Page 3 of New Year, New Guy
‘Lead the way.’ Hunter wiped his boots on the mat and followed her inside.
In three days he’d do the surprise thing at the party – although he’d bet his bottom dollar Johnny wouldn’t be as thrilled as his fiancée expected – and then make immediate tracks back to Tennessee. He didn’t plan on hanging around another week for the big day, but if he shared that with Laura now she would feel obliged to pass the news on to her sister.
He glanced around the small square hall. ‘Nice place.’
She threw him a vaguely suspicious look and Hunter plastered on his most amenable smile. Laura was too quick on the uptake to fool for long.
Chapter Two
Laura gestured towards the stairs. ‘You can take your things up while I put the kettle on. Your room’s the second on the right next to the bathroom.’
‘Thanks. Have you lived here long?’
‘I bought it about two years ago after — sorry, I’d be happy to stand here talking, but I’m freezing and dying for a cup of tea.’
A flash of curiosity niggled at him. ‘I could’ve got a cab from the bus station.’
‘Not according to my sister.’ Laura shook her head. ‘Her instructions were most specific.’
‘What’s Polly like?’
‘Like?’
‘Yeah. Just wondering what sort of girl old Johnny’s getting hitched to.’
‘The best.’
Her instant defence made him smile. ‘I’m sure she is. I’ll leave you to your tea making.’
Hunter sprinted up the stairs and grimaced when he opened the door. His house had closets larger than this. He tossed his bag on the narrow single bed. Its only redeeming feature was the lack of a footboard meaning he could at least hang his feet off the end. The room was a study in drabness from the beige walls to the brown velvet curtains and dark mahogany furniture. A sparse break from the bland colour palette came in the form of a couple of innocuous framed landscapes. It all reinforced his first impression of this being an investment rather than a real home.
Tugging off his boots, he stretched out on the bed and a sluggish tiredness gnawed away at him.
A loud bang jolted Hunter awake and his jagged heartbeat thundered against his chest. Back at home he always left his bedroom door ajar but here that wasn’t possible withoutarousing Laura’s suspicions. He’d forgotten to open the window instead and was paying the price. The familiar layer of nervous sweat soaked through his clothes.
‘Would you care for some tea?’ Laura’s clipped English tones outside the door shook his brain back into gear.
‘No thanks, but I could do with a shower if that’s okay?’ Somehow he kept his voice steady.
‘Of course. The hot water doesn’t last long but it’s okay if you don’t dawdle. I’ll fix us something on toast for supper when you’re done.’
‘Great.’ He couldn’t imagine what ‘something on toast’ might be but right now he didn’t care as long as she left him alone. Hunter needed time to get control of himself before facing Laura’s eagle-eyed scrutiny again.
* * *
Maybe she’d simply startled him from a nap, but Hunter’s sharp response hinted at more going on under his affable surface. She shouldn’t be interested in knowing.
Before she half-drowned waiting for him at the bus station, Laura had planned on them eating dinner at the local pub but she wasn’t venturing out again tonight. During her short-lived marriage she’d struggled to live up to Mike’s expectations of coming home to a gourmet home-cooked meal every evening but now her usual go-to dinners arrived in the form of frozen calorie-counted meals, tinned soup or beans on toast. None of those would fill up Hunter McQueen’s big toe.
Laura grabbed the Chinese restaurant menu off the fridge and made a quick phone call. Tonight the extra fee for delivery would be worth every penny.
‘Almost human again.’
She told herself it was nothing more than ditching the travel-stained black clothes and replacing them with faded blue jeansand a crisp white shirt rolled up at the elbows that caught her eye. The magic of a hot shower had turned Hunter’s straggly dark ponytail into a curtain of black silk brushing his massive shoulders.
‘You all right?’
‘Perfectly well, thank you.’ Laura cleared her throat. ‘I hope you don’t mind but I’ve ordered Chinese.’
