Almost Midnight (8 page)

She started down the ladder. “I appreciate your offer, Alex, but I’m hoping for a job around here. I would rather not move to another town.”

He leaned forward and offered her his hand. “Well, darlin’, keep me in mind if you—”

“Is this man bothering you?”

Hannah jerked at the sound of Tanner Clearbrook’s voice slamming into her ears. Dumbfounded, she turned her head and stared at the handsome millionaire coming up the aisle. Where did he come from? His tone held a certain degree of coolness that reminded her of the last time she’d been with him. What was he going to do? Fire her in front of Alex Richards?

“No,” she said, meeting a pair of steely gray eyes. “No, he’s not bothering me.”

Scowling, Tanner wedged himself between Alex and the ladder, putting his hand out to help her down. “Right, and I’m the Queen of England.” 

Gray eyes locked with hers, and Hannah bit back a retort as she slipped her hand into Tanner’s. The fiery heat of his touch seared through her veins, and she quickly looked away. He was doing it again, making her want things she had desperately tried to avoid the past three years. Even though they hadn’t parted on the best of terms back in his den, she couldn’t deny the electricity between them.

“You know this guy, Hannah?” Alex Richards’ sharp voice broke into the fog that clouded her brain.

She pulled her hand to her side, but before she could speak, Tanner spun around.

“She knows me. You have a problem with that?” 

The challenging tone of Tanner’s voice sent Hannah’s brain into high alert. Her breath caught in her throat.

“I’m asking Hannah, not you,” Alex retorted coldly.

Feeling like a fish dangling on a hook, Hannah darted a wary gaze across the room. Jeremy sat behind one of the tables with a stack of books in front of him, one exuberant hand waving in her direction with Fritz giving her the thumbs up. She narrowed her eyes and thought she detected the scent of ginger lingering in the air. What was going on here?

“You calling me a liar?” The steely warning in Tanner’s tone jerked Hannah back to the scene at hand. A muscle twitched in Alex’s jaw, and the silence that followed was unmistakable.

Hannah sneezed, trying to wedge herself between the two men. Tanner’s chest pressed against hers and she felt trapped. The sudden thought crossed her mind that he was trying to protect her. How very odd. What had happened to the arrogant man she’d left only hours ago?

She lifted her eyes higher and noted with surprise that Tanner’s gaze was riveted on her lips. A tingle of awareness shot through her. What was he trying to do to her?

She swallowed nervously, quickly looking away, only to find Alex with a similar expression.

Inwardly, she screamed. This was insane.

Gritting her teeth, she tilted her head back toward Tanner, hoping he would step aside, but she instantly regretted her decision when she found herself nose to chin with her handsome employer. Or was it ex-employer now?

Yet in spite of her determination to tear herself away from his silvery gaze, she found it almost impossible, especially since his face was tilting dangerously towards hers.

Her senses spun, and she stared at him in utter disbelief.

Why, the man was acting as if he was actually going to kiss her! Here, in the library!

“Miss Elliot!” The censoring sound of Mrs. Gould’s voice broke through the spell.  

Hannah heard Tanner’s quick intake of breath as he backed away. She felt her face redden. Her cold medicine must have been playing tricks with her brain. Whatever had she been thinking?

She turned abruptly toward Mrs. Gould who stood at the end of the aisle, the lady’s face a thundercloud of rage. Candy stood beside the woman and rolled her eyes.    

Great, Hannah thought. This was all she needed.

She quickly made her way down the aisle and turned first to Candy, hoping to dilute the repercussion of being caught squished between two strapping men. “Miss Richards, “Hannah replied, “I believe your brother was looking for you. He’s ready to leave now.”

Candy angled her head in the direction of the two men and frowned. “I see. Has Alex been causing trouble?” Not waiting for an answer, the petite brunette marched down the aisle to reclaim her brother.

Mrs. Gould looked at Hannah, then suspiciously back at the two men. “May I remind you, Miss Elliot, fraternizing with the male gender for your own interests is not allowed in this library. If you wish to cavort around like a shameless hussy, then do it on your own time.”

Mrs. Gould marched away like a prison warden, leaving Hannah’s cheeks burning with embarrassment. First Mr. Clearbrook and now Mrs. Gould.

