I offer him my hand. “Yeah, but we’ve got this.”
“We do,” he says. His brow is set in a determined line. “I’ll let you get back to your night. Is that Hannah Pearson?”
I offer him a smile. “Sure is. If I have anything to say about it, she’ll be my girl soon, so don’t even think about it.”
Henry chuckles. “Congrats man. I’ve met her a few times in the field. Nice girl.”
I look at her again as she stands on the sidewalk waiting for me. “Yeah, she is.”
Henry and I walk together to meet Hannah. “Thanks, Hannah,” Henry says. “I’ll let you get back to your evening.” He offers us a parting wave, and turns down the side street, heading to his truck that I can see on the opposite side of the road.
“I’m down this road too,” Hannah says.
I take her hand again. “I had a great time tonight.”
With a deep breath, Hannah replies, “I did too. It was a lot of fun.”
“Think I can convince you to do it again sometime?”A hopefulness blooms in my chest, because fuck, I want to do this again. I want to spend all the time I can with her.
I catch the blush creeping up her neck, even in the low glow of the moonlight.
“Yeah, I think you could convince me,” Hannah says with a smile. We arrive at a small silver sedan that must be hers. I don’t want to let her go yet.
“This is me,” she says, and I squeeze her palm a little tighter. My heart pounds in my chest. Fuck, I want to kiss her so bad right now. Is that going to be too much for her?
“Hannah,” I breathe her name, my voice dropping an octave.
She lets out a breathy sound as she leans back against her car. “Thomas?”
I take a step closer to her, reaching out to rest my free hand on her hip. “Can I kiss you?”
She swallows thickly, her pupils dilating. She doesn’t speak for a long moment, and I think she’s going to turn me down. It would suck, but I would obviously respect her decision. Tonight has been a big night, and I’d rather not push her too far.
“Yes,” she surprises me by saying. Her voice is shaky, and my hand on her hip trails up her body, to the base of her neck, then to cup her cheek.
“Are you sure?” I say, dropping her palm from my other hand. I move it so both hands cup her cheeks.
“Thomas, I need you to kiss me before I chicken out,” Hannah replies, and I chuckle. Her palms rest on my chest, and I can barely feel the shaking in her hands.
She’s so adorable.
I lean in, more ready than I’ve ever been in my life for a kiss. Our noses brush, and I can feel the faintest hint of herrapid breaths on my lips as I get closer. I’m about to press my lips to hers when I hear the shouting.
Hannah pulls away first, her breathing increasing even more. “What was that?”
I pull her into my chest, turning her so she’s angled behind me. “I don’t know. Stay behind me,” I tell her.
The shouting gets louder and louder, the voices rising in pitch and anger with each word. I can’t understand a word of it until I catch Henry’s voice.
“Put your gun down!” he yells, and my heart drops.
“Hannah, get in your car and duck,” I tell her, throwing open the backdoor and shoving her in. “I’ll be right back.”
“Thomas, wait!” She tries to stop me, but I can’t. Something is going on, and I need to help Henry.
I reach around my body to grab my gun, and come out empty-handed. That’s when I remember I chose to leave it at home tonight. Fuck. I should have at least brought Arson, he could take the fucker down.
I quietly close the door behind Hannah, glancing back to see her tucked into her backseat like I told her. Good girl.
