‘I’m not an alcoholic,’ he growled with a much sharper edge to his voice too. ‘Yeah, right now, I’ve got some booze in me. So what? I’m having a rough morning – or afternoon. I’m not sure which it is if you want to know the truth. But having a beer doesn’t make me an alcoholic. Being Irish, you of all people should know better than to make that kind of leap.’

He was right. Realizing that particular jibe had truly upset him, Hannah just as quickly backtracked, feeling all over the place herself now. How did this guy so effortlessly scramble her best intentions purely by proximity? ‘I’m sorry. That was unprofessional and unacceptable and I shouldn’t have said it. And yes, I’ve had enough fightin’ Irish stereotypes thrown at me over the years,’ she added, nodding softly. ‘And people making assumptions. You’re right, it’s not fun.’

He stared at her for a few moments and there was something else in his gaze this time, as if they’d finally arrived at a kind of impasse. He wasn’t lying; while he was definitely in pain physically there was more there too. Whatever it was, it again made something in her soften.

Bloody hell, Ward McKenzie truly was a conundrum.

His level of emotional intelligence was unexpected for a jock, and Hannah also got the sense that despite all the tough guy talk, he was lonely. Plus she still couldn’t forget how charming he’d been on their first encounter, to the point that she’d been completely flustered.

But then she recalled all those articles and mentions of him boozing and scrapping and pap shots with women of varying ages and items of clothing. Didn’t necessarily mean anything either she knew, though it bothered her that she kept thinking about it.

‘Hey, success always comes with a price,’ Hannah remarked gently, ‘but no one believes it until it happens to them.’

He looked at her then and she saw a flicker in his eyes as he met her gaze. Uncertainty, coupled with hesitation about whether or not to trust her? Then he snorted and reached for his crutches to stand up, as if still in two minds whether to stay and listen or walk away.

But somehow he misjudged his footing and next thing Hannah knew he’d crashed to the ground, this time landing square on his face.

‘Oh!’ she cried out, rushing over, unable to believe what had just happened.

Again.

Before she could reach him though, he’d pushed himself back up, his face red with embarrassment and he held his hands out as if to forcibly keep her away.

‘I’m fine!’ he growled. ‘Don’t worry about me.’

With that, he stormed off, leaving Hannah to stand there wondering which version of this guy actually was the real Ward McKenzie.

And why she felt so inexplicably drawn to find out.

Chapter 16

WARD