Page 30 of Shades of You

“I talked to Eli today about borrowing some dive gear,” I said, changing the subject. I felt miles away from the emotions that swirled inside me when I’d talked with my brother just hours earlier. But I wanted to reach out across this abyss between us.

“Yeah?” Hunter tilted his head slightly, interest piqued.

“I thought it might be fun to get back in the water again. You and me, for old times’ sake.”

He paused, considering it before letting out a slow breath. “I’ve been meaning to dive since I got back. Just haven’t found the time yet.”

“Maybe you need to make the time.” My heart sank a bit at his noncommittal response, but I masked it with a teasing lilt.

“I’ll check my schedule tomorrow.” His small smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

With a fleeting twitch of my lips in reply, my belly gave a wrenching twist. Maybe it was better this way. I wanted him in my life, even as a friend, so we’d need to figure out what that looked like. I dried my hands on a dish towel and turned off the kitchen light, leaving us in the soft glow of the living room lamps. The urge to reach out, to bridge the gapwith more than words or shared laughter, tugged at me. But I held back, afraid to shatter the fragile truce we’d built.

Once again, we settled in his living room. The pages of my book were mere blurs as I flipped through them, not really taking in the words. Pedro hopped onto the couch and curled up in the space between us, his black fur a stark contrast against the light gray fabric. The kitten turned his head from Hunter to me and narrowed his eyes, as if trying to decipher the shift in our dynamic.

That makes two of us, little guy.

I cast a glance at Hunter, whose attention seemed genuine on his book. But I knew him well enough by now—or at least, I thought I did—to see the tension in his jaw that belied a focused calm. The clock ticked away in the background, and each second felt like a missed opportunity to speak, to touch. But we both remained silent.

When the hour grew late, we closed our books almost simultaneously, as though some unseen director choreographed our movements even in this . “I should get some sleep,” I said, more to fill the silence than out of any real need for rest.

In Hunter’s guest room, I stood at the edge of the bed and ran a hand over the smooth comforter. This bed, with its neatly tucked corners and unfamiliar pillows, wasn’t where I yearned to be. My eyes wandered to the shut door. This was my last night in Hunter’s apartment, but I wasn’t about to knock on his door. When I climbed into my bed, the mattress was cool beneath me, unlike the warmth and strength I had clung to in those moments pressed against Hunter.

His sudden shift from barely restrained lust to a careful, deliberate distance left me more confused than ever. What had changed in the hours between? Lying there in the dark,I tried to reconcile the man who had kissed me senseless with the one who now guarded his heart as fiercely as he did mine. My thoughts spun.

I needed to know which Hunter was real. The one whose touch set me aflame, or the stoic, unknowable guardian angel who watched over me. And I had a suspicion that spending several hours diving together would tell me.

Chapter Fourteen

Hunter

The drill hummed steadilyin my hands as I secured the last camera above the front door of Bookshop in Paradise. The morning breeze blew softly through the open door, making the hanging baskets outside rock slightly. I leaned back slightly on the ladder and surveyed my work with a critical eye. Everything had to be perfect for Brenna.

“Do you want to put cameras inside my apartment too?” Her voice cut through my focus, laced with a hint of concern.

I glanced down at her, offering a reassuring smile. “No, only a camera and alarm outside the door at the top of the stairs.”

My fingers deftly twisted wires together, wrapping them with electrical tape before tucking them neatly out of sight. After that awful awkwardness last night, we’d settled back into an easier camaraderie. Not quite what we were before that kiss, but better than I had any right to expect. Spoken words had never been my strength, and last night they’d completelyfailed me. But I’d rather remain silent than say something I couldn’t take back. I’d already done enough of that, and our ease with each other this morning indicated I’d repaired some of the damage I’d done. But now I felt her mood changing.

“Good… What about your apartment? Do you have cameras there?”

I caught her hesitation and gave her my full attention. Her green eyes searched mine, and I knew she was worried whether she’d been filmed while staying with me.

“None inside. I value privacy, Brenna. Yours, mine, everyone’s.” I made a mental note to double-check the angles of the cameras I’d just installed, ensuring not even a sliver of her personal space would be caught on camera. After descending from my stepladder, I folded it together and moved to the control panel at the back of her shop.

Brenna followed, leaning against a bookshelf as she watched me program the system from her phone, all part of the service at KeyMark Security. I showed her how to access the images and the panic button I’d installed near the cash register, which would make a 911 call. She asked interested, intelligent questions and we slipped closer to our earlier familiarity.

“I wanted to ask…” she trailed off as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Then she turned a full smile toward me. “Would you like to go diving tomorrow? We didn’t really settle it last night. It will be like old times!”

My heart skipped a beat, torn between the pull of her beautiful, soft body and the caution lights flashing in my mind. Diving with Brenna meant being close to her, too close, in ways that could stir up more than just the ocean currents.

“I’m not sure. I didn’t have a chance to check mycalendar this morning.” I was half-hoping she’d let me off the hook.

“When was the last day you had off?” she asked, her lips curving into a playful smile. “And Garrett told me he and Myles aren’t covering Calypso Key anymore. Sounds like your schedule just cleared up, buddy. And my shop just happens to be closed tomorrow…”

She was right. Myles would be pretty recovered from his night shifts now. I had some leads to follow through on, but I could clear a morning off no problem. And dammit, I wanted to be around her, even as just a friend. I was like a moon orbiting around her, helpless to escape her pull. To cover my awkwardness, I raised both hands into the air. “Okay. I surrender! Let’s go diving.”

“Great!” Her enthusiasm was infectious as she told me about the gear she had arranged for us. But as I went over the last of my demonstration of her new security features, I couldn’t help feeling like I was stepping into uncharted waters.

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