Chapter Twelve
Hanna
“Look, there has to be some kind of reasonable explanation,” Danielle said. “I can’t believe James would do something like that and keep it from you.”
I looked up from the fashion magazine on my lap. “That’s what he says,” I said, a trace of anger creeping into my voice. “Whose side are you on here, anyway?”
Danielle gave me a pleading look. “Hanna, please,” she said. “Don’t bite my head off. I’m only trying to help you.”
I shrugged. “I don’t want to date a single dad,” I said, shaking my head. “Especially not a lying, cheating, scumbag of a single dad who thinks he can get away with everything because he’s richer than Croesus.”
“I don’t think that’s it at all—”
Danielle’s reply was interrupted by a sharp knock at the door. I glared at her.
“I’m not going to answer it,” I said. “What if it’s James?”
Danielle got to her feet and brushed her hands off on her thighs. “Then I will,” she said, striding across the room and yanking open our front door before I could stop her.
“Danielle? I need to speak with Hanna.” The deep sound of James’s voice filled my ears and I winced.
Why can’t he just leave me alone, I thought angrily as I pressed my lips into a thin line.
“I don’t think she wants to talk to you,” Danielle said nervously, glancing over her shoulder at me. “Maybe you should leave.”
James sighed – I could hear it from where I sat. “I have something I need to show her,” he said. “Can you please just tell her that, if nothing else? I think she’d be interested to see it.”
“What is it,” I muttered under my breath. “Some stupid fancy expensive present to make me forget about what a fucker you are?”
Danielle turned to me and closed the door. “He says he has something to show you,” she said.
“I heard,” I said coldly.
“I think you should hear him out,” Danielle said. “Come on – what if it’s something interesting?”
I groaned. “I hate that both my roommate and my stupid ex are against me,” I muttered, getting to my feet and stomping over to the door. “If I do this, will you agree to shut up?”
Danielle gave me a wounded look, but she nodded. “Promise,” she said.
When I opened the door, James was standing in the hallway with a giant box in his hands.
“If you brought me a kitten, my building doesn’t allow pets,” I said coldly.
“It’s not a kitten,” James said. Up close, he didn’t look so good. His dark hair was greasy at the roots and there were lines in his face that hadn’t been there a few days ago. “But I think you’ll want to see it all the same. Can I take you to dinner, please?”
I bit my lip. As angry as I was with him, I was almost angrier with myself. I hated how being around James made me feel tongue-tied and anxious, like a lovesick kid. I hated that I had such a hard time saying no to him…and I hated that more than anything else in the world, I wanted to throw myself into his arms and kiss him.
“Fine,” I said shortly. I glanced down at my yoga pants and t-shirt. “Is this okay, or should I change?”
Something about the tone of my voice made James step back. “You’re good,” he said. “Come on. Nick is waiting downstairs.”
I went inside and shut the door as I grabbed my coat. Danielle raised an eyebrow.
“So, you’re going to hear him out?”
I sighed. “You didn’t give me much of a choice,” I groused. “And at least this will make you shut up forever…and I might even get a free meal out of it.”
Danielle clucked her tongue. “Hanna, come on,” she said. “Give him a break.”
I glared at her. “I’ll be home soon,” I said. “So, don’t worry about me.”
Danielle shrugged. “I never do,” she said. “Trust me.”
I shrugged into my coat, then grabbed a scarf, a knitted hat, and gloves before sliding my feet into a pair of shearling boots. James was waiting in the hallway, still holding that box. I followed him downstairs without speaking. As soon as we were settled in the back of James’s car, he turned to me and handed me the box. It wasn’t as heavy as I’d been expecting, which somehow only made me more curious.
“What, you couldn’t even wrap this?” I joked. “Aren’t you trying to get back on my good side?”
“This is serious, Hanna,” James said in a low voice. “I’m not fucking with you.”
The tone of his voice sent a shiver crawling down my back – I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard him sound like that before. Biting my lip, I unfolded the cardboard flaps of the box and peered inside.
The whole box was filled with photos. Frowning, I picked one up and looked at it. It was a shot of James, from the side, as he walked into a London tube station.
“What is this?” I asked, turning to James and frowning. “Who would do this?”
“Keep looking,” James urged. “It gets worse.”
My stomach twisted into anxious knots as I reached into the box and grabbed a handful of photos. Suddenly, the car lurched sharply to the left and the box fell from my lap, spilling over the floorboards of the backseat. James turned on the interior lights and I gasped as I looked down and saw dozens of photos of James…and photos of myself, too. Some of them were as recent as the day before yesterday – I recognized the outfit I’d been wearing.
