Page 18 of Capitally Unexpected

Michelle

Awesome.

Michelle

Call you tomorrow.

Chapter

Eight

Michelle

Still ten weeks pregnant

Istand outside Code Red, a few blocks from my apartment. My lip won’t have any skin left on it by the time Hunter gets here. Not that he’s late. No, I’m ten minutes early, in case I caught traffic. You know, on the sidewalks.

Something pulls me to look to the left, and I spot Hunter walking up the street toward me. He’s focused on the sidewalk in front of him and doesn’t see me yet, so I enjoy the chance to take him in. His head bobs slightly, so I assume he’s listening to music. He’s wearing jeans that fit tight across his thighs. I make a mental note to check out his butt later. His tattoos are covered by a blazer, but the button-down shirt underneath boasts a colorful floral pattern that should make him look like he’s headed for a Jimmy Buffet concert. Instead, it suits him. Hunter. The father of my child.

I’m back to chewing on my lip and look down at my midi sundress and wedge sandals. It’s the same jade color as the lacebodysuit I wore that night. He seemed to like it then, and I figure it can’t hurt anything now.

Suddenly a hand is on my face. I should startle, but his cedar scent is familiar right away. He pulls down on my chin to remove my lip from my mouth.

“I want to do that.”

I burst out laughing. “Quoting Christian Grey? Is that how you think this evening is going to go?”

His grin could light up a mineshaft as he drops his hand. “I figured corny pick up lines are our thing. Inspiration struck.” He looks me up and down. “You look beautiful.”

My skin heats, and I once again curse my red hair and fair skin.

“Shall we?” he says, pointing at the door.

“Sounds great. I’m starving.” I walk in through the door he holds for me. He gives his name at the hostess stand, and after a moment, she leads us to a booth in the back. She promises a waitress will be by with waters soon and leaves us to get settled.

“So, while I walked up from the Metro, I recognized a few things. Your apartment is close to here, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” I say. “I wondered if that was part of the appeal to this place.”

“No, I didn’t realize. I’m glad you didn’t have to go far, but I don’t want you to think I picked it being presumptuous or anything. I didn’t compare it to your address. The vibe seemed cool, and the red made me think of you. Plus, there’s a prohibition vibe to this place too. Hayden says the cocktails are amazing. Once he stopped giving me a hard time about skipping poker night.”

“You’re skipping poker night? You didn’t need to do that.”

“Red, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

Five minutes into the evening and I’m positive my cheeks will be sore from smiling more than I have in the past month. I stop looking at the food to look at their drinks menu. I scan for mocktails and am relieved to see a variety of options. Maybe Ican order one and slip under the radar it doesn’t have any alcohol in it.

The waitress comes by to take our orders. I open my eyes a little wider when I say my drink’s name and, being a girl’s girl, she gets the hint and doesn’t confirm if I know it’s spirit free. I see Hunter scanning the menu for my drink after he says his order, so go in for a distraction.

“So,50 Shades of Grey, huh?”

“What’s your question?” he asks, leaning forward on the table. He took his jacket off when we sat down and revealed a set of rolled-up sleeves my eyes keep being drawn to.

“My question is . . . you’ve read them?”

He traces my gaze to his forearms and flexes them a bit. How does he ...

“My stepmother is a big romance reader. I moved with my dad to her town after I graduated from high school. Only me and my youngest brother, Spencer, lived there full-time. He had school as an avenue to make friends. I didn’t really try to make any connections there. I got one random job after another and spent a lot of time at home. It turns out there is only so much internet you can surf, so I started sneaking books off her bookshelf. Though, turns out, I’m not as sneaky as I thought. She started to leave ones she thought I’d like sitting at the front of the shelves.”

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