Baked (Love Burns #3)

CHAPTER TWO

R achel had been trying to fix her frazzled brain ever since Hunter had stuck his big, dumb, handsome face in hers. It wasn’t working. She spent the drive to the police station stressed, pissed, and completely turned on.

Yeah, that’s totally normal, isn’t it?

She didn’t know why she was surprised. Nothing made sense when Hunter was around. For nine months now, every time the man was near, her usual cool composure was quickly replaced with a version of herself she didn’t like. A bumbling hot mess version. The fact he barely spoke more than a few words to her only seemed to make it worse. She found herself overcompensating. Having whole conversations with herself, like a psychopath.

Now here he was, stringing whole sentences together. Calling her things like “honeybun” and “baby” and getting close enough to turn her mind to mush. Talk about mixed messages.

Though it was true when he’d said he was the first person she called when things went down. They might have spent the past few months circling each other, but there was no use denying their connection. Or what he made her feel.

Safe.

And hot.

She thought for sure he’d make a move on her when the sparks started flying, but he hadn’t. To be fair, she hadn’t either. Suddenly having the same friend group when two of their friends became couples made things awkward. She wasn’t about to put herself out there, only to be rejected and then have to face him regularly. There was clearly a reason he’d not made a move. One she had a feeling had nothing to do with their mutual friends.

Yet he was here now. Refusing to leave her side. His dark brown stare on her, concern creasing his brow. She really didn’t have time for the mind-fuck that was Hunter Campbell today. She had bigger things to worry about. Like her asshole father. Just knowing he was locked up in the same building where she now sat wasn’t exactly helping her stress levels.

They’d been escorted into an empty interrogation room ten minutes ago. Again, not helping her now very anxious stomach, which had just started growling. Excellent. As if her embarrassment hadn’t already reached new heights as it was.

Her eyes swung to the door just in time to see Cody finally enter.

Thank God.

“Thanks for coming down, guys.” Uh-oh. He had his cop voice on. This can’t be good.

Greetings exchanged, he sat himself down opposite them and didn’t waste any time getting right to it.

“A few things came up in your dad’s interview that I wanted to discuss with you.”

His amber eyes were focused completely on her now, making her squirm. She wasn’t used to seeing Cody in cop mode. He was normally the joker of the men in their friend group. But right now, there wasn’t the slightest trace of humor or even a hint of a smile on his face.

Not a good sign.

“Okay ...” she answered slowly.

“Your father has an outstanding warrant in the next county over, so the plan is to keep him here until he can be transferred over to them. With your charges and the offenses that he’s accused of committing in Clarke County, there’s a good chance he’s going away for a while darlin’.”

Good.

He continued, “That said, after speaking to him, I have reason to believe that your safety may still be compromised.”

Hunter’s chair scraped along the floor as he dragged it closer to the desk and leaned over the metal frame, getting right in Cody’s face. “What the hell do you mean her safety is compromised ?”

Rachel’s hand automatically shot out and went to his arm, gently pulling him back to her and rubbing circles on his skin in a soothing motion. “Hey, it’s okay. Let him talk.”

Cody’s eyes went to their connection before flying back to her. “I’m sure you’re aware that your dad likes to gamble.”

That earned him a snort. All too aware, I’d say.

“Yes, well, like most gamblers, they borrow to feed their addiction. Which is what your dad did,” Cody continued.

Here we go.

She heard Hunter suck in a breath. Yeah. This was going to be bad.

They waited for Cody’s next words. “Unfortunately, the people he borrowed from aren’t good guys.” No shit, Sherlock. “Although he isn’t certain they know about you, we can’t rule out the fact they might. And while they’re looking for him—”

“They might find me,” she finished his sentence. This was not her first rodeo. “I get it, Cody. They want their money, and if they can’t get it from him, they’ll try and get it from me. How much are we talking?”

Facts before freaking out. Always.

Oh no. Cody’s hand was scrubbing his face, all the way down to his beard. Another terrible sign. “Twenty.”

“Thousand?” she felt the need to clarify.

A nod from Cody. A curse from Hunter. And a big old sigh from her.

Shit. That’s the biggest debt yet.

In an ideal world, she’d have the money in the bank to give to these thugs and send them on their merry way. But running a business in a small town, even a successful one, didn’t do much more than pay her bills.

