Page 75 of Something Borrowed, Something You

I waited until they opened again to finish my description. “And she’s a natural redhead, in case you’d forgotten. Lucky me, I got to verify that firsthand.”

I started to walk around Hunter, but he grabbed my arm. “Natalia.”

Stopping, I answered like a sullen child. “What?”

I’d been speaking to his chest, and he kept quiet until I looked up into his eyes. His tone was firm, yet calm. “Let’s talk about this. You can decide to go after, or you can stay, but either way, please hear me out.”

I was weary, and he read it on my face.

“Please,” he pressed.

Our lives were intertwined through mutual friends. It only made sense that things end on a better note than my storming out. I nodded, and the look of relief on his face made me realize he was a lot better at controlling his temper than I was.

Almost as if he was afraid I might change my mind, he pushed the button to call the elevator, slipped the handle of my roller bag from my hand, and put his other hand at the small of my back to usher me inside the car.

You could’ve heard a pin drop on the ride up. Yet even being pissed off and hurt, I found sharing a small space with Hunter had an insane effect on my body. He was just so right there. He filled a room with his intoxicating smell and the way he planted his feet wide in that masculine, alpha-male way.

I was relieved when we arrived at his floor. I needed air that wasn’t shared with this man to keep my head on straight. Our silence continued as we walked down the hall. Still feeling off-kilter, I didn’t even realize we’d passed the door to his apartment until he was knocking on another door.

“Why are you knocking?”

Before he could respond, the stunning redhead swung open the door. Her eyes lit up to find Hunter on the other side, until she caught the look on his face and me standing next to him.

“Brooke.” He nodded.

She looked between the two of us. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“When was the last time we saw each other?” Hunter asked, again in that calm but firm tone.

“A year ago, maybe?”

“How about the last time we talked?”

She shrugged. “A few emails on the Cooper project, but I don’t think we’ve spoken in a year, either.”

Hunter nodded. “Thank you. I’m sorry to bother you.”

His hand still at my back, he guided me to the next door. His hold only briefly loosened so he could unlock it, and then he was ushering me inside. Setting my luggage down, he turned to face me, brushing the hair from my eyes.

“What happened?”

“I was in the bathroom, and I heard the door open, so I thought it was you. When I came out, she was standing in the living room and had just let her coat drop to the floor. She was completely naked.”

He nodded and seemed to contemplate that information for a minute before speaking again. “If I’d been waiting for you and some dude let himself in and I walked out and was greeted by his cock, I’m pretty sure I’d be pissed off. Pretty sure he’d also have gotten a black eye before I stormed the fuck out.”

Ten minutes ago, I couldn’t have imagined he could say anything to make me feel better. But somehow, him putting himself in my place alleviated a lot of the anger. I was still hurt, but he’d cooled my fire.

“Did she have to have such an amazing body and be such a knockout?”

“She doesn’t hold a candle to you. Not by a mile.”

Either he had poor vision or he was a good liar, because he sounded pretty damn sincere.

Reaching out, he took one of my hands in his. “It was once after a holiday party a long time ago. I didn’t even know she was in town and wouldn’t have cared if I had.”

I nodded.

He pulled me to him, and I didn’t fight it when he wrapped his arms around me for a long, tight embrace. Somewhere along the line, I lost the rest of my fight, and I hugged him back.

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