Chapter Ten
Saturday evening, on his way to pick up Willow, Hunter pulled off the road and got out of his truck. He needed fresh air; he was struggling to breathe.
Within minutes he was going to see Willow and he wasn’t sure whether he’d be able to greet her coolly or do something really stupid like dragging her to bed and begging her to stay.
Those damn buttons she’d opened last night had unleashed something inside of him that was freaking him out. What the hell it was, he had no idea, all he knew was that his body was on fire, and he’d been struggling to concentrate all day.
He needed to calm down, get his galloping libido in check before he saw her, but he had no idea how to do that. The countless cold showers since last night hadn’t made any difference to the fire burning inside of him.
It was bitterly cold, but he left his jacket in the truck, he was burning up.
Inhaling the cold air, he tried to be rational.
Fact was, they were going their separate ways on Sunday.
He would probably never see her again. Even on the off-chance she’d consider a relationship with him, he’d never be able to do the long-distance thing with her.
The need to touch her, to be with her, was too overwhelming, too intense. He had to be with her, close to her.
Damn it, this wasn’t helping. She’d probably forgotten all about last night by now. Gnashing his teeth, he got into his truck and drove the rest of the way to her house.
Her mother’s car was parked in front of Willow’s house.
Chuckling, he shook his head. Just the bucket of ice he’d needed to cool him down.
As he got out of his truck, the front door opened, and Willow and her mom walked out on to the porch, both wrapped up in scarves and coats.
The high heels peeking below Willow’s dress caught his eye.
Suddenly, he had trouble breathing. Those long, sexy legs in heels?
Damn, these kinds of thoughts are making things harder. Pun intended.
“Hi, Hunter,” the older woman smiled when she saw him. “My, don’t you look handsome!”
Grinning, he returned her warm hug. He’d always liked her. “Thanks, Mrs. Weston, I have a date tonight. May I say, you also look stunning.”
“Thank you. Please call me Arlene, we’re nearly family. I’ll see you kids at the dance!”
“Mom, why don’t you go with us?” Willow asked.
“I’ve promised Hayden and Laura I’ll keep an eye on Luke tonight so they could dance and not worry about what he gets up to. I’m spending the night with them, so I’ll see you tomorrow morning before you leave. You look beautiful, sweetheart.”
“You really shouldn’t have bought me another dress but thank you. I love it.”
With another quick hug, Arlene moved toward her car. Hunter escorted her and helped her inside.
As Arlene closed the door, she opened the window. “I don’t know if she’ll ever admit it, but she’s happy around you. Thank you for putting that light in her eyes.”
“She’s a very special lady. Save me a dance, okay?” he teased.
“Of course!” With a wave, she left.
As he turned around Willow was coming toward him, a small bag in her hand.
He quickly walked around his truck so that he could open the door for her. Dismayed, she looked down at herself. “O, my goodness, I haven’t thought of this. I don’t know how I’ll get into the truck wearing this dress.”
Without thinking about it, he picked her up. “I was dying to hold you in my arms anyway,” he teased as he put her down on the seat. Like a schoolboy on his first date, his heart was thundering away, his mouth was dry, he struggled to breathe. He was a dead man.
As he started the truck, she smiled. “Thanks. The dress is tight-fitting …”
“I like the sound of that.” His eyes on his hands, he started the truck. Keep it light, don’t look at her. That was the only way he was going to survive the night.
“You okay?” she asked.
Gripping the wheel, he sighed. “I’m trying not to look at you, because if I do …”
The next moment soft arms were around his neck and she was kissing him. Within seconds his blood was roaring through his veins, shutting out any other noise.
He couldn’t get enough of her. Frantically, he pulled at her coat until he could get his hands on her. Gulping in air, he looked down. The midnight blue material of her dress dipped low enough in the front to give him a glimpse of her gorgeous curves.
Slipping one of his hands inside the dress, he looked at her. “I’ll never get enough of touching you, of kissing you …” With a groan he pulled out his hand and closed her coat. “You are a dangerous distraction, Willow Weston. Let’s go.”
Lacing his fingers with her one hand, he stepped on the gas. His whole body was on fire. How he was supposed to survive dancing with this gorgeous creature tonight, he had no idea.
