Page 67 of Bad Love

But Hunter’s smile falls away, his posture stiffening in a subtle way I notice only because I know how relaxed he usually is. When he speaks, his voice is flat. "So, you'll make an exception for me but not forher."

My jawdrops.

The gaze of one of the men flickers between us, but the other man chuckles. "You know how it is. This is a competitive industry. Need to make sure our advertisers are ready to play ball with the big boys." Hewinks.

Hunter meets my gaze, and I wish I could decipher the hard look on hisface.

He turns back to the men and leans his clenched fists on the desk. "Go fuck yourself. Given your line of business, that should comenaturally."

* * *

Ijogpast the stunned admin, chasing Hunter out the front doors. "What the hell was that?" He holds the door to the car for me as the sunshine makes mesquint.

I slide in, still numb, staring at the raised privacy screen that makes the back feel like we’re in our own world. “You realize that was our best chance of making the sales target?” My throat burns. “What if everything you’ve worked for just went up inflames?”

Hunter’s head drops back against the headrest, the fury from a second ago still smoldering behind his eyes. “My mom and grandmother run into assholes who won’t do business with women. I refuse to support it. No matter how integral they think they are. No business is too big to fail.” He cuts a look out the window at the building we left behind. “And no person is too important for basicdecency.”

He meets my gaze again with an earnestness that has my breath sticking in my chest. My tongue darts out to lick mylips.

I didn't need him to stand up forme.

He did itanyway.

I can't remember the last time someone did that. Aboutanything.

I’ve been trying to push him away, but in this moment, I can’t rememberwhy.

His gaze works over mine, and he sees something in it that makes him still. "Kendall—"

I cut off his words with akiss.

Not because Bad Kendall’s clawing at the roof of the box I’ve shut her in, dying for a hit of Hunter-brand sexiness. Because the feeling inside me after what he did for me is too huge to becontained.

Hunter sucks in a startled breath that ends on a groan, his fingers threading in my hair as I slant my mouth overhis.

If there’s a right way to kiss, I don’t know what it is. He doesn’t seem to mind the way I’m pouring myself into him, expressing with my lips and tongue what I can’t with myvoice.

I don’t know how long we kiss, but when I pull back, his eyes are dark, his breathing rough. The car conducts its dance of start-and-stop through the gridlock of Manhattan traffic aroundus.

“It’ll take at least twenty minutes to get back.” The low murmur ismine.

Desire and wariness fight in his dark gaze. “Yousure?”

Inod.

Hunter grunts against my lips as I drop my mouth back to his, pressing myself against hiserection.

I don’t know what I’m doing, but for the first time in a long time, I’m okay withthat.

I feel more myself with him. Braver.Bolder.

But before I can get too cocky, his hands jerk my shirt from my belt, making my pulseskitter.

I meet him touch for touch. My hands caress his abs, the hard ridges of muscle, in a way I’ve been dreaming about allweek.

Getting myself off in that bathroom under his hooded gaze was one thing. But every fantasy since has involved his hands on me. Hismouth.

His cock insideme.

---