Almost Midnight (18 page)

Heat singed Hannah’s cheeks as she stared at Tanner’s surprised expression. Everything had been neutral after that kiss in the hallway, until now, until Jeremy had opened his mouth.

“Out,” Tanner suddenly commanded, dropping the boy on his feet with a thud. “Out now, or so help me—”

Jeremy gulped, dropping his gingerbread on the floor. “Okay, I’m going. I’m going.”

Tanner cleared his throat as he grabbed a mug of coffee and sat down next to her. The muscles in his arms flexed as he lifted the steaming coffee to his mouth. Okay, she  admitted it. She longed to be held by those arms and loved by this man. But it was her dream, not his.

“Tanner, you know Jeremy was only joking,” she said, smiling.

Two pale gray eyes clung to her face. A warm shiver slipped down Hannah’s spine.

“Did you love your husband?”

The question came out of nowhere. Hannah stared back, speechless. There had been no hesitation in his voice. She had been ready for a few words, but nothing like this. Maybe she hadn’t heard him right.

“What?” she choked out, watching his jaw tense.

He cleared his throat and placed his coffee cup next to the gingerbread. He plowed a hand through his hair, his eyes flashing the question before he repeated it again. “I asked you if loved your husband. Nick, wasn’t it?”

A throbbing pain squeezed her heart, and she looked away, her throat growing thick with tears. “Why wouldn’t I have loved him? I already told you I did.” 

Tanner’s finger suddenly brushed across her chin, turning her to face him. The gesture was gentle and filled with such tenderness, she wanted to wrap her arms around him and hold him forever.

“Tell me about it,” he said in a low whisper.

“I can’t,” she said, biting her lip.

She immediately dropped her gaze to the table. Why after days of polite conversation was he getting personal again? In the hospital, she’d told him about Nick. She thought she’d purged the worst of her feelings, but she realized her emotions were still raw.

“Did you love him, Hannah?” He slipped his hand in hers, patiently waiting for her to answer.

Her mouth trembled, and she tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let her. She lifted her chin. “I did love him. I married him, thinking he was everything I dreamed of.”

He placed a cool palm to her cheek. “He let you down, is that it, honey? The man you loved let you down? He didn’t want children and you thought he did. But marriage to you was forever. Is that it?”

“Yes,” she said, clenching her fists.

She rose from her seat and walked toward the counter, emptying her cup in the sink. Behind her, she heard a chair scrape against the floor.

Bowing her head, she closed her eyes and fought back the tears. “Nick was everything to me. I loved him. But after we married, he became very protective of our relationship.” 

Her grip on the counter tightened and her knuckles turned white. “When he finally admitted he didn’t want children, I still loved him.” 

Wordlessly, Tanner stepped behind her, his arms locking around her waist. She dropped her chin to her chest and sighed.  

“But I was so mad at him, I wanted to scream.” She paused, wanting to lean back against Tanner and let him shelter her in his strong arms. But she held back her tears, stiffening her spine. She wouldn’t lose control.

“I hated Nick after he died. Hated him for leaving me with nothing. Hated him for not telling me the truth before we married. I hated him for so long, and pretty soon, I begin to hate myself for hating him.”

 She eased through Tanner’s hold and slowly turned, lifting her gaze to meet his. Two smoky gray eyes looked down at her with such compassion her heart ached.

“No matter what my husband did, I finally came to realize, I loved Nick in my own way, Tanner. In my heart, there’ll always be a special place for him. Like you loved Julie.” 

A flash of pain glittered in his eyes. She waited for him to say something, anything. Had he loved Julie so much, he could never love again? She felt as if a noose had tightened around her chest, making it hard to breathe.       

A moment passed before he took her hand in his and peered out the window. “I loved Julie. She was my high school sweetheart. She was the mother of Jeremy. Those two facts will never change.” 

She watched his expression still, and her heart squeezed.
He didn’t love her.
“Tanner...I need to leave today.”

He stared at her. “Don’t go.”  

Her heart fluttered with hope. A hot ache grew in the pit of her stomach. “Why? Why shouldn’t I go.”
Tell me you love me. Tell me you want me to stay forever.

