Chapter Five
Hanna
I recognized him instantly. The tanned skin, the unruly dark hair.
And those eyes that made me feel like I’d stepped into the middle of a fantasy novel.
But my amazement only lasted a millisecond before the pain started. Hot, intense burning that spread from my lap to my thighs and my knees before I could even scream. Leaping out of my chair, I grabbed the edge of the desk and howled in agony.
Jack rushed forward. “Beth? Oh my god,” he said quickly, taking me in his arms as my legs buckled below me.
I couldn’t believe it. I’d found him again – against all odds, I’d found Jack. The realization of my discovery – not to mention the intense burning pain on my legs – was enough to make my eyes roll back in my head and I passed out.
I was barely aware of Jack carrying me outside of the office, into the elevator, and into the cold, Boston street. Snow was blowing wildly through the air as Jack waved his hand and shouted for a cab. When a yellow cab pulled up, Jack flung open the backseat door and carried me inside. He barked the name of the nearest hospital and cradled me in his arms as the car pulled away.
“So,” Jack said weakly. “We meet again, I see.”
I flushed hotly. The pain was becoming unbearable, even worse than it had been before, and when I closed my eyes, I saw stars. I was afraid to look down at my legs – the coffee had soaked through my skirt and tights, and I didn’t want to see the damage.
“You’re going to be okay,” Jack said. He took my hand in his. Despite the pain and the shock, a little electric pulse leapt from Jack’s body to mine when he squeezed my fingers with his own.
“I hope so,” I muttered.
“So, you’re my new secretary?” Jack smirked. “How did you manage that?”
“I frowned. “When I was interviewed, they said I’d be working for someone named James West.”
Jack cleared his throat. “About that,” he said slowly.
Suddenly, the realization hit me like a ton of bricks. Jack was James West. He’d lied about his name – just like I’d done.
“You’re James,” I said slowly. “James West…the richest man in Boston.” I stared at him for a long moment, wondering how I was ever going to get used to replacing the Jack in my head with the James that was sitting beside me, holding me tight.
“I am,” James said. He coughed.
“So, you lied about your name,” I said softly. The pain in my lap was still throbbing, but pushing it aside was easier now that I had James’s gorgeous face to focus on. If anything, he looked even hotter than he had when we’d met the previous year.
“I did,” James said in a matter-of-fact voice. “And I think you can guess why.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Not really,” I said, wondering how I was going to confess to the same “crime.” “Why?”
“Because, if you’d recognized me, well…” James trailed off. He took his hand from mine and ran it through his unruly dark hair and sighed. “I didn’t want you to like me for my money, Beth.”
I cringed.
“What?” James narrowed his eyes. “I think you can understand that.”
I did understand – of course, I did. But I wasn’t able to face him and tell him that I’d made the same lie…albeit for a terrible, selfish reason.
Before I could open my mouth, the cab pulled up to the hospital. James reached into his back pocket and pulled out his leather wallet, flipping it open and handing the driver a wad of cash that looked like far too much for our short cab trip.
“Come on,” James said. He climbed out of the cab and scooped me into his arms.
“I can walk,” I protested, squirming in his arms and trying to free myself. But James held on tightly, and I relaxed against his muscular chest as he carried me into the Emergency Room entrance.
As soon as we were inside, James flagged down a nurse. “Excuse me,” he said with a charming smile. “My friend here – she’s badly burned.”
The nurse took one look at James’s handsome face, lingering on his sculpted features for what felt like ages before turning her attention to me. With a meek expression, I pointed to my lap.
“I dropped coffee,” I said softly.
The nurse rolled her eyes and I felt a flicker of annoyance. But to my surprise, she didn’t send us to wait in the hellish, crowded room filled with coughing, bleeding people. The nurse jerked her head to the side and led us down a long hallway, into a large room with beds partitioned off with curtains and mesh sheets.
“Wait here,” she said. “The doctor will be with you shortly.”
I nodded. “Thank you,” I said. The nurse drew the curtain between James and myself, leaving us alone.
“What were you going to tell me in the car?” James asked, cocking his head to the side. “In the car. Before we got here.”
I sighed. I knew it was now or never – I couldn’t expect him to go on thinking my name was really Beth forever, especially not now that I was technically his employee. But I knew this would be the end of anything between us. James wouldn’t want to be involved with a woman who lied…even if it was about something as innocuous as my name.
“Tell me,” James urged. “Come on,” he added with a smirk as he reached for my hand again. “I bet we’ll only be here for an hour before the doctor shows up.”
I flushed hotly. It’s now or never, I told myself. And if he doesn’t like me anymore, well, then, I probably deserve it.
“It’s my name,” I said slowly. “It’s not really Beth.”
James’s jaw dropped and he gave me a strange look. “You’re kidding,” he said, narrowing his eyes.
“I wish,” I said lamely.
“So,” James asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking. “Why? Are you some secret billionaire, too, wanting to protect yourself from gold-digging men?”
