Prologue #2
Hunter’s grin faded, and he ducked his head under the hood, shoulder muscles bunching as he leaned deeper.
“He is watching Ruby tonight for Colt.” He wiped the back of his hand over his mouth, and a bit of grease smeared along his jaw.
“Which leaves you with me.” He glanced up at me then. “Sorry to disappoint you.”
I rolled my eyes, feigning indifference despite the heat crawling up my neck. “I’m not disappointed. I just thought he could take me home.” I dragged my gaze away from him. “June could come get me.”
“Or,” Hunter said, voice low as he tightened something under the hood, “you could let me finish working on this thing. If I can’t get it started, I’ll drive you myself.”
I drew in a breath and avoided looking at him. “I’m not helpless. I can call a tow.”
“Over my dead body, Mags.” He said it with the kind of certainty that didn’t leave room for argument, and there was something so infuriating and familiar in the way he just expected the world to bend to his will. He looked up at me, arms braced on the frame of my truck, and I shrugged.
“Suit yourself.” I circled around him and let the tailgate of his truck drop open with a metallic groan.
I hopped up and sat on the edge, legs dangling as I looked around.
From here, I could see the back slope of the Calloway Ranch, the neat rows of fencing, and the way the land touched the edge of the lake for miles.
I tried to focus on the view and the way the setting sun cast long shadows over the fields, but my eyes kept drifting back to Hunter.
I sat on that tailgate for at least an hour as the silence stretched between us, and when he cursed again, I could just barely hear it over the sound of the crickets.
“How long is this going to take, exactly?” I asked, and he didn’t answer me at first.
But then he straightened, wiping his hands on his T-shirt, and glanced toward me. “That depends.”
“On what?” I leaned forward, looking over my engine before looking back up at him.
“Do you want it to run tonight or run for good?” His eyes were a challenge, and I hated how desperately I wanted to take it.
“So you’re an expert now?” I laughed, and he shrugged before he started working again.
“I’ve been fixing things around here since I could walk.” He didn’t look up as he spoke. “I think I can handle it.”
I leaned back on my hands and watched the way his muscles bunched and shifted under his shirt. “Maybe I need a new truck.”
“Nah,” he said gently. “Just needs someone to take care of it, that’s all.” He closed the hood and motioned me toward my truck. “Go ahead. Try it now.”
I hopped down from his tailgate, dusting dirt off my shorts, before I walked past him and slipped behind the wheel of my truck.
One twist of the key and the engine roared to life.
Through the windshield, I watched Hunter slam my hood closed with a satisfied grin.
He moved to my window and propped himself against the doorframe with victory written in every line of his face.
“Thank you,” I said, but I couldn’t stop myself from rolling my eyes when his grin widened to something downright insufferable. Even his damn dimples made an appearance.
“You’re welcome.” He chuckled, leaning closer until his forearm pressed against the window frame. “But I think you owe me an apology.”
“An apology for what, exactly?” I drummed my fingers against the steering wheel, refusing to look at him.
“For doubting me.”
“I didn’t doubt you,” I said, finally meeting his gaze. “I was just…worried for a moment.”
“That’s quite literally the definition of doubting me, Mags.” The way he said my nickname made something flutter traitorously in my stomach.
“Fine.” I nodded and leaned my head back against my seat. “I’m sorry I doubted you, Hunter. I should have known better.” I gave him the sweetest smile I could manage. “Happy now?”
“Apology not accepted.” He shook his head, and my smile fell.
“What?”
“I don’t accept it.” He reached into the cab of my truck, his arm brushing over my thighs, and turned off my engine before pulling out my key. “Come on. You have to make it up to me properly.”
He smiled then, slow and cocky, like he’d planned this all along. The fading sun caught the sweat on his jaw and the streak of grease high on his cheekbone, and suddenly I couldn’t remember a single reason I should tell him no.
He didn’t even wait for me to answer. He just stepped back, pulled my door open, and tilted his head toward the lake. “Come on, Mags. Let’s go for a swim.”
I stared at him, a startled laugh escaping before I could stop it. My gaze darted to the darkening lake then back to his face. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’ve never been more serious in my life.” His gaze traveled from my face down to where my fingers still clutched the steering wheel. “The evening’s perfect, the lake’s warm, and as your friend,” he lingered on the word, “you can’t come to the lake and not get in the lake.”
