Page 5 of Driven By Impulse

Which didn’t explain why he’d been so quick to come to her beck and call the moment he’d heard her voice.

“Gotta love a family reunion.” Ash practically choked on the words, but he was desperate to break through the haze of sticky memories that still felt so alive in the house on Marigold Lane, and the tendrils of fear that still coursed through him at the very thought of losing Niccolo.

He had neither the time nor the energy to look too far down either of those particular rabbit holes.

“Could always trust you to take a matter seriously,” Hanna bit out. Her features softened the smallest amount, as if it had just occurred to her that they were standing in her living room as a favor. “But…thank you. For bringing the crew here, I mean. I didn’t know who else to turn to.”

Thankfully, Nicco answered before Ash had the chance to blurt out something really stupid, like you know I’ll always come when you call.

“It’s what we do,” Nicco replied. “Want to read us in now or wait until the morning?”

Hanna shook her head. “No way I’ll be able to fall back asleep. I’ve been up for nearly two days and crashed trying to wait up.”

“Explains the underwear,” Ash muttered.

“My pants were covered in blood,” Hanna replied, a saccharine smile on her face.

She stood, unabashed in her state of undress, and despite the survival instinct to flee and never come back, Ash couldn’t help but notice every inch of woman Hanna Van Rijn had become. She was tall, lithe and athletic from a lifetime of swimming and volleyball, and her hair fell nearly to her waist now, an arrow to her slight curves, and Ash felt the feral urge to bite her right where her ass swelled against delicate thin cotton panties.

Hanna had always been a tough girl. But she’d never said no to a touch of the feminine, tough, unyielding, standing her ground until her knuckles were bloodied and she could spit loose teeth, but with a hidden drawer of shiny things, tucked away like they might reveal too much.

“I’ll put the coffee on.”

“And then you could put on some fucking pants,” Ash bit out.

Nicco raised an eyebrow at him, a sparkle of amusement in his dark eyes, the corners of his lips twitching up ever so slightly.

Fine, if that was what it took to make Nicco smile.

“If you don’t like it,” Hanna shot back from the kitchen, “then don’t look. When did you get to be such a goody two-shoes anyway?”

Ash could hear the sound of the old gas stove clicking to life, then her head appeared back around the hallway.

“You were the one all the parents warned their daughters about.” She glanced at Nicco. “He was the resident bad boy.”

Nicco let out a sound that would have been a chuckle from anyone else.

Hanna glared at Ash. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of a little skin.”

“Scared isn’t the primary concern here, Sheriff.”

Hanna rolled her eyes. “Fine. Pants are going on, so you can concentrate.”

She grabbed the pair of jeans draped over the banister and yanked them on. “Happy?”

No. I don’t think I’ll ever be happy in this house again. Ash growled. “Better. Now if you could maybe find a bra to go with them.”

Hanna flipped him off. “Or maybe I could find a pit to throw you into.”

Nicco clapped a hand on Ash’s back. “Can we call a temporary truce? Just until we get the lay of the land?”

Hanna answered first. “Yes. Of course. Just some…unfinished business…”

That was an understatement if ever there was one. But they had agreed to help, which meant he was going to have to be civilized. At least for a few days.

Ash watched Hanna walk back into the kitchen, sleep-mussed hair bouncing, ass no less distracting in her tight jeans than it had been bare, and he knew that even a few days was asking for so much more than he was capable of.

Chapter Two