Chapter 10
10
HUNTER
W ork sucked, but the end of the workday sucked even harder.
As I drove down the mountain toward my cabin, I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do. Sometimes, I’d stop by the lodge and have a beer and some wings before heading home. Every now and then, I’d go farther down the mountain and grab a to-go burger from the diner. But most of the time, I just went home and sat in front of the TV with a plate of warmed-up leftovers or a heated-up frozen dinner.
None of it sounded good. Nothing was right. My heart was in Nashville, and not because I wanted to live somewhere besides Seduction Summit. My heart was with Joely. I wanted to be wherever she was.
The pit of dread in my stomach suddenly flip-flopped as I neared my cabin. At one time, it had been more isolated. Now it was packed in with other cabins. That was how Seduction Summit was becoming—cabins on every spare inch of land a developer could buy. We couldn’t clear away the trees fast enough for them.
But right now, my attention was on the white sedan in my driveway. It was a completely unfamiliar car. In all my years here, I’d never once seen a white sedan in my driveway. Or any car that I could think of.
It wasn’t Joely. It couldn’t be Joely. I shouldn’t get my hopes up.
But as I pulled into the driveway, I saw a distinctly female figure in the driver’s seat. I stopped behind the car, my heart threatening to hammer out of my chest as I cut the engine.
Her door opened at the same time mine did. I climbed out, resisting the urge to run to her like a goofy child. But I had a hard time holding back the gigantic smile that wanted to spread across my face. Nope, had to play it cool.
Maybe she came back to officially dump me. As ridiculous as that sounded, I couldn’t make assumptions.
She was dressed casually in sweatpants and a long T-shirt, probably wanting to be comfortable for the drive. It had been two full days since I’d seen her last, but it seemed like a lifetime. If it was possible, she’d gotten even more beautiful.
“I’m back,” she said.
She made that announcement with a big smile on her face. But as I approached her, that smile fell a little, and it broke my heart.
She thought I wasn’t happy to see her. My guarded exterior was hiding my real feelings. I’d have to work on letting that guard down. I needed to work on a lot of things to become the man Joely deserved.
“You’re back,” I said, stopping just a few feet in front of her. “Did you forget something?”
It was meant as a joke—a teasing way to break the ice. But it was immediately clear that it didn’t land as a joke. Something briefly flitted over her face. Hurt? Fear? Whatever it was, I wanted to erase it. I would do anything to bring that smile back.
“I forgot everything.” She took a breath. “If I were going to be a total geek, I’d say I left my heart here.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. A protective move. But in this case, I saw it more as her challenging me to say something back. Maybe something equally as romantic. I was not the cheesy type.
“Well, I, for one, am happy to see you,” I said. “Beyond happy. I’ve been miserable since you left.”
That was about as romantic as I got. The God’s-honest truth.
“I’ve been pretty miserable too,” she said. “And I figured out something. I belong here. Even if it means finding another job. I turned in my resignation this morning. I said I had to leave town, and if they wanted me to keep working for two weeks, they’d have to let me do it remotely.”
“You can work remotely?” was all I could manage to say.
“My company doesn’t believe in remote work.” She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and held it up. “Just before I pulled in, I got a message that my services would no longer be needed and my final paycheck would be in my bank account at the end of the pay period.”
“Fuck, that’s rough,” I said.
She shrugged. “It just confirmed that I’m making the right decision. My boss and everyone I worked with will barely even miss me. They’re just fine without me. You missed me.”
“I missed you,” I said. “This town missed you. But yes, nobody missed you more than I did.”
It went deeper than that, but I knew it was too early to say the L-word. That would happen soon enough, though. For now, we just needed to work out the logistics of her being in town.
“You can stay with me,” I said. “Unless you think you need space until we get to know each other.”
“I don’t need any space from you.”
I smiled. “Me, either.”
And that was also the God’s-honest truth. In fact, I wanted as little space between us as possible. But we’d just met. She might want time to get to know me.
“Mallorie’s hooking me up with the deal she had—cabin-sitting for a property manager,” Joely said. “But I’m sure I’ll be spending a lot of time with my mountain man.”
She gave a smile at that. And the smile went straight to my heart.
It was hard to believe I’d shut people out for so long. But there was only one person who could soften my hardened heart, and that person was standing directly in front of me.
I took a step closer, and she uncrossed her arms, letting her hands fall to her sides. One step closer to her putting those hands on me.
I wasn’t shy, though. I took another step and put both hands on her shoulders.
“We’ll figure it all out,” I said. “Together.”
Relief spread over her face. She’d been stressing about this, and I couldn’t blame her. Quitting a job and moving all at once was a huge step, especially since she was leaving her friends behind.
“My roommate’s planning to visit,” she said. “Maybe you can fix her up with one of your mountain man friends so we can go on double dates. Plus, I talked to Cassady, and she thinks she can get me work here. With my experience, I don’t think it’ll be too hard.”
“I like the sound of that.”
And as I lowered my face to capture her mouth in a kiss, I realized just how happy I was. I hadn’t felt this free since I was a kid.
For the first time, I didn’t feel like I was on guard. I had a purpose, and that purpose was the woman in my arms. To make every day perfect for her. To make her happy.