“Oh my god,” I said, leaning back against the seat and covering my mouth with both hands. “What the fuck is this? Who would do something so creepy?”
James shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said quietly. “I left work and found this outside of my condo.”
“Was there a note?”
“No. There was a bunch of paper on top of the pictures, and all of the sheets were blank.”
A cold chill ran down my spine and I began to feel numb.
“I know it’s scary,” James said. He reached out and put a hand on my thigh. His touch was both warm and comforting and I put my hand on top of his. Compared to my cold skin, he felt almost hot to the touch. Suddenly, I was so glad that I’d listened to him and decided to hear him out. Deep down, I hadn’t wanted to believe that James could be capable of such cruel deception…but I’d been in so much pain that I’d taken every precaution to keep myself (and my heart) safe from unnecessary pain.
“It is scary,” I admitted. “But thank you for showing me.”
James nodded. “I think I’m dealing with a real psychopath here,” he said. “And I want you to know that no matter what happens, I’ll always ensure your safety, Hanna.”
I nodded. “Thank you,” I said softly.
The car slowed to a stop.
“Do you still feel like eating?”
I thought about it. I wasn’t particularly hungry, but seeing the photos had really frightened me. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to go back home, even though Danielle was there.
“I do,” I said. “At least, I feel like being with you.”
James visibly relaxed. “Good,” he said. He twined his fingers with mine and squeezed my hand. “I’m glad, Hanna.”
“I’m glad I listened to you,” I said. “I’m sorry I was so stubborn. I just…” I trailed off. I didn’t want to explain how hurt I’d been feeling. Even though I was no longer angry with James, I still didn’t want him to know.
“You don’t have to explain,” James said. He cleared his throat and gestured to the door. “Shall we?” James offered me his hand and helped me out of the backseat and into the foyer of the restaurant. It wasn’t too fancy, but the smell of roasting meat was wafting through the air and I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, enjoying the aroma.
“This used to be one of my favorite places,” James said as he steered me forward to the hostess stand. “I’d come here all the time when I was in school.”
I snickered. “I could barely afford to eat out when I was in college,” I said. “A fancy night for me was when I could afford hot dogs and cut them up in my ramen.”
“Oh, god,” James said. He laughed. “Well, you’re here now.”
I looked at him properly, really looked at him. His dark hair stood in stiff tangles from his head and the dark circles under his eyes were severe, but he was still the most gorgeous man I’d ever met. Just standing next to him was enough to make me happy.
“I am,” I said, nodding. “I guess I am.”
The hostess showed us to a private booth in the back of the dimly-lit restaurant and I settled in across from James before looking down at the menu. It was funny – I hadn’t been hungry when we’d first walked in but now that I was seated and looking over the dishes, I felt ravenous. I felt like I hadn’t eaten in days.
“This looks incredible,” I said.
“You look incredible,” James replied.
I flushed. “At least, my stalker thinks so,” I muttered, shuddering as I remembered the creepy photos from the car.
“Hanna, don’t worry about that,” James said. “I swear, I’ll take care of it.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “But how can I not worry about it? I mean, someone is seriously deranged…and they’re following both of us!”
“I promise, my lawyers and the private investigators are handling it,” James said smoothly. “Now, don’t think about it anymore tonight, okay? Promise me?”
I sighed. “I’m not sure I can make that promise,” I said. “But I’ll do my best.”
The crooked, devilish grin James gave me in return was enough to melt my heart and I nodded.
“I promise,” I said finally. “At least, I’ll try.”
When the waitress appeared at the side of the table, James ordered a bottle of dry white wine for us to share. I ordered French onion soup in a bread bowl, a small Caesar salad, and a steak cooked rare.
“Wow,” James said, laughing. “You weren’t kidding.” He closed his menu and handed it to the waitress with a charming smile. “I’ll have the same.”
“Who knew paranoia could make you so hungry,” I joked once the waitress had left the table.
Under the table, James put his hand on my thigh. For a moment, I thought he was going to inch his fingers closer and closer to my body. But he kept his hand on my leg, gently rubbing me with his thumb. It felt good, and I realized he was trying to comfort me. Putting my hand under the table, I laced my fingers with his and squeezed his hand.
“So,” James said, leaning closer with a devilish smirk on his face. “Does this mean I’m forgiven?”
I rolled my eyes and pretended to think about it, humming loudly.
James burst out laughing. “Come on,” he said, shaking his head. “You can’t do that to a man!”
