CEO Daddy (Crescent Cove 6.50)

But I hadn’t cared about her age that night. She’d pulled me to her in a way I hadn’t been pulled since…well, ever. I had never reacted to another woman as strongly as I had to Hannah.

It was just wishful thinking hoping she’d shown up here. Seriously, what were the odds?

Besides, it wasn’t as if I wanted to see her again. We’d made an agreement. I didn’t have time in my life for anything or anyone else, regrettably not even her.

Not that she’d given me any indication she was looking for more than one night either. We had both understood the score.

Then afterward, she’d tried to duck out on me as if we’d shared absolutely nothing. If I hadn’t awakened when I had, she would’ve been gone without a word.

For the best, I reminded myself as my grandmother finally stopped staring at me and went to open the door.

I could only imagine what she’d read on my face. Normally, I was good at keeping my expression blank. That was a valuable asset in business.

But not when it came to my grandmother. And evidently, not when it came to Hannah.

Any Hannah. If this woman wasn’t my Hannah, she definitely wasn’t getting the job. There was no way I could say that name every fucking day and not remember how Hannah’s long, gorgeous hair had spilled out around her in front of the fire, and the sound of her moans as she neared orgasm. The way we’d laughed together under the covers before our hands had started wandering all over again.

I remembered far too much.

The low hum of voices in the foyer cut off abruptly. “Bess, I can’t do this.”

Fucking hell. I sat up straighter in my chair and stared at my glass unseeingly. Within the span of four words, I knew.

It was her.

“Just come in and meet my grandson.”

I locked my jaw and moved my glass to the side table.

Oh, she already has. Don’t worry about that.

“I don’t think that’s the best idea. Really, I shouldn’t have even come.”

I walked into the front hall to join them. “You’re right about that, because you don’t want this job, and I don’t want to hire you.”

My grandmother gasped.

Hannah did nothing.

She didn’t so much as blink at my arrival. Of course not. Because I might’ve entertained the fact that there could be more than one Hannah in town, but more than one Asher was much more unlikely. That meant she’d known exactly what she was walking into.

And she hadn’t wanted to come.

That lack of goodbye on her part the morning after had conveyed her feelings quite succinctly. This was just adding a period to them.

My grandmother frowned. “This is Hannah Jacobs. Hannah, this is my currently impolite grandson. Do you two know each other?”

I cocked a brow and looked to Hannah for that one.

After a moment, she tucked her hair behind her ear and glanced at my grandmother with a weak smile. “I don’t suppose you could leave us alone for a few minutes?”

“I certainly could, but why?”

Hannah cleared her throat. “I’m good at diffusing tricky situations. I just want to convey to Asher that perhaps he has the wrong opinion of me.”

“But how could he if he doesn’t know you?” My grandmother pursed her lips. “And how did you know his name was Asher?”

Hannah’s forehead wrinkled in confusion, as I’m sure my own did. Actually, forget the wrinkles. I probably had furrows deep enough to swim in now to match the troughs under my eyes.