Page 24 of Regret

Chapter 9

Hunter stared at the woman sitting in front of him. The whiskey in her glass swirled from side to side as she twirled the glass in her hand. The bruise on her jaw had darkened, and the way she was sitting with her one arm wound around her midsection, he knew she was still in pain.

“You want some painkillers for that?”

She shifted a little. “I’m fine.”

She was putting up one hell of a show, but he wasn’t fooled. This woman was in pain and scared shitless of whatever was going on.

“Tell me.”

Her gaze shot up to his for a second before returning back to the glass in her hand. “Tell you what?”

He leaned forward. “Why did your cousin send all those guys after you in just one night?”

“Who knows?” She shrugged. “Maybe he misses me that bad.”

Having had it up to his eyeballs with her evasive, cocky comebacks, Hunter got up from the chair and walked over to where she was sitting on the couch with her knees crossed beneath her. He pulled the coffee table closer and sat down on it, leaning as close to her as possible.

“You’d better listen fucking carefully to what I’m about to say, because I’m only going to say this once.” He scooted closer and placed his elbows on his knees, clutching his hands together. “From where I’m sitting, I can see that you are in way over your head.”

“I can handle it.”

“Shut up and let me finish.”

For a second it looked like she wanted to try to punch him again, but then she leaned back into the couch, taking a sip of her whiskey. “Fine.”

“It doesn’t take a genius to realize there is much more going on here than a man just looking for his long lost cousin. So it’s safe to say that the story I’ve been told is bullshit.”

She let out a little condescending laugh and clapped a hand on her thigh in a mocking applause. “Well done, Mr. Genius. Do you want your golden star on your forehead now or later?”

That was it. Hunter was about to lose his shit with this woman.

He stood up from the table, towered over her, and placed both hands on either side of her head. All up in her face did not even begin to describe just how close he was at that moment. Scarlet didn’t look like the type of woman who got intimidated very easily. But by the way she stared up at him, searching his face like she had no idea what to expect next, he knew he was making good progress in getting his point across.

“For someone who doesn’t have a lot of friends lined up to help her, you sure as hell have an ungrateful attitude, don’t you, woman?”

She brought her face closer to his, and he smelled those damn cherry lips of hers again. “Is that what you’re trying to do, Ace?Helpme?”

The warmth of her breath moved across his cheek and the sensation made his cock twitch. How was it possible that a woman who had the sure talent to do nothing more than piss him off also seemed to have the talent to make him think of sex when he was actually trying to make her realize just how fucking serious he was?

The fact that she still hadn’t covered up those big, voluptuous breasts hidden behind nothing but thin black fabric wasn’t helping either.

Fuck. Because he was thinking about her breasts, he couldn’t stop himself from looking down at them. And from where he was standing, leaning over her, he had the perfect view from the top, staring down the slit where her tits squeezed together.

Holy fucking shit, what a sight.Firm, big, round tits that when pushed together would be perfect for him to just pump his…

Scarlet cleared her throat, and he looked back up at her. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say he was actually blushing from the thought her little throat clearing maneuver interrupted.

She smiled coyly. “Were you having a moment there with my breasts, Ace?”

Immediately frustrated, Hunter pushed himself away from her and stood up straight.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking this is a serious fucking situation we’re in here. So it would be awesome if you could pretend, just for a second, that a lot of shit went down tonight.”

“You think I don’t know just how serious this situation is?” She got up from the couch, her eyes dark.

“I’ve been in this fucking situation for a real long time.” Slowly she started to move, forcing him to back up as her entire demeanor changed from being a total tease, to totally fucking serious. “This ismylife,mynightmare,myhell, and don’t you dare try to insinuate that I don’t know exactly howseriousthis situation is. Thissituationis the reason I constantly have to look over my shoulder, pretend to be someone I’m not, never letting anyone get close.” She continued to move as the fire in her eyes started to burn violently—beautifully. “I’ve been running, hiding, forcing myself day in and day out to fucking survive this hell I’m in, and I have. I’ve survived. I’m still fucking here, thanks to only one person.” Hunter’s back hit the wall and she leaned right into him. “Me.”

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