Page 115 of The Mating Game
Disappointment floods me, and I know it’s only because I’m not sure what comes after this. I want to ask him, to talk to him about what all this might mean, but I can’t bring myself to. I’m too worried about what he would say, worried that it wouldn’t be what I want to hear.
“I still need you,” I tell him quietly, not feeling that demanding urge to have him but wanting him all the same.
He makes a low sound deep in his chest as he pulls me tighter against him. “I’m not going anywhere.”
And as he rolls me onto my back, covering me with his larger-than-life body, I can’t help but hope he means that.
After more thanthree days without power, the afternoon brings more small projects and more makeshift sponge baths that have me starting to really miss the shower upstairs. I mean, yes, having Hunter’s help has been a major point in the whole roughing-it scene, but still. A girl needs hot running water.
Not that he seems to mind in the slightest.
I’ve been lounging at the dining room table while he rehangs the curtains we took outside to beat the dust out of an hour ago, admittedly enjoying the way he tends to roll up his sleeves when he works regardless of the temperature. (I think that could be its own genre of porn, just saying.) My body is still sore and drained from everything we’ve done, and Hunter insisted on letting me rest for a while, as much as I protested.
“So Nate will be here tomorrow,” I point out, making conversation. “Are you nervous?”
“Well, the future of the lodge is sort of hinging on this one guy and him not finding the place ‘dingy’ when he first sees it”—helooks back at me over his shoulder, but there’s a teasing smile at his mouth—“so why would I be nervous?”
“It’s going to be fine,” I assure him. “This place looks like a whole new lodge even after a few weeks. Imagine what it will look like when we finish everything after the interview is over.”
“What sort of things is he going to ask me, you think?”
“It’s a short piece,” I promise. “Just a little bit about you and the lodge and prime times to visit. Nothing major.”
He nods his head as he breathes deep in relief. “I can handle that.”
“Don’t worry,” I soothe. “He’s going to love this place. You don’t see rustic little places like this where I’m from. It’s practically alien.”
He leans back to fiddle with the curtains, opening them slightly until he’s content with their placement on the rod. “Jeannie is going to be so smug about this.”
“Ireallyhope I’m around for that conversation.”
Hunter makes an indignant sound. “I’ll bet.” He steps down from the stepladder to assess his work. “Does that look straight?”
“Well, considering you obsessed over that level for at least fifteen minutes…”
He shoots me a disgruntled look as he steps around the table to my side, still looking at the curtains. “I just want to make sure it looks right.”
“Youarenervous.” I turn toward him on the bench, leaning on one elbow to prop my cheek against my fist. “That’s so cute.”
He cocks an eyebrow at me. “Cute?”
“Even big, scary lumberjacks can be cute,” I tell him seriously.
“I can definitively say you’re the only person on the planet who has ever called me ‘cute,’ ” he snorts.
“Really? Not even during your streaking days? I bet someone thought you wereverycute when you went out there butt na—”
It takes him no time at all to cross the minimal distance to tower over me, his hands coming to rest on either side of my body as they brace against the table behind me and effectively trap me below him where I sit. He leans down to press his lips firmly to mine, and my lashes flutter.
I’m a little short of breath when he pulls away, his mouth only inches from mine. “Did you just shut me up by kissing me?”
“It worked,” he murmurs.
“That’s not very nice of you, Mr.Barrett.”
He makes some sound in his chest, one that makes me press my legs together. “Ireallydon’t think that should do what it does to me.”
“Oh?” My hands come to rest on either side of his denim-clad hips, my fingers hooking in the loops as I pull him a little closer. “So does that mean you want me to stop, Mr.Barrett?”
