“Yes, Jack,” she said before he could ask, “I’ll drive you home.”
He didn’t live in the neighborhood, but he wasn’t too far out of town, so she didn’t mind. He came to Grand to visit his grandson. If he called his daughter, she’d happily drive him—but then she’d have to load the baby in the car too, and Hannah couldn’t allow that.
“Thanks, you’re a doll.”
Jack staggered a little as he went to wait for her by the front door until after last call, which technically was two in the morning, but she rarely stayed open that late unless someone had booked a private party and he knew it. He put his feet on a stool and propped his shoulders against the wall, and settled in for a nap. That hip replacement really must have been stellar.
Meanwhile, Dallas hadn’t budged. He played with his empty glass and stared at a spot on the wall above Hannah’s head with a slight frown on his face, his thoughts clearly elsewhere. Since he wasn’t paying attention to her, she couldn’t help paying attention to him.
He was what her mother referred to as a free spirit, although in her head, Hannah used a far different term. Even before he had money, he’d given little indication—at least, on the surface—that he cared what others thought. He’d choreographed a dance number for the groomsmen at Alayna’s wedding that had skirted the lines of good taste, for example. And yet everyone, including their brothers—Blaise, who could be a bit of grump, and Damon, who was really uptight—had joined in. The whole night had been fun, she forced herself to admit. Every last bit of it.
Why couldn’t he have stayed away?
“Last call,” she said quietly, hesitant to interrupt whatever preoccupied him because it seemed to have quite a grip. He might be a free spirit, but he was also a doctor who held people’s lives in his hands. What if one of his patients had died?
How did someone like Dallas, who never seemed to take anything seriously, deal with something like that?
He shook himself free of whatever it was. Hazel eyes settled on hers and she forced herself to not look away, despite all of the tingling she suddenly had going on.
“Have you ever considered volunteering at the nursing home?” he asked.
The question, like everything about him, threw her off-kilter because it was so unexpected.
“Not really, no.” She had to ask. “Why?”
Dallas set the glass aside. “I have a patient who’s ninety-eight and all alone. The last of his generation. His mind is still good but his body is letting him down. He’d benefit from having someone young and pretty come in to sit with him for a few hours every week.”
Pity at the thought of a lonely old man with only his memories for company drove Hannah’s initial reaction.Isn’t it sweet that Dallas cares, was her second. Her third, more practical response, however, contained far more suspicion. “Why me?”
“Because Marsh keeps a photo of his late wife on his nightstand and you have her smile,” he said.
*
Dallas
Her abilities tokeep her thoughts to herself hovered around zero and the doubt on her expressive face said she wasn’t fooled by his lame explanation, even if it was true.
For Dallas, on the other hand, the thoughts he didn’t care about were the ones he kept out in the open. The private ones were more carefully guarded, which was a good thing tonight, because she looked so pretty and sweet in her shirt emblazoned with the bright purple flower that his brain got all tangled up in a mix of lust and desire.
What did it say about him that he found her air of sweet innocence so sexy?
Spotting Levi, who was a good enough guy, hitting on her, threw jealousy into the mix, because it didn’t take a genius to figure out that Dallas was the last man out of the gate. All he’d wanted—hoped for—was a few minutes to find out what had gone wrong between them in Sweetheart. He hadn’t known for certain until Levi mentioned seeing her tomorrow that her boyfriend might not be part of the problem anymore.
He had to get himself back in the race somehow, especially after the scene with Simone that afternoon, because there was no way she’d remain single for long. Not with a decent guy like Levi already a frontrunner.
And then he’d seen her with Jack, who wasn’t ready for a nursing home by a long shot, but was lonely nonetheless, and a solution to two problems popped into his head. It wasn’t a stretch to picture Hannah as the sweet schoolmarm in one of those old westerns Marsh liked to watch. She was exactly the type of woman to give an old cowboy his will to live back.
The smile in question made a brief appearance, then she stowed it away, as if afraid to waste it on him. Or maybe she worried he might interpret it the wrong way. There was no misinterpreting her coolness toward him, however. She treated him as if they were strangers. It frustrated him to no end because he couldn’t figure out how to get past it. He was the same guy he’d been when they met and she’d liked him well enough then.
Hadn’t she?
“I’m not sure what to say,” she said.
“Yes, would be good. He’s a great guy, Hannah. I don’t want to see him die alone.” He had no qualms whatsoever about using her soft heart against her, especially after the way she’d trampled all over his. Besides, this was for Marsh’s benefit too, and he was what was most important.
Long lashes fluttered over pretty blue eyes as suspicion of him and his motives warred with the innate compassion she harbored for the rest of the world. “He’d be okay with a complete stranger just dropping in on him?”
Nobody was a stranger to Hannah for long. It was what had drawn him to her. She liked people and they responded to her in kind. She’d be perfect for Marsh, who appreciated pretty women, but at the same time was old-fashioned when it came to manners.