I flushed. “No. Sorry to disappoint,” I added, still feeling lame. “I shouldn’t have done it – I regretted it as soon as the words were out of my mouth.”
“Why, then?”
“Because,” I said softly. “That party, where we met? Well, I wasn’t invited. In fact, I wasn’t even a part of the wedding. My friend Danielle was a bridesmaid, and she convinced me to come along with her at the last second, since it wasn’t like I’d need to pay for a hotel room on my own.”
“So, you gatecrashed a party?” James smirked.
“I did,” I said, feeling profoundly embarrassed and childish. “And I had a feeling that if you knew, well, I don’t know – I guess I thought it would make you think I didn’t deserve to be there.”
To my surprise, James burst out laughing.
“What?” I asked nervously. “What is it?”
“That’s great,” James said, shaking his head. “And trust me – most of those people shouldn’t have been there, either. You saw the jerks who were trying to fuck your friend. It was a nightmare. I’m glad I met you.”
I blinked. “You mean…you’re not angry?”
“No,” James said. “God, no! Why would I be? I found you again, didn’t I?” He gave me a triumphant smirk. Inside my chest, I felt my heart begin to melt.
Before I could reply, the mesh curtain was abruptly yanked back. A young doctor stood there in green scrubs, blinking down at a chart.
“Miss…?”
“Hanna,” I said, glancing over at James. I couldn’t help flushing – it was the first time I’d said my real name around him. “Hanna Parker.”
“And what seems to be the trouble?”
Wincing, I shifted and pointed to my lap. “I spilled coffee.”
The doctor nodded. “I see,” he said, even though he still hadn’t taken his eyes away from his clipboard. “And this is your…?”
“Friend.”
“Boss.”
James and I spoke at the same time and I looked up at him in confusion.
The doctor frowned. “Well, whoever he is, I have to ask him to leave.” The doctor passed me a worn cloth gown. “Please change and I’ll be with you shortly.” He tucked his pen behind his ear and left the small stall.
“If you want me to stay, I’ll stay,” James said. “I don’t want anyone making you uncomfortable.”
I didn’t reply.
“But I can also go to the waiting room, if you’d rather I go there, instead,” James continued. When I didn’t answer, he took my chin in his fingers and tilted my head up so that I was staring into his dark eyes. “Hanna?”
I sighed.
“What is it? Are you in too much pain?”
I bit my lip and shook my head, freeing myself of James’s grip. “No,” I said softly. “It’s not that.”
“What is it, then?”
I sighed. There was no way I could tell James how I was really feeling – how I felt like the world’s biggest idiot, all because of my lie. The whole time, I thought I’d been clever by using a fake name. But now, knowing that James didn’t even care, just made me feel like the butt of my own joke. He wasn’t even angry!
“Nothing,” I lied. “You can just leave, James. It’s okay. You should be getting back to work, anyway.”
James frowned. “Hanna, I’m not leaving you,” he said. “You hurt yourself!”
“I’ll be fine,” I said, glancing down at my stained skirt. “It’s okay.”
James sighed. “Fine,” he said. “If that’s what you want, then I’ll go.” He looked at me for a long moment. “Is that what you want?”
No, I thought immediately. No, it’s not what I want at all. But I mustered the courage to look James in the eye and nod slowly. James shrugged, then turned on his heel and walked out of the small curtained-in room.
As soon as he was gone, I regretted it. I wished I hadn’t acted like that – but then again, how the hell was I supposed to act? Seeing Jack – I mean, James – had brought such a confusing flood of emotion over me that I had no idea how to deal with it. I’d thought about him, almost constantly, for almost a whole year now. And now that we’ve encountered each other again, it felt like no time had passed at all…but it also didn’t feel the same as it had in Jamaica. We weren’t on vacation, anymore, we were just two regular, ordinary people.
And as much as I still wanted him, there was no way I’d risk my new position just for another hot, steamy night in bed with James West. Sure, thinking about it made me shudder with desire and lust…but I wasn’t that kind of girl. I wasn’t like Danielle, I wasn’t ready to risk my position in the world just for a little fun with a hot guy. And James West wasn’t just any hot guy, either – he was easily one of the wealthiest men in the country. Not to mention, one of the most gorgeous. And funny, and kind…
Of course, he wouldn’t want someone like me, I thought as I twisted my hands together, keeping them far away from the burned tissue of my thighs. He could have any woman he wants – why would he want some crazy girl he met on vacation who lied about her name?
At least, that’s what I kept telling myself over and over as I sat in the tiny room, waiting for the doctor to come back and check up on me.
Two hours later, I walked out of the emergency room, still wincing, but carrying a prescription for some burn cream and painkillers. It was depressing: I recognized most of the people in the waiting room as people who had been there when James and I had first arrived. Was it possible that I was already benefitting from his impossible privilege and wealth?
“Hanna.”
The sound of my name made me jump. When I turned around, I saw James standing there with his hands shoved in his pockets. His coat was draped over his shoulder, along with mine – in the shock of pain, I’d forgotten to grab it from my desk.
