Just One Spark (8 page)

“Hannah!”

She heard her name and stopped short, watching as the three women in front of her turned first to the voice and then to her. She knew that voice. Their faces watched for her reaction, as they always did.

The store might be closed, but she was still on the clock. She schooled her expression and reached into her coat pocket for her keys, fingering the pepper spray on her key ring. Marty had never tried to hurt her physically before, but he’d also never surprised her in a dark parking lot.

“Go ahead, ladies. I’ll make the train,” she said with a confident smile. She didn’t want them to hear anything he might have to say. She worked hard to keep what little private life she had separate from the gossip mill at work. She’d be fielding enough questions from this little stunt already.

Once the women were out of earshot, she finally turned, noticing Marty leaned against a late model silver Jaguar. “New car?” she asked, trying to sound light and flippant, as if she hadn’t broken out in a cold sweat.

“It’s your fault.” The words slurred and she noticed the bottle in his hand.

Great, he was drunk.

“She left me because of you.” He raised his hand and pointed a finger at her. Or in her direction. He was obviously seeing double.

“Your girlfriend or your wife?” She couldn’t help herself. As he stepped forward, she realized it wasn’t smart to provoke him given his current state.

“Why did you have to open your slut mouth? You are so stupid, Hannah, so stupid.” He stepped closer, steaming puffs of breath leaving his mouth with every word he slurred her way. The stench of whiskey permeated the air, making her stomach lurch.

“Stay away from me, Marty,” Hannah said, her voice hoarse from the bile burning the back of her throat.

“Or what?” he asked with a sneer. “You’ll scream? You wouldn’t want someone from work to hear you, to know what a whore you are. Wouldn’t want to tarnish your little career.”

She wanted to go, to run, but she didn’t want to turn her back on him either. Or let him know he scared her. “Should I call you a cab?”

“I’m fine.” He slammed his fist against the car, shattering the bottle he held.

Hannah’s breath caught in her belly as she watched the glass splinter apart, thousands of pieces falling in slow motion. She heard each shard clink and ping as it hit the blacktop and glistened in the lamplight. She clasped the pepper spray, realizing it wasn’t a match for broken glass.
Why didn’t I just keep walking?

He raised the neck of the bottle he still held in his hand, a sinister laugh vibrating in the blackness as the shard of glass glistened with his blood. “See what you made me do? You always made me do crazy things, Hannah.”

He must be really drunk. The slice in his hand didn’t even bother him. She looked around her. She could run. She was remarkably agile in heels, running was an option. But running meant turning her back on a man with a weapon.

“Marty, you come any closer, and I swear I will scream.” With one hand on her pepper spray, she slowly reached the other into her bag, hoping to find her cell phone.

“It’s been a long time, Hannah. I didn’t know you’d be so jealous.” He jerked his head towards her bag. “What are you trying to find in there?”

Jealous? He was more than drunk. “My cell phone. I’m going to call you a cab. You can’t drive with your hand sliced up.”

His laugh sliced through her as he moved closer. She matched his step, backing away. “I bet I know what you’re looking for. Don’t worry. I have condoms in the car. I know you want me, that’s why you ruined things with Lisa.”

No, no, no
. This was
not
happening. “I just gave her the information I wish I’d had.” Finding the phone, she finally let out a breath, powering it on without taking it from the bag.

“The bitch told her, went right to my house and told her. When I got home, Mary and the kids were gone. She believed Lisa because of that stuff your brother-in-law showed her. They left me because of you. Because you want us to be together.”

She pulled the phone out, continuing to back away as he stepped closer. “It’s your call, Marty. Stay back or I call the police instead of a cab.”

His gaze ran over her once, twice as he licked his lips. He raised his foot to step closer and her heart stopped. The crunch of tires on pavement startled them both and he raised his arm to shield his eyes from the headlights blinding him.

She spun and stared at the boxy old Bronco and its driver as he jumped to the ground. “Get in the truck.”

She hadn’t known she could get any more scared. Every muscle in her body, already on red alert, tensed further as she watched Mason step in front of Marty. The relief of escaping from Marty was overridden by her fear for Mason.

