Love, Utley (Love Letters #1)

The other direction houses the rarely used guest suites.

I step through the open double doors into my bedroom and leave them open. There’s no one here, so there’s no need to close doors behind me.

My bed is unmade, how I left it, and I strip as I cross the room.

Naked, I walk into the attached bathroom and through to my walk-in closet.

After selecting a clean pair of boxers, I pull them on, then go back into the bathroom to brush my teeth.

The routine is second nature, and while I run through it, my mind wanders back to Hannah.

It stays on her as I spit my toothpaste into the sink.

It stays on her as I exit my bathroom and cross to my bed.

And I can’t stop thinking about her as I pull the blankets into place.

With my arms spread out across the mattress, I think about that one night we had together. How I lay down just like this, on a bed made of benches, and how she curled up into my side. How her little hand looked on my chest, and how I could feel the warmth of her thigh as she hitched it up over mine.

I close my eyes and think about my Hannah Bunny.

How the first three times I saw her, she ran away. Like a scared little bunny.

And I think about her hiding today.

How she’s still running from me. Acting like I’m a stranger.

But no matter how much time has passed, we’re not strangers.

Maybe I need to remind her of who I am.

TEN

HANNAH

Crouched next to my chair, I pull open the bottom drawer of my desk.

Apparently, the companies were preparing for this merger for a lot longer than anyone told us, because the office upstairs is ready for us to start moving in on Monday. Hence me spending my Friday morning packing all my stuff.

Annoyance flares every time I think about it.

It’s not like I would’ve quit just because Maddox was going to be the new owner. Well, truthfully, I might’ve. But now we’ll never know. Because no one told us. But at the very least, I could have prepared myself better.

Never thought I’d think this, but thank god for Brandon. If he hadn’t come into my office before my interview, I would’ve walked into that situation entirely blind.

I shove a handful of files into the box.

I didn’t see any signs of Maddox yesterday, so I just need to get through the rest of today, then I can have the weekend to stew over my current predicament.

“Need a hand?”

The deep voice startles me, and I start to tip.

My arm jerks out in response, and I bang my elbow against the edge of the desk before losing my balance completely and ending up on my butt.

“Shit!” I grab my elbow with my opposite hand and rub at the pain as I sit on the floor.

“Hannah?” Maddox’s voice moves closer until he’s looking at me over the top of my desk.