Ward would have done a better job of indignantly leaving Hannah there, but he’d landed on his bad knee and the pain shooting through it had almost made him want to break down and cry. Not to mention the embarrassment. Good thing he’d managed to keep it in. The thought of showing weakness, especially around her, was too much.

He just couldn’t believe that it had happened again. What was it about this girl that meant he kept falling flat on his face in front of her?

When he’d first shown up, it had only taken him a few seconds to realize that Hannah was … embarrassed for him. Pitied him, even. That led to him being embarrassed and when that happened, it somehow always turned into something else.

There was no denying there was something about her that made him feel as if he needed to be better. Ward already knew he didn’t have it in him to be different, but when she was near him, he kinda wanted to be.

It was confusing as hell.

Leaving the park, he limped back toward home, his knee exploding in pain and decided that from now on, it was best to just forget all about this PR bullshit and focus on the kind of rehabilitation he knew best. He was staying off the meds and, thanks to Shelley, making better progress physically too.

He’d be back on the team once his busted knee was good, of that he had no doubt. Lighting lamps and leaving behind in a spin-o-rama all the damned confusing emotions Cannoli Girl seemed to evoke.

Chapter 17

HANNAH

That evening, Hannah was exhausted when she returned from a long day at the office and still reeling from yet another unproductive encounter with Ward bloody McKenzie.

All she wanted to do was pour herself a ginormous glass of wine and get into a nice hot bath. Unfortunately, when she reached the building, the super met her in the lobby, an unreadable expression on her face.

‘I got a call complaining about noise in your apartment this afternoon,’ Julie told her. ‘Someone having a party?’

Hannah blinked, confused. ‘What? There was no party. For one thing, I was at work all day … ’

Julie shrugged. ‘All I know is that Ed kept yelling about how entitled people are these days, that there are no manners left in the world and that if I didn’t insist you keep the noise down he was going to call the police.’

‘Seriously?’ Hannah gasped. ‘There’s just no way that … ’ Then she broke off and slowly shook her head as the realization came to her.

Julie noticed. ‘What is it?’