I frowned. “What are you still doing here?”
James narrowed his eyes. “What, you really expected me to leave?” He snorted and shook his head. “No way, Hanna. I’m taking you home – you’ve had quite a day.”
“Am I…am I fired?”
James chuckled, but he didn’t reply. Suddenly, I felt a horrible pang swell up inside of my chest. Oh, no, I thought. He’s going to wait to get me alone, out of the room, and then tell me that he can’t work with someone so dishonest. Stupid, stupid! Why did I ever have to lie like that?
To my surprise, James led me out to the curb. There was a smiling, uniformed chauffeur standing in front of a long, black town car.
“I thought I could have Nick give you a ride home before he takes me back to the office,” James said. “Nick is my driver.”
He has a driver? I thought, forcing myself not to look astonished. I’d always known that there were a lot of rich people in Boston…but somehow I’d pictured them as uniformly old and stuffy. James was neither old, nor stuffy…and yet, he had enough money for a driver?
Suddenly, I wondered what his house looked like.
“Hanna?”
I glanced up. James was still standing there, waiting patiently for my response. It had begun to snow outside and I shivered. James put his coat around my shoulders as Nick opened the back doors of the town car for us. After helping me inside, James crawled in and settled next to me. He reached into a mini fridge and took out a bottle of sparkling mineral water.
“You want?”
I bit my lip. I felt guilty accepting anything – even a stupid bottle of water – from James West, but I couldn’t deny that I was thirsty.
“Yeah,” I said softly. “Sure. Thanks.”
James opened another bottle and passed it over. I closed my eyes, enjoying the cool sensation of water in my mouth.
“Thanks,” I said, this time with more gratitude. “I didn’t even know how thirsty I was until now.”
James eyed me closely. “Your lips are dry,” he said. “I could tell that you were getting dehydrated.”
The knowledge that he’d been staring at my mouth made me flush. In the dim light of the backseat, I felt closer to him than I had inside of the crowded, fluorescent hospital. He smelled amazing – a blend of spice and musk – and his dark, unruly hair was practically begging for me to run my hands through it and gently tug.
No, Hanna, I told myself. You can’t do that with him – not today, not ever.
“So, Hanna, there’s something I want to talk to you about,” James said. He reclined against the leather seat and took another sip of mineral water.
“What?” My voice came out as a squeak and I cleared my throat. “I mean, sorry. What is it?”
“Well, for one thing, I can’t imagine that someone with a degree like yours would be happy as an administrative assistant for too long,” James said.
I frowned. “How do you know anything about my degree?” I racked my brain, trying to remember our conversations in Jamaica, almost a year ago.
James chuckled “I called into work when I was waiting for you,” he said. “And I found out that you specialize in media and development.”
“I did major in that,” I said, my cheeks pinking. “But, um…you know what, nevermind.”
James gave me an odd look. “No, tell me,” he said.
“It’s just, I feel stupid telling someone like you that I really needed this job,” I said. Embarrassment and shame flooded my body and I had to resist the urge to sink into the floorboards.
“Don’t,” James said firmly. “We all have to do things we don’t want to do for work.”
I blinked. It wasn’t exactly the response I’d been expecting.
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
“And don’t be sorry, either,” James said. He narrowed his eyes at me. “Hanna, believe me when I say I want to help you. I know it sounds crazy – we don’t really know each other at all, do we? But I look at you and I see someone special, someone important.”
I bit my lip, unsure of where he was going. I could feel the intimacy and tension between us growing by the second, but I felt helpless and frozen in place. I’d even forgotten about the painful burning sensation that still lingered on my thighs despite the painkillers I’d taken at the hospital.
“Okay,” I said nervously.
“And I want you to know that I think you’d be perfect for another job with Magnate Group, something perhaps a little more suited to your talents.”
I frowned.
“What?” James asked. “I thought you’d be pleased.”
“I don’t want you pawning me off on someone else, just because you want to sleep with me,” I said with a surprising amount of anger. I couldn’t believe that James thought I could be bought like this!
“Hanna, that’s not what I’m trying to do, not at all,” James said. “If you’d just listen, just for a minute—“
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I can’t accept your charity, James.”
“This isn’t charity,” James said, clenching his teeth. “This is me trying to help you succeed. And Hanna, what’s so wrong with that, if I may ask?”
The town car was slowing to a stop and I saw my apartment building when I looked out the window. Before Nick could slow the car to a stop, I grabbed the handle and shoved it open.
“Hanna! Where are you going?” James peered up at me with his eyebrows knitted together. “What the hell is going on?”
“I’m going home,” I said, shaking my head. “I’ll be in the office tomorrow.”
The look on James’s face was both stunned and sympathetic, and for a moment I had the most intense urge to throw myself into his arms, apologize, and kiss him.
But I couldn’t do that. Not now, not ever.
Gritting my teeth, I slammed the door of the town car and stalked through the swirling snow to my apartment.