Page 48 of Embraced at Seaside
She gathered her gym bag and equipment and hurried out to her car, thinking about what Brock had said. Was that true? Did she not want this with Hunter? She stopped cold at the sight of Hunter leaning against her car. His booted feet were crossed at the ankles, and his thick arms were crossed over his broad chest. When he lifted his eyes to hers and pushed from the car, her steps faltered.
He’d left her house early to meet Grayson at a job site, and she hadn’t been expecting to see him until that evening. “What are you doing here? How did your meeting go?”
“I missed you.” He raked his eyes down her body, and she flamed from the inside out. “You look really hot in that little boxing outfit.”
It was no wonder that he made her head spin when he actually touched her; he could turn her on with nothing more than a graze of his eyes.
“Oh, and the meeting went well.”
He bent down to kiss her, and as she went up on her toes to meet him halfway, she glanced over her shoulder to see if Brock was watching.
“Come on, babe. How long are you going to keep this up?” Hunter snapped.
She tried to ignore the piercing guilt his question inspired and tossed her gear in the back of her car.
“You can’t hide us forever, and I don’t even understand why you are. It’s starting to piss me off.”
“I’m not trying to upset you.” He’d brought this up a lot lately, but no matter how many times he reassured her, she still worried. “Aren’t you concerned at all about all our friendships? We hang out with all of our brothers and sisters. What if we break up? Then they’ll feel weird around us anytime we’re together.”
He folded her in his arms and gave her that look that made her insides go all fluttery. He was pushing for her to give in. Hunter always pushed her past her comfort zones.
“Listen to me, pretty girl. The only thing coming between us is your fear of commitment.”
She rolled her eyes, even though she knew he was right. She loved the way he pursued her, and his confidence in their relationship, but she still wasn’t sure that letting everyone know they were together was the smartest thing to do. The thought of putting Sky in that weird position was enough to make her hold her ground.
“Okay, maybe it’s your inability to trust that the guy I’ve become is here to stay, but that’s all on you, babe, not me. I’m in this for the long haul. I know you’re the woman for me, and I know I’m theonlyman for you.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “One day you’ll realize that, too.”
“Why do you always have to push so hard?”
“You think that’s hard?” His smile turned wicked. “That’s so soft it’s practically liquid.”
Her steely resolve instantly turned molten.
Hunter dug his hand into his pocket and handed her a key as he stepped in closer, bringing all that heat with him. “I know we talked about you getting the girls together for a class tonight, so I wanted to be sure you had a key. I’m going to babysit Billy so Clark and Nina can go out.”
“You are?” For some reason the thought of Hunter babysitting again melted her resolve even more. She looked down at the key and noticed it was on a key chain of a heart that saidTAKEN. He was bossy even when he didn’t say a word.
She arched a brow and he held his palm up toward the sky. “What? It’s true.”
She laughed.
“Want to come by after the class if I’m still babysitting?”
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
He kissed her again. “Then it’s a date. You, me, and the little guy. No dirty stuff, though.”
“Okay. I’ll try to behave myself.” She climbed into the car and he closed the door, then leaned in to give her a kiss. “Thanks for bringing me the key and for letting me try out the space.”
“Anything for you, pretty girl.” He kissed her again. “You’d better take off, or I’m going to climb in that car and take off that sexy little outfit of yours and have my way with you.”
“Promises, promises.” She blew him a kiss and waved as she drove away, knowing he’d have kept that promise if she’d stayed. She was learning that Hunter’s word was as good as gold.
Chapter Twenty-One
ON THE WAY to meet the girls for the Foxy Mamas class, Jana turned up the radio. She needed a pick-me-up after getting into it with Marco. She’d asked him to hire another instructor, or an administrative assistant, and he’d finally revealed the real reason he’d stayed in Plymouth for so long. He’d gotten engaged to his head dance instructor from the new studio. Jana knew from the elation in his voice that he was never coming back, at least not for good.
Ella Henderson’s “Ghost” came on the radio and she cranked it up. Listening to the words, she thought about how Hunter was her river. When she was in his arms, he washed everything away, her pain, her worries, her sins…Her chest burned as the chorus came on. She wanted to give up the ghosts of her past, the ghosts that pushed her to keep that last wall between Hunter and the rest of her life, but she wasn’t sure exactly what those ghosts were, or how to finally let them go.