“I don’t have the money. I mean, I could probably scramble together six or seven, but no way I could find twenty.” She looked between Hunter and Cody. Both men were looking at her as if she’d grown a second head. A look so incredulous on Hunter’s face, it was bordering on rude. “What?”

“You’re not giving those motherfuckers your money,” Hunter answered. “This is your dad’s debt. Not yours.”

In an ideal world? Yes. In the real one? Not so much. She knew it didn’t work like that. Growing up with a man like Leo as your father made a girl learn really quick that life isn’t always fair.

“I’ve been through this before.” She breathed out another sigh. “You pay, they go away. You don’t, then trouble finds you. The kind of trouble I don’t want or need. Maybe I can get a loan.” Her gaze flicked back to Cody. “If I can get the money, do you think you can help me find these guys? Settle the debt?”

A weird noise came out of Hunter. It wasn’t so much a growl but was more like a guttural rumble that seemed to vibrate around the room.

“Are you okay?” she asked, despite knowing the answer.

“No, I’m not okay. There’s no way on this fucking planet that you’re getting a goddamn loan to pay off your asshole dad’s gambling debts.”

Wow. That was a lot of cursing. Abruptly, Hunter came to his feet and tugged Rachel’s hand, pulling her to standing.

He wasn’t done talking though. This time, he directed his words at Cody. “Send all the information you have on these guys over to me. Who they are. Where they were last seen. Everything. Rachel will be staying with me until they’re found and in police custody.”

What? The fuck I will!

***

“D o you hear me, Hunter ? There’s no way on God’s green earth that I’m moving in with you!” She’d resorted to yelling now.

Silence. Nothing. Not even a facial muscle was twitching. The man was infuriating.

“You can stand there all ape-like for as long as you want. Short of a lobotomy, I’m not about to change my mind.”

They’d arrived back at her apartment five minutes ago. Their conversation hadn’t yet graduated from the one they’d had during the car ride over. If you could call this a conversation. It was as one-way as they came, with only grunts leaving Hunter’s mouth. The only difference between here and the car being that he was standing in her bedroom doorway after ordering her to pack. She was not packing.

“So help me God, if you grunt at me one more time, I’m going to beat you with my shoe.”

The threat appeared to hurl him into action. He stalked toward her, his large steps sinking into the plush pink carpet, backing her up until there was nowhere left to go and her calves met the bed.

Her head fell backward; she wanted him to get the full effect of her glare.

“Honeybun, I don’t think you get the severity of the situation. You’re in danger.”

Finally. He speaks.

She got it all right. But moving in with Hunter was just as dangerous. She would just have to take her chances.

He continued, “In order to keep you safe, I need to be with you. Which means either you move in with me ... or I move in with you.”

His eyes went to the bed behind her, a flash of heat darkening his gaze from chocolate to coal. It made her gulp.

Stupid attraction. So freaking inconvenient.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she declared, managing to keep her voice firm.

“Then I guess I’ll be moving in.” His stare was laser sharp.

“Says who!” she argued.

“I do.”

In-frigging-furiating.

This was ridiculous. She understood that he was worried about these men finding her, but moving in was a bit extreme.

A thought came to her then. “I can go stay with Libby or Cat.” Although as soon as the words left her mouth, she knew that wasn’t an option. She would never want to bring trouble to her friends’ doors. And Cat and Cody had a son, so that was a hard no.

As if reading her mind, Hunter spoke again, “That’s not going to work.”

Yeah. It wasn’t. Not that she was ready to give in just yet. Although, it was getting awfully hard to think of another excuse while he was this close to her.

Quick, think of something. Anything.

“I only have one bedroom,” she blurted.

“I’ll take the couch.”

“I get up at five. Every day. To bake.”

“No problem.”

“I’m too tired to cook when I get home most nights, so I order takeout ... a lot.”

“I love takeout.”

She huffed, well aware her breath was sinking into the dark stubble dotting along his jawline. He had a goddamn answer for everything.

With his head not moving an inch, he removed his phone from his front pocket. Losing his dark eyes for a moment, she watched him scroll through his contacts and proceed to call someone.

“Hey, man, do me a favor?” There was a pause before Hunter continued, his eyes never leaving hers. “Go to my place and pack some shit for me? A couple of changes of clothes, my toothbrush, shower stuff, that kinda thing.” Another pause. “Yeah, bring it over to Rachel’s.”

