Page 47 of Bargain with the Bachelor
Or as Hap had suggested, a brother.Ugh.
Even this evening on the romantic private beach when I’d stared up at him in the sunset glow and basically begged him with my eyes to kiss me, he’d done nothing. Felt nothing.
The heated moments we’d shared at the Charity Relief Foundation Ball were clearly a faint memory for him, if he even remembered the incident at all.
I, on the other hand, was tumbling deeper and deeper every day. And when Hunter had gotten in Reid’s face and stood up for me, shielding me with his body and his words?
Oh Mama. That haddonesomething to me.
This was bad. Instead of getting less attractive on closer inspection, Hunter had only gotten better.
He was smarter, funnier, kinder, and more handsome than I’d even realized. How could a womannotfall in love with him?
In fact, I was falling for all the guys—in a fond, sisterly sort of way when it came to the others.
As an only child, I’d always longed for a sibling. Living here, I’d felt a sense of family that had been missing from my life since early childhood.
And that was also bad. Because this was only temporary. I couldn’t let myself forget that.
As much as I might want to at the moment, I couldn’t move out immediately. I wasn’t quite there yet on the necessary funds. But the time was coming, and I needed to prepare myself to see all of them less, perhaps almost never.
A jagged shard of loss scraped my heart. When I thought of the possibility of not seeing Hunter every day, the scrape deepened, becoming a gouge, stinging around the edges and aching at the center.
Idefinitelyneeded to prepare myself for that separation, because if I didn’t, the wound was likely never to heal.
Climbing into bed, I tried to relax enough to fall asleep, but my mind wouldn’t turn off. So I went with it, letting my thoughts go where they wanted.
Predictably, they turned to Hunter. Which meant my fingers went wheretheywanted to go, sliding beneath the covers toward the waistband of my panties.
No.Not helpful.
I gave myself a mental slap and folded my hands together over my stomachon top ofthe covers.
Ugh. I was never going to fall asleep this way. I needed to shift my thinking.
Instead of fantasizing about and longing for something that was obviously never going to happen and keeping my focus so pitifully trained on Hunter, I needed to start looking in other directions.
Maybe I’d finally accept one of the offers I occasionally got from restaurant customers to go out for coffee or dinner.
Yes, that was it. I needed to start dating.
My thinking must have been along the right lines because the next morning it was as if the universe manifested the perfect opportunity and seated him in my section.
Tall, and strawberry blond, the man smiled up at me with a dazzling set of teeth and eyes the color of ripe blueberries.
“Good morning,” I said. “Do you know what you want, or would you like to hear our breakfast specials?”
“I would like to hear about anything you want to tell me.” His flirtation was so straightforward and friendly it was nearly wholesome.
Laughing, I recited the chef’s latest breakfast creations, but the guy ordered something basic, scrambled eggs with wheat toast and fruit. We chatted lightly whenever I stopped by his table to check on him, and he wished me a good day when he left.
At lunchtime, I was surprised to see him back again, sitting in the same spot.
“Hello again,” I said. “Can’t get enough of the Cliffhouse’s fabulous cuisine?”
He grinned. “Or its beautiful employees.”
When I gave him a chiding glance, he said, “Seriously. Have you seen the woman at the front desk? Stunning.”
