Page 85 of Educating Arrogant Mr. Hunter

“Ow. Why do you think you’ve avoided them for so long?” His hand tenderly rubbed the spot where he’d pinched me, making me tingle for an entirely different reason. “I mean, you’re a pretty all-right guy. I’d think women would be lining the streets to be with you.”

“Oh wow, what a ringing endorsement,” he laughed. “I don’t know. Maybe I never wanted someone to get close enough to hurt me.”

I didn’t expect this vulnerability or self-reflection from him. I wanted him to know I’d treasure him. “I’ll make it my life’s mission never to hurt you.”

“I believe it.” His hands continued to dip lower and lower with each swipe. “I’m not crazy about the secrecy, even though I know it comes with us being together. The hardest part is not telling Zoey. She’d be thrilled with this.”

“I don’t like keeping it from her either, but that’s a lot of pressure to put on her and expect her to stay quiet about it.” A niggling sense of unease whispered at the back of my mind. How would we keep this from Zoey for the next seven months, and how would she react when we finally told her?

“We’ll figure it out,” he said, confidence ringing with each word.

He was right. Once we got through the Winter Festival and Winter break, we’d have the time to devise a plan and handle everything.

He grew quiet.

I kept my head propped on his chest and closed my eyes. His gentle hands on my body were arousing and relaxing all at the same time.

“Can I ask you something?” he asked hesitantly.

I forced my sleepy eyes to open. Beckett was confident about everything. “Anything.”

“Why did you really quit modeling?”

I stiffened.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” I loved that he gave me the choice, but his honesty deserved the same.

I didn’t answer immediately, needing a second to gather my thoughts.

He continued rubbing my back, and eventually, my muscles cooperated and relaxed.

“I started modeling when I was a baby. My mother randomly took me to a local store's photoshoot. She thought it would be a fun afternoon. Neither of us expected it to explode like it did. Soon after, a modeling agent saw the ad and approached my mother. From then on, I was in steady demand. Although, I almost quit when Mom died.” I’d been so young and couldn’t fathom doing it without her.

“I’m sorry about your mom.”

“It was a long time ago, but I miss her, and I think about the milestones in my life she can’t be a part of. She was a great mom. The best.” I’d been young, but I still had wonderful memories of our time together.

“That’s why you understood what Zoey was going through.”

I nodded and wiped at the tears dripping down my face.

He grabbed a tissue from the box on the bedside table and wiped at my eyes. “You don’t have to continue if this brings up painful memories.”

I smiled gratefully at him. “It’s okay. I want to share it with you.”

I rested my head on his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat.

“That’s when things started to shift. After she died, Dad took over as my manager. He thought if I continued modeling, it would honor Mom’s memory. He disagreed when I told him she wouldn’t have cared.”

“That’s a lot to live up to as a kid.” I hadn’t told anyone before that I hated how Dad pushed me to stay in a business that had lost its appeal.

I nodded. My cheek brushed against the light coating of hair on his chest. “A few years later, he met my stepmom. She was a big name in the industry and was booked out for years. She and my dad met and got married after only three months of dating. It wasn’t until he died when I was twelve that I realized she’d only married him for his money.”

“Oh shit, babe. I’m sorry.”

“My dad had a lot of money, which means I have a lot of money. I have a trust my parents put in place for me—it’s worth close to a billion dollars.” At least until my stepmother spent it all, but I kept that piece of information to myself. If I told him she was blackmailing me, he’d try to fix it, and I needed to figure it out myself.

“Well damn. I guess I can’t entice you to stay with me for my money.” I appreciated his sense of levity. This was hard for me to talk about, and humor was how I dealt with the pain.

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