Chapter Twenty-Two
Twenty-Two
Simon
The scent of coconut and lime filtered into my sleep, rousing me and not just into a state of awake. I reached across the bed, seeking the woman who had slept in my arms all night but all I found was a fistful of cold sheet. Hannah was gone.
I sat up and glanced around the bedroom.
Had I dreamed last night? I leaned over and sniffed her pillow.
No, there was the scent of her shampoo clinging to the cotton.
She had definitely been in my bed. I adjusted my situation and pushed the covers back.
I grabbed my clothes and pulled them on while I moved across the room.
I had no idea why the need to see her felt so imperative but it did.
I heard humming coming from the kitchen at the same time the scent of hot coffee hit my nose.
It took me a moment to recognize the song she was humming as the one we had danced to the night before.
She sounded happy and I realized the Hannah I had come to know was not one to sing in the morning and definitely not before breakfast. I decided it had to be the three orgasms that had put her in a good mood, because they’d certainly worked for me.
I smiled when remembering her coming apart for me repeatedly.
A guy could get addicted to that sort of response.
I paused in the doorway to watch her standing in front of the stove cooking something that smelled like home with notes of vanilla and cinnamon.
She had her hair up in a messy bun and she was barefoot, wearing a faded purple T-shirt with a national park logo on the front and a baggy pair of linen shorts.
She was beyond a doubt the sexiest woman I had ever seen.
Dude and Frank were sacked out at her feet and she paused in her singing to lift the frying pan off the stove. “Okay, guys, watch this.”
The dogs’ ears perked up as she shook the pan back and forth.
“And now for the flip!” she announced, and she jerked the frying pan.
I watched as a pancake flew up in the air, flipping end over end as it went.
Hannah moved the pan to catch it, but the pancake never came back down.
Instead, it adhered itself to the ceiling with Hannah and the dogs staring at it with matching looks of disappointment.
“Well, that underwhelms.” Hannah reached for a spatula to scrape it off the ceiling but even on her tiptoes she couldn’t reach.
“Need a hand?” I stepped into the kitchen and she started.
A faint pink blush tinged her cheeks and she waved the spatula at me. “I…uh…was starving so I decided to make apple cinnamon pancakes but…” She glanced up. “There have been some technical difficulties.”
“You don’t say.” I took the spatula and the pan from her hands and scraped the pancake off the ceiling and into the pan.
“Thank you.” She primly took back her cookware and dumped the pancake into the trash while I used a wet sponge to get the batter residue off the ceiling.
I was trying to read her. She looked nervous.
I wondered why. Was she second-guessing last night?
She’d disappeared down here before I woke up.
Was she avoiding me? There was only one way to find out.
I steeled myself for whatever she’d decided.
“I managed that stack over there if you’re hungry.
” She put the pan in the sink and waved the spatula at a pile of pancakes on the counter.
She didn’t make eye contact and her face was still pink.
Was she feeling shy? This was surprising for many reasons, not the least of which was the fact that there wasn’t an inch of her body that I was not intimately acquainted with now.
“I’m starved.” I didn’t move. I merely held her gaze and let her see that I was not talking about pancakes.
“Oh…my.” Her voice was decidedly breathy, and I smiled. There she was. I reached out and grabbed the spatula, using it to pull her toward me.
She sighed when our bodies met and I reached behind her to pull her even closer, locking her in a hug where her head fit perfectly against my shoulder and I could rest my cheek on her hair.
Last night with her had been amazing—flirty and fun, sexy and salacious, and tender and touching.
Hannah was lush and curvy and sexy as hell and I knew I would never get over how perfect we were in bed, but this, this was even more dangerous because holding this woman in my arms like this was the most at peace I’d felt in years.
She leaned back to study my face and I wondered if my emotions were easy to read.
I wasn’t ready for that much exposure. I lowered my mouth to hers.
I paused just an inch away and she rolled up on her toes and closed the distance, tossing the spatula aside as she looped her arms around my neck.
Her lips parted ever so slightly as our mouths met and I took it as an invitation to deepen the kiss.