She needed this job, she told herself, but only for another few months. When she started at Reach Medicals, she would have no qualms about leaving the library then.

Of course, she would mind leaving Jeremy. She wasn’t the boy’s mother, but Nick’s declaration, that as his wife she would never be a mother, hit her like a smack in the face. Jeremy’s father, on the other hand, was a factor too dangerous to contemplate. But at least he had Jeremy.

She wondered if there ever would be a man willing to share his life with her who also wanted children.         

“Hey, Hannah,” Jeremy shouted, causing Mrs. Gould to glare over her shoulder.

With a hushed finger to her lips, Hannah strolled toward the boy. “What are you doing here so late, pumpkin?” 

She gave him a hug and noticed a line of white powder along his hairline. He smelled of ginger, too.

“We got lots of books on cooking. Look.” He shoved a few of the cookbooks her way.

She smiled. “Oh? What happened to Mable? I thought she cooked most of your meals.” Mable, who showed up a few times a week, was their housekeeper and part time cook.

“Mable doesn’t cook gingerbread, and I wanted gingerbread, and we tried to make it in the kitchen, but we needed a better recipe. And Mable wasn’t at our house today. She only comes a on Monday and Thursdays. We could have gotten the gingerbread recipe on the Internet, but Grandpa said they had good cookbooks here. And good books for me here too! Now we don’t need the recipe, because we don’t have time to make it. But Dad got flour, sugar and manila all over the place, and on the way here, I told him all the multiplication facts up to twelve.”

Hannah’s heart leapt at the fact that Jeremy was getting along with his father. She also didn’t have to wonder what burr had wiggled beneath Tanner’s saddle to make him try to bake gingerbread. Jeremy and Fritz had a little conspiracy going; she was sure of it. “Didn’t your dad tell you I’d bring you the gingerbread tomorrow?”

The boy dropped his gaze to his feet. “Uh...um...no.”

She gently put her hand on Jeremy’s chin. “I think you better start thinking about how you’ve been acting lately.”

“I told my dad I was sorry.”

“Hmmm. What about telling the truth about the gingerbread? Even your nose is growing longer, Pinocchio.”

His brows knitted into a look of disbelief. “What? Where’s the mirror?” He bolted toward the bathroom with Fritz emerging from a nearby aisle, trailing in his wake.

Smiling, Hannah turned around, only to find Alex Richards brushing up beside her. “Hey, darlin’.” He gave her a saucy wink and stuffed his business card into her hand. “If you want a job, give me a call, or if you want me, give me a call too.” 

His infectious laugh drummed into her ears as he strutted out the door with his sister. Hannah fingered the business card and let out a light laugh, but her smiled died on her lips when she saw Tanner Clearbrook leaning against a bookshelf, his silvery gaze pinning her to the spot.

The sight of him in a white polo shirt and faded jeans sent her pulse skittering. He looked almost friendly and way too masculine for a woman who couldn’t trust a man again.

The reason he had shed his layers of annoyance toward her was anyone’s guess, but it was his nearness that she found more disturbing.

She must have been crazy to think he had been going to kiss her earlier. Yet why had he interfered with Alex?

Her confusion increased when he smiled. That set of bright white teeth flashing her way made her knees go weak. And then there was that dimpled chin that made him too adorable for his own good.

“Evening, Hannah.” 

Not Miss Elliot? The soft-spoken words, together with his grin, transformed him into a man with a heart, a man who loved his son.

A wave of frustration rippled through her. What was he doing? Like the night on the mountain, he was like a powerful magnet, pulling her towards him.

Leave me alone Tanner Clearbrook. You make me remember. You make me want to forget. You make me want to love again.

“Miss Elliot, would you come here, please?” 

Hannah started when Mrs. Gould’s domineering voice broke into her thoughts. The old grouch stood three feet from her, angling her blue hair toward the back room.

“I would like a word with you in private.” The lady pushed her glasses up her pointed little nose and gave Tanner a good once over. “That is, if you can possibly tear yourself away.” 

Hannah’s heart sank. She took one last look at Tanner’s frowning face and gave him a weak smile before she followed Mrs. Gould on the death march behind the reference desk.

