Page 4 of Reforming Hunt
“Right,” he said, “the baggage. Pretty heavy stuff, huh?”
She nodded. “The heaviest.” And this time, her lighthearted attitude slipped. She bit the corner of her lip and looked away.
Hunt held back a frown, because he refused to frown when he was in his party element, which only made his jaw tighten with the false grin he held in place. If there was something Hunt couldn’t handle, it was a sad woman. That was why he spent so much time trying to make them happy. Typically with his mouth and body.
And then something occurred to him. He was enjoying their conversation, but was she? “Is talking to me making you uncomfortable? Would you rather be alone?”
She looked up. “Honestly, I didn’t come here to talk to men. I came because my friend wanted to check out the place. We work together, and I promised I’d go with her so she wouldn’t be alone.”
And that was his cue. He never turned down a challenge, but this woman truly wasn’t interested. And he wasn’t a complete caveman.
Hunt swigged the last of his drink and set it on the bar. He couldn’t remove her baggage, but he could remove himself if it made her feel better. “I’m not one to bother a lady.” He took her hand and gave it a light squeeze. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Abby. I’ll leave you to your beer.”
Hunt walked off in the direction of friends he’d noticed when he entered the place. His stride was long and confident, but his encounter with Abby left him off balance.
Most women he met at clubs and bars were looking for the kind of attention Hunt had to offer in droves. But not Abby. He would have liked to get to know her better. Of course, not in any serious way…
And at the same time, he couldn’t imagine getting to know her in any other way.
Chapter 2
When Hunt was seven, he wanted to become a pirate. Sure, he lived with his father and four brothers on a lake and not near an ocean, butdetails. He would become a pirate and save women on the high seas of Lake Tahoe. The antithesis of your typical pillaging pirate, but again,details. Hunt lost his mother at the age of one and a half and had no memory of her. What better purpose in life than to protect other mothers? And pretty girls—he’d decided that same summer he liked pretty girls.
When Hunt turned fourteen, he liked girls even more: the pretty ones, the sweet ones, the ones who wore glasses…and he worked hard to find out what they all wanted so he could give it to them. He carried their books between classes. He shoved letters into their lockers, rhapsodizing over their beauty, and it wasn’t long before Hunt lost his virginity to one of those girls he so admired.
A few years later, Hunt’s pirating skills were put to the test when he fell in love with a beautiful, vivacious woman.
There was only one problem. Lisa was a few years older than Hunt, and the jerk trying to do his beloved harm was none other than Levi, Hunt’s oldest brother.
Because Lisa was Levi’s girlfriend at the time.
Hunt knew he was the worst man alive for falling in love with his brother’s girl. Knew he was an even bigger ass for flirting with Lisa and giving her everything his older brother hadn’t, as any good pirate would. But he couldn’t help himself. And he couldn’t have predicted the damage his love for Lisa would bring on his family.
Over a decade later, Levi still hadn’t fully forgiven Hunt. But they’d made strides in getting over their estrangement. Levi had long since moved on, in particular with Emily, Lisa’s younger sister. And how was that for irony?
Levi had fallen head over heels in love when Emily joined the management team at Club Tahoe. Going through that got Levi to acknowledge what a hard-ass he’d been to Hunt all these years, because no one was perfect. Not when Cupid played a part in matters.
Hunt had also moved on after that disaster of a first love. He was a Cade, after all, and Cade men didn’t lack for female attention. But Hunt worked harder at achieving a woman’s affection than his brothers, because he craved it.
Being with a woman—any woman—was essential to his well-being. As long as he didn’t fall in love again. That had been the worst mistake he’d ever made, and nearly tore his family apart.
Hunt was fortunate that Abby had turned him down last night at the club. He wasn’t sure what it was about her, but he suspected that had she allowed him to pursue her, he wouldn’t have escaped unscathed.
Hunt’s brothers were all he had. Oh, they fought like hell and argued constantly, but they had each other’s backs. Always.
He lifted his arms over his head and stretched, glancing across the Club Tahoe beach he managed. It was close to six in the evening, and the sunbathers had gone inside to change for a night of fine dining and gambling at the Club Tahoe resort.
His favorite Club Kids patron walked toward him, kicking sand, his head bent down.
Hunt checked his phone. It was well past pick-up time. And unfortunately, it wasn’t unusual for Noah to be the last one to leave the resort. “What’s up, little man? Everything okay?”
Noah just turned five and had been coming to the club for several months now. Pretty soon the boy would be in school, but Hunt was hopeful that Noah’s parents would continue sending him to the club’s after-school and summer programs. Hunt had grown attached to the kid, and he wasn’t eager to see the little guy go.
“My grandma isn’t here,” Noah said, his eyes glassy with unshed tears.
Hunt’s chest pinched. If there was anything worse than seeing an unhappy woman, it was seeing a sad kid.
Hunt could easily relate to Noah, because he’d been that child left behind more times than he could count. He was the youngest of five brothers, with no mother, and a father who put work ahead of family. Hunt had learned at a young age to stick with his brothers or be left behind.