“In the truck, Hannah,” he ordered without looking at her.

She walked obediently to the passenger side but didn’t get in. She didn’t take too well to orders, and she wasn’t all together sure just what was happening.

“Time to go now, asshole,” Mason growled. Marty tightened his grip on the broken bottle neck. Her stomach tensed in an all-new terror as Marty’s gaze drifted from Mason to her with a lecherous smile.

“You want me to tell him how you like it?”

Her eyes closed as she heard the sound of falling, cracking and grunting. Words she didn’t want to try to make out. She opened her eyes and watched as the bottle neck spun across the parking lot. Farther and farther away. She wanted to run right after it. And keep running until her life returned to normal.

She heard the siren before she saw the flashing lights illuminate the parking lot. Mason froze, his knee digging into Marty’s back, his hand contorting the other man’s arm behind him. She said a prayer, grateful she didn’t have to learn exactly what Mason could have done to Marty.

In the distance, Hannah saw her three employees huddled together, watching the event unfold like a bad episode of reality television. They must have been watching all along, had probably called the police when they’d realized she was in over her head.

Two policemen leapt from their squad car, drawing their guns. Hannah squeezed her eyes tight against the image.
When did this become my life?

“Mason?” a voice she didn’t recognize asked.

“Hey, Ryan. Your timing sucks.”

“His brother was the cop that showed up?” Kate fluffed the chenille blanket covering them on their couch.

Hannah nodded and sipped her extra strength tea, hoping there was enough caffeine in the world to get her through the day. She hadn’t gotten back from the police station until almost two, when Ryan had driven her home.

Since she had to head to work in two hours, there was no point in trying to sleep. The only bright spot in her nightmare was that Kate had decided to come home after all. It was exactly what Hannah needed to feel safe.

“Did Mason even try to explain why he was there?”

“He said he wanted to make sure I was all right. He wanted to give me a ride home from the station and explain more, but I just couldn’t listen to it.”

Hannah took another long draw of the hot tea, grateful for the burning sensation that numbed at least one part of her body.

“He said he knew I’d be angry that he’d come, that’s why he tried to let me handle things with Marty at first. I should be grateful he was there, I know. Because if he hadn’t been…” Who was she kidding? She wouldn’t need caffeine to stay awake. She’d be lucky if she slept all week.

“But it weirded you out that he was watching you.” Kate filled in. “Me too. He seemed so nice. A little jumpy but sweet. And sexy as all get out.”

Hannah’s eyebrows knit together. “You’ve met him?”

Kate nodded. “He must have heard me from upstairs when I came in. He came down to make sure someone hadn’t broken in. I almost forgot. He brought down a bowl of fruit because he knew we didn’t have any food in the house.”

Hannah stared at the ceiling. The fruit was sweet. Her stomach lurched as she thought further.
Is he listening to us right now?

“He’s cute as can be. If his brother looks like him you should hook me up.”

Hannah smiled at the idea, the first smile in hours. “The cop brother is married, but he has three more.” Kate might actually be able to put Derek in his place.

Hannah laid her head back against the sofa cushions and squeezed her eyes tight. Her mind whirled with activity, trying to make sense of Mason’s behavior. And her own.

She should be scared of him. He skulked in dark parking lots, and this morning when he held the door closed she should’ve felt afraid. Instead, all she could muster up for both incidents was minor annoyance.

Everything he’d done pointed to him being obsessed with her, maybe even stalking her. But she just wasn’t making the connection. Again. She had no common sense when it came to men.

She felt Kate’s fingers on her hand and the lump in her throat grew. “I really like him. I know I’m being stupid, but I just can’t help myself. Maybe the ladies at the coffee shop were right. Maybe he is stalking me.”

“Honey, I think it’s much more likely the cards came from Marty. You said you saw him again the same day you got the first card. Mason is a little overprotective. I’ll give you that. But you don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

As Kate squeezed her hand the tears broke free. Kate held her while she wept, releasing the terror she’d felt as Marty had approached. Her instincts had been wrong, again. She’d been so sure he wouldn’t hurt her.

