“The law said otherwise.”
“You’re being absurd.”
“You are being judgmental. People deserve a second chance.”
“People don’t change their morals that easily.”
“A few hours ago, you said I changed.”
“It’s not the same thing. You are not a criminal.”
Her words gutted me. The hours we spent together would have never had happened if she knew the truth. The story she shared about that kid was so similar to mine, I could see her loathing me the same way, she loathed him, if she ever knew.
She took my silence as a sign I had nothing else to say. She stood up and looked at her phone.
“I have to go now.” She leaned in and I instinctively lifted my head upward. She gave me a quick peck and murmured into my mouth. “I had a great time last night.”
“Me too,” I mumbled. Did I have the right to continue this arrangement between us, knowing I represented everything she hated? No way in hell I was telling her the truth, but I couldn’t just pretend she never told me. I had to break it off. “We should talk about our arrangement.”
“Relax. I get it,” she said with a kind smile on her face. “I’m not your girlfriend.”
“I know you get that…”
“It’s just sex.”
The way her voice changed, becoming lower, seductive, and the way she looked at me, like memories from last night flashed before her eyes, made me lose my resolve.
“It’s fine,” she reassured me. Her gaze fell down to my lips and I couldn’t stop myself. I grabbed her neck and slammed her mouth to mine. She gasped and ran her fingers through my hair. Then she fisted it and pulled my head back, tearing my mouth away from hers.
“I am going home to sleep,” she pulled my hair a little harder and I grinned. “I will call you later and you will not freak out.”
I repeated her words in my head.
Just sex.
You will not freak out.
No one would get hurt. She doesn’t need to know. It’s not like I was walking around sharing with everyone my current working situation or the thing that got me into this mess in the first place.
“Stop doing that,” I warned referring to the hair pulling. “Or I will fuck you on this bench.”
“We are in a public park.”
“It’s a Sunday morning. People are sleeping.”
She laughed but released my hair from her grip.
“I will call you.” She pointed a finger in my direction.
I went completely still thinking about it for a moment, then nodded. It wasn’t my job to take care of Hannah Spencer.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Hannah
Nine years ago
“I’msuffocatinginhere.”