Chapter 4-Hannah

Ryan was pissed! I had no idea why, but I knew that look-eyes dark, jaw clenched, temple throbbing, hyper-focused on nothing. He couldn't possibly be angry about this morning, could he? I honestly hadn't even thought about what I was wearing when I'd come downstairs; I always slept like that. I hadn't expected him to flip out like he had-or jerk off while standing in the kitchen-but at least now I knew where I stood with him. He wanted me, and that knowledge was like a drug. I often questioned whether Brendan every really wanted me of if I was just convenient for him.

"What's wrong? Don't like this movie?" I nudged his legs with my foot.

He sat clear on the other end of the couch, as far away from me as he could, his feet propped on the coffee table.

"Huh? No, the movie's fine," he said absently.

We'd ordered Chinese for lunch and were on our fourth movie of the day. And Ryan had barely spoken to me all morning. Movie day wasn't going exactly as I'd hoped. Yawning, I stretched out on the couch and rested my head on Ryan's chest, which, much to my disappointment, he'd covered with a T-shirt. "How's work been going?" I asked.

"It's always slow this time of year, but it's fine." He kept his arm extended along the back of the couch. "How's college?"

"Not as much fun as I'd thought it would be." I laughed.

"What were you expecting? Endless parties?"

"Something like that." I sighed and put my hand on his stomach. "Classes are always so intense, and the workload is crazy. I guess I expected to have a bit more down time."

"How're your grades?"

"Until this past semester, I had a 4.0 GPA." I held my breath, waiting for him to ask what had caused my GPA to drop. Hopefully, he would attribute it to my breakup and nothing more. And that wouldn't be a total lie.

"That's my girl." He chuckled.

Before he could stop me, I scooted up and gently pressed a kiss to his lips. He went stiff, and it felt like I was trying to kiss a stone statue. But then, slowly, he relaxed just enough to suck my bottom lip into his mouth. Closing my eyes, I leaned into him, desperate for a deeper, longer kiss.

"Hannah." He groaned, then held me out at an arm's length. His gaze was on fire, and his lips were wet from my kiss. His chest heaved with each breath he took. "This has to stop."

"Why?"

"Why?" He laughed with disbelief. "Because I'm old enough to be your father."

"So? Don't your buddies date girls young enough to be their daughters?"

"Not really the point, Hannah."

"No? Then what is the point? We're not related, Ryan. At all. There's nothing wrong with this. Besides, it was a simple kiss."

"Still." He licked his bottom lip and let out a heavy sigh. "This is wrong, and it can't happen." He firmly moved me away and got off the couch. "Can you imagine how Kennedy would react?" He laughed slightly maniacally. "She'd never speak to either of us again."

Oddly, his rejection stung worse than Brendan's had.

Clasping my hands in my lap, I stared at him, silently pleading with him to see that I was completely okay with anything that might happen between us. Sure, Kennedy would be upset at first, but I knew, eventually, she'd be okay with it.

"I'm not supposed to act this way toward you, to have these thoughts." He almost sounded disgusted with the idea of me and him. "I'm not supposed to see you half-naked, and I'm sure as hell not supposed to like it!"

My eyes widened. Wait... "You keep saying you're not supposed to, but not once have you said you don't want to."

"Hannah." His tone was cautionary, but his face couldn't hide the truth.

I was right, and we both knew it. "I think we should create some ground rules."

I laughed. "Seriously?"

He nodded.

"Okay." I crossed my arms and flopped back on the couch. "What are some of these ground rules you think we need?"

"Well, for starters, you need to make sure you're fully clothed when I'm home." He moved to sit in the recliner.

"What else?" I hoped he heard the sheer boredom in my voice. I couldn't believe, at twenty, I was having rules put in place. It was like I was sixteen all over again.

"No more physical contact. No hugs or kisses or touches."

I hesitated a moment, unsure I could follow that specific rule, but I finally nodded my agreement.

