Page 14 of His Curvy Woman

“At first we were located to a safe house until my dad gave his testimony in the trial. I have no idea where we were, but it was out in the woods somewhere. There was always a U.S. Marshall keeping a lookout outside the cabin, or they were in the cabin keeping us company, telling us about anything important going on in the real world. We didn’t have internet or cable, just basic electricity. I did a lot of reading over those eight months. Then, because dad had risked his and his family’s lives, they gave him the option of placing us in WITSEC until all the other players in the Bratva were behind bars. It made sense for him to take the deal, even though it meant we couldn’t go home. We were relocated to Arizona and started our new lives. Mom got a job as a secretary for a dentist and dad worked construction.”

“It’s crazy to think of your parents having to quit what they loved. And they had to uproot you from everything you knew. That must have been really hard.”

I shrug, not wanting to dwell on my past. “Because I had missed so much of my senior year of high school, I ended up taking the GED test, passed it, and immediately went into the fire academy.”

“So, you’ve been there, with your parents since then?”

I nod.

“How was your life? Did you enjoy where you worked? What did you do for fun when you weren’t working?” She asks all at once.

“I love my job as a firefighter, and the guys I worked with were great for the most part. I never got close with anyone, though. I did my job, went out with them every once in a while, when we had time off and hung out with my parents.”

“Did you date?” Whitley asks me softly, looking down at her hands.

Thank god I didn’t. I’d never want her to have the opportunity to compare herself to anyone of insignificance. “The last date I went on was to my junior prom.”

A small smile lights up her face. “Hunter, why did you come back?”

“My life is here, Whitley. This is where I’m meant to be. Nowhere else had the thing that I wanted most.”

“Which was what?”

“You.”

“I was fourteen when you left Hunter, you couldn’t have wanted me then.”

“I didn’t realize it until a few years after we had left. I followed Ramsey and eventually you on Facebook. I saw the pictures he would post. One day he had posted a picture of your whole family when y’all went on that cruise to the Caribbean. You weren’t the same girl I knew when I left. You’d grown up Whitely and turned into the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”

She gasps in surprise at my admission. “And what happens if you get what you’ve always wanted?”

I fall to my knees and kneel between her legs, grasping her hands in between my own. “When I get you, I’m going to keep you. I’m going to make you fall in love with me and then I’m going to marry you. As soon as I fucking can, I’m going to put my babies in your belly and we’re going to make a family, a huge family.” I promise. She bites her lip and looks unsure. “What is it?” I ask.

“What if when you get to know me again, you don’t like who I am now? What if this version of me you’ve built up in your head over the years is just a fantasy? You’re too good of a man to commit to me and then leave when you realize you’re unhappy. You’ll stay in a loveless relationship-”

I cover her mouth with my hand, and she glares at me. “Are you going to listen?”

She stares at me for a long few seconds before finally nodding.

“It’s never going to fucking happen Whitley. I’m more certain about you than I’ve ever been about anything else. Unless you aren’t feeling this. Tell me now if you don’t want me, Whitely.” The doorbell rings interrupting our heated moment. She eyes me as I get up and go to the door.

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