Page 19 of Hunter

Hunter just stared at me.

“What?” I asked, my voice rising an octave. “I don’t really talk to aliens.” When he didn’t look convinced, I sighed. “Fine. Only sometimes, but they don’t talk back.”

“Holy shit.” He sighed in exasperation, dragging a hand down the length of his face. “My nephew’s mother is bat-shit crazy.”

“Hey! I’m not bat-shit crazy!” I snapped. Just normal crazy. Not that I would admit that to him.

Hunter shook his head and stubbed out his cigarette before rising from the wood-carved bench. He moved to step around me when I remembered the other reason I had come out here to talk to him.

I stepped in front of the door, my hand moving forward on instinct until it met his hard chest.

He stopped dead in his tracks and, good Lord, was he close. He towered over me, massive and consuming, as if everything orbited around him. I was surprised he didn’t have a couple of moons with his massive gravity.

I fought to keep my face still as I looked up at him, craning my neck to account for at least the foot in height between us. His square jaw almost touched his chest as he looked down, green eyes seeming to burn to life.

I opened my mouth, ready for words to come out, except nothing did. All my breath had gone, and I found my heartbeat erratic as I fought against sniffing the aftershave that was permeating my nostrils. I could feel the heat rising out of my skin, burning my cheeks. My tongue darted out across my lips before I could stop it. Who wouldn’t be drooling when the rock-hard abs under your fingers were begging to be touched?

All I could think about was what he would look like without a shirt. All women knew imaginations were a dangerous place. Especially when you had a model-ready hunk at your fingertips … literally.

My gaze drifted from his face, moving lower down. Fight as I might, I couldn’t stop them. I could admit, though, I wasn’t trying that hard.

Hunter cleared his throat. Or, at least that was what I thought it was until I looked up and found his eyes roaming down my face and neck.

The noise came again, and oh, did my panties get wet when I realized that it was a groan. A husky, hoarse groan that did wonders to my insides.

“I … um,” I breathed—no, wait, that was panting. Oh, geez, I was panting like a dog.

“Shh …” he whispered, brushing his finger against my lips. Then he changed it to his thumb as he rubbed it across my bottom lip and slid it down under my chin. I had to make sure I was still breathing as his fingers pressed under my jaw, tilting my head back so I could look into his eyes.

I could feel his breath running over my lips, causing tingles to run straight down to my toes. All I could stare at were those soft lips three tiny centimeters from mine.

I pushed onto my tiptoes to close the distance, my breath softening as his lips brushed mine …

The baby monitor crackled with noise.

I gasped, and Hunter took a quick step back when Adair began calling out for me through the device. Hunter’s eyes were still on mine as we stood there, gaping at each other.

When I found my breath to speak again, I could barely whisper, “I should go check on him.”

Hunter nodded, and against all forces of the universe telling me to walk right up to him and finish what we hadn’t even started, I turned and fled from the backyard to the safety of an upset three-year-old.

As I padded up the stairs, touching my lips, I couldn’t help wondering what on earth I had been about to do. Because one thing I had learned from life was that big, brooding men like Hunter were bad news in a delicious wrapping.

One I shouldn’t fall for.

One I had to resist.

The real question wasn’t whether I should resist or not, but whether I could.

I didn’t think I could.

Chapter Five

Hunter

Too close.

Far too close.

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