jasper
Hide and seek, baby.
I scrawled the note and placed it over top of the one she’d left for me. I had no idea where her and Charlotte had gone, Parker didn’t either. Charlotte’s Range Rover was gone, and I swear Sammy knew, but the bastard wasn’t talking.
Parker was probably losing his shit good and proper by now. His wife was god knows where, and with no protection to boot.
I wasn’t thrilled about it either, but I trusted Hannah’s judgement and her ability to keep herself safe.
“Code accepted, access granted,” the security system alerted me over the speaker system.
I knew what that meant.
She’s home.
My face broke out in a grin as I sprinted for the hiding spot I’d thought of earlier.
This shit is weird.
I knew it was weird, we both did, but that made it all the more fun. I’d bet we were the only adults around here racing around to play hide and seek, and that was what I liked about us.
We weren’t like everyone else.
I skidded to a stop and listened for her.
I was hoping she’d come through the front door like she usually did when it wasn’t raining, and not through the house.
My plan was to wait until I heard the familiar line, and then slip through the internal access into the garage where she’d just come from.
I heard the front door open and her footsteps as she walked into the kitchen.
Success.
“Ready or not… here I come,” she called out, the excitement in her voice evident.
That one line had my pulse racing.
I snuck into the garage, into the storage area and waited.
The anticipation was killing me already. I could still remember being a little kid, hiding just like this, excitement and nervous energy thrumming through my whole body. Trying to be still, making an effort to even breathe quietly…
The prize for winning back then was nothing like the prize I’d receive now, even though I wouldn’t win. I already knew that.
She’d find me. She always did.
I could hear her walking around upstairs and I knew it wouldn’t be long before she ran out of places to look. She’d come for me then.
I crouched down lower and tried to make my big frame smaller than it was.
Not an easy task.
I could hear her downstairs now, and I knew she was getting closer.
I tried to breathe quieter, my excitement not helping in the least.
She opened the door. “Well, well, Jasper Jones, I know you’re in here somewhere,” she called.
I peeked out and looked at her; she had her back to me, and my god, what a back it was. Her slim shoulders and toned arms on show, and those damn fine legs were on display too.
Fuck the game. I need her.
I rose quietly from my spot, if there was a skill I did possess, it was creeping around. I could move as quiet as a mouse if I wanted to.
I approached her slowly, not wanting to startle her. I could tell the moment she knew I was behind her.
The side of her face curved up in what I knew would be a satisfied smile.
She loved the game – she was such a little weirdo.
Just like me.
But more than the game, I knew she loved what came next.
I stopped behind her, my body only just touching hers, and I felt her tremble slightly from my breath at her neck.
“I found you,” she murmured as I kissed her exposed shoulder, trailing kisses slowly up her neck.
She full-on shuddered. Facial hair might have been a pain in the ass sometimes, but right now, I wouldn’t have changed it for the world.
Sensory overload.
It was Hannah’s secret spot. Down the back and sides of her neck, the hair on my face tickling and scratching her as I went.
“You always find me,” I replied huskily.
“Will you always find me?” she asked, her voice oddly vulnerable.
I spun her around quickly, and gripping each side of her hips, hoisted her onto the bonnet of my BMW.
“In any corner of the earth,” I answered. “I’ll always find you.”
“That’s what I was hoping you’d say,” she whispered.
I didn’t know what that meant, but I’d given up trying to understand the deep and inner workings of this woman’s mind a long time ago.
I knew how to make her happy, I understood her better than most people ever could, and she loved me.
I’m doing okay.
I slipped the thin straps of her dress down her shoulders.
“No bra,” I mumbled appreciatively.
“No underwear either,” she whispered in my ear.
I groaned.
Fuck me, the things this girl does to me.
Hannah Montgomery was the only thing in this world that had the potential to break my cool exterior.
Not even music, as much as I loved it, could get the reaction out of me that she could.
I loved her like nothing else.
I wanted to make her my wife.
She looked up at me with lust-filled green eyes and I nearly said it out loud. The only thing that stopped me was not having that ring in my hand.
I’d spent more than some people made in their entire lives on that damn thing, because I wanted it to be perfect for her – like she was for me.
I contemplated running to get it, but my girl distracted me by unzipping my fly and dropping my jeans around my ankles.
The business I had to attend to here was far too important.
It could wait a while longer; we had forever.
Right now, I was going to fuck the woman of my dreams on the hood of my brand new car, and I was gonna do it right.