Secret Words (Secret Dreams Contemporary Romance 1) (7 page)

"Very bumpy. We kept encountering some turbulence. Don't be surprised if I fall asleep on the way home. I'm so tired." She placed her hands on his arm and rested her head on his shoulder as they made their way back to his car.

He walked a little faster, making Hannah stand up straighter so she could match his pace. It didn't feel right having another woman cuddle up to him, even if that woman happened to be his fiancée. That was just a technicality. He was Jasmine's.

"So how are you, darling?" Hannah crooned.

"Not bad, thanks," he responded with a polite smile.

"What have you been up to while I was away?"

Falling in love with someone else.
But he couldn't tell her that. He and Jasmine agreed it would be better if Hannah didn't know about her. But he also couldn't pretend everything was unchanged.

"Hannah, you do know we have to talk. We'll sit down as soon as we get home," he said gently.

Hannah folded her arms across her chest. She didn't respond.

They walked to the car in silence.

*******

"Just give us a bit more time, Kane. We've already laid some foundation for this relationship. Don't give up on us. Please!"

Kane buried his head in his hands. They were going around in circles. He couldn't see why it was so hard for Hannah to understand he didn't want to be in a relationship with her anymore.

"Hannah. You know I don't feel like that about you. I'm really sorry."

"How could you do this to me right now, Kane? After all I've been through?" she shouted at him, tears profusely running down her face.

Yup. There it was. The guilt trip she wanted him to have. He'd been expecting it. And, hell, it did prick at his conscience.

"Please, Hannah. Try to understand. I don't mean to hurt you but —"

"I came back here for you. I have no one else here but you. Now you're throwing me out of your house!"

"You have friends here, Hannah. You have a great job here. There are lots of people who care about you. And I'm not throwing you out of the house. I'll help you find another place to live and help you move. In the meantime, you can stay here. That's not throwing you out."

"But why can't we continue trying, Kane? You were more than happy to marry me before."

He let out a loud exhale. "You know I only agreed to marry you because of the baby."

"We can make another baby," she suggested.

He shook his head in disbelief. "Hannah, I don't love you," he said forcefully, out of frustration.

Hannah slumped on the couch, sobbing her eyes out.

He raked a hand through his hair. What now? Should he call one of her friends? Should he leave her alone?

No, he couldn't leave her alone. She looked so broken and his conscience wouldn't allow it. He had just crushed her heart so soon after her devastating losses.

He squatted beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hannah, please don't cry. You'll find someone else who'll love you back. You deserve that. And you know we'll continue to be friends. I'll still be there for you if you need me."

She raised her head. "Promise?"

"Yeah."

