“Rowan,” she huffs. “My driver is parked around the corner.”
“That’s nice.” I steer her in the opposite direction to where I haphazardly parked my car.
“I don’t need you to take me home,” she snaps. “I don’t need anything from you.”
I chuckle but don’t bother responding. It’s better I get her in the car before I drop the bomb of her change of address.
We reach the sleek black sports car, and her brows lift in question.
“A gift to myself after I divorced your mother,” I tell her. And god did I need it after the hoops old man Malone made me jump through despite our contract.
Hannah opens her mouth to respond, but I cut her off by opening the passenger door, gesturing for her to get in.
“I don’t need a ride.”
“I don’t care. You either get in the car yourself or I’ll put you in the car.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Wouldn’t I?” I quirk a brow.
I’m not the same man I was when she knew me before. Years of watching from the sidelines of her life have hardened me. Plus, I don’t have to walk on eggshells anymore. I don’t have to skirt around my feelings for her because of a misplaced obligation to her family.
Defiance flashes through her eyes, but instead of arguing like I expect, she sighs and slips past me, lowering herself into the car gracefully.
I bend and clip the seat belt into place, my need to take care of her every need tugging at me. She deserves to be treated like a princess, especially after how that motherfucker inside treated her.
“I can do that myself.” She pushes against my arms, but it’s halfhearted. She doesn’t want my hands off her even half as much as she’d like me to believe.
“I know, but I want to do it for you.”
She stares at me for long seconds, her breath whispering across my cheek and taking me right back to the other night at the Scarlet Lounge.
I’m desperate to taste her, to claim her as myself and not just the stranger in the mask. But it’s not the time. Not while we’re open and vulnerable like this.
Before I can do something she’s not ready for, I straighten and close the door. I do a quick sweep of the street before tugging my phone from my pocket.
Rowan: Change of plan. Hannah is moving in tonight.
Asher: What happened?
Rowan: No time to explain. Go to her apartment and pack some things for her.
Asher: You mean the whole house worth of shit you’ve bought her won’t do for a night?
Rowan: I want her to be comfortable, asshole. Just hurry up and get to the estate.
I shove my phone into my pocket and slip into the driver’s seat.
Hannah watches me for long minutes as I pull away from the curb and head toward the house, but it’s not until we hit the bridge that she realizes I’m not taking her back to her apartment.
“Rowan? Where are we going?”
“Home.”
“But my home is in the other direction.”
“Not anymore, it’s not.”
