Everybody, thanks so much for your kind comments. I still don't know how long this is going to go on...still see no end in sight. I feel I should warn you, there's still no sex in this story. I like a little build-up and hope you do to. Please let me know what you think.
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"Luke, please...." Hannah jerks on her arm, grimacing as pain shoots up it. "Your hurting me."
Once on the porch, Luke turns to face her. He loosens his grip on her arm but doesn't let go even as she continues pulling on it. "Your hurting yourself, Princess...not me."
"Stop calling me that!" Tears spill down her cheeks as she finally manages to jerk her arm free. "And stop dragging me around while your at it." Taking two quick steps back from him.
"Well, damnit, stop running away every time I come near you and I won't have to drag you around." Luke closes his eyes as he feels them being drawn down over her trembling body, rubbing them as he drops down into the swing. "I'm sorry about what happened in the kitchen, okay?" He finally relents even though the only thing he's sorry about is that he hadn't been able to carry her upstairs and finish what he started.
Hannah's head snaps up at his final words. Sorry...sorry that he kissed her. In her head, she already knew he felt that way but hearing him say it was something else altogether. Biting her lower lip as she watches him. Knowing, without him saying, how torn up he is feeling. He had the same expression on his face in the kitchen that he had the night of her 16th birthday. That same 'poor little you' expression. Suddenly drawn back into a memory she had long been trying to forget, she suddenly sees herself in that stupid fluffy dress she had saved for months to buy...so sure her dad and brothers were throwing her a surprise party. They hadn't, of course...they had never done anything more than push her around and bark out orders all the time. But she had come home all excited only to find the house empty except for her older brother's best friend, Luke. After a quick look around the room, she had flown up the stairs, struggling to keep the tears from flowing until she was safely behind her bedroom door. She could still hear Luke's kind voice through her bedroom door, asking her if she was alright. Shaking herself out of that memory. She quickly looks up at Luke.
Forcing a laugh, hoping it sounds genuine...she steps closer to him and places her hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to apologize, Luke. It was just a kiss, not a big deal at all." Inhaling deeply, she keeps the smile on her face as he lifts his head and looks up at her. "I'm not some stupid little girl who's going to get some wild romantic ideas just because of one stupid little kiss, Luke, so why don't we just forget about it?" Without waiting for an answer, she turns and heads back into the house to finish up breakfast and get the kids ready for the trail ride.
A stupid little kiss...that's all it meant to her. Luke leans back in the swing, listening to his boys laugh and move around in the kitchen. What the hell is wrong with him, letting her tie him up in knots like that. Nobody since...no, she's nothing like Jenna. Jenna did nothing but play games and Hannah...well, Hannah didn't do that.
"Daddy." Luke's jerked out of his thoughts by little Cash flinging himself into Luke's arms. "Daddy, You gotta come and eat. Hannah says we have to leave soon." Cash wraps his little arms around Luke's neck and holds on tightly.
"That we do, little man." Luke stands up and carries Cash back into the kitchen. He looks around quickly, noticing that Lucky and Chance had finished their breakfast and already left the kitchen. Hannah was sitting at the table, cleaning up Rainy. The kitchen, as usual, was spotless. It hadn't taken her very long to get his house in order and she, it seems, intended to keep it that way. If he wasn't so damned aware of every move she made, he could almost forget that she was even here.
"Alright Miss Rainy, time to get you dressed now." Hannah mummurs softly as she picks the little girl up and starts out of the kitchen. She can feel his eyes on her as she walks toward the door. "Cash, you need to go and brush your teeth." She still doesn't look over at Luke as he sets Cash down.
"Hannah." She looks up, meeting his eyes as Cash goes running by her.
"Yes, sir?" Hannah lifts her head a little higher, unwilling to let him see how much their earlier exchange hurt her.
Luke swears silently, she's even more closed off from him now than she had been in the beginning. He crosses the room quickly, noticing how she holds Rainy up to her chest almost like a barrier.
"I need to get Rainy ready. We should all be ready to go in about 20 minutes, Mr. Williams."
Hannah flees the kitchen quickly, taking the stairs two at a time in her haste to get away from Luke.
Luke slams his fist down on the counter before walking through the house and down to his office. Just as he sits down at his desk, his phone starts to ring. Jamming his fingers through his hair, already exhausted before the damned ride started, he picks up the phone.
"What?" Luke's shoulders lift a bit as he hears his friend Jack on the other end. Leaning back in his chair a bit, smiling. "Took you long enough to get back to me, man. What'd you find out?" Luke listens for a few more minutes, shaking his head slowly. "Nothing? How the hell can there be nothing?" Not even a birth certificate, how can she not even have a birth certificate. "Keep looking and get back to be as soon as you can." Slamming the phone down, his eyes light on Hannah standing at the office door. "Damnit, what do you want?"
Hannah steps back quickly. "I...the boys are ready to go. I'm sorry I bothered you." Without waiting for his response, she turns and hurries back into the living room where the boys and Rainy are waiting.
This is wrong. I can't stay here. Hannah sits on the arm of the couch, blinking back tears. It would almost be better to go home to her dad and brothers. Biting back a laugh as she looks over at the boys arguing over who would ride Sailor in the trail ride. No, that's a lie...she'd rather deal with this family....even Luke...than her family any day. She'd stay....just long enough to save up enough money to get away. She'd go far enough away that she could forget everything, including Luke.
