Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
HUNTER
Iwas dead on my feet.
Sleeping three nights on a couch that was too damn soft and not nearly long or wide enough would do that to a man, but as long as the threat of Cyrus Whitlock was still out there, I’d suck it up and deal.
Keeping Serenity safe was worth any amount of discomfort, and I’d dealt with a whole hell of a lot more in my lifetime. This was nothing.
Leaning back in my chair, I closed my eyes and scrubbed at my face, the words on the computer screen starting to blur together.
She had texted me when her sister and Sage showed to pick her up for lunch, and again when she got back home, but I kept checking my phone damn near constantly since then, hoping for another message from her.
It wasn’t rational, and I knew I was the one who put us in the place we were currently in, but I missed her when she wasn’t around.
There was just something about her, a light, like the sun breaking through storm clouds after the heavy rain.
She made me laugh more than I had in longer than I cared to admit.
When I was with her, it was easy to forget the bad.
The nightmares came with less frequency, and I felt the desire to smile.
I tapped the screen on my phone, bringing it to life for the fifth time in less than three minutes and feeling my stomach sink when there was no message light.
It was barely five o’clock, and usually I would’ve worked for at least another hour, but the desire to get home was overwhelming.
I kept telling myself it was because I was tired, but the truth was, I wanted to walk through my front door and see her smiling face look over at me from whatever she was doing the moment I appeared.
That damn smile was the best welcome home greeting I’d had.
I was just starting to shut down my computer when Bryce popped up in my open doorway, leaning his shoulder against the door frame and crossing his arms over his chest.
“So you want to tell me what the hell is going on, or should I get my news through the town grapevine?”
I felt my forehead pull into a frown. “Am I supposed to know what the hell you’re talking about?”
He gave me a look that said he knew I was full of shit. “About you and Serenity,” he stated. “Town’s got another pool going on to see when you two will end up together. You feel like telling me where I should put my money?”
I felt my back go straight as I studied his features to see if he was pulling my leg. When it became obvious he wasn’t, I let out a huff of air and collapsed back in my chair.
“It’s not like that,” I insisted. But even though I had said the words a million times, they were starting to feel like a lie on my tongue. “She’s just staying with me until that fucker is off the streets. I’m only keeping her safe.”
I knew I wasn’t fooling him. If one person on the face of the earth knew me best, it was the man standing right in front of me.
“And you mean to tell me there wasn’t a soul in all of Hope Valley who couldn’t have protected her just as capably as you? Say, your buddy West, for instance? You know, the man who’s about to be her brother-in-law. You don’t think he’d be able to look after her?”
I opened my mouth to respond but had nothing. “You finished?” I finally asked, my hackles rising. “’Cause I’d like to get home if it’s all the same to you.”
The expression on Bryce’s face shifted then. He was the kind of man who hid behind a carefree facade. He pretended not to give a damn, but deep down, there wasn’t much he didn’t see, and I knew by the way he was looking at me, he wasn’t anywhere near done.
“Tell me, who were you hoping to hear from when you checked your phone just a moment ago?” Son of a bitch. “Or any of the other million times you’ve checked it the past few days?”
“You’re way off the mark,” I grunted, but the truth was, he’d just hit the nail on the goddamn head.
“What are you doing, man?” he finally asked, cutting to the root of things. “You moved her in, refusing to let anyone else look after her but you. You’re taking her to Vera’s wedding, for Christ’s sake. Have you given a single goddamn thought to what your actions might look like to her?”
“I’ve been up front with her from the beginning. We’re just friends. She knows that.”
“She knows that’s what you said,” he stressed. “But then you go and do shit that a man who’s just friends with a woman wouldn’t do. Hell, man. Even I’m questioning how you feel about her.”
My hands clenched tight. “This is none of your business.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. Way I see it, this is payback for forcing me to pull my head out of my ass when it came to Tessa. I’m just returning the favor.”
“Bryce—”
“She’s good for you,” he said, cutting off my argument.
“Whether you see it or not, everyone else around here does. You were turning into a miserable asshole. Only one worse than you was Xander, and that’s saying something, man.
But lately, you’ve been in a better mood.
You’re cutting up again, laughing more.”
“You grow a vagina when no one was looking?” I snapped, using sarcasm to deflect.
“If there’s a woman out there who’s a better match for you, I’ve never met her. I like Serenity for you, brother. And what’s more, I think if you got your head out of your ass, you’d feel the same way.”
With that last well-placed blow hitting his mark, he pushed off the doorframe, turned on his boot, and walked away, leaving me reeling.
Serenity
I’d been antsy since my sister and Sage dropped me off back at Hunter’s place a few hours ago.
I tried watching television, but nothing held my interest. I even tried reading one of Hunter’s thrillers, but when I got to the part where the bad guy was slinking into the protagonist’s bedroom window, I started to get creeped out.
The story was hitting a little too close to home, given my current situation, so I slapped the book closed and tossed it onto the coffee table with a huff of annoyance.
Finally, I decided that cooking would be the best way to pull me out of my funk, so I headed for Hunter’s kitchen.
