Page 102 of Playing A Risk
My brows crease. “You don’t trust me now?”
His eyes roam over my face. He pushes off the floor and rubs the back of his neck. “I want to.”
I rise to my feet and move to catch his gaze. “But you don’t.”
“You still love him. As much as that pains me to say, you do. We’ve been here before and I almost lost you. I’m struggling to believe that won’t happen again. It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just that I don’t know if you love him more.”
Confusion fills my mind. I love Hunter. Working so hard on himself is the kindest thing any man has done for me. He’s doing everything—risking everything—because he loves me. That’s the kind of love I deserve.
But I can’t go on like I did before and pretend I don’t care about Jami. It’s unfair to Hunter for me to hide that now.
“Hunter, I love you. I told you that in Paris. I meant it then and I mean it now. Yes, I have feelings for him, but there’s something you need to understand. You’ve told me everything you did to sabotage him and me. You owned up to it and promised me you wouldn’t do it again.”
“Yeah, and what if one day you resent me for doing it in the first place?”
“From what I can see, you’re working every second to be a better person. That means the world to me. And I’ll work with my therapist to make sure I’m not repeating my past mistakes while keeping you informed about my progress.”
I rush to Hunter and take him by the arms. “I’ll share with you like you have with me, even when it’s hard. So get this through your head. I’m not walking away from you this time.”
His hesitant eyes look down at me. “Are you sure of that?”
“Yes.”
Relief washes over his face. “How are you so sure?”
“It’s different this time. A lot was happening behind the scenes that I was unaware of. Both of you were out of line with your threats, which still angers me. But I’ll work through that.” I lead him to the couch.
“Is there anything else that’s different?”
We sit on the sofa and I face him. “When Jami and I spoke, he deflected and threw things back at me. He was trying to tell me what you did to him.”
“Like?”
“He told me I knew nothing about you. When he found out you had told me everything, he still couldn’t take responsibility for anything he did.”
Hunter squeezes my hand. “I told him I planned on telling you everything. He didn’t believe me, so thank you for proving I did. Maybe he’ll take my warning and realize he could be in danger.”
Worry for Jami fills my blood. “I told him why you have security following me. He pointed out you were doing it long before now.”
Hunter’s cheeks turn red. “I’m sorry I was such a dick before. Doing that was more than intrusive. It was wrong.”
“We’ve been through this, and I let you have it for a few hours. You know I won’t tolerate that, so quit apologizing and promise to do better. And I’ve done some pretty bad things to you, so let’s move forward and build a healthier relationship. Let’s get it right this time.”
He slips his hand around the back of my neck. “You’re such a forgiving person. I promise to do better. And if I stumble, which I’m sure I will, please remember I’m doing my best. Don’t run away from me. Talk to me and help me see where I need to work harder because I don’t think I can live without you.”
My heart flutters.
“Deal.” I lean forward and seal our promise with a kiss.
He pulls away with love streaming back at me. “Come home with me and stay. We can have dinner and go to bed early. I’ll run you a bath and give you a massage. Then I’ll hold you in my arms as we drift to sleep.”
“That sounds amazing, but I have a ton of work to catch up on.” I gesture to the files thrown around my coffee table.
“One more night won’t hurt. I’m your boss, so I know. I don’t want to spend another night without you in my bed. I like having you with me.”
He smirks. “Besides, you need to do laundry and I have a washer and dryer for you to use at your leisure. And if that’s not enough, I want to remind you I’m out of town all next week. You might miss me when I’m gone.”
“You had me at doing my laundry at my leisure. I hate sitting and waiting for it. And I will miss you, so help me pack some things and decide what we’re going to eat. I’m starving.”
