A Man Apart by Joan Hohl Read Free Book Online Page A

a soft sigh of relief for coming to her senses in time, Hannah slipped a largermatching gold band from her thumb, just as Maggie repeated the vow.
    Moments later Mitch kissed Maggie, to the applause of the guests, and it was over. They were married.
    Hopefully, till death did them part, Hannah thought, frowning as she saw Justin take Adam’s place in line, leaving his older brother to escort Karla.
    What was the devil up to now? Steeling herself, she took Justin’s arm to follow the newlyweds down the aisle to the church foyer.
    â€œYour place or mine?” Justin murmured, his eyes glittering with a positively wicked gleam of amusement.
    He knew. Damn the man, he knew exactly how she was feeling, what she was feeling, as if the word ready had magically appeared branded on her forehead in capital letters.
    â€œI don’t have a place here,” Hannah muttered, riveting her gaze on the back of Maggie’s head. “My place is hundreds of miles from here, in Pennsylvania.”
    He chuckled.
    Hannah cringed, covering it with a tight smile as she hugged first Maggie, then Mitch, wishingthem good luck before turning to stand beside Mitch to form the greeting line. Not daring to so much as glance into Justin’s eyes again, she stood stiff, staring directly ahead. It didn’t do her a bit of good, as he continued to torment her in that low, deep, nerve-rattling sexy voice.
    â€œMy permanent place is not as far away. In Montana,” he murmured, his head so close to hers she felt his warm breath caress her ear. “But I have a temporary place here, as I know you do. Conveniently, both places are at the very same location, that beautiful old Victorian house.”
    Hannah was genuinely shocked. “Maggie’s apartment? I…I couldn’t, wouldn’t dream of it!” she softly protested, suddenly realizing she had not said no to him, but rather to meeting him at Maggie’s adorable little flat on the third floor.
    â€œOf course not,” he agreed, drawing her startled gaze just as he smiled at Karla who settled in line next to him. His eyes still gleamed with a sinful light. “But I haven’t the least hesitation in using the roomier apartment on the first floor for some fun and games.”
    Fun and games. The overused expression, following the tired line of your place or mine, didn’t sound as worn-out and dated coming from Justin’ssensuous mouth. Truth be told, the soft invitation sounded much too tempting.
    At a loss for a coherent retort, Hannah felt a wave of relief as she turned her head to find the first of the guests, Justin’s parents, who were laughing and crying and hugging Maggie and Mitch in turn.
    Justin merely lowered his head closer to her, his whispered words tickling her inner ear and every nerve ending in her body. “I’ll be moving in for a couple of days tomorrow, right after Karla and Ben vacate.”
    Hannah had to suppress a visible tremor as his tongue swiftly speared into her ear.
    â€œFeel free to visit at anytime…day or night,” he murmured, increasing the tremor a hundredfold. “Come early…and often—” he chuckled at her quick, indrawn breath, “—and stay late…like a couple of days.”
    Thank goodness, at that moment Justin’s father swept her into a celebratory embrace, as she found it difficult to pull a comeback from her mush of gray matter. The man was nearly as tall as his three sons, but not as strong as them, and not nearly as ruggedly handsome as Justin—darn his too-attractive hide.
    His mother, a lovely woman, and almost as tall as Hannah took her hands and leaned forward to kiss her cheek. “You look beautiful in that dress, Hannah,” she said, delicately dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. “Both of you do, you and Karla.”
    â€œWhy, thank you,” Hannah responded, lowering her head to kiss the older woman’s still smooth cheek.