Page 22 of Hot Holiday Fling

Hunt winced, obviously disappointed. He cursed again, his shoulders slumping. After a minute he looked at Adie. “Okay then, we’ll do it your way. Ready to run disqualified?”

Adie, knowing she’d regret this later, shook her head. “Nope.”

It was impossible to miss the disappointment in Hunt’s eyes. “You want to give up?”

Adie shook her head. “Nope, we’re going back, both of us, together. I’m going to bitch and whine but if it means finishing the race properly, then that’s what we do.”

The tender expression in Hunt’s eyes nearly dropped her to her knees. “You’ve already run four miles, Adie, and the temperature is dropping. We don’t have to do this. By the time we’re done, we would’ve run nearly ten miles.”

Dear God, no. They could run disqualified, Adie thought. It was a stupid mistake, people made mistakes, even brilliant, driven CEOs. Or their personal concierges. People would understand.

But instead of begging him to carry on, a different sentence came out of her mouth.

“Would you be going back if you were on your own?” Adie asked him, her tone challenging.

Hunt slowly nodded. “Yeah, I would.”

Dammit, she’d known that was exactly what he’d say. Adie stamped her feet and blew on her hands. “Well then, the quicker we turn around, the quicker we’ll get to the finish line. Last, I’m sure, but we’ll do it properly.” She smiled at Hunt. “There had better be hot chocolate at the end, Sheridan or I won’t be happy.”

Hunt dropped a quick openmouthed kiss on her lips. “I’m sure there will be. But if you want something special, I’ll call ahead and arrange that. Wasabi or bacon and chili?”

“Plain is fine, but there had better be a vat of it.”

Hunt gave her a quick hug and Adie soaked up his warmth. Taking his hand, they broke into a slow jog and headed back in the direction they came.

Oh, she was so going to regret this in the morning. Or in fifteen minutes.

Five

Hunt, standing within a group including the Monarchs’ manager and captain, looked across the art deco music hall. With the arrival of the celebrities and sports stars and their significant others, the hall was filled to capacity. A DJ shared the stage with a huge Christmas tree and the dance floor was crowded.

The buffet-style food had been demolished and the bartenders were hopping. It had been a long day, one that would be talked about for a long time to come and Hunt had had as much fun as everyone else. Okay, he and Adie, thanks to their stupid mistake, had taken forever to complete the route, but they’d been only ten minutes behind the last competitor. Frankly, considering they’d run another half race, they’d kicked ass.

Of course, that hadn’t stopped the teasing from his ex-teammates and sports colleagues. They’d been, as he expected, ruthless. But under the teasing, he’d heard respect and that meant more to Hunt than anything else.

And he wouldn’t have been able to do it without Adie.

Adie had immediately picked up on his need to do the race right, and she’d been at his side, or a few steps behind him, the whole way. Despite her threat to bitch and whine, she’d done neither, just put her head down and got the job done.

His respect for her was through the roof.

Griselda would never have considered running; it would’ve been beneath her. In fact, when he’d first proposed the urban treasure hunt race as a way to raise funds for his foundation, she’d told him he was better served overseeing the event and micromanaging the event coordinators to make sure nothing went wrong. Griselda, he’d recently realized, fed his appetite for control while Adie, well, with Adie he simply had fun.

God, he couldn’t remember when last he’d felt so light around a woman. Or smiled so much. She was easy to be with; Adie didn’t make small talk but when she spoke, he was immediately interested in everything she had to say. She was, in every way he could think of, the exact opposite of Griselda.

Griselda...

Hunt pushed his hand inside his jacket to pull out his phone and abruptly stopped, telling himself he didn’t need to read the message again. He knew the words by heart.

While I didn’t think your follow-up call confirming the end of our relationship was necessary, thank you for the courtesy. I hope, someday, we can resume our friendship.

So stiff and so formal, just like their relationship. Hunt briefly closed his eyes and knew the strange feeling pumping through him was a sense of relief. Griselda was, officially and definitely, part of his past. And, while he’d always considered himself single, nothing bound him and Griselda together. He felt lighter, brighter, happier, like a snake who’d shed too tight a skin.

Maybe it was time to make more changes, to reevaluate his life, to start looking outside of work for ways to fill his hours. He’d loved today, being outside, exercising but also interacting with the volunteers, teenagers and sports celebrities. He should start doing more races, maybe a triathlon or two. Or maybe the foundation could organize urban treasure hunts in other cities.

He should brainstorm his idea with Adie and Kate, see whether they could translate his vague idea into an actionable plan. His excitement dropped several levels when he realized that Adie would be leaving soon, that she wasn’t going to be in the city for more than a couple of weeks. Dammit.

Ignoring the cold fingers squeezing his lungs, he looked around the room. Speaking of his sexy teammate, where was she?

---