*
The Ballroom of the Graff Hotel had been transformed into a winter wonderland. Besides the gleaming light fixtures, fairy lights dangled down the walls, creating a festive atmosphere.
“May I take your coat?” a friendly guest services attendant asked as they entered.
“Yes, thanks,” Willow said as she unwrapped her scarf. Before she could take off her coat, though, Hunter was behind her.
“Nobody else gets to do this,” he whispered.
As she slipped out of the garment, his soft gasp sent shivers down her spine. The midnight blue dress her mother had bought dipped very low in the back. Looking over her shoulder, she caught his eye. Those indigo blue eyes were nearly black with desire.
The next moment, his warm hand rested against her back, and he was steering her toward the table where her family was already sitting.
“If I survive tonight, it will be a miracle,” he muttered under his breath.
As they neared the table, she pasted a smile on her face. She had goosebumps all over her body, she was struggling to breathe, her heart rate was completely out of control, flames were licking the insides of her skin. “Ditto,” was all she was capable of.
“Willow, Hunter!” her mom called out. “I was wondering where you were. Come on, sit down. The men have just left to get drinks, Hunter.”
“Thanks. What can I get you? White wine?” he asked Willow.
For a moment she felt like crying. Hunter was the perfect fiancé—considerate, charming, interested in what she did and said, and drop-dead gorgeous to boot.
He even knew she liked drinking white wine.
And when he kissed her, stars exploded, galaxies changed their course—not something she’d ever experienced before.
“Thank you, yes.”
With his hand still at her back, he leaned closer sideways. The next moment warm lips caressed her shoulder before he turned around and walked toward the bar.
With rubbery legs, she quickly sat down.
“Wow,” Laura laughed, fanning herself. “We don’t need inside heating tonight, the sparks between the two of you produce enough heat for the whole ballroom.”
Blushing, Willow pressed her cold hands against her warm cheeks. “Don’t be silly. You all look stunning! Are those the dresses you bought in Bozeman?”
“Yes,” Rose giggled. “Cooper really loves it. Let’s just say we nearly didn’t make it here tonight.”
“I know!” Ellie said. “When Becket saw me in this dress, he didn’t want to leave the house, either!”
Laura grinned. “Well, when you have children, you quickly learn to be creative and make time for everything.”
“That I’ll believe,” Willow’s mother laughed. “The Weston men have always been hot-blooded.”
“Who’s hot-blooded?” Hayden asked as he and the other men returned with drinks.
“What we women say around this table, stays around the table,” their mom said, her eyes twinkling.
Just then the guitarist of the band strummed through the strings of his instrument and half of the guests got up to dance.
As Hunter put down a bottle of wine and two glasses, he held out his hand. “May I have this dance?”
*
As he escorted Willow to the dance floor, people stopped to say hi and congratulate them on their engagement. Hunter kept smiling and nodding, but by the time he was finally able to pull Willow into his arms, he was irritated and restless.
She easily followed his lead, matched his rhythm within seconds—as if they’d been dancing forever.
He had tonight with her, he wasn’t going to think about the fact she was leaving the next day.
The singer of the band was crooning something about a girl he’d met who had made him smile.
Dropping his hand, he twirled Willow away so that he could look at her again.
The dress was long, so he couldn’t see her legs, but it wasn’t difficult to imagine what they look like in those heels.
Laughing she stepped back into his arms. “You’ve got moves, cowboy.”
“You ain’t seen nothing yet.” His smile came easy, his irritation had evaporated, the restlessness was gone. Her smile did that to him.
Pulling her close, he slipped both arms around her body so that he could touch her back. Swaying to the music, he stroked the silky texture of her skin, inhaling her scent until everything else around him faded.
She fit perfectly against him, their feet moving faultlessly in sync. How the hell could he let her go?
They easily slipped into the next song and the next, his mind clouded by her nearness, his senses overwhelmed by her scent, her voice, her warm body beneath his hands. He wouldn’t mind staying like this forever.
A hand touched his shoulder. Cooper was next to them. “My turn,” he said as he took Willow’s hand. “Mom says you’ve promised her a dance.”
