Page 56 of Bargain with the Bachelor
Frustrated, I threw my hands out to the sides. “Fine. You’re right. It’s late. And I need to get some sleep because I’ll have a busy day tomorrow applying for jobs in New York City.”
That snapped him out of his mute spell. His dark brows drew together. “I thought you said there was nothing going on between you and that Overstreet guy. Now you’re moving to New York for him after one date?”
“I’m not moving to New York forhim, idiot. I need a job—a career—and there are more opportunities there. Apparently, there’s nothing to keep me here.”
Hunter’s hands shot out to grab my arms. His warm fingers wrapped around my biceps, holding me in place. “You can’t go.”
“Why not?”
“I want… you. I mean, I want you to stay.”
He took a deeper breath, let it out on a shudder, swallowed hard. “And I also wantyou.I always have.”
Oh thank God. Finally.
No longer struggling to get away, I met his pleading look with a challenging one of my own.
“I’m listening.”
Chapter Sixteen
Worthy of You
Hunter
It took all the nerve I had, but I willed myself to stay and look at her. And be honest at long last.
I was fucking terrified, but it was now or never if I ever wanted a chance with Kristal. I couldn’t let her run off to New York without knowing the truth.
“In spite of the fact that you see me as a… ‘buddy’…” I scowled around the word. “… or a‘brother,’I’ve always wanted you. You were all I could think about in high school. And then… after that night at the Charity Ball…”
“…when you kissed me by accident,” she prodded.
“Yeah, well, it might have been accidental on your part… but not on mine. I knew it was you. Which I know was messed up because you were with Harry at the time. I was just… caught off guard… and overwhelmed by what was happening.”
“I wasn’t really with Harry. Or rather, he wasn’t withme,” she clarified. “We broke up for good about five minutes after you left the room.”
“Because of me?”
“Because he’d moved on with another woman without bothering to mention it to me until that night. And for the record… I don’t see you as a brother.Ora buddy. I never have.” She gave me a dazzling smile. “I can’t believe you felt that way about me in high school.”
I huffed a short breath. “I can’t believe you didn’tknow.”
“How would I have known? You were so quiet. Iwantedto get to know you. I tried. I gave you signals, but you would never even talk to me, much less ask me out.”
“You gave me signals? You...” My shock was so great it was hard to form words. “Youwantedmeto ask you out?”
She nodded, smiling shyly. “I liked you. And I was always attracted to you.”
My mouth fell open. “How is that possible?”
Kristal laughed. “Um, let’s see… smart, funny, good looking. What’s so hard to understand?”
“But we were from totally different classes. My family was poor. My father was… well, we were poor.”
She acted insulted. “I don’t care about that. I never did. Why should that have mattered?”
Yeah right.Everybody cares about that.
