Page 6 of Baked

The threat appeared to hurl him into action. He stalked toward her, his large steps sinking into the plush pink carpet, backing her up until there was nowhere left to go and her calves met the bed.

Her head fell backward; she wanted him to get the full effect of her glare.

“Honeybun, I don’t think you get the severity of the situation. You’re in danger.”

Finally. He speaks.

She got it all right. But moving in with Hunter was just as dangerous. She would just have to take her chances.

He continued, “In order to keep you safe, I need to be with you. Which means either you move in with me ... or I move in with you.”

His eyes went to the bed behind her, a flash of heat darkening his gaze from chocolate to coal. It made her gulp.

Stupid attraction. So freaking inconvenient.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she declared, managing to keep her voice firm.

“Then I guess I’ll be moving in.” His stare was laser sharp.

“Says who!” she argued.

“I do.”

In-frigging-furiating.

This was ridiculous. She understood that he was worried about these men finding her, but moving in was a bit extreme.

A thought came to her then. “I can go stay with Libby or Cat.” Although as soon as the words left her mouth, she knew that wasn’t an option. She would never want to bring trouble to her friends’ doors. And Cat and Cody had a son, so that was a hard no.

As if reading her mind, Hunter spoke again, “That’s not going to work.”

Yeah. It wasn’t. Not that she was ready to give in just yet. Although, it was getting awfully hard to think of another excuse while he was this close to her.

Quick, think of something. Anything.

“I only have one bedroom,” she blurted.

“I’ll take the couch.”

“I get up at five. Every day. To bake.”

“No problem.”

“I’m too tired to cook when I get home most nights, so I order takeout ... a lot.”

“I love takeout.”

She huffed, well aware her breath was sinking into the dark stubble dotting along his jawline. He had a goddamn answer for everything.

With his head not moving an inch, he removed his phone from his front pocket. Losing his dark eyes for a moment, she watched him scroll through his contacts and proceed to call someone.

“Hey, man, do me a favor?” There was a pause before Hunter continued, his eyes never leaving hers. “Go to my place and pack some shit for me? A couple of changes of clothes, my toothbrush, shower stuff, that kinda thing.” Another pause. “Yeah, bring it over to Rachel’s.”

The phone call ended, and he slid his phone back into his jeans.

“Who was that?”

“Luke.”

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