Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 76541 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76541 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
A goddamn prick is what he is.
He holds his hand out to me to shake, but I ignore it, further instructing him. “You will not tell Hannah about this. And if you ever tell your daughter you sold her out for a construction deal, I’ll kill you.”
Nelson’s face goes beet red again, but he holds his tongue. The pull of millions of dollars just made his ego, along with his daughter, expendable.
“You call your attorney and tell him to make it happen. Being respectful to Hannah is a requirement, too. If she gets upset about anything, not only is the deal dead, but I’ll also drive your company into the ground.”
“Understood,” he says through gritted teeth, and there’s no doubt now that he’s pissed.
I extend him a curt nod of farewell, turning for the door.
His next words stop me cold in my tracks. “You fucking Hannah?”
Pivoting around, I level him with a glare that makes him shrink backward.
But I don’t lie to him. “That’s none of your business.”
He merely nods, not actually caring if I am or not. He’s already spending the money he’s going to make.
“Call your attorney ASAP, Nelson,” I remind him again. “I want Hannah to have the good news before the end of the day.”
He doesn’t reply, but I don’t wait for it either. I trot out of the temporary office trailer, pulling my sunglasses out of the interior breast pocket of my suit.
I just set the wheels in motion that will ensure Hannah is no longer available to me on weeknights. I have to figure out what to do with my life now. Do I accept the limited contact or cut her loose completely?
I will never be her priority, and that is truly the way it should be. Hope is what should be important, and there’s a part of me that’s proud of what I’ve done.
I put Hannah and Hope’s needs above my own, and I feel good about it. I want Hannah to be happy, and let’s face it… eventually, I’ll probably hurt her anyway.
Yeah… this was a good thing.
I start whistling a jaunty tune as I stroll across the packed dirt site to my McLaren.
CHAPTER 20
Hannah
I pull the chicken parm out of the oven, setting it on top of the gas-range burners to cool. Normally when I make dinner for Asher, I prepare a single dinner portion for him and package the rest to freeze, but I don’t have time to wait for it to cool down. I got behind on my day today with a late start out of my neighborhood due to a flat tire.
I tried to change it myself by watching a few YouTube videos, but luckily a passerby took pity on me as I was struggling get the jack lined up properly. Even as I gratefully accepted his help, I’d vowed I’d learn how to do it myself so I wouldn’t have to be dependent on a stranger if it happened again.
Moving around the kitchen, I flip off the kitchen lights, check to make sure nothing is out of place, and then nab my purse and keys from the counter. I make it no more than halfway across the living room before Asher comes in his front door.
“What are you doing home so early?” I ask, glancing down at my watch to see it’s barely six. That’s early for Asher, who is a bit of a workaholic. On some nights, he never even makes it home for dinner, but rather leaves straight from work to collect me for our Wicked Horse adventures. That even includes Friday nights. I’ve never seen him start his weekend this early.
“Late meeting I had got cancelled so I decided to call it a day,” he drawls as he casually saunters in.
He always does it, and I’m never prepared for it.
Let’s his eyes roam all over me when he first sees me on any particular day, I mean. Sometimes, it’s in the morning if he’s still here when I arrive. Other times, he doesn’t see me until he picks me up for an evening at the club.
But right now, he takes me in slowly in a way that makes my skin tingle from his attention. He never kisses me hello, but I’m not sure that would matter. Everything in the way he regards me right now is more than any girl could ever want when a man acknowledges our beauty and desirability.
His perusal stops at my face, his eyes lighting up with a low smolder. I brace myself for him to haul me off to the bedroom. Instead, he sniffs the air. “What smells so good?”
“Chicken parm,” I reply, backing away from potential sexual fantasies and entering the reality of his dinner on the stove. Before I start to leave, I say, “I just pulled it out, so you should tuck in sooner rather than later. I didn’t get a chance to freeze the rest. Sorry, but I was running late today.”