Page 45 of Shades of You

As Liv talked about her and Evan’s plans, I contemplated telling them about Hunter and me. It was tempting to share the secret.

I was saved from having to make a decision when the meeting got underway about this month’s book, a best friend’s brother romance. As we discussed the novel, a spirited debate on the protagonist’s choices animated the room. I tried to immerse myself in their dialogue, offering insightswhile sipping my wine. But beneath the surface, I felt like a swimmer caught in a rip current.

Liv flipped her long, curly hair over one shoulder and pointed to a highlighted section of text. “This part, where she realizes it’s always been him. Didn’t that just melt your heart?”

A collective sigh floated around the circle, but inside, my stomach knotted. It hit too close to home. Hunter and I had been such good friends once, and now we were so much more. But did I really know the man I was involved with?

“Uh, yeah,” I muttered, fumbling with the edge of my bookmark. “It was really something.”

“Come on, Brenna, you’re usually gushing over these scenes,” April teased.

“Guess this one wasn’t quite swoony enough for me.” I deflected with humor, hoping they’d miss the tightness in my voice.

As conversation swirled, I sank deeper into the couch, and the weight of my secret, forbidden love felt like a stone in my pocket. With each passing comment about fictional romances, my thoughts focused on Hunter. How he growled my name, like it was torn from something deep inside him, and the dangerous past Ben had hinted at.

“Can you imagine keeping a love like that hidden?” April pondered aloud, unknowingly skewering me with her words.

“Impossible,” Pam, the leader of our little group, agreed emphatically. “Love like that can’t be contained. That’s one of the things I didn’t like about the book.” Then she held up her glass and laughed. “Then again, that was the whole point, wasn’t it? That she tried to deny that this A-list movie star could actually love her. But he did.”

As the meeting wrapped up, I handed out next month’sbook. The club members dispersed, and I said goodbye to my two friends as I headed toward my car. The drive back to my building was short, and Dove Key’s residential streets were bathed in a soft late-afternoon light that cast shadows across my windshield. I always closed up the shop early on book club afternoons, so my shop was dark as I parked in the alley.

As I stepped inside, I gasped, my hand flying up to clutch my neck.

Hunter leaned against the wall with his arms casually folded, completely motionless. His tall, broad silhouette was outlined by the light shining through the picture window like a scene straight out of one of our steamy novels.

“God, Hunter! You scared me.”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to,” he said, though the half-grin tugging at his lips told a different story.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes, feeling silly for letting him catch me off guard. As my heart got over the shock, my body came alive with a different emotion. “I guess I should’ve changed that entry code you gave me.”

“Guess you should have,” he agreed, pushing himself away from the wall and closing the distance between us with slow, deliberate steps. “But maybe I’d just figure out the new one.” His voice was like crushed velvet, and I was helpless to resist it. Him.

Heat radiated off him in his all-black ensemble. He looked like pure temptation crafted from shadows, and I found myself helplessly drifting toward him as if some magnetic force beyond my control pulled me.

“Miss me?” His voice reverberated through the empty space between us.

“Maybe I never thought about you,” I murmured, but my tone betrayed my breathlessness.

Our lips met, and the world melted away into a deep kiss that swept me away. A kiss that was reckless, consuming, and everything I shouldn’t want—but did. With Hunter, every touch was an adventure, each caress a discovery I never knew I needed.

Was this man my savior or my inevitable downfall? The thought teased at the edge of my consciousness as we broke apart, gasping for air. I remembered daring him to burn me to cinders, and the truth was, I still wanted that. I wanted the all-consuming blaze, the intensity, the passion that threatened to ruin me.

“Come upstairs,” I murmured, my hand finding his as I led him toward the staircase.

Halfway up, our restraint crumbled again, and our bodies collided in another desperate kiss. His hands were in my hair, on my waist, everywhere at once, sending waves of desire through me as he pinned me against the wall.

“God, Brenna,” he breathed against my lips, the urgency in his voice matching the pounding of my heart. “I couldn’t stay away. I had to come over and wait for you.”

And then I was being lifted, Hunter’s arms strong and unyielding as he carried me effortlessly the rest of the way. We reached my apartment, and he swung open the door. As it clicked shut behind us, I was acutely aware of the precipice we stood upon—of how easily this man could shatter me. Yet, with every breath-stealing kiss, every searing touch, I was more than ready to dance among the shards if it meant feeling alive like this.

Chapter Twenty-One

Hunter

I’m a bastard.

The morning sun was still gentle as I pounded the pavement, but the relatively cool breeze couldn’t blow away the thought repeating through my head. Or its truth. The rhythmic thud of my running shoes against the concrete sidewalk was a steady drumbeat in the quiet residential district of Dove Key. I’d already put in two hours at the gym—lifting until my muscles screamed—but this run weighed me down more than any dumbbell ever could. No matter how hard I pushed my pace, I couldn’t outrun the fact that Brenna deserved so much more than I could give her.

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