Page 23 of Baked

So much for a fun first date.

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Hunter was trying tokeep calm. It wasn’t working. His blood pressure had been rising ever since he’d stepped foot in Rachel’s apartment.

There was stuff everywhere. The place had been turned upside down. They hadn’t taken big items like the television, but anything of value that was small enough to fit into a bag was gone. Her laptop, jewelry, even her goddamn Kindle had been swiped.

Motherfuckers.

Cody came to a standstill next to Hunter, but he didn’t take his eyes off Rachel. She was on the other side of the room, perched on the edge of the couch, head in her hands.

“Looks like they staked the place out, waited for you guys to leave before entering.” Cody confirmed what Hunter already suspected.

“You manage to ID them?”

“Their faces were covered.” Cody sighed. “But going by their height, build, even their damn haircuts ... I’m positive it’s them. Though it’s gonna be tough to prove it.”

Again, Hunter suspected as much. It didn’t make it easier to digest though. Or make the pounding in his ears any less distracting.

“She’ll be staying at my place until this shit ends, but I need eyes on her during the day. They know where she lives, which means they know where she works.” Already trying to calculate how many days he could get off work, he continued. “I’ll see if I can take some leave, but I’d appreciate you checking on her as often as you can until I can speak to the chief.”

“Of course, man.” Cody slapped him on the back. “Anything you need. I’ll send Cat over too and speak to Zach about Libby stopping by when she can.”

“Appreciate it.” He nodded at his friend before striding over to Rachel.

Taking a seat next to her, he pulled her into his lap. She came willingly, curling up in his arms, her head resting on his shoulder.

“I want you to stay with me, honeybun. Just until this shit is over.” He felt her head move against him, nodding. “I’m gonna see if I can take some time off work. Maybe help you out at Fairy Baked. You got any work for me that doesn’t involve baking?”

Her head came up, her face just inches away from his. “You don’t have to do that, Hunter. I mean it. This is too much. I’ve taken up enough of your time as it is.”

Using the closeness to his advantage, he laid a quick, sloppy kiss on her lips. “Honeybun, trust me when I say this is more for me than it is for you.”

A flicker of light ignited in her eyes. “How did you work that out?” she sassed, not at all fazed by the kiss.

“I’m not gonna be able to concentrate knowing those scumbags are out there. So much so, I’ll be a liability at work. I think it’s best, not only for me but for the whole population of Woodvalley if I take some time off, don’t you think? For safety reasons.”

Damnit. The light was starting to dull again, sadness creeping back in as she dropped her head. “’Cause of me. It’s my fault.”

Shit. Shit. Shit.

This was exactly why he preferred to say as little as possible. Less chance of putting his giant foot in things.

“Baby, look at me.” When she didn’t comply, his knuckle nudged her chin. “Look, I’m sorry, as you may have noticed, I’m not very good at this whole communicating thing. I’m sorry if that came out wrong. I’m working on it, and I swear I’ll try harder to be clearer next time. What I meant was, yes, I wanna be able to keep an eye on you, but taking time off also means I get to spend more time with you. Which I want. Very much.”

Her face gentled. “You’re better than you think.”

“What?”

“At communicating. You’re better than you think.” Her hand came up to his face, her fingertips lightly tracing his jawline. “It’s your eyes. They give you away. When you’re mad, when you’re sad, when you want to ... kiss me. They’re your tell.”

Warmth spread from his chest all the way down to his stomach. “And what are they saying now, honeybun?”

“You want to kiss me again.” He didn’t realize how badly he needed to see her smile until her mouth tilted up. “And something else.”

He found himself chuckling, stealing a kiss on her fingertips as she dragged them back the other way over his prickly stubble. Holding each other’s gaze a while longer, he felt his chest tighten. A new feeling blooming inside of him.

“So it doesn’t bother you then ... my lack of words?” It was one of the many things his ex-wife had hated about him. And had no problem telling him. Over and over again.

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