Auctioned By The Ceo

Chapter 18

A much more comfortable silence fell between them, while Hannah fussed over his hand. The woman

constantly amazed him. He would have expected her to hightail it out of the suite the minute Rhia had

been asleep, yet here she was taking care of him.

She wasn’t stupid or reckless, so he could only assume that she deemed him not to be threat. His

hopeful mood evaporated like mist on a summer’s morning, when she pulled his hand under the light of

the side lamp to presumably see it better.

“There, that’s better. The swelling has gone a down a lot. You might just be able to use that properly

tomorrow. Seriously, don’t go around bashing walls. It’s not good for your health.”

He could hear the teasing note in her voice, and sure enough she was smiling when she looked up at

him, a smile that faltered as she took in his expression.

Logan turned her hand over and locked his jaw as the extent of her bruising became visible under the

light. He traced his thumb over that digit’s imprint left behind in her pale skin, and shook his head.

“I shouldn’t have done that.”

The thump to his chest with her free hand took him by surprise.

“Don’t be a fool. That’s nothing, and I bruise far too easily anyway. I rather like them.”

He reared back, sure she must be having him on, but Hannah traced the remnants of his possession

on her skin and sure enough her lips curved into a fond smile.

“I know, it’s not politically correct and all that jazz, but I liked you going all caveman on me. Trust me, if I

hadn’t I’d have told you. And before you ask, no, I can’t explain why, and it doesn’t really matter, but

these are the fun kind of bruises. Trust me, I know the difference.”

Her voice wobbled on the last few words, which added to the bad feeling he was having about all this.

“Meaning?” He didn’t mean that one word to come out quite so forcefully, and, sure enough she jumped

and took a step away from him. Logan cursed under his breath and scrubbed a hand over his face. He

was so fucking tired of all this shit.

“Forgive me, I just need to know that you’re truly okay with this. I didn’t mean to—Fuck.”

He stopped talking and downed that measure of whisky after all, the burn down his throat a welcome

distraction from the churning unease in his gut.

Hannah sighed and stepping closer took that glass off of him.

“I’m okay with this, truly.” She worried her bottom lip with her teeth, when he looked at her, a sure sign

that she was mulling something over, and then she straightened her shoulders as though she’d come

to a decision.

She looked toward the closed to door of Rhia’s room and nodded.

“She’ll be okay, too, you’ll see. It will take time, but with your love and stability she’ll get over the

nightmares.”

Logan snorted in answer. “You assume me to be capable of love.”

Little Hannah rounded on him, hands on hip, and he swallowed a groan. She had no idea how beautiful

she looked when she got all riled up like this. It made him want to fuck her all over again, but with his

niece sleeping fitfully mere yards away, he really would be a bastard on act on that impulse. Besides,

Hannah was his employee, and they’d muddied the waters enough. It was best to end this right here

and now. Especially as he got the distinct impression that losing himself in her luscious body again

would only give him ideas. He shouldn’t crave a repeat experience so soon. Rather than fuck her out

his system, he seemed to have achieved the opposite. What the fuck was that all about?

Usually, once he’d fucked a woman he couldn’t wait to get rid of her. What made Hannah so damn

different, other than the somewhat fraught circumstances of Rhia’s arrival, of course? That had to be

the reason why he felt so out of sorts. All the more reason to distance himself. Morning couldn’t come

soon enough all of a sudden.

“Don’t be an ass, of course you love her. That much is obvious, and she loves you, too. You just need

to find the right nanny for her. Why does she have one anyway? Surely, she’s old enough to go nursery.

There’s an excellent Montessori one not too far from work. I think she’d thrive there. Not cheap, but

money is hardly an issue for you.” She glanced

around the opulent surroundings of his suite with a smirk, and he shrugged.

“I hadn’t thought of that.”

Hannah rolled her eyes at him, a move which made his hand itch to spank that insolence out of her, but

he didn’t have the right to do so. She might consent to some erotic fun in the bedroom, but out of it was

an entirely different matter. Even more reason to distance himself, because this woman made him wish

for things that could never be.

“Clearly not. Seriously though, it worked wonders for my sister. She’s thirteen years younger than me,

and well, I’ve been looking after her since she was born. My mother…” Her voice hitched, and she

didn’t look at him when she continued speaking. “Let’s just say she wasn’t much of a mother. I

managed to get Sarah into our local Montessori with the help of the social workers, and she thrived

there, away from the violence at home, you know.”

All the puzzle pieces clicked into shape in his head, he blew out a breath, not at all sure what to say to

that, so he simply nodded.

“Anyway, it could have been worse. Her good for nothing boyfriends never hit Sarah, at least. I didn’t

fare quite so well, but I learned pretty quickly to stay out of the way. Wardrobes were our friends, too.

We used to pretend we escaped to Narnia.”

He swore under his breath, and his fingers itched anew to do some real damage on her behalf, but that

wouldn’t achieve anything. Instead he crossed his arms over his chest and forced himself to simply

listen. He owed her that much, and he instinctively knew that she didn’t talk about this often.

“I left home with Sarah the minute I turned sixteen. Got a job at Premiere Events in the mailroom of all

places.” She laughed and glanced his way. “Then I’m sure you know that, after studying my personnel

file.”