Page 83 of Moonlight Feels Right
"I'm happy to help." She felt a yearning for so much more than the conversation they were having. She wanted to really talk to him. She wanted to kiss him and touch him and do all the things that were out of the friend zone. She never should have put them there. But since she had, she needed to get out of this apartment. "I should go. I have things to do."
"Can we get together later, Em?"
She hesitated, tempted by the gleam in his eyes. "I want to, but I can't."
Disappointment shadowed his gaze. "Are you sure?"
"You have a lot going on this week, Hunter. You should focus on that."
"And when the week is over?" he asked.
"We'll see." She gave him a helpless smile.
"That's not a good enough answer, Em."
"It's all you're getting today."
"Okay, but I'm going to keep asking."
"My answer won't change," she said, hoping that was true, because Hunter was very hard to say no to.
He smiled and repeated what she'd just said, "We'll see."
Hunter couldn't stop thinking about Emmalyn as he took Bree and Olivia to a popular pizza place on the boardwalk that night. Em had put the brakes on their relationship, and he understood why, but he didn't like it. Unfortunately, he had to accept it for now. This week would provide answers that they both needed, so maybe it was best to take a little break.
After ordering, Bree allowed Olivia to put on headphones and watch a show on her phone while they waited for their pizza.
"Your apartment looks good," he said. "Maybe not totally your style…"
"It's fine," she said with a shrug. "I actually like that it doesn't remind me of my home with Gary. It makes it easier to start over."
"You've had to do that a lot, and I'm not talking about just this last terrible year," he commented, knowing that Gary, Bree, and Olivia had moved several times even before Gary's death. That was the life of a military family. It had always been much easier for him to move because he never had to leave anyone behind.
That freedom had allowed him to give all his attention to his career. But in retrospect, it had also been lonely. Not that he'd ever yearned for what Gary had. He'd grown up in an unhappy military family, and he couldn't see himself doing that again. But he was starting to realize how much he had limited his life by that choice.
"I have had to start over a lot," Bree said. "But I never minded when Gary was with me. It's different now. I've been so angry since he died, but my therapist helped me see how much that anger was hurting me and my daughter. The last thing I want to do is hurt Olivia."
"You're a good mother, Bree."
"How can you say that after I disappeared?"
"You needed help, and you asked for it."
"I didn't really give you a chance to say no."
"True," he conceded. "But it worked out for both of us, so let's just keep moving forward."
"Emmalyn mentioned that you think you'll be stationed elsewhere when you're cleared for duty."
"It's an unknown, but it's likely. My team has a new leader now. I'm sure I'll be assigned where they need me to go."
"You have to do what you have to do."
"Exactly. I'm still glad you moved into Ocean Shores. I think you'll like it there."
"I already do. The friendship, the kindness, the support—it's amazing. Brad offered me a job at Maverick's, and Liam offered me work at his store."
"Really? That's great."
