Page 39 of Something Borrowed, Something You

Izzy’s face lit up. “Okay.”

By the time we paid the check, which Coach Delucia refused to let me do, I was already going to be late (again) for my date.

Izzy began texting away on her phone the minute we walked out onto the street.

I turned to Hunter. “I guess I’ll see you Saturday then?”

“I’ll pick you up. We can drive together.”

I said yes only because I didn’t like to drive over bridges. Sure you did.

“Izzy, say good night and thank Hunter.”

She looked up from her texting for two seconds and gave him a genuine smile. “Thank you and good night, Hunter.”

“You’re welcome.”

Izzy immediately returned her attention to her cell.

“Good night, Natalia.”

I’d given up on correcting him and telling him I preferred to be called Nat. But why did the way he said my name have to sound so damn decadent?

I cleared my throat. “Good night, Hunter.”

He gripped my hip and leaned in to kiss me on the cheek. His head lingered close to my ear. “Don’t sleep with your date to try to get me out of your head. It won’t work anyway.”

Chapter 13

— Natalia —

“I’m sorry. What did you say?” God, I wanted to punch Hunter. This was completely his fault.

Marcus furrowed his brow. It was just the two of us at a quiet table in the back of a nice restaurant, an expensive restaurant at that. Yet I still wasn’t able to maintain my focus.

“I asked if you wanted to go to an art gallery opening on Sunday afternoon.”

“Oh. Sorry. It was a long day at work today, and I have a new patient on my mind,” I lied. “Um… sure. That sounds nice.”

Sadly, I really didn’t want to go to an art gallery opening on Sunday. I said yes because I needed to have something blocking the path for Hunter. Marcus was that obstacle.

No matter how nice a guy he was and how much I wanted to be attracted to Marcus, it wasn’t there. Being with Hunter an hour ago was a not-so-subtle reminder of what attraction felt like. You can’t force chemistry to exist any more than you can deny that it’s present. Then again, chemistry wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Chemistry is what brought people together. It wasn’t what kept them together. Trust, respect, and compatibility were the glue that kept a couple together. I had all the chemistry in the world with my ex-husband, but none of the glue that mattered most in the end.

Marcus reached across the table and took my hand. “Don’t sound so excited about it,” he joked.

“I’m sorry. I’m just having an off day. It’s not you. Really. It’s not. The new patient I mentioned is only sixteen and has a lot of compulsions as the result of a family trauma. She’s the same age as my stepdaughter and it has me thinking a lot.”

“I’m sorry. That’s hard.” He laced our fingers together. “How was Izzy’s game?”

The fact that he’d remembered her name made me feel worse for lying about the reason for my distraction. “They won in overtime.”

“It was nice of the coach to give her feedback after. He must be dedicated.” I’d mentioned that I was going to be late because Izzy was getting some coaching tips.

“Oh, it wasn’t her coach. It was Hunter—he’s a friend of a friend.”

“The guy from California?”

My brows drew down. “Yes. He’s here for a while on business. How did you know he was from California?”

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