Before he could protest, Cooper was dancing away with his fiancé.
Rubbing his face, he turned around. Fake fiancé. He kept forgetting that.
*
Willow’s eyes followed Hunter as he walked to their table and asked her mother to dance. Cooper was a great dancer, she should know, she’d taught him, but she missed her fiancé’s arms around her.
Swallowing a groan, she tried to focus on the music. Fake fiancé; it was so easy to forget that when she was with him. They were both leaving the next day, she’d probably never see him again.
“So, Willow,” Cooper’s amused voice penetrated her thoughts. “Have you told Hunter how you feel about him?”
Quickly she looked up at her brother. He was smiling innocently. “We’re engaged.”
“Are you, though?”
“Don’t do that,” she scolded softly. “You’re not supposed to be able to read human beings.”
“Well, yeah, but what you’re feeling is so loud and fierce and glowing, it’s impossible to ignore.”
For a while they danced in silence.
“I’m leaving tomorrow. It’s too complicated.”
“Even if I couldn’t read you, dear sis, I’d have known you are lying.
You’ve never been good at that. For what it’s worth—life is short as we’ve experienced in this family.
When you get a chance at love, you grab it and hold on to it with both hands.
As you know, I have also been scared to love anyone else besides our crazy family.
I didn’t think I could handle it. But here’s the thing, Willow.
Whether you’re with the person you love or not, you’re going to feel their pain. ”
“Well, I can’t read Hunter. I don’t have that problem.”
“Can’t or won’t?” he asked gently.
“What do you mean?” she asked crossly. Seriously, she didn’t need this right now.
Cooper shook his head. “You can read anyone if you put your mind to it. It seems though, you have successfully blocked everything coming from Hunter. The question, of course, is why? Are you simply afraid of the load of one more person’s feelings, or do you still think you’re the one who was responsible for what happened to Walker and don’t deserve a chance at love? ”
Taken aback, she glared at him. “Psychoanalyzing me now, are you?”
“Nope, just saying what you’re telling me without words.”
“I’m not … I don’t know where you get the idea, it’s not …” Staring at her brother, she swallowed her words. It hadn’t been consciously, but had she somehow blocked out experiencing Hunter’s feelings? Was Cooper right and did she, like her brothers had, feel she didn’t deserve love?
Frantically, she looked around. Where was Hunter? She didn’t want to hear what her bother had to say.
Cooper cleared his throat. He clearly wasn’t done yet, it seemed. “I know it’s what you’re doing because it’s exactly what I do around people. Handling other people’s emotions and pain does get to be too much, I agree with you, that’s why I focus on animals.”
“For someone who seldom talks, you suddenly have a lot to say. Why are you going on about it now?”
“Because you’re about to make a decision that could change the course of your life forever.
I want you to know you deserve happiness as much as we all do.
Remember what you told me not so long ago?
Go and talk to Walker, he’ll tell you what happened that night, was an accident. It wasn’t your fault.”
Thousands of thoughts and feeling swirled through her until finally, the dots connected.
“I could’ve prevented his accident,” she whispered, as realization dawned that Cooper was right.
He’d seen something she hadn’t even been aware of—she was still feeling guilty about their brother’s death and because of that, she’d done her best to steer clear of any kind of relationship. Until Hunter.
All this time, she’d reckoned she’d made peace with what had happened a long time ago.
It would seem, though, the reason why she tried to persuade them they weren’t guilty was because she still believed that she was responsible.
“If I wasn’t so busy thinking about a cowboy whose name I don’t even remember anymore, I might have known about the elk crossing the road,” she muttered.
“Even you can’t know everything, Willow,” Cooper said. “Talk to Walker. Trust me, you won’t be sorry.”
The dance ended and Cooper walked her back to the table. Hunter was already there, chatting with Ellie, who was on his other side. As they neared the table, he looked up.
She was so scared, petrified, really, of what she’d be able to read in his eyes, that she smiled, hoping to hide her confusion.
Cooper was right. She didn’t want to know what Hunter was feeling. Whether he had any feelings for her or not, leaving him was going to be hard. Not knowing was probably the coward’s way out, but she wasn’t brave enough for the alternative.