“I don’t have a bathing suit,” I argued, trying to sound practical even as the idea of jumping in the lake sounded wonderful.
He tilted his head, and the corner of his mouth curved up. “Oh, come on, Maggie. Since when have you been afraid to have a little fun?”
There was such a dare in his words, and it made me want to be reckless, even if only for tonight.
I crossed my arms tight over my chest. “You’re impossible.”
He dangled my keys from his finger, backing away from my truck with that infuriating grin.
“Call me what you want, but if you’re planning on driving home tonight then you better get your ass out of that truck and come get these.
” He slid my keys into the front pocket of his jeans, then turned and strode toward the dock like he already knew I’d follow.
He didn’t look back to check if I was coming, but I slid off the seat and let the door slam behind me. The evening air was sticky against my skin as I watched him reach the edge of the dock. He tugged off his shirt in one smooth motion, tossing it over the railing before turning back to face me.
The sight of him bare-chested in the last of the light almost knocked the breath out of me. I forced my eyes up, away from the taut muscles of his stomach, and Hunter grinned when I met his eyes.
“Let’s go,” he said as he toed off his boots, but I hesitated with my feet planted firmly on land.
His gaze traveled over me like a physical touch, slowly enough that goosebumps rose on my arms despite the evening heat.
“Just give me my keys, Hunter.” I held out my hand just as he flicked open his belt buckle with one hand, the metal clinking in the quiet. “I appreciate you fixing my truck, but I really need to get home.”
“You really need to get your ass undressed.” He thumbed open the button on his jeans and let them ride low on his hips. “You’ve got exactly ten seconds before I throw you in fully clothed. Your choice, Mags.”
I snorted even as my cheeks caught fire. “You wouldn’t dare.”
But he started counting, and I squared my shoulders, refusing to let him see me flinch.
“Seven…six…” His voice dropped lower with each number.
I looked down at my cutoff shorts and faded T-shirt, heart hammering against my ribs. God, what underwear had I put on this morning?
“Five…four…” The numbers hung between us, making it suddenly hard to breathe.
“Okay, calm down.” I stepped onto the dock, the weathered boards creaking beneath me, and the entire structure swaying slightly over the water. Each step toward him felt like crossing a line I couldn’t uncross. I pulled off my boots with trembling hands as he continued counting.
He tossed his jeans down onto the planks with a soft thud that seemed to echo across the lake.
Hunter Calloway stood before me in nothing but a pair of black boxers, and I thought I’d seen every version of Hunter Calloway there was, but this was something else entirely.
He took a step toward me, his body all hard lines, and the years of knowing each other hung in the air like humidity. His eyes tracked my every move, settling on my fingers as they fidgeted with the edge of my T-shirt.
“Three.”
I yanked my shirt over my head and flung it at him.
He snatched it up before it could hit him, his smile growing impossibly wider, and I should’ve hated that smile.
My fingers found the edge of my shorts, and I wiggled them down my hips until I stood exposed in nothing but black cotton.
The evening air kissed my bare skin, and I felt something dangerous pulse through me as I lifted my gaze defiantly to meet his.
Hunter stilled like maybe he hadn’t expected me to actually do it, and his gaze slowly dropped down my body without an ounce of shame. He looked at me like he could see straight through skin and bone to the wild mess I was inside.
He dragged his tongue along his bottom lip. “I have to admit. I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Hunter shrugged, the motion making my eyes flick to the cut of his chest, and my stomach twisted traitorously.
“You think I can’t hang?” I said, trying to sound like I didn’t care if he said yes or no, like his opinion of me didn’t matter in the least.
“Didn’t say that.” He cocked his head and studied me. “I just thought you’d already steal your keys back and be halfway home by now.”
I snorted. “I’m not my sister, you know,” I said, even though I knew I probably shouldn’t have.
Hunter went still, eyes locked on mine, and for one wild heartbeat I half expected him to correct me, to say I was exactly like her.
But he didn’t. His gaze dragged over me as if he were measuring me up against what I’d just said.
But I was nothing like Ella. I was rough-edged, stubborn as a mule, and she floated through life like nothing could touch her.
And I guess it never had.
“Trust me.” His voice had gone rough, and when his eyes finally met mine again, something dark flickered in them. “I’m well aware that you’re nothing like your sister.”