Page 26 of Saving it with My Best Friend's Brother

He closed the door but kept his distance. Smart man.

“It’s not what they’re making it look like.”

“Really?” I pulled up the photo on my phone, the image that had haunted me all night. “Because it looks like you got exactly what you wanted. My trust. My...” I couldn’t finish or admit how close I’d come to giving him my heart.

“Your heart?” His voice was rough, matching his disheveled appearance. “Is that what you think this is? Some elaborate scheme to, what, break your heart?”

“I don’t know what to think anymore.” I stood, needing to move, to escape the lingering scent of his cologne. “The timing is too perfect. You show up right when we’re most vulnerable, gain my confidence, make me feel...” I stopped, swallowing hard against the threat of tears.

“Make you feel what?” He stepped closer, and I backed away, my desk a barrier between us.

“Don’t.”

“Amelia, please.” Another step, his eyes never leaving mine. “Ask me anything. I’ll tell you everything.”

“Why did they have your number? Why did the text say ‘well played’?”

He ran a hand through his already messy hair, a gesture so familiar it hurt. “Because I used to know their CEO. Jack Morrison. We went to business school together.”

“And?”

“And when your father called about Pine Haven, I reached out to Jack. Tried to negotiate.” His jaw tightened, remindingme of how he’d looked defending me at debate competitions. “I thought... I thought I could handle this quietly. Keep you out of it.”

“Keep me out of my resort’s business?” Anger flared hot in my chest, burning away the hurt. “Who gave you that right?”

“No one!” He moved suddenly, closing the distance between us. The desk no longer felt like enough of a barrier. “But you didn’t see what they did to the last person who fought them. Janet McKinley wasn’t just another resort owner, Amelia. She was my friend.”

The pain in his voice caught me off guard. The confident CEO’s facade cracked, showing something raw underneath.

“The ski accident...”

“Wasn’t an accident.” His hands came up to frame my face, and despite everything, I couldn’t pull away. His touch was achingly gentle, at odds with the intensity in his eyes. “When your father called, when I heard Crystal Ridge was involved, I had to come. I had to protect you. But then...”

“Then what?”

His thumbs brushed my cheeks, feather-light. “Then I met you. Really met you, not just as my sister’s best friend. And everything changed.”

My heart thundered in my chest. “Hunter...”

“I didn’t plan this,” he whispered. “Didn’t plan you. The way you fight for this place, for your people. You know every guest’s name and every staff member’s story. How you look in the morning light on that deck...”

His forehead touched mine, and my eyes fluttered closed. “If this is another lie...”

“Look at me.”

I opened my eyes. His were intense, almost desperate. The mask of corporate confidence was completely gone, leaving just Hunter—the boy who’d defended me at debate tournaments,remembered how I took my coffee and looked at me now like I was everything.

“I have never lied about how I feel about you.”

The sincerity in his voice undid me. Or maybe it was exhaustion, or the way his hands felt against my skin, or how desperately I wanted to believe him. Whatever the reason, when he leaned down, I met him halfway.

The first brush of his lips against mine was gentle, questioning. Then I made a small sound in my throat, and something in him broke. He pulled me closer, one hand tangling in my hair as the kiss deepened. I clutched his shirt, feeling his heart racing under my fingers, matching mine beat for beat.

It was nothing like I’d imagined, and I had imagined it so many times, especially since that night in the lounge. This was better—real and raw and a little desperate. His lips were soft but demanding, and he tasted like coffee and something uniquely Hunter that made my head spin.

When we finally broke apart, both breathing hard, he kept me close, pressing soft kisses to my forehead, my cheeks, the corner of my mouth, like he couldn’t bear to stop touching me.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured against my skin. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you everything sooner. But Amelia, you have to believe me. I’m here for you. Only you.”

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