Charming Hannah (Big Sky 1)

“It’s so fucking unfair,” I growl and shake my head. “Kendall was going to be a senior this year, and he was a phenomenal football player. And not just for a small town. For any town.”

“He sounds like a special kid.”

I nod and swallow hard, trying to keep it together. “He is. Was.”

“Do you need to go be with Kyle?”

“Not tonight. We stayed for a couple of hours, and then his sister and mom came back with the kids. There will be visitors and lots of food delivered when news spreads through town, as it always does. I was so damn worried that someone who was at the lake would call him before I got to him.”

“They didn’t?”

“His phone started ringing just as I walked in the door, and I told him to turn it off.” I shake my head again, still not fully grasping it all.

And Hannah walks back into my arms again, hugging me fiercely, her face pressed to my chest. I hug her back, holding her tightly, and bury my nose in her hair, breathing her in. She’s the calm in the storm for me.

“Thank you for listening,” I murmur. She tilts her head up, and I want to kiss the fuck out of her. I want to haul her to her bedroom and strip her bare and have my way with her until we’ve both forgotten our names.

But not tonight. My emotions are raw, and I refuse the first time I sink inside her to be when I’m upset.

“I have an idea,” she says, oblivious to my thoughts.

“What’s that?”

“How about ice cream?”

I frown down at her, thrown off course. “What about it?”

“It always makes me feel better. Let’s walk down to the ice cream place and get a scoop.”

“We could drive.”

She shakes her head and pulls away. She shoves a twenty-dollar bill in her pocket along with her keys and pulls her hair up in a messy ponytail. “It’s a beautiful evening. Let’s walk. It’s less than half a mile.”

“How do you know that?”

“Oh, I checked. If I walk, I can get two scoops.” Her blue eyes are still full of worry, but she’s trying to take my head out of the horror of today, and damn if it isn’t working.

After a couple of blocks of walking on the uneven sidewalks, the trees above us on the boulevards swaying in the slight early summer breeze, I pull her hand up to my lips and kiss her knuckles.

“You’re right. It’s a beautiful night.”

“I know.” She grins. “This place changes out the flavors all the time. Maybe they have some summer flavors.”

“You’re really serious about your ice cream.”

She laughs. “Ice cream is serious business.”

It’s past seven in the evening, so there’s a line, but we wait patiently, reading the board of flavors. When it’s our turn, Hannah gets a scoop of huckleberry and a scoop of cinnamon vanilla, surprising me when she passes on the coffee ice cream.

It all sounds great, but I get the same as Hannah and before I know it, we’re on our way back to her house. Our steps are slower this time, as we eat and enjoy the evening.

“Wait. Did you pay for my ice cream?” I stop and stare down at her in surprise.

“Sure did.”

“Not cool, Doctor Malone.”

“Why, Chief Hull? A girl can’t buy a guy ice cream?”

“Not this guy. If we’re on a date, I’m paying.”

“That’s quite chivalrous, and cave man, of you,” she says with a laugh. “I’m happy to splurge on some ice cream once in a while. I promise not to make a habit out of it.”

“Now you’re mocking me.”

I take the last bite of my cone and wipe my mouth with the napkin.

“Of course I am,” she agrees. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“It’s ridiculous for a man to take care of his woman?”

This makes her pause, as she eats the last of her ice cream as well, and then tucks her napkin in her back pocket.

“A couple of things,” she says at last. “First, I can, and do, take care of myself.”

“And what’s the other thing?”

“Who says I’m your woman?”

“Me.” We stop on the sidewalk and I turn her to face me, my hands gripping her shoulders. “I’m sure as fuck not sharing you with anyone.”

“Well, I didn’t suggest that either,” she says, shaking her head, then continues walking. About ten feet away, she looks back at me over her shoulder. “Are you coming?”

“That’s all you have to say?”

“You answered my question. But you need to know that I’m an independent woman, Brad. Not because I’m trying to prove anything to anyone, but because that’s just who I am. I don’t need to be saved.”

“Not trying to save you,” I reply reasonably. I’ve never wanted to fuck anyone so bad in my life. “Just letting you know that when we’re together, I’ll be buying you dinner.”