pretend you did something other than randomly scroll on social media.”
“I had to make you think it was a deliberate act and not a total luck.”
“Why?”
“I wanted you to feel trapped in the corner.”
“Sneaky,” I teased, then kissed her nose and got up from the bed. She watched me getting dressed without so much as lifting her head from the pillow. “I guess you won’t see me out?”
“We both know you can find the door on your own,” she said with a smug look on her face.
“What if I snoop around?”
“Snoop away,” she waved her hand. “I have nothing to hide.”
Her words brought me back to reality. I was the one that had things to hide. A lot of things. I planted a quick kiss on her forehead, then turned my back on her and stepped into the living room.
“Wait!” I glanced back. She was climbing out of the bed without bothering to cover any part of her sexy naked body. “You said we had to talk about something.”
“What?” I asked and then immediately remembered. I had said that on the phone to force myself to break it off with her. I couldn’t end it now. I couldn’t do it when she had her clothes on, nor when she was naked. Also, we literally just had sex. That would be a dick move and I didn’t want to do those to Hannah Spencer anymore.
“I…,” I dropped my gaze to her breasts and every thought I had in my mind just disappeared.
“Is it about Madison? I noticed something was going on between you two at the bachelorette party. And she acted weird the entire time. She barely looked at Clem.”
Madison. I guess I could throw her under the bus.
“Yes,” I force myself to look at Hannah’s face. “Madison fucked up. Big time. She didn’t book the hotel.” Hannah gaped at me, and I continued. “She lied. The hotel owner refuses to host a wedding. I think she pissed him off. You know her. Anyway. There is no venue.”
I waited for a reaction. I expected screaming and yelling, because apparently I knew and kept it a secret, but she just stared at me some more. When she finally opened her mouth only a howling, unhinged laughter came out of it. It was my turn to gape at her. When she curled up in two and her eyes watered, I finally asked.
“Why the hell are you laughing?”
She placed her hands on her stomach. She couldn’t take a breath, let alone speak. I started grinning. It was a good look on her. Letting go like that.
“I imagined your mother’s face.” Another howl. “When she realizes the wedding will be in her backyard.”
“That is a face I would enjoy seeing,” I wiggled my brows. “But I won’t let that happen. The backyard scenario, I mean.”
“Oh?” Hannah stopped laughing and wiped her tears from the corner of her eyes. Then she looked at me head to toe, a sly smile forming on her face.
“What?” I narrowed my eyes at her. “You don’t think I can fix it, do you?”
“On the contrary. But I thought it wasn’t your job to organize anything just because Clem couldn’t remember to take a pill every day.” Hannah repeated my words from not so long ago.
“I want to see my little sister and that buffoon married.” The moment I said it, I realized it was true. I wanted to go to the fucking wedding and watch Clem tie the knot with her annoying baby daddy. “I will fix it.”
“I know,” she said without a hint of mockery. “I believe in you.”
Why would you, I wanted to scream at her, but I didn’t.