Hannah cried until her head ached, releasing the fear and frustration until there wasn’t any more left. She must have drifted off, because the next thing she knew, Kate was nudging her awake. “You’ve got twenty minutes to shower. I’ll drive you in.”

Chapter Eight

“Just do this for me,” Kate pleaded, tossing a pair of jeans across the room. “Tomorrow I have to get up at the butt crack of dawn, take a puddle-jumper plane to the armpit of Oregon, spend the entire week taking depositions about mold and eating really bad take out. Put on the damned jeans. Where are your push-up bras?”

“I am not putting on sexy lingerie,” Hannah yelled, unzipping her dress and dropping it to the floor.

“And what do you call that?” Kate shot back, pointing at the stockings and garters.

“You know I can’t stand pantyhose. This is practicality.”

“I dare you to leave it on,” Kate said as she slingshot a peach push-up bra at Hannah. “Think of how powerful you’ll feel.”

Hannah looked down at her body and wondered where the power was supposed to come from. She hadn’t seen Mason in two days and her body yearned for him. She unsnapped her comfortable mesh bra and replaced it with the push up and surveyed the difference.
Maybe with the right shoes…

“These are fantastic,” Kate squealed, pulling the come-get-me boots from the closet. “I must borrow them.”

“Go ahead.” Hannah slid jeans over her stockings. Standing, she tucked her garter belt down beneath the waistband and reached for the cream-colored sweater Kate tossed her way as she left of the room.
So that’s why she insisted on the push-up.
Hannah tugged the low-cut scoop neck up her shoulders.

Fatigue made her every move heavy. She’d worked from opening to closing at the store the last two days to keep from thinking about the incident, dodging questions from co-workers and mentally preparing for her seven a.m. breakfast tomorrow with the district and regional managers to discuss store safety.

And there were the messages from Marty’s wife’s divorce attorney threatening a subpoena. Thank goodness, Kate was a lawyer. Kate promised to make it go away, and Hannah had to believe her.

Right now, she let Kate handle everything, like meeting Mason and Derek for drinks tonight. Kate stated it was happening, that she and Mason needed to have a conversation on neutral territory where they both felt supported and to figure out where they went from here. Hannah had been too exhausted to argue.

But really, she wanted to see Mason. She hadn’t returned his calls, but she wanted to be near him for a little while. Wanted his explanation to make sense. Wanted the world to go back to the way it had been just a few days ago.

“Is this first-date perfect or what?” Kate posed in her black pleated mini skirt and tiny black cardigan unbuttoned at the bottom, showcasing her toned tummy to perfection.

“He isn’t going to know what hit him.” Hannah smiled, absorbing Kate’s glee. Was it just a week ago she’d felt the same way? “Mason did warn you Derek talks a lot, right?”

“He showed me a picture.”

As if that answered the question. She obviously needed more information. Kate could be brutal if unprepared.

“He’s a psychology professor, so he thinks he knows what you’re thinking.”

“Hannah, I appreciate the head’s up, but he’s the first guy with an advanced degree I’ve had a date with in two years. Men tend to get intimidated by my career. Just let me have this, okay?” Kate ticked Derek’s attributes off on her fingers. “Cute guy, good family, he actually has a job and a brain.”

“Fine.” Hannah held up her hands and smiled. A best friend could bring out the best in you, even when you felt your worst. “Two hours and I have to be in bed.”

“However you two decide to end your night is your business,” Kate said with a sassy smile.

“I’m not having sex with him.” And she meant it. They needed to slow things way down.

“So says you,” Kate said, bustling to the closet. “What shoes are you wearing?”

So much for Kate’s bright idea of talking things out. Hannah hadn’t been in the room with Mason two minutes and already she was thinking about sex. She’d almost dragged him back to her bedroom the moment he’d walked through the door.

But sex was not the problem with her and Mason. The issue was how fast things were moving, and sleeping with him again and again would only race them farther down a road she wasn’t sure she wanted to travel with this man.

A man, she reminded herself, who thought it was okay to watch her in dark parking lots and check her apartment whenever he heard her roommate moving around.

In light of the glaring example of her inability to judge character, Hannah appreciated Kate getting to know Mason. Troy had distrusted him on sight. If Kate did the same, Hannah would somehow find the strength to move past Mason McNally.

