Page 124 of Playing My Rivals

Something flashes in Hunter’s eyes and he stills himself. He takes a breath and glances at the door.

He connects his stare to mine. “Thank you for not lying to me. I can handle you being friends with him if you keep proving there’s nothing to worry about.”

“I’m sorry he texted me. It’s late and could look bad, but I’m not hiding anything from you.” I want to roll my eyes at myself because I’m hiding only the most significant thing in the world right now.

“What did dear old Jamison want at this hour?” Hunter doesn’t look at me.

Instead, he pulls his phone out of his pocket and types something that’s most likely a text. I find it weird he’s texting someone at this hour. He does it occasionally for work, but this seems too coincidental.

“I’ll tell you if you tell me who you just texted,” I suggest.

He shrugs. “I had an intense business negotiation earlier that didn’t go as well as I expected. I thought I had the upper hand, but I’m second-guessing it now.”

“Anything you want to talk about?”

His expression softens. “You’ll think I’m losing my edge if I tell you. But I will if you tell me what Jamison wanted.”

“He said he needed to have a conversation with me. I don’t know what it’s about, so please don’t ask.”

My stomach is all tied up and I don’t know if it’s because of stress or if I am pregnant. My thoughts and emotions are everywhere. I’m not sure how I’m holding this together.

“Let’s go back to the couch and talk about this.” Hunter tips his head toward the sofa.

“Thanks. It’s more comfortable and I’m really not feeling great.” I curl up into the corner and wrap myself in a blanket. “You first. What’s got you bothered about this negotiation?”

He squeezes his chin with his index finger and thumb like he’s in a board meeting. “I went in hard to get what I want. Now that it’s over and I’ve had time to think, I’m wondering if I went in too aggressively. I’m not sure it was necessary. A couple of points I made took it further than I would normally go.”

“How so?”

“I can’t talk about the specifics, but I could’ve stopped with three points and gotten what I wanted. I should’ve held back playing my entire hand and used those last three points if I really needed them.”

He glances at his phone and skims over something. “But it seems I’ve already had to prove my first point, so maybe I did the right thing.”

“What were you negotiating?”

“A contract agreement.”

“Well, you’re a fantastic businessman who knows the contracts you work on inside and out, so trust you did the right thing.” I tap him on the leg with my toe.

He glances at my foot and smiles. Then he runs his hand over my shin. “Your turn. What do you think Jamison wants?”

“I don’t know. What do you think it could be?”

My question should throw Hunter off. At least, I’m hoping it will.

“Are you sure you want me to tell you what I think it’s about?” He starts giving me a foot massage.

“Why would you ask that? Did he say something to you?”

I pray Jami didn’t say anything to Hunter about his suspicions. My heart waits to beat for Hunter’s answer.

“He did, but I didn’t get much out of him. I’ll share what he told me if it’ll put you more at ease.”

“What did he tell you?”

“Jamison said he was up for trying to make amends, but he wanted to talk to you about making sure you knew it was over with him.”

My heart drops, but not for the reason I initially thought. “Jami told you that? How did that come up?”

---