Josh & Hannah (Redwood Falls 1)

“I know, honey. But even without all that going on, your father still isn’t going to like it. You’re his little girl and this will hit him hard.”

“He’s got to realize I’m growing up. I’m sixteen, in high school. Do you think he imagined I’d never have a boyfriend?”

Her mother smiled. “He probably tried not to think about it; he’s your father so he’s in denial.”

“Will you tell him?”

Her mother sucked in a breath and looked at her aghast. “Me?”

“Please. He never gets angry at you—” Hannah was interrupted by soft laughter. “Seriously, mom, it’s like you can do no wrong. He treats you like … I don’t know … delicate crystal. Like he has to be careful or you might break. It’s almost like he’s two different people, you know? He’s one way with the rest of the world, and then he sees you and he’s … different. If you tell him, it will be okay.”

“Oh, honey, you know he’s gentle with you as well?”

“I know he is, but I don’t want to tell him. Please, will you? Josh wants to pick me up later, and I know that dad has to be told before then.”

“He’ll want to speak to Josh before he allows you to leave with him,” her mother warned.

“Yeah, I figured as much.”

“Okay. I’ll tell him after breakfast.”

“I’ll be in my room.”

“Hiding?” her mother asked, tongue-in-cheek.

“For sure.”

****

Josh pulled up to the McIntyre ranch at four in the afternoon with mixed feelings. On one hand, he dreaded the reaction he’d get from Hannah’s dad. On the other hand, he just wanted to get it over with so they could move on.

He really had no big plans for an outing with Hannah today. The whole aspect of picking her up was just to get the ball rolling with their relationship.

He pulled the truck to the front of the house. When he knocked on the door, Hannah opened it so quickly that he knew she’d been watching for him. “Hey,” she said quickly.

“Hey.”

“He wants to see you.” Hannah’s face was pale, and Josh felt another uneasy ripple from making her go through this. But there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. He’d gone over the options in his head time and time again. He could reach out and take Hannah, or he could let someone else have her. Yeah, like that was an option at all.

“No problem.” He hoped he sounded confident about talking to her dad; he sure as shit wasn’t.

She opened the door wide, and as he stepped inside, her mother walked out of the kitchen with a smile. “Hi, Josh.”

“Mrs. McIntyre.”

“How’s your aunt?”

“She’s fine, thank you.”

“Good. Tell her I said hello, would you?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Would you like something to drink?”

“No, thank you.”

“Do you kids have anything fun planned for today?”

As the older woman asked the question, from his peripheral vision, he saw Hannah’s father step just inside the room from the hallway that led to his office. Josh attempted to keep his voice evenly modulated as he answered the question. “We’re going to meet Ethan and Ava at the diner and then we’re all going back to the Andersons for awhile.”

Hannah’s mother kept a smile plastered on her face as she was, no doubt, fully aware that her husband was now in the room and stood glowering at Josh. “That’s nice—”

Hannah’s father interrupted. “What time are you going to get Hannah home? She’s got school tomorrow.”

“What time would you like her home, sir?”

“Eight o’clock.”

Hannah shrieked and turned to her father. “Eight o’clock?!?”

Josh put his hand on her elbow and softly caressed her skin with two fingers as he interjected, “Eight’s fine. I need to get home as well. I’ve got some homework to finish up.” As he and Hannah hovered near the front door, his heart beat loudly as he hoped like hell that they could get away without any more confrontation. Could it be this easy? No interrogation? No threats? No having to go sit in the man’s office while he threatened Josh within an inch of his life?

As Josh attempted to keep a reasonable expression on his face and hold the other man’s eyes, Jeff McIntyre asked, “Are the Andersons going to be home?”

“Yes, sir.” Josh held the other man’s gaze and for a few seconds, neither one of them blinked.

Finally, the other man turned to Hannah. “You be careful and buckle up.”

“Okay.”

“You have your cell phone?”

“Yes.”

“We’ll see you at eight. Not a minute past, understand?” The man’s eyes were directed on his daughter, but Josh answered for her.

“I’ll have her home before eight, sir.”

At his nod, Josh smiled a goodbye at Hannah’s mom and still holding Hannah’s elbow, swiftly escorted her to the truck.

He held the door open for her, and as she buckled in and he drove away, she complained, “Eight o’clock. He’s being ridiculous. I can’t believe—”

Josh was so relieved it had been that easy that he couldn’t keep it out of his voice. “Hannah. I don’t care if he’d said six o’clock. The point is … he let you leave the house with me. That’s all I care about at the moment, crossing that hurdle. You want to argue with your dad about curfews and parameters, you can do that another time, okay?” Josh let out a pent up breath as he reached down and entwined her fingers with his.

As he stopped the truck at the stop sign before turning onto the paved road, he turned to Hannah and lifted her hand to his lips. Looking into her eyes, he kissed the back of her hand. “It’s a done deal now. Your parents know about us and I’m still alive, so here’s the way it’s going to be. Just because we’re not cementing this relationship with sex, that doesn’t mean it’s not a relationship. We’re together, end of story.”

As Josh stared down at her and held her hand fiercely in his, Hannah’s heartbeat began banging in her chest. With his attention fully on her, excitement quivered down her spine and her nipples hardened against her bra. She couldn’t get her vocal chords unglued long enough to agree with him, and her opportunity to speak was lost as he continued, “You wanted this; now you’ve got it.” A tic began in his cheek and his brows drew down in a frown as the scar that slashed through his eyebrow dropped lower over his eyelid and gave him an even more menacing look. His v

oice became gravelly. “You belong to me now, understand? You’re mine; we’re exclusive. Nobody else gets to touch you, and I mean not at all.” His nostrils flared and Hannah’s heart stopped before taking up a faster cadence. “I own you.” His eyes searched hers. “I hope like hell you can handle it.”

As he turned away and pulled the truck onto the highway, Hannah closed her eyes briefly and let out a pent-up breath. Shit. Intense. She hoped she could handle it, too.

****

They drove into town and pulled up in front of the diner. Hannah felt both a euphoric high and a tiny cluster of nerves as well. Ethan and Ava were waiting for them and Josh stood aside and let Hannah slide into the booth before him. As he stood and waited, Hannah noticed that he looked around the diner. Did he do what he did to protect her from something? Just as she had the thought, she noticed Jesse Whitaker sitting across the crowded restaurant, with of all people, Mandy Thompson, the sheriff’s daughter.

Ava immediately began rambling about something, but Hannah was too on edge to pay her much attention. They ordered drinks and she ordered fries, while Josh ordered a cheeseburger basket. As they waited for the food to come and Hannah tried to exude an air of normalcy, she felt anything but. It was impossible to be normal when Josh sat next to her, as stiff as a board, as he watched Jesse Whitaker and waited, for what, Hannah didn’t know.

“Where’s Ty?” Hannah asked just to make conversation.

“He’s with Kayla. I think they drove into Fort Worth for the day. At least, they were talking about it this morning when I saw them.”

Hannah nodded and sat back as the waitress deposited their food on the table.

After the waitress turned and left, Josh stood to his feet with a sudden movement and looked down at Hannah. “Stay here,” he ordered in a tone that absolutely brooked no argument from her. She looked across the room, and saw Jesse escorting Mandy from the restaurant. Trepidation crawled up Hannah’s spine.