Page 54 of When I Fall In Love

He stalks towards me and before I know it, he’s leaning over me, tickling me right in the spots that get me hysterical every time. “Vietnamese or Chinese?”

“Chinese!” My toes curl and my breath hitches as I giggle out of control. “Chinese! Oh God, Chinese I beg!”

Hunter backs off with a nod and smirk. “Good. Glad we got that decided.” A sweet kiss on the tip of my nose, a longer one on my lips, then he reaches for his discarded sweater from earlier and I sit up, out of breath. He tugs the sweater over my head and I guide my arms into the sleeves. When my face pops out, he grins and now there’s a sparkle in his eyes too as he smooths my hair down. “You’re beautiful when you laugh, Bee. Hearing it again… It’s the best thing ever.”

My heart’s still going to break before the year is out, isn’t it? Before October is done. Right before Halloween. In mere days.

He guides me to stand, and when I do, his sweater falls to fit perfectly over my butt. It smells of him and it’s as if I’m ensconced in a permanent Hunter hug. If only there were two of him like I joked last night, but there can only ever be one Hunter Logan. This one in front of me. I haven’t scratched the surface of this man yet. And with the current fixed departure date, I won’t. It’s not something I can get my head around right now. All I want is to be in the moment.

“You need some cozy socks with that look.”

“I do?”

“Totally.” He walks over to his closet and digs for a minute. He returns with a pair of soft sleeping socks that have never been used. They’re a Christmassy bright red and green and say Santa’s Sexy Beast on the side, with eggplants and pickles all over them.

I snicker. “Who gave you these?”

“Ethan, of course. For Christmas ages ago. Knew I kept them for someone.” Hunter smiles as he goes down to slip them on my feet. “Red or white?” As he stands, he knits our fingers together and leads me down to the lounge.

“Wine?”

“Or a beer? I don’t know your drink of choice.”

So many things we don’t know about our adult selves. “I’m not a big drinker. Last night went against the grain, to be honest.”

“Water then? Still or sparkling?”

I’m starting to feel like a party pooper. “Sparkling.”

“Excellent choice.” Hunter pulls two Perriers from his fridge and pours one into a tall glass. He reaches for his phone as he hands me the glass and scrolls through some messages. My own phone is still in the cottage next door, and for now it’s the last thing on my mind.

He sighs and shakes his head and taps his finger at the screen. “What Chinese do you like?” He hands the phone to me with the local restaurant’s menu open on the screen, then heads to the fireplace to make a fire.

As I try to read the numbered choices, messages keep popping up. With the phone on silent, Hunter is unaware that Derek is still sending him messages. Company data. Attachments. Numbers. I only get to see the top few lines, but in one message, Derek mentions an eye-popping number for something to do with organic feed that they could buy in.

The situation with Collingwood Farm is like an unwelcome stench from a septic tank that wafts up at the least opportune moment to remind me why I am here and what I’m about to do. I close my eyes for a second, then take a slow, controlled breath. Hunter might be unaware, but I can’t keep on being privy to this information.

“Derek is still at work and sending you things,” I say as I walk up to him. “You choose dinner. Spring rolls and shrimp chips are a must for me.” I hand him his phone, feeling as if I’ve intruded where I had zero business.

Except this business is all about my business. Just catching a few keywords in those messages told me this was all about plan E. When every other scenario has failed.

“Thanks, chicken chow mein is my favorite. I’ll add something else.” He’s on his haunches in front of the fireplace as he takes the phone and places it on the coffee table, then smooths his hand down my leg in a tender caress.

I need to leave, but I’m cemented to the spot, to him, to his touch as his fingers circle around my ankle… to this afternoon and the love we made. The love we still have for each other. The love that even now, after everything that happened this afternoon, still seems just as out of reach and impossible as it did weeks ago before he walked back into my life.

27

HUNTER

If I want to have this weekend with her and be fully in this moment, I’ll have to switch off my phone. I let go of her to reach for the fire starter and once I have a good blaze going, I get up and palm my phone so I can order our meal. “Seems they will deliver here for an extra cost.”

Once I’ve placed the order, I look up. Beth’s still frozen in the same spot, like a deer in the headlights, ready to bolt next door. We’re on a knife’s edge right now, what with the rest of the world always interfering with us.

On a platter. Raiden’s words keep ringing through my head. On a platter, but without an audience, without the outside world looking in. That’s the only way I want it now. Without thinking further, I switch my phone off. The screen goes black. I toss it to the sofa and head over to my music cupboard. Behind closed doors, I have an LP player and a collection of vinyl records.

“What’s this?” Beth asks as she steps closer.

“Just something I got into.” I watch as she walks her fingers through the records, wondering what she’ll pick for us to listen too. “I rather like going back to older things, slower things, if you know what I mean.”

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