No doubt she was going to be fired. She fingered the black embossed business card in her hands, and the frightening thought came to her that maybe Reach Medicals might not come through after all.

A nervous sweat began to break out on her forehead. She hoped Candy’s brother had meant what he’d said about the job in Chicago, because if things didn’t work out in Clearbrook Valley, Alex Richards would be her next contact.

CHAPTER FIVE

Tanner parked his black Jaguar at the far end of the library parking lot and stared out the windshield. A row of fluorescent street lamps shone down on the cracked blacktop directly outside the library’s doors, the lights seeming to attract every insect known to mankind.

Tanner immediately thought of Hannah and her pull over him. If he got too close he’d be zapped, too. He couldn’t believe he’d almost kissed her there in the library, as if he were some seventeen-year-old kid running on hormones.

Those insects had no idea they would be branded the closer they flew, but he knew. The closer he moved to Hannah, the more chance he would begin to feel again for another woman, and that wasn’t about to happen, not after Julie had died. He needed Hannah as a tutor, and also as a positive female influence on his son. That was all.

Tanner checked his Rolex and grimaced. The library closed fifteen minutes ago and neither Hannah nor that blue-haired monster had left.

He had driven his father and Jeremy home over half an hour ago, giving strict orders for Fritz to put Jeremy to bed. Late night poker games had become a habit between grandfather and grandson, and it seemed to Tanner that a mother, Fritz was not.

When Julie died, Fritz insisted that Tanner hire a cook and housekeeper, while Fritz offered to fill in for Tanner when he was gone. They had hired an older lady named Mable to take over the housework. She showed up a few times a week and did her job well, but when she was done, she went home to her own family.

Guilt filled Tanner’s mind. Jeremy needed a woman’s touch, and right now that woman was Hannah. The boy didn’t have an aunt. Tanner’s brothers were bachelors with no sight of them getting married in the near future, or ever for that matter, and Julie had been an only child, her parents having died two years before she had passed.

Tanner frowned, recalling the flash of pain he’d seen in Hannah’s eyes back at the house. For some reason he wanted to erase that, make amends after the stupid way he’d acted, not just at home, but especially for the way he’d acted at the library with that big gorilla. He would have to ignore his attraction for her. He had to. That was the only way he could live with himself and take care of his little boy.

The library door swung open and Tanner looked up. Hannah stood beneath the parking lot lights, her fingers clutching a flimsy sweater to her breast. A blanket of moths fluttered about her golden head while she seemed to be deciding which way to go.

Almost ready to scold her for even thinking of walking home alone or even to that darn bus stop, Tanner jerked open his car door and strode toward her. “Miss Elliot?”

Hannah didn’t have a chance to ask Candy for a ride, so she decided to walk to the bus stop. Her friend was long gone, and although Hannah thought about calling Candy from the library, she knew her friend had to be at the hospital early in the morning and was probably already in bed.

But as soon as Hannah exited the library, she heard her name called from across the parking lot.

Alarmed, she looked up at the tall shadow approaching her.

“Mr. Clearbrook?”

“Tanner,” he said. “I said to call me Tanner.”

Her pulse leapt, from fear or excitement she didn’t know which. His long legs ate up the blacktop, and in no time he stood beside her.

“Tanner,” she said, smiling. Maybe he wasn’t going to fire her after all. His actions in the library certainly seemed to support her hope in keeping her job. And the possibility of his kiss had been her imagination, that was all.

“I thought you could use a drive home since your car’s in the shop.” The warmth of his smile shot straight to her heart. “I happened to notice that it was Will’s Auto Service towing it away. He’ll steal you blind if you let him.”

“I’ve got nothing else to steal. So it would be his loss.”

A mischievous look came into his eyes as he batted away an annoying moth, but to Hannah it was impossible not to notice the appreciative glance he sent her way.

“I wouldn’t say it would be a total loss,” he explained. “Old Will might ask you for a date like he does the other women in this town.”

She was not about to tell him that old Will had already asked for a date that very night when he had given her a ride home. She had barely managed to scrape up the money to pay the sleazy old man for the tow.

“What about the ride?” he asked. “My dad already gave me directions to your apartment.”