Page 57 of Cruel Expectations

She thought better of it. Until she got to the bottom of it all, she would keep it to herself.

Suddenly, her jaw dropped as what this danger meant struck. She turned her head to look at him. Everything was beginning to add up. All the times Hunter took charge, he wasn’t just being controlling.

“Say what’s on your mind. I can see something’s gnawing at you.”

She pushed up the brim of his hat that was a little too big for her head. “That night you dragged me out of Badlands.”

His throat worked on a swallow. “What about it?”

“You were protecting me. But it wasn’t for me or Forest either, was it? Colton told you to watch over me.”

He issued a long sigh. “Neither of us think you or Meadow should be left alone.”

“That’s why you’re in this truck right now!”

“Maybe I just want to stare at your legs in that short skirt.”

Her jaw snapped shut. A thrill of pleasure worked through her. “Well, make sure you get a nice long look. It might be your last.”

His lips quirked at both corners. “I intend to. And I doubt it.”

She shot him a sidelong look. “You can put your hand on them too.”

Now his brow cocked upward. “Oh yeah? Like this?” He reached over the console and settled his long fingers across her bare thigh. A knot of want tightened in her pussy, as if he’d done much more than touch her leg.

She wasn’t even sure if she liked the hardened military man yet.

But she was crazy about him. Her lover. Her only link to anything resembling normalcy on the Gracey Ranch. Without him, who would she have to argue with?

To kiss.

Their gazes locked for several heartbeats.

“We’ll never get to town if you don’t stop distracting me.”

“This would be distracting you.” He slipped his hand up her inner thigh, edging toward the hem of her skirt.

When she wiggled in her seat, he issued a laugh, a sound she couldn’t recall ever hearing before.

The deep sound worked through her like thunder rolled across the mountain, echoing on and on all the way to town.

* * * * *

Ivy pushed the shopping cart ahead of Hunter. The methodical way she filled the cart with food surprised him. He expected her to toss in anything that caught her eye, but soon he realized she was planning out meals for the week.

The guys in the bunkhouse took turns cooking. Typically, it consisted of a chunk of meat prepared on the grill and whatever side dish could be whipped up in a pot on the stove. Not that he minded. After military rations, and then the hospital fare, his love for food had diminished.

When Ivy placed thick cuts of steak in the basket, his stomach growled. “I hope one [MOU3]of those is for me.”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course it’s for you, Colton and Meadow. I don’t eat beef. I had a pet calf named Petunia. Enough said. Annnnd you can stop grinning.”

After the shopping trip was complete and they stashed everything in the back of the truck, Ivy climbed behind the wheel again. Hunter spotted a man at the cart corral staring at her.

From where Hunter stood, the man couldn’t see him. He watched the guy for a long minute, but he didn’t seem to be moving to get in his vehicle.

Hunter rounded the rear of the truck, placing himself in broad view. “Do you have a problem?”

The man’s eyes widened. He glanced at Ivy, who was oblivious, and then shook his head. When he spun around to stride across the parking lot, Hunter glared at him the entire way.

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