Page 60 of Bargain with the Bachelor
Sliding my arms around his lean waist, I pressed a kiss to the center of his back, seeking to comfort him.
Hunter went rigid. Then his body relaxed, and he turned around, meeting my questioning gaze. Wow, did he look tired.
“Are you okay?” I asked softly.
He nodded. “Yeah. Just a little beat. I didn’t sleep well. Crashed at my brother’s place, but we stayed up pretty late.”
“What were you doing?”
Again, Hunter’s posture stiffened. “Just had some things to discuss. Everything’s fine.”
Okay then.
He obviously didn’t want to talk about it. “All right. Listen, if you want to postpone our date tonight, I totally understand.”
His arms around me tightened. “No. I’ve waited decades for this. I’ll be fine. I just need to catch up on some work first. How’s four o’clock for you? An hour before sunset?”
It sounded a little early for dinner, but I smiled. “Sounds perfect. That’ll give me just enough time to shower after work and get ready.”
“Great. Can’t wait.”
In spite of his enthusiastic words, Hunter didn’t sound or look excited about the evening to come.
Something was wrong—I felt it. I wanted desperately to help him the way he’d helped me so many times recently. I just didn’t know how.
He released his grip on me, as if to move away, but I wasn’t quite finished with him. Pulling him closer, I rose to my tiptoes and kissed him.
At first he didn’t respond, remaining passive and simply allowing the intimate contact. But then some sort of switch was flipped.
Hunter tightened his hold on me, nearly crushing me, and he kissed me back with all the passion and intensity I could ever hope for, plus some.
He was so big, so powerful, but I felt the trembling in his body and hands.
What had happened last night? Why did his kiss, as pleasurable as it was, feel tinged with desperation?
Loud laughter from the other room seemed to awaken Hunter from a spell, and he broke the kiss. “I should… let you go. Don’t want to make you late for work.”
“Hap’s giving me a ride on his way into town, but you’re right. I should get going.” I studied his tired eyes. “Hey… if there’s anything I can do to help… I hope you know you can tell me anything.”
For a moment Hunter froze, the connection between our eyes so intense it was almost ferocious.
Then his flickered away. “Everything’s fine,” he repeated. “Have a good day at work. I’ll see you later this afternoon.”
I worried about him all day, but at four o’clock, he knocked on the door of my room, and I opened it to see a bright smile that stole my breath.
The rest of him wasn’t too shabby either. He’d told me in a text to dress casually for the outing, and he’d done the same, wearing a nice pair of jeans with a light blue cashmere sweater and deck shoes.
Eyeing my outfit, a red sweater paired with off-white corduroys and boots, he said, “You look amazing,” and leaned in to kiss my cheek, adding, “And you smell great. Ready? Bring your coat. Oh, and you might want to grab your camera—itisthe golden hour, you know.”
“You remembered.”
Feeling like I’d just swallowed a lump of sunshine, I went back for my camera bag and coat. We left the house with Hunter giving vague and evasive answers to the other guys’ questions about where we were going.
“Kristal needs to grab some more shots,” he said to Paul before shutting the door and escorting me to his Bentley.
When he got in behind the wheel, I turned to him. “I’m guessing you haven’t told them yet?”
He shook his head. “No time today. Maybe I’ll talk to them tomorrow. So… you hungry?”
