She’d like to go with him, and the magazine had places all over the country. An idea formed. “Where in Tennessee? Is Noah still there?”
“Nashville, he went to Vanderbilt.” Hank paused and told her quietly, “Not sure, he turned into an asshole after he left anyway. Said I was texting his girl after I came back from visiting him,” Hank scoffed. “Not sure what the fuck sparked that shit cause seventy percent of the time I was there I had my dick in his girl’s roommate. But he wouldn’t let it go, even had the balls to send me some fake screenshots of texts that I supposedly sent to her.”
A chill moved through Arissa. Noah wasn’t the first man to accuse Hank of texting his woman. She wasn’t a believer in coincidence. There was still so much she had to learn about Hank Weathers, but what she did know. The man had integrity. She didn’t believe for a second he was texting those women. So who the hell was? She touched his chin, brought his faraway gaze on her. “That man who showed up at your house accused you of the same thing.”
Hank blinked. Blinked again and stared at Arissa but didn’t see her. “Yeah,” he breathed out. “Fucking odd.” Hank thought to himself what a coincidence but kept it to himself. It was… seventeen years ago that shit had gone down with Noah. And it’s not like you only step in shit once in your life. Some spent a lifetime dodging it daily. So Hank didn’t hang on to that thought for long. Instead, he traced Arissa’s lower lip and asked, “Why so many questions?” Not that he had a problem or was hiding anything from her. But tonight she seemed to have her interviewer hat on. He’d seen it a few times when she Skyped with clients but never had it pointed in his direction.
She studied Hank for a few seconds. Her intent wasn’t to question him, but something felt off. And from what little he shared, it seemed wiser to be straight up so she was. “It didn’t go so well with your parents this evening. Your mom in particular. She doesn’t like me very much, and I guess I’m just trying to understand the reason.” She touched his lower lip, her gaze following the motion. “Because I want this to work.”
Hank squinted his brows and his voice had a slight edge to it when he said, “She said nothing but good things about you, not sure where this impression is coming from.” Hank shifted causing Arissa to fall to Hank’s side. Clearly Hank wasn’t too thrilled about Arissa pointing fingers when there was nothing to point at.
She almost dropped it, but she had a feeling that happened way too much with his parents, so she put it on the table. Terrified because they were his parents but if this was going to work, they had to be honest.
“When you left the room, your mom challenged me about the spread, your father said it should be brought up in front of the council. I told them I was following your lead. She accused me of questioning her parenting—”
“Stop,” Hank said holding a hand in the air, cutting Arissa off. “I told you,” Hank sat up, putting his back to the headboard. “Their small town people, it’s how they are. Bringing it in front of the council, Jesus, they had a council meeting about the color of Hya’s house. So I wouldn’t get offended by that. Second.” Hank tapped his thumb on his middle finger. “I’m all they have, Babe. Yeah, they can be overprotective, I get it, and it’s a lot to take, but we have no family. I’m their life.” He tapped his chest. “Me, that’s it.”
Him coming to their defense, it was one of the reasons she was so drawn to him. It was just who he was, fair. But she had a feeling Hank wasn’t seeing his parents clearly. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him about her first meeting with Catherine and her describing Phoebe as the love of his life. She wasn’t going to be that person, though, putting a wedge between him and his parents because the one thing they agreed on when it came to his parents, their intentions were in his best interest. Still, if Catherine treated her how she had, had she done the same to Phoebe? The thought caused Arissa’s stomach to twist, and as hard as she tried to push it from her mind, it wouldn’t budge.
She moved closer, running her hand up his chest. “Okay.” She met his gaze. “I get it. I’m not close to my parents, as you know, so I don’t understand the dynamic, but I get it. They do love you, that’s very clear to see. You are their world. It’s nice, actually.”
Hank captured her hand in his, holding it to his chest. “Thank you for understanding. But, Baby, look.” He waved a hand out gesturing to them. “I may be their world but they’re not mine. You’re mine.”
Every other emotion but love faded as she climbed onto his lap, her hands coming to rest on his shoulders, her mouth only inches from his when she vowed, “You’re mine too.”
Hank wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against him. He took her mouth, the kiss started out soft and sweet but ended with his cock in her mouth, and his between her legs.
11
Arissa had spent the last few days working on the plan for the spread for Hank’s, but what had started as a project she couldn’t wait to dive into had become a source of anxiety. Her mojo was off so when she was pitched an idea for