His laughter was contagious and after a few seconds, I giggled too.
“Yes,” I said, trying very hard to stay solemn and stern. “You’re forgiven.”
When the waitress appeared with the wine, James poured two glasses and handed one to me. “To us,” he said. “And to making it through anything.”
There was a serious tone in his voice that I wasn’t used to hearing.
“Like stalkers? And bad Christmas parties?”
James shook his head. “No,” he said. “To things harder than that, Hanna.”
I shivered. It was strange – somehow, I had the feeling he wasn’t just talking about casually dating. Was it possible that a man like James West was falling in love with me?
“I see,” I said softly before clinking my glass against him. Being with James was always so hard – part of me was yearning to throw myself at him and kiss him and tell him that I loved him deeply. But he was like a cipher, and I wasn’t quite ready to bare everything yet. After all, despite knowing each other for over a year now, I still didn’t know very much about him.
The silence was deafening as we sat in the booth. I took a long sip of wine, savoring the tart, alcoholic bite on my tongue.
“This is good,” I said, if only to break the silence. “Thank you.”
James grinned. “You’re my girl,” he said. “And now that I’ve found you, I don’t ever want to let you go.”
I shivered. It’s like he’s reading my mind, I thought as I took another long sip of wine. It’s like he knows everything about me, somehow.
After dinner – which was amazing – James escorted me back to the car. It had begun to snow, and I shivered as we climbed into the waiting backseat.
“So,” James said slowly. “You want to come over?”
I looked at him and nodded. “Yeah,” I said. “I do. But I don’t want to have sex tonight, okay?” I put my hand in James’s and squeezed. “I just want to be with you.”
James put his other arm around my shoulders and hugged me. “I understand,” he said. He smirked. “And if you change your mind later, well…”
I playfully punched him in the arm and rolled my eyes. “Yeah, right,” I said, shaking my head. “Not gonna happen.”
“Hey,” James said, sounding offended. “A man can dream, right? Especially when he’s next to such a gorgeous babe.”
I laughed and looked down at my casual clothes. “Yeah,” I said with a snicker. “Because I’m such a dream girl.”
James kissed me lightly on the lips and I melted at the touch of his mouth against mine.
“Yes,” James said quietly when he pulled away. “You are.”
That night, we curled up in James’s huge bed and snuggled. He held me close all night and even though I had nightmares about our stalker, I felt safe in his arms. It was strange to be so close to him without making love, but somehow I had a feeling he was relieved, too. This was such a stressful time that I didn’t want James to worry about anything silly like sexual performance.
In the morning, James had Nick drop me off at home before work. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face as I bounded up the steps. When I unlocked my door and pushed it open, Danielle was sitting on the couch. She smirked.
“Yeah, all that nonsense about coming back right away, huh?” She laughed. “You’re lucky I wasn’t worried about you – I’d have had to send a search party.”
I rolled my eyes. “We had a nice dinner, and then I spent the night with James,” I replied.
“Well, duh,” Danielle said. “I didn’t exactly think you’d slept in the street!”
“Hey, enough,” I said. I bit my lip, unsure of whether or not I should tell Danielle about the strange package and the creepy photos. But before I could make up my mind, Danielle frowned.
“Hey, something came for you,” she said. She tossed me a padded postal envelope. “Someone dropped it off this morning.”
I bit my lip. “Who?”
Danielle shrugged. “I didn’t get a good look at the guy – he just seemed like a regular courier to me. It’s probably like, paperwork from your office or something – maybe they’re finally putting your promotion on paper.”
“I’ll look at it later,” I said, setting the envelope down on the end table and yawning. “How are you?”
Danielle shrugged again. “Pretty good.” She burped, then flushed and covered her mouth. “Sorry,” she said with a groan. “I ordered a pizza last night thinking that you’d be coming home, and you’re not going to believe me but I ate half of the damn thing in one sitting. Can you believe that?”
I giggled. “Yeah, maybe.”
“And then I had more for breakfast,” Danielle added, looking guilty. She got to her feet and stretched. “I think I might go for a run – feel like joining me?”
“God, no,” I said. I yawned. “I’m exhausted. I think I’m going to sleep for a while.”
“I bet you’ve already done your exercising,” Danielle said with a salacious grin.
“Oh, stop it,” I said, rolling my eyes and walking down the hall to my room. As soon as I was inside, I locked the door and flopped down on my bed. It was crazy – I’d slept so well with James, and yet somehow, I was still tired. Closing my eyes, I curled up under the covers and snuggled down deep into my mattress.