Page 9 of Passion and Payback

“What? I’m going to call it what it is,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

Not even the most horrific, agonizing torture constructed by the worst of humanity could have made me admit I agreed with her. I hadnevertold anyone anything that might hint that I was remotely attracted to Hunter and had been since the beginning of our friendship. It had been pretty easy to hide from the world and even from the man who could read me better than anyone. He wasn’t looking for proof, so the secret was simple to keep.

The door behind the bar opened, and Hunter came out. He had changed his hair since I’d last seen him, and now it was short on the sides and the back but longer on top. It was slightly messy as it fell over the green eyes that swept the room, looking for the problem. The moment his eyes fell on me, he dropped the box under his arm, and the serious expression on his face disappeared.

I could only stare, surprised at what I saw. I realized he’d only talked on video with the phone aimed at his face, which hadn’t changed. And while he still came up to my chin, the lithe, just shy of thin man I’d known my whole life was gone. I knew he’d been working out before my latest deployment, but this was something else. I had no idea how he’d put on enough muscle to look almost fifty pounds heavier in a year, but he’d done just that.

“Kai!” he said in a low voice, eyes glittering with excitement. He hurried over to the divider and lifted it to get to me. I smiled as he approached quickly, feeling a pang twist inside my chest. A couple of years ago, the dork would have probably tried toclimb over the counter and launch himself at me while laughing like a crazy person. This was…still happy, but I could see a subduedness that had never been there before.

That didn’t stop me from dropping my stuff and pulling him in for a tight hug. I wasn’t surprised to find a great deal of tension in his body. Holding him was strange now that he was so much bigger, but I still squeezed him tightly. I felt him tense again and quickly eased my grip. For those few months I’d been there for him, a year after the tragedy, he had been extremely touchy about being held. Considering what he’d gone through, I didn’t blame him.

“Sorry,” he said when he realized what I’d done, but I only shook my head as he stepped back. There was no need for him to apologize; just being able to hug him again and see him in person was more than enough. “God, did you get bigger?”

“You’ve got no room to talk,” I said, looking him over. “Just tell me it isn’t steroids.”

He blinked and then let out a laugh. “No, you giant dork. I’m not on steroids.”

“Just the strictest diet and exercise regimen you’ve ever seen,” Arwen said with a mystified look. “Honestly, I don’t know how he does it. Just the thought of it makes me want to take a nap.”

“Doing your job does that,” Hunter told her. “So don’t push yourself.”

“Oh, ha ha,” she said dryly. “Speaking of, I’m going to go do my job. Why don’t you go slack off from yours like I know you’re doing now that big, strong, and sexy is here.”

“What?” I asked, eyes going wide.

“I’m pretty sure she was referring to you,” he said, patting me on the elbow.

I glared at him because he knew damn well I knew she meant me, but that didn’t mean I was ready for someone to saysomething like that. Sure, I was honest enough with myself to realize I was a decently attractive man, and I could pull people into my bed when I needed to, but sexy? That was just weird.

“But she’s also right,” Hunter said, tugging my elbow. “Bring your stuff. You can stick with me while I’m finishing up for the day.”

“Sure,” I said, grabbing my bag. We managed to get behind the bar before a large orange cat hopped onto the spot next to the door leading toward the back. He managed to hang over the edge of the counter and hook his paws into my sleeve, giving me a lazy blink and a soft noise. “Oh, hey there, Clem.”

Behind me, Hunter chuckled. “Oh good, you remember him.”

“Of course I do,” I said, pressing my forehead against his. He had still been going through the awkward teenage phase cats go through when I’d last seen him. Like all the cats here, Clem was a rescue. Pretty much all of them came from actual rescue organizations, with the café taking them on to give them a new space, interactions with people, and a unique opportunity to be adopted by the people who came in. “I remember finding this one. I’m surprised he’s still here.”

“What do you mean? You’re the one who found him,” Hunter said, smiling as he scooped the cat up in his arms and motioned for me to continue. “I’m not giving him up unless you give the okay.”

“You didn’t have to hold onto the cat.”

“Sure I did. You know our rule. Every cat gets a Checker, and you’re his.”

A ‘Checker’ was Hunter's formal title for the staff member who checked out the people wanting to adopt. Generally, the staff member most attached to it and had the best idea of what was good for the cat. Apparently, because I was the one who’d found Clem when he was a kitten, soaked to the bone and shivering under a dumpster, I was his Checker.

When Hunter reached his still cluttered office, I dropped my stuff out of the way, and he put Clem down on the desk. The cat immediately turned and began the loudest purr I’d ever heard as he strolled toward me and pawed at my arm. Shaking my head, I bent to scoop the cat up, which made Clem immediately curl his feet under himself so he could rest peacefully in my arms.

“Still as cuddly as the day I left, I see,” I told him, and whether he could understand me, he looked up at me with half-slit eyes that screamed contentment.

“Are you kidding?” Hunter began with a laugh, reaching up to stroke the top of Clem’s head. “He’s one of the most antisocial cats here.”

“What?” I asked in surprise.

“Seriously. He lets people get close and sometimes pet him, but he does not like anyone picking him up. Even Brooke.”

“Oh, Brooke still works here?”

“Keeps saying she’ll work for me no matter what’s going on or what business I’m running. Refused to leave even when I had to…to lay everyone off for a while,” he said, the brightness in his expression dimming. I didn’t need him to say why he had needed to lay anyone off or close the café down while he tried to make sense of the new horrors he had come to understand. After a moment, he shook his head, and the dimness disappeared. “Anyway, I called her after I opened the place back up and she came running back.”

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