Page 106 of 2204 Hunter Lane
As we walked out of Empire Point and made our way to my truck, I did what I was dying to do all fucking night and pulled Bambi against me.
Her back was secure against the passenger side door as I caged her in my arms, leaning my head down to inhale the scent I’d been itching to smell from across the table.
“Somethin’ about you, sweetheart…” I whispered, cupping her chin in my hand. “The things I’d do.”
Her breathing hitched as I trailed my lips along her soft skin, pressing a featherlight kiss against her lips. “I’m takin’ you somewhere you’re gonna love.”
She giggled against my mouth, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Somewhere I’m going to love? Or somewhereyou’regoing to love?”
I moved her behind me as I held the passenger door open, slapping her ass playfully and closed it shut.
When I got inside, I settled into my seat and started the truck, heading out of the parking lot I knew I’d never see again.
“Bambi, I spent an absurd amount of money on toddler portions tonight. I’m makin’ some sacrifices to see that smile on your face, so if I fuck this up, I’m throwin’ in the towel.”
She bubbled in amusement. “You can’t tell me the food was bad, though. Come on.”
I shrugged. “Nah, you’re right. An I do miss Pierre a little.”
“Shut up,” she laughed, covering her mouth.
“Did ya see his quads?”
She tittered some more and went to swat my arm, but I caught hold of her hand and placed it in my lap. Her fingers were swallowed in my grip as I rubbed my thumb over her skin, soaking in the feeling of this fucking girl beside me.
“Thank you for tonight.” Her words laced around me like silk ribbon.
And as I drove, my mind was clear. Clearer than it’s been in a while, with Bambi by my side, a head absent of liquor buzz and a skip in my heartbeat.
“Thank me later, sweetheart. We aren’t finished yet.”
Chapter Forty
Marley
About twenty minutes later, Hunter pulled into a much smaller parking lot than Empire Point, and cut the engine.
When the truck headlights dimmed, I focused on the tiny bookshop in front of me that held a wooden sign in curvy lettering: Clara’s Corner.
“A bookstore?” I asked, clicking out of my seatbelt. “Do you even read?”
“Nah,” Hunter grinned, “but you do.”
My heart practically exploded out of my chest. This entire night had been unworldly, magical,insane, I don’t know… I really don’t know how to describe it.
When Hunter told me he specifically sought out a restaurant that would remind me of New York, I almost jumped his bones right then and there.
Never in my life had someone gone through the trouble to make a date personal, let alone ask me on one to begin with. I really didn’t expect much from him, given the circumstances that we still hadn’t spoken about…Making a mental note to eat another starburst later and ask what’s going on between us.
Even that, the starburst thing alone was enough to turn me in a mound of cotton candy. It was like he paid attention to every single thing I told him about a few months ago and stored it in his brain, waiting for the opportunity to use it. Only know I knew he was never going to hold it against me, he was keeping it close to him for the day this date would happen.
Every single layer I’d been so afraid to see was slowly dissipating, shedding off his body with an open heart. When Hunter told me why he used to drink and drive, I went through all those stages with him. The anger I saw in his eyes, the feeling of regret he must’ve harboured for so long… guilt, so much guilt. And then a tundra of sadness, an overflow of pain. I felt it with him, and I needed him to know he wasn’t alone.
This… this bookstore, the idea of him even taking me here triggered all the serotonin in my brain and I would’ve kissed him if he wasn’t already around the truck, holding the door open for me.
“Come on, then. Let’s check it out.”
He laced our fingers together and guided me into the store, where the immediate smell of coffee beans and old books slapped me in the face.