"And I'm going to treat you like a father should treat his daughter. Like I treat my own daughter."

I raised a brow. "Does that mean you're going to stop getting an erection every time you're around me?"

His face paled.

"Or does that mean you're going to spank me when I break one of your rules?" I grinned.

Without another word, he stood and walked out of the living room. Well, I hadn't expected that. I blew out a breath.

Maybe I'd crossed the line with those

questions, but it hadn't been a lie. I knew damn well he'd gotten hard at least

twice since I'd arrived last night.

Stretching out on the couch, I yawned

again and closed my eyes.

###

"Hannah. Hey, wake up."

I blinked against the grogginess and found Ryan sitting on the coffee table, gently shaking my arm. "What time is it?" I stretched.

"Almost seven. I was going to order some dinner. Do you want anything?"

I nodded. "Yeah, what're you getting?" I sat up and stretched my arms over my head, arching my back. Ryan's gaze lowered to my chest but quickly snapped back to my face.

"I'm ordering from the diner in town. There's a menu on the fridge if you want to take a look."

Ryan wasn't exactly a good cook, so when I lived here, we ate out a lot, and the diner was one of his favorite places. I probably knew that menu better than most of their wait staff. "I'll have the turkey club with mac and cheese."

He smiled. "You always order that."

"If you know that, why did you wake me up to ask what I wanted?" I gave him a dirty look.

I'd been sleeping so peacefully, something I hadn't been able to do in weeks.

"Sorry." He stood and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. I only half-listened as he placed an order and gave the address for delivery. "It will be here in about thirty minutes," he said, turning back to face me.

"Thanks." I stood and stretched my arms over my head again. My shirt lifted, and Ryan's jaw visibly clenched. How long had it been since he'd been with a woman? Had he been seeing anyone recently?

Ryan shoved his hands in his pockets and gave a quick nod. "So, this weekend is Halloween, and Jace convinced me to host a small costume party here on Saturday. Mostly work people and a few friends. Noah and Darian will be here with their girlfriends, and Darian's son will be here. They're all your age."

My eyes widened. He was having a party? That was so unlike him. He'd been very vocal about how much he hated parties and too much drinking when Kennedy and I left for college. Of course, that could have just been his way of lecturing us to be careful.

"I'm going to cancel it," he said.

"What? Why?" I shook my head. "Don't do that. I'm okay with having a small party here. It will give me a chance to meet new people." God knew I was going to need to make all the contacts I could.

I might need them to help me get a job.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," I said much too enthusiastically. And I knew exactly what costume I was going to wear. too.

"Great." He forced a smile.

"Besides, Kennedy will be here Friday, and I know she'll love the idea of a Halloween party."

"Right. Well, if there's anyone you want to invite..." He rubbed the back of his neck, but before either of us could say anything else, there was a knock on the door. "That's probably our food." Ryan was quick to walk away from me and answer the door.

"Good evening, sir. Have you allowed our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into your heart and home?" A man's voice sounded clearly from the porch.

"Nope." Ryan swung the door closed, and I stifled a laugh.

"I didn't realize people did stuff like that anymore."

"I'm always getting flyers from different churches and people stopping by like that. Although, they're late tonight. They normally show up in the morning on weekends. You'd think they'd realize I'm not interested."

"Go easy on them. They're simply doing their job-to spread God's love." I grinned.

"Yeah, well, they can go spread their love elsewhere."

I raked my fingers through my hair, noticing how greasy it felt. Gross. "I'm going to take a quick shower before dinner gets here." I headed for the stairs then hesitated.

"Want to join me?" I asked over my shoulder.

"Hannah!"

"What?" I asked innocently. "You never said I couldn't talk about doing naughty things."

He scowled. "Consider it a rule now." Then he stomped into the kitchen.

What was it going to take to get him to admit there was chemistry between us? That he wanted me? Or rather, how could I make my intentions any clearer? With a sigh, I trudged up the stairs and into the bathroom.