In one fluid motion, he pulled her to him, kissing her with such possessiveness she became limp in his arms. The velvety warmth of his touch seeped into her blood like a consuming fire. Her thoughts fell apart as his lips continued their gentle search of her mouth. He lifted his head, his voice simmering with passion. “Is that enough reason to stay?”

She felt the tug of his charm, but her heart chanted, no, it wasn’t enough, not for her. She wanted love. She wanted commitment. Darn it, she wanted marriage.

“Why else should I stay Tanner?”

“Jeremy needs you.”

Jeremy? What about you?

She had walked into this house with her eyes closed and her heart open. She deserved this, she kept telling herself, but she wouldn’t let it break her.

Hiding her disappointment, she slipped from his embrace and moved toward the pan of gingerbread on the table. She covered the pan with a piece of plastic wrap, feeling as if it were her heart she had covered with the flimsy barrier – a heart with barely any protection at all.

She avoided his towering presence and shoved the gingerbread alongside the breadbox. “I’ve recovered and I have to go home today. My mother’s coming back tomorrow.” 

She heard a low growl, but continued to chatter on. “Naturally, I’ll still be coming here during the day for Jeremy.” 

She swiveled around slowly, needing to remove herself from Tanner’s powerful presence before she lost everything she had fought for after Nick had died.

“Of course, I should let you know now, I do have another job lined up. In the fall, that is.”

For a long moment, Tanner didn’t move. “I see.”

Was that hope she saw in his eyes? Or even love?

Suddenly, Jeremy bolted into the room. “Well, did you ask her?”

“Ask me what?” she answered with raised brows, knowing full well what the little imp was up to.

Though it wasn’t working, she had to acknowledge the amusement in Jeremy’s and Fritz’s plans as they tried to bring Tanner and her together. But the muscle that flicked in Tanner’s jaw said that he didn’t see anything funny about it.

Tanner shifted a determined gaze back to Hannah. “We need to talk.” His voice was firm. Unyielding.

Hannah shot him a questioning stare. She understood where he stood. He understood where she stood. What else was there to talk about? There wasn’t any compromise on her side of things.

Jeremy stood beside his father while Fritz hurried into the room. Tanner’s expression grew more serious by the minute.

“Well?” the older man asked, staring form Hannah to Tanner, then back to Hannah again.

“Well what?” Hannah asked, raising a delicate brow.

Tanner glared at Jeremy, then turned an irritated expression upon Fritz. “Out! You two out of here. Can’t a man propose without a crowd in the room?”

Hannah felt her body go numb as she sank into the kitchen chair. Fritz shot her a wink and dragged Jeremy out by the collar of his shirt. Before she realized what was happening, Tanner was kneeling beside her, holding her hands in his.

“I was wondering if you would do me the honor of marrying me, Hannah Elliot?”

She was too stunned to speak. Marry him? Was he serious?

Tears sprang to her eyes. His endearing smile had somehow found its way past the barrier around her heart.

“I want you to be my wife, honey. I know it’s soon, but I know it’s right. I need you.”

A lump lodged in her throat. But what about love, she wanted to ask. “I don’t know, Tanner. I just don’t know.” 

His eyes searched her face. “Is it because of Nick?”

She could barely think. Nick? Was that the reason Tanner had restrained himself? He felt her late husband was competition?

“No, Nick isn’t the reason at all. I don’t feel ready yet. I have some things to think about. What about my mother?” 

Her mother had nothing to do with it. The question was, did Tanner love her? She thought he did, even though he hadn’t said so, yet deep down, it was also hard for her to trust a man again.

“If you haven’t noticed, your mother and my father have been carrying on for weeks. At church. At the hospital. They’ll probably elope if we don’t stop them. Dad’s been going crazy with her staying away so long.”

Hannah’s jaw dropped open in shock. “What?”

“Your mother, my dad.” Tanner’s lips twitched. “Together.”

“I never imagined that Fritz’s Sunday romps to church included wooing my mother. Oh, they’ve had lunch now and then with a few friends, and Fritz has talked to her on the phone, and they are good friends in a way, but...well...I never thought—”

Tanner brought her hands to his lips and kissed them. “What about an answer, honey? A pair of curious eavesdroppers are waiting on the other side of that door.”

His eyes were dark with desire, his hold gentle and unmoving. A part of her rejoiced in his deep affection for her, but a part of her was also afraid. “We’ve only known each other a little while. This is insane.”