The phone call ended, and he slid his phone back into his jeans.

“Who was that?”

“Luke.”

“Why does Luke know where I live?”

“It’s a small town, baby.”

“Seriously?”

His lips twitched. “Seriously. You want me to pull up a map?”

“Oh, now you’re funny?” Despite herself, she felt her own lips tip up.

He didn’t answer. Not that she noticed. She was too busy drowning in darkness. Wondering what the texture of his hair would feel like through her fingers. It was shaved so close to his head, but it always looked so soft. Such a contrast to all the hardness. At six foot five, with a body made up of pure muscle, he reminded her of a sexy action man. One her body very much wanted to play with.

Control yourself, woman.

“Honeybun”—his voice was like deep velvet—“not yet. Soon. But not yet.”

What was he talking about? Whatever it was, it broke the spell and forced her to look away. Shake her no-good thoughts right out of her head.

In turn, he took a step back. “I’m gonna order us food. Anything you don’t like on your pizza?”

Pizza sounded good. So good, that for a moment, she forgot to be mad. “Uh, no anchovies please.”

She still felt dazed even as he disappeared back into her hallway. Damn. Had she just agreed to let him move in with her? When did that happen?

Also, was he about to kiss her? Was that what he was talking about? This wasn’t a good idea.

Not for the first time today, she cursed her dumb dad.

***

T he first night with her new roommate was interesting to say the least.

Luke didn’t stick around after dropping off Hunter’s things, which was probably a good thing. Luke was the moodiest of the bunch. The kind of man where you had no idea if he loved you or if he was secretly scratching your name onto a hit list. She was obviously hoping her name hadn’t made the list, but again, it was hard to tell.

After Luke left, they ate really good pizza in front of the television.

But after that, things went downhill. It got awkward really quick when Hunter decided to strip off his shirt and walk around her apartment for a solid twelve minutes before getting into the shower.

How did she know it was twelve minutes, you ask? Well, she timed it. It was the only thing she could think of doing to distract herself. And get her mind out of the gutter.

She already knew he was ripped. It was obvious even through his shirt. But come on, did she really need to see his actual bare chest? Muscles upon muscles, chiseled abs, and an actual V shape pointing all the way down to the holy land.

Give a girl a break. How was she supposed to think when he was flashing that thing at her? Hadn’t she suffered enough?

“God damn, it smells good in here.”

Talking of a shirtless Hunter, she started the clock again as he sauntered into the kitchen. She may have gotten up a little earlier today and decided to bake. She couldn’t sleep, but it definitely wasn’t down to sexual frustration or anything. Definitely not. She just wanted to make muffins. That’s all.

“I put some muffins on the counter for you.” Her finger pointed to the edge of the floating marble surface where she kept two powder pink stools. “I wasn’t sure which flavor you liked, so I put a few out. There’s triple chocolate chip, blueberry, and lemon poppyseed.”

“Thank you, honeybun.” Hunter then did the unspeakable and bent down and kissed her cheek. The brush of his lips was enough to make her freeze in place, hand still as it hovered over the muffin tray. “And for the record, I love them all.”

She heard him drag up a stool. All the while, she was yet to move.

Am I having a seizure?

“You sleep well?” he asked.

What was this ... a conversation? That’s it. She was having a seizure.

Slowly twisting around to face the counter where he sat, she eyed him warily.

Dear lord, those are ridges. Deep, sexy, muscley ridges. It should be illegal to go around looking like that.

“Is there a reason you’re looking at me like that, baby?”

Again with the names. Honeybun. Baby. What the fuck is going on? Which was what she asked next.

“What’s happening?”

“What do you mean?” She watched him take a healthy bite of her muffin.

Don’t.

“I mean, last week I was still struggling to get full sentences out of you. And now ... now you’re naked in my kitchen, kissing my cheek, calling me sweet names, and asking me how I slept. Did I wake up in another dimension?”

When he’d finished chewing, she witnessed the most glorious thing. A smile. Not a lip twitch. Not a barely there lopsided grin. A huge, wide, megawatt smile. Teeth and all. That was definitely the first time she’d seen him smile like that. She would have remembered seeing this before. It would have been burnt into her memory.

“Not naked, baby. Not yet.”

Seriously? That’s his answer?

She threw her hands up in defeat and went back to her muffins. At least muffins made sense.