She clung to him and cried some more. He felt awkward but he put his arms around her and let her cry on his shoulder. Wasn't that what friends were for?

~~~~~~~

"Thanks for letting me stay in the master bedroom."

Kane glanced at Hannah standing by the open door of his guest room. "No problem," he said as he proceeded to hang some of his clothes in the wardrobe. He should have moved his stuff out of the master bedroom earlier, but he'd been spending all of his free time with Jasmine and he just totally forgot about it.

"By the way," he continued, "from tomorrow night I'll be staying at my mum and dad's until you find your own place."

"What? Why?"

"Hannah, we've broken up. We can't continue living under the same roof."

"But this is your home. I can't let you be the one to leave," she cried. "It's just that … I don't have anywhere else to go to yet."

"That's why I'll move out temporarily. When you've found your place, I'll move back in."

"I thought we were still friends," she said sadly.

"We are," he confirmed.

"So what's wrong with being flatmates for a few weeks? You have your own room, I have mine. You don't need to stay with your parents."

He swallowed hard. Truth was, he planned to stay with Jasmine.

"I think it would be easier for us to adjust if I give you some space to be by yourself," he reasoned.

Hannah was quiet for a long moment. He hoped she wouldn't make too big a deal out of this.

"Okay," she finally conceded. "But you'll be around to help me find a place to move into?"

"Of course."

"You'd go with me to check them out? You know I trust you to see problems I wouldn't even notice."

"Sure. That's not a problem."

"Great. Thanks, Kane."

"Don't mention it," he said with a smile.

*******

*Hi, baby. All done. There was a bit of drama in the beginning but Hannah seems fine now.*

Kane stared at the ceiling as he waited for Jasmine's reply to his text.
 
He was filled with relief that he'd finally sorted things out with Hannah. After her hysterical outburst, he was pleasantly surprised at how much Hannah had calmed down. It seemed she had accepted everything and was ready to move on.

Now he was free to be with Jasmine. They still needed to be careful not to let Hannah know about the two of them but there was little chance of being found out. In another two weeks, Jasmine would be going home to Melbourne. A couple of months after that, she'd be moving to Sydney permanently. By then, there would be no reason why Hannah couldn't know about Jasmine.

His phone vibrated.

*Glad to know. How are you?*

*Fine, thanks. Just a little exhausted. Oh, and I miss you.*

*Miss you too.*

He smiled, his tension easing just from texting with Jasmine. He wished he was with her—so he told her.

*I wish I was with you tonight. I need to hold you close.*

*Soon, honey. For tonight, just dream about me.*

*Remind me again why we decided not to see each other tonight?*

*Because we wanted to make sure Hannah was fine.*

*Right. Well, she seems to be so I will definitely see you tomorrow.*

*I wish tonight was already tomorrow.*

*You and me both, babe.*

*Goodnight, Kane.*

*Goodnight, Jaz.*

*******

A high-pitched scream woke Kane up and made him bolt out of his bed.

Hannah.

He ran to her room and flicked the light switch on. No one else was there, apart from her sitting up on the bed.

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly as he sat beside her.

"Just a nightmare," she said weakly.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head. "I … I can't remember much now."

"I'll get you some water," he offered.

"No, thanks," she responded, stopping him with a hand on his arm. "I don't want any."

"Are you okay now?" he asked softly.

"Yes," she said, smiling up at him.

She flicked her hair over her shoulder, making him look downwards. He noticed she was wearing a sheer nightie. Funny how she would choose to wear something like that on a cool night when she was all alone in bed. Oh well, it was none of his business. He just wanted to go back to sleep.

"I'm glad you're okay now. Do you need anything?"

"Um … nothing. Thank you."

"You scared me there for a second," he said as he got up to leave.

"Sorry. But it makes me feel better knowing you'll come when I need you."

He gave her a small smile as he left her room, feeling unsettled about the whole incident, especially her last words. He hoped Hannah wouldn't be too needy in the future.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Jasmine's heart skipped a beat as she let Kane into the house.

"Hi," he said, taking off his sunglasses and giving her a crooked, sinfully sexy smile as he stepped inside.

"Hi. You're early," she replied, a big grin splitting her face as she closed the door.

"Early? I wanted to be here yesterday, baby."

She laughed as she launched herself at him. They kissed sweetly for a long minute before she pulled away and held his face between her hands.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, scanning his face for signs of stress.

"I am now," he replied as he traced her profile with a finger.

"And Hannah?"

"She seems okay. But she had a nightmare last night. Woke up screaming."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but she was fine after that. Just a bad dream."