But Kate seemed content to focus on the other McNally brother, pretending to find his jokes hilarious and his ideas insightful. So interesting in fact, she hadn’t even tasted her chocolate martini.

Hannah sipped her chardonnay and pretended to listen to Derek’s latest adultery theory until she heard her name.

“It was Hannah’s idea actually. Focusing on the type of women philandering men are attracted to has proved quite a puzzle.” Derek shoved his glasses farther up his nose.

“How was that Hannah’s idea?” Mason asked as he removed all the condensation from the outside of his glass of beer.

“She wanted to know why married men are always attracted to her,” Kate filled in.

Mason smirked and took a swig from his glass. “You didn’t just tell her?”

Derek shrugged. “I can’t be sure of anything.”

“It’s because you’re hot,” Mason said matter-of-factly. Hannah bristled at the thought. Was that the reason he bothered with her?

“That may be part of it.” Derek nodded. “I haven’t found a pattern. The women are older, younger, college graduates, high school drop outs, prettier, plainer. I haven’t found the answer yet.”

“And you won’t if you keep looking at it like that.” Kate finally attacked her martini.

“Like what?” Derek twisted in the booth to face her.

“Like it’s a quantitative issue. Men don’t cheat because the woman is thinner or younger or prettier. They cheat because of the way she makes them feel.” Kate finished her martini and set it down emphatically on the table.

Derek’s eyes bugged out of his head as Kate turned to him and continued her tirade. “How she appears to the rest of the world doesn’t matter. As long as she makes him feel alive, makes him feel the things he can’t or won’t at home. He’ll tell himself it’s just about the sex, uses the old a-man-has-certain-needs line so often he begins to believe it. But it’s rarely about sex at all. Men gravitate to Hannah because she’s sexy and smart and driven, but they want to be with her because of what it means to have someone like her want them.”

“That’s what I said.” Mason drained his beer, absently looking around the bar, all but empty on a weeknight.

Hannah heard more than what he said. She knew Kate would put Derek in his place. Derek looked as if he was salivating. His research was obviously taking a whole new direction.

With Kate and Derek occupied in their mental battle, Hannah excused herself and slid out of the booth, making a beeline for the ladies’ room. The wine had made her even more tired, and she didn’t have the energy to have an actual conversation with Mason. Her head might be a tangle of contradiction, but her heart was set on him.

Sitting next to him had brought it all back to the surface, the desire and the trepidation, the elation and the fear. She had to leave before she did something stupid like kiss him. She opened the door to make her excuses and ran smack into the broad chest she knew so well.

“Mason, what are you doing?

“Waiting for you so I could apologize,” he said quickly. “There are a million reasons a guy would come on to you, not just because you’re smoking hot. I didn’t mean to make you feel like an object.”

“Should I thank Kate for that speech or did you do that already?” Hannah stared up at his intense expression and tried to find her fear. The man was looming over her in a dark alcove at the back of a bar. He’d followed her back here, waited for her. Intuition should tell her to be afraid. Her instincts must be nonexistent, because she only felt an urge to wrap her arms around him and not let go.

It had been that way since the first time she’d seen him. No matter the situation, she couldn’t be rational about him. Not when she thought he was married, not when he tracked her down in parking lots and loomed in dark hallways.

He huffed out a quick breath. “You have to give me a chance to explain.”

She stood her ground, crossing her arms across her chest. “Mason, I’m exhausted. I just want to go home and get some sleep. Alone.”

“I haven’t been able to sleep either. Every time I close my eyes, I see the bottle shattering and I’m all the way across the parking lot.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I just need you to listen, okay. You’re killing me here. You won’t return my calls and it’s obvious you’re only here tonight because Kate made you come.”

Hannah shrugged. “There has been a lot going on, and this is my busiest season at work.” It was the truth. She had no time to spare this time of the year.

Mason peered down at her. “After what happened you could manage a phone call.”

“I haven’t figured out what I want to say to you.” And she didn’t want to answer the questions she was sure he had about Marty.

“I don’t want you to say anything, just give me a chance to explain.” He rubbed his hands across his face.

“I’ve been here all night.”

