Page 32 of Five Alarm Love
“How do you figure that?”Hunter’s eyes narrowed as his face turned red.He had shifted so that her back was pressed to the wall.No one else could see his clouded expression.
Her breath caught as he loomed over her.
After a few deep breaths, he seemed to calm down.
She couldn’t get past the part where Hunter had stood by Ryan’s side while Ryan had loudly shared secrets about her relationship to anyone in town.Slandered her.Controlled the public message of their breakup.Hunter had participated.
Hunter apparently hadn’t felt like that was a big enough deal to step away from his friend.Not until after the damage had been done.
She gritted her teeth.Avoid the conflict.Get out.Get home.
“Um, yeah.I had a nice time,” she managed to say.Anything to end the conversation and leave.“Well, I need to head on out.”She took a step to the side.
He planted his hand on the wall next to her shoulder.“I’d love to try for lunch again.To catch up more asfamily.”
The word twisted strangely in his mouth.Like he was sayingfamily,but with strings attached.Like he was trying too hard for… what?Did his angle have to do with wanting to work with the mining project?Maybe he needed to get in Dad’s good graces and thought he could do so by being her buddy.Or he wanted to use the family ties to get an insider track on the committee.
“If that’s okay with you,” he added.
A few lingering people glanced over.Lou unclenched her jaw.She hated the attention.She didn’t want to hang out with Hunter.He was a decent person and a relative.But those memories of past privacy violations buffeted her.
What if the issue was Lou and her own trust issues?
Oh.
Rocking back on her feet, her head lightly bumped the wall behind her.She didn’t feel safe with men.
Most men.Ryan.
Him.
Hunter.
But not all men.She felt safe around one particular guy.
Oh.A fleeing tightening in her chest came and went.
So that meant… what, exactly?
Nope.Lou mentally shook her head.
She wasn’t prepared to evaluate her feelings.There was nothing to evaluate.Not before she had processed her genetic information and made some personal decisions about her future.Decisions she was putting off, because in her magical-thinking brain, if she didn’t acknowledge the issue, maybe it wasn’t real.Not yet, at least.
Lou swallowed.
“What do you say?”
“Um.Not sure about my schedule.What with starting the paramedic program, I’m studying more,” she hedged.Really, Lou wanted to keep her plans and her life to herself.
His smile wavered.“We can catch up at the Salmon Festival this Friday.”
“Might have work.”
“I’ll talk to Mav about changing your schedule.”
Lou stared at him.“No!That’s not right.”
Hunter patted her arm.“Sorry I mentioned anything.I was just looking forward to hanging out with you again.”His voice was too loud for her comfort.The few remaining meeting attendees looked up.