I noticed that first morning that he only had the bare minimum in his fridge and pantry, and seeing as I wasn’t a big fan of protein bars and smoothies, I’d written out an extensive list and made him go to the grocery store with the order that he wasn’t allowed to come back unless he bought every single item.
Needless to say, I had everything I could possibly need to cook whatever my heart desired, so I’d decided on homemade lasagna with sauce made from scratch, fresh garlic bread, and a salad.
The sauce was a recipe I’d gotten from my mom who got it from her mom, and so on, but I’d always loved to experiment with flavors, so I’d played with it over the years and made something already delicious that much better.
I’d always enjoyed cooking. Food was a big deal in my family.
Sunday dinners were a regular thing with us, and unless you had a damn good excuse—say, getting choked out by a demented psycho—you were expected to be there.
I could count on one hand the number of Sunday dinners I’d missed.
It was the only time I got to flex my cooking muscles.
I’d head over to my parents’ house early so I could help my mom in the kitchen.
Back when I’d been with my ex, I’d gone out of my way to make him dinner as often as I could, but then we broke up, and cooking for one didn’t hold nearly the same appeal.
I knew this whole situation with Hunter was temporary, and I’d probably be heading back to my apartment sooner rather than later, but I planned to take advantage of it while I could.
The lasagna was done and in the oven with the garlic bread to keep warm, and the salad was prepared and in the fridge to keep from wilting.
The house was filled with the smells of dinner, making my stomach rumble as I washed and dried the dishes I used to make dinner.
I had music streaming from my phone as I moved around the kitchen, mindlessly singing along with whatever song was playing at the time, and that was how Hunter found me only a few minutes after everything was done.
I’d just spun around from putting the silverware away when I spotted him standing in the entryway of the kitchen.
He gave me a start, causing me to jump. “You know, for a guy your size, you’re shockingly quiet.” I let out a laugh and placed a hand over my chest to soothe my racing heart. “You damn near gave me a heart attack.”
“Sorry about that,” he said with the smallest of smirks. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
I waved him off. “It’s fine. I just didn’t expect you for a bit longer. But, surprise,” I exclaimed, holding my arms out wide, “I made dinner.”
There was something in his blue eyes I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but as he moved closer, it flickered and flashed like fire. “I figured that from the smells.”
I cocked a brow. “Good smells or bad smells?” I asked teasingly, because I already knew the answer. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I was a fantastic cook.
He was still moving in my direction as he said, “Fucking incredible smells,” on a deep, raspy growl.
My breath caught at the deep timbre of his voice and the almost predatory way he watched me as he slowly moved closer. I suddenly felt as though I was prey being stalked by a much bigger, stronger animal.
“Uh . . .” I took a step back, grabbing hold of the counter for balance when I nearly tripped over my own feet. There had only been one time in our acquaintance when Hunter had looked at me the way he was just then, and that had been the night we kissed.
You’re reading too much into things, Serenity, I silently scolded. I needed to get my shit together before I did something incredibly stupid. Again.
“Well, I hope you’re hungry.” Shaking myself out of my stupor, I grabbed the oven mitts from where I’d tossed them on the island earlier, and spun around to pull the door down.
“I kind of made a lot,” I said as I reached in and pulled out the tray of lasagna.
“I cut the recipe in half since it’s just the two of us, but it still made quite a bit.
I figured you could take the leftovers into the office with you, maybe pawn them off on some of the other guys. ”
I was rambling, but I couldn’t get my brain and mouth on the same page.
Hunter stopped only inches away from me as I carefully placed the tray on the island. He was so damn close, I could smell his cologne over the food. I wasn’t sure if the heat spreading over me just then was from the oven still being open, or because he was right there.
“Um, c-could you grab the garlic bread and slice it while I get the salad?” I asked, my voice coming out wobbly.
“Sure thing, baby.”
Oh damn. I got another baby. I didn’t know what was happening or why Hunter’s mood felt different. All I knew was he was confusing the hell out of me, and it was really starting to piss me off.
While he unwrapped the foil from the bread and cut into its flaky crust, I kept my hands busy doing everything else. I placed the salad bowl on the island, then moved to the cupboard for plates. I lifted up on my tiptoes to grab glasses when Hunter’s heat returned.
“I’ve got it, sweetheart,” he said as he came up behind me. My lungs seized when he pressed his chest into my back and braced one hand on my hip while he reached up with the other to pull two glasses down.
I could feel him everywhere, and those hard planes of muscle pressing against me sent a rush of arousal into my blood. My core began to throb, and I had to bite my bottom lip to keep from whimpering as the noticeable bulge behind his fly pressed into my back.
I was quickly coming undone.
“Hunter,” I breathed, bracing my hands on the countertop in front of me and closing my eyes.
He lowered his arms, setting the glasses down beside my right hand, but didn’t move away.
“Yeah, Sere?”
I swallowed past the dryness in my throat. “What is this?”
At my question, he caged me in, brushing the hair away from my neck so I could feel his lips whisper across the tender skin as he said, “This is me finally deciding I’m done fighting what I feel for you, because I want you so goddamn bad I can’t see straight.”
And on those words, I snapped.