“We’ve been at a table with them.” Mason motioned to the booth Kate and Derek were in.
Are they kissing?

“Mason, look.” Hannah absently touched his arm as she watched her friend canoodling in the booth. Her heart melted. It had been so long since she’d seen Kate actually relax around a man. “She must actually like him. I thought she was doing this just to get us together.”

“Me too. Let’s give them some privacy.” Mason pulled Hannah into an empty booth in the back. As she sat he slid in next to her, trapping her against the wall. It was only now that she was forced to look at him that she noticed how hollow his eyes looked, almost haunted.

He leaned in close and his words washed over her like a waterfall. “I’m sorry. I wish I’d told you I was there instead of hiding in the parking lot. If I had, none of it would’ve happened. If I’d just pulled up, you’d be angry, but you’d have come with me, and he never could have gotten near you. Instead, I waited and watched because I thought you’d be upset.” He reached his hands into his hair and pulled it forward. “It could have gone really, really wrong.”

No kidding.
Hannah straightened her posture. “Why were you there?”

“I had a bad feeling about those cards. I just wanted to make sure you got on the train. When I saw him start talking to you, I wanted to intervene, but I was thinking about pissing you off, not keeping you safe. Which was stupid.”

Hannah laid her hand on his leg. “You did keep me safe. I shouldn’t have stopped to talk to him.”

Mason shook his head. “You couldn’t have known, Hannah. Ryan said the guy didn’t have any priors.”

“Ryan, right. Your brother the cop who has probably told your entire family I had an affair with a married man.” Hannah’s stomach lurched as she propped her elbows on the table and buried her face in her hands.

“He can’t tell anyone, and he wouldn’t either. You didn’t know he was married. No one can hold that against you.”

“He’ll tell, and they will,” Hannah said without looking up. “Mason, I have to get past this stuff with Marty. I hate myself for it. I was so naïve, so trusting.” She took a deep breath, tilted her head to look at him and dove in. “And I’m watching it happen again with you and it scares me. There are all these signs things are wrong with us. I don’t think I can do this.”

Mason’s eyes blazed like the center of a flame. “You cannot give him power over us.”

“I know. I don’t want to. This is just all too much for me.” She fluttered her hands about as she tried to make the chaos make sense. “Work is crazy, I have a meeting in the morning to discuss what happened that has me all freaked out, and everything about us is just insane. My sister is worried. She called my parents and now they all think I’m in way over my head with you. Which I can’t really argue with. Ugh.” She rested her head against the cold Formica of the table. “I didn’t want to do this. I’ll never get any sleep now.”

“I didn’t want to upset you,” Mason said, gathering her up like a rag doll and pulling her into his arms. “I just wanted you to hear me.” His fingers in her hair pulled the tension from her body.
Maybe he is magic.

“Let me take you home,” Mason whispered in her ear.

The words cut through her like ice. She stiffened and pulled away. Of course, that was all he was after.

“I’m not having sex with you.”

“How much did you drink, bro?” Mason asked as they entered the apartment behind the women. Derek was definitely under the influence. The way he leered at Kate made Mason wonder if he needed to turn the hose on Derek before he molested Hannah’s roommate.

“He’s fine.” Kate took Derek’s hand and pulled him with her onto the couch.

Derek shot him a look he hadn’t seen since high school. Derek had better know what he was doing. Because if he pissed off her roommate and messed things up for him with Hannah—well, he was doing a good enough job of that on his own.

Mason looked around the room, but Hannah was gone. He stalked back to her bedroom, found the door open slightly, crept in and quietly closed it. “They sure hit it off,” Mason said before turning around.

Hannah gasped, clutching the sweater she’d been wearing against her body. He should have worn nicer pants. Something pleated with a whole lot more breathing room. The seam in his crotch was cutting into him right now.

Defiantly, she threw the garment to the floor. “What are you doing in here?”

Mason reminded himself to breathe as he leaned back against the door.
This is what she wears beneath her clothes?
He brought his hand to his stomach as he sucked in breath. Flesh-colored stockings and garters and panties and a push-up bra. It was like Christmas for the eyes. He didn’t even want to blink.