The taste of her was a seductive blend of coffee and cinnamon and I wanted to devour her.
I reined in the impulse, barely. When I set her back on her feet, her eyes were half closed and I flexed my fingers on the soft skin of her lower back where her T-shirt had lifted before releasing her.
She shook her head, then glanced about the kitchen as if realizing where we were.
“Well.” She cleared her throat and gestured to the coffeepot. I felt my lips curve up as an unfamiliar surge of happiness filled me. I could get used to befuddling this woman with kisses. I poured myself a cup and took a seat at the counter.
Hannah switched off the stove and slid onto the seat next to me. She pushed the butter and syrup at me, while I loaded a plate and set it in front of her before I served myself.
Her eyes widened and she seemed surprised by the gesture. She reached out and squeezed my arm as if she just needed to touch me again. “Thank you.”
I felt a tenderness thrum inside of me. Ninety shots.
I hadn’t forgotten her horror of needles or the reason why.
I knew I didn’t know her or her relationship with her ex well enough to make assumptions, but I didn’t think it was a stretch to assume that a man who would cheat on his wife while she was going through months of fertility treatments was also the sort of selfish prick who had never put her first—not even when it came to serving food.
For the rest of our time in this summer share, I promised myself she would always come first. Starting with our plans for the day.
“I was thinking after we take Frank home, assuming his parents are ready for him, we should visit a few more places that Gramps and Pops enjoyed,” I said.
Hannah turned toward me. She had a bite of pancake in her mouth and her expression was surprised. Through her mouthful, she mumbled, “Really?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I think you’re right. We should take the opportunity to get to know this place that they loved so much.”
“That would be amazing,” she said. “I was talking to Stephanie and she said before Gramps got sick they rode their bike into town just about every afternoon and stopped at Beach Buns and the coffee shop and then they walked the pier.” She paused and I saw a shadow of grief pass over her face.
She blinked her eyes quickly as if fighting back tears and her voice was just above a whisper when she said, “I was thinking if we ride their bike into town, we could re-create their time together and maybe I could feel Pops with me. I miss him so much.”
“Of course.” I put my arm around her and pulled her into a hug. “I really love that idea. I’m sure I’ll hear Gramps laughing if this bike ride goes as well as our first attempt.”
She snorted and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. “Thank you. This means a lot to me.” Then she grinned and sent me a wicked wink. “Plus, I have an excellent view from the back seat.”
“Ha!” I let out a surprised laugh.
“I’ll bet you didn’t suspect I had an ulterior motive.” Her twinkling blue eyes met mine and I felt a gear shift, like sliding from neutral into drive, and I knew she was waking up some dormant part of me that had been on cruise control for far too long.
“And now I’m going to have to add devious to the list of things I’m learning about you.” I raised one eyebrow, giving her an assessing glance.
She laughed, and it felt like a win to help her move through her grief and find some joy. I could almost feel my chest puff up, I was so pleased to be able to help her.
The self-protective part of me was metaphorically standing under the streetlights, waving his arms to let me know the bridge was out.
But it was too late for warnings. I was already attached to this woman.
I wanted to deny it. I told myself I was just interested in learning more about Gramps’s life here as his will had dictated, but we were cruising up on four weeks of time spent in this cottage, meaning our required two months were half over.
With only four weeks to go, it suddenly felt as if there wasn’t enough time to learn all that I wanted to about Gramps’s life or about…
her. The truth was I was way more interested in spending time with Hannah but, yeah, learning about the grandfathers would be cool, too.
I picked up our plates and headed for the sink.
Hannah joined me and we washed the dishes together as if we’d been doing this for years instead of weeks.
I crouched down to shelve the newly dried pots only to find there wasn’t much room in the cupboard.
How two grown men had accumulated so much cookware, I had no idea.
I was thirty-six and owned a total of three pots and one frying pan.
“You stuck down there, O’Malley?”
“So, it’s O’Malley again?”
“In the daytime.” She stared down at me with a sassy smirk.