Kane kissed her on the lips.

"I told her I'll be staying at my parents' place until she found an apartment," he said.

She frowned. "So she's staying at your house until then?"

"Yes. She has nowhere else to go. I'll help her find a place she can move into."

"Doesn't she have friends who could help her? Why does it have to be you?"

"Jaz, I have to help her after what she's been through. I thought you were just as concerned about her emotional wellbeing as I am."

"Sure. I was concerned about how she would handle the
breakup
. And you said she's fine with that now. Isn't it better to cut all ties so you can both move on? If you're still around for her, she might keep on hoping you'll get back together."

Kane sighed. "I see your point. I just can't help but feel guilty about hurting her after all her trauma. And I've already promised to help her find an apartment. After that, that's it. Okay?"

She gave him a semblance of a smile.

"You're not jealous that she's still at my place, are you?" he asked, lifting her chin with a finger so she would look him in the eye.

Was she? Okay, irrational as it was, she had to admit she was jealous. She just didn't expect Kane to still have much to do with Hannah after their split. She was under the impression he was keen to make a clean break. It appeared he cared more than she thought. He even offered to house-hunt with Hannah. How long would that go on?

 
But she could understand where he was coming from. The situation called for it, she guessed. She didn't like his arrangement with Hannah but she could sympathise with her. And it was a only short-term thing, anyway.

"It's fine. As long as you're not staying at your place while she's there," she said with a slight pout.

He chuckled. "No. I won't be home because I'm staying here with you. Rob and Jessa wouldn't mind, would they?"

She thawed and snaked her arms around his neck. "You've been sleeping here for the last couple of weeks already. If they bothered to call home, I could let them know. But I doubt we'll hear from them until they're back from their honeymoon."

"Well, we'll only need to use one room now instead of two," he whispered seductively in her ear.

"Finally," she breathed, her body heating up fast with anticipation. They'd waited so long.

"Finally," he echoed, running his hand underneath her top and cupping her breast. "No bra. I like that."

She giggled. "I don't usually wear a bra when I'm inside the house."

"That's not true. You've always worn a bra," he said with a flick of his thumb over her nipple.

Desire spiked through her and raced straight down to her core.

"It was only because we were trying to hold back," she explained, her words becoming more breathless.

"Ah, I see."

She gasped when Kane lifted her up in his arms and carried her upstairs.

"You're so strong," she murmured before kissing his neck.

"You're a lightweight," he chuckled. "Your room or mine?"

"Mine," she answered, the word coming out like a gush of air.

He pushed her bedroom door open with his shoulder and kissed her hungrily before releasing her on the bed. She crawled up to the middle and clutched his shirt to draw him down to her.

She moaned softly as he lay on top of her, loving his weight and his hardness. She parted her legs and started rubbing his legs with her feet. He groaned and shifted so she was cradling his hard erection right against her throbbing centre.

"God, you make me so hot," he rasped.

Kane ravaged her mouth, his tongue insistent and probing as his hand delved under her shirt to cup her aching breast.

She started to pant loudly, fresh moisture rushing to her core from the delicious friction caused by the restless movement of their hips.

"Jaz, I've waited for so long," he whispered as he sat up and divested her of her top. "You're so beautiful," he said, staring at her with hungry eyes.

Kane straddled her and slowly, with just the tips of his fingers touching her, he ran his hand along the side of her face as he watched her with blazing blue eyes. His thumb traced the bottom of her lip and she poked her tongue out to taste it.

His smile was carnal as he pushed his thumb in her mouth. She sucked on it sensuously, a thrill passing through her as his eyelids drooped and his nostrils flared.

His other hand got busy. He ran it tantalisingly over her heavy breast before his thumb circled her pebbled nipple in time with her sucking of his thumb. She moaned. She wanted more. More.
Much more.

He took his thumb out of her mouth and leaned down on her. His tongue tasted her lips before he pushed it inside. He groaned as she sucked it, much like she did with his thumb. This time, both his hands got busy with her breasts. His fingers tweaked her nipples as his tongue explored her mouth. Oh, he was making her soaked.

Abruptly, he pushed himself up. "Jasmine," he mouthed. He moved to her jeans and unzipped them. Slowly, he undressed her, his gaze intense and lustful on the newly exposed parts of her body.

"Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?" he said in awe as he caressed her nakedness with his hungry eyes.

"I need to see you, too," she said as she made a move to sit up.

"Oh no, you don't," he replied as he captured her wrists and pinned them above her head. "Not yet."