“I want you to marry me, Hannah. It doesn’t have to be tomorrow. I admit I was hoping this would bribe you a little?” He pulled out a huge diamond ring and slipped it onto the table.

 Her eyes flew to the rock, and it hurt to speak. “Oh, Tanner. It’s beautiful.”

“Not as beautiful as you.”

Her eyes filled with tears of joy. He wanted to marry her. “This is all too much for me. Please, I n-need time to think.”

His brows narrowed. He was a man who usually got what he wanted at the snap his fingers. But she loved him, and she knew eventually he would utter the words she desperately needed to hear. He wasn’t like Nick at all.

“Then what about dinner tonight?” he asked, stroking the skin beneath her wrist. Her cheeks flushed under his fiery gaze. “We can talk about all this. I know a little place—”

“Hey!” Jeremy barreled past the doorway, interrupting Tanner’s romantic speech. “You can’t go out! You promised to make dinner for me tonight, Dad! Mable’s off!”

Hannah laughed as Fritz came trailing behind Jeremy. The older man couldn’t quite face Hannah. It was obvious the two had heard every word Tanner had said, including the bit about her mother.

Tanner gritted his teeth as he let go of Hannah’s hand and stood. “Fine,” he said tersely, glaring at Fritz and Jeremy. “How about I go to the grocery store and buy the stuff I need for tonight. It doesn’t look like the two of you will let me do anything else.” 

Hannah bit her cheek to stifle a laugh.

“I’ll go with you,” Jeremy proclaimed. “And Hannah can go with us too, right?”

Tanner angled a brow in her direction, his eyes lighting with desire. A tingle snaked down her spine. He wanted to be alone with her. Would he tell her then?

“Sure, I’ll go,” she said, trying to still her racing heart. “But what about your Grandpa?”

Fritz, still embarrassed, avoided her gaze and stuffed his head into the refrigerator. Waving his hand behind his head, he said, “No, you young people go on ahead. I’ll be cleaning out some of this stuff Mable thinks is food. You’ll need room for your leftovers tonight. Now get. Jeremy you stay with me.”

“Aw, pooh.” Jeremy plopped onto a kitchen chair.

Hannah laughed as Tanner placed a hand at the small of her back and directed her out of the room toward the garage, whispering in her ear. “My Father’s not going to take his head out of the refrigerator until you leave the kitchen.”

Fritz poked his head out and growled. “I heard that, and you better mind your elders or I’ll give you the what for!”

Hannah let out another laugh as she was quickly dragged out of the kitchen and into Tanner’s Jaguar.

“Hey, you forgot the ring!” Fritz shouted, staring at the table. “Five dang carats, he got for ya, Hannah!  Don’t ya want to wear it?” But they were already gone.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Hannah still couldn’t believe that Tanner Clearbrook wanted to marry her. She tilted her head against the Jaguar’s headrest, letting her gaze sweep over Tanner’s face. The sun’s rays glimmered over the handsome angles of his profile, making him more desirable than a man ever should be.

He turned and smiled warmly at her. “Let’s have dinner tonight. Alone. Dad and Jeremy can fend for themselves.”

She laughed, wanting more than ever to be alone with him. “I hate to say it, but I think at this point, it’s too late. Those two are set with their plans. We promised them dinner and we can’t let them down.”

Tanner’s foot hit the brake at the red light on Main. He peered at her, his expression firm. “Tomorrow then. You and me. Alone.”

Hannah’s pulse spiked at the determination in his tone. She nodded. “All right.” 

The light changed, and the Jaguar picked up speed.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” she said. “Do you mind if we stop at my apartment before we go to the store?”

Tanner’s lips curved upward into a mischievous smile, and with the finesse of a racecar driver, he swept the Jaguar into the adjacent lane. “Your apartment? Why didn’t you say so in the first place?”

A tingle of excitement ran through Hannah at the sight of that adoring dimple. If Tanner wanted to, he could have her wrapped around his little finger in no time at all, just the way Nick had done. But this was not Nick, she reminded herself. This was Tanner Clearbrook. A man who cared for his little boy. A man who knew the difference between honesty and selfishness.

“No, Mr. Smarty Pants, that’s not what I need to stop there for.” 

He looked crestfallen. “What? You have to go to the ladies room?”