Page 50 of Reforming Hunt
Damn this house. It was causing him to doubt himself, reminding him of the past and where he’d come from.
It was a means to an end, he told himself. The house impressed everyone, and it would put off Noah’s grandparents. And he’d prove to his brothers he could take on the challenge of fixing it up.
Every one of his brothers had stepped up when it came to Club Tahoe since they took over management, except Hunt. This was his way of showing his worth.
* * *
It waslate by the time Hunt drove Abby back to her place. She made a quick dinner of meatballs and pasta, and Hunt read Noah a book.
“One more!” Noah chanted from his bedroom, ecstatic his best friend from Club Tahoe was living with them now. Noah couldn’t stop talking about their “new house,” either.
Abby walked to the bedroom door. “No way, little guy. It’s been a busy few days. You need your sleep.”
Both Hunt and Noah frowned from the bed. Saddest sight she’d ever seen.
“Fine,” she said. “One more, but then you have to go to sleep.”
Noah jumped up and ran to the small bookcase, while Hunt looked on, smiling. The guy seemed as happy to read Noah another story as Noah was to hear it. Amazing.
After the last book, Abby and Hunt said good night to Noah, and Abby silently closed the door to his bedroom.
She shifted her feet in the hallway. “So…” she said.
“So,” he replied, with a slight upward quirk to his lips.
Geez, this was awkward. They weren’t a couple, yet they’d done some serious adulting in the bedroom the other morning.
Last night, they’d spent so much time unpacking and finding space for Hunt’s things, with Noah coming in every two seconds, that their morning activities hadn’t come up. Hunt had slept in the bed with Abby, but they’d both passed out as soon as the lights were off.
Tonight they were no longer exhausted from unpacking. Would he expect what had happened yesterday to happen again? Did she want him to?
A wave of heat swept through her belly. Darn Hunt Cade and his hands. She could get used to them, and then where would she be? Alone and Hunt-less. “Do you want to use the bathroom first, or should I?”
“You go ahead,” he said. “I have an email to shoot off to Lewis. I’d like to meet him at the house tomorrow and get his crew started on the demo.”
Right, the demo. It was only Abby who was thinking about sexy time with Hunt. It was his fault; he was very good at it.
Get it together, woman!
Hunt had misgivings when it came to his family home. But maybe this was where she could repay him for all he was doing for her. She’d help him with the remodel, now that she didn’t have to work extra shifts to make ends meet, and together they’d wipe away bad memories.
Abby brushed her teeth, changed into a nightshirt and shorts, and crawled into bed. She heard Hunt enter the bathroom, but by that time her eyelids were drooping and she could barely keep her eyes on the page of her book.
She set her novel on the nightstand. She was going to spend the night in bed with Hunt again, and a pleasure shiver racked her body. From here on out, they’d sleep in the same bed, now that Noah was around. Regardless of those scintillating thoughts, her exhaustion won the battle and she fell asleep.
What seemed like moments later, Abby opened her eyes to a bluish-gray light streaming in through the blinds. It was morning, but it had to be early.
She thought back to the night before. She must have passed out hard. She didn’t remember Hunt coming into the bedroom, and now that she extended her senses, he wasn’t in bed with her either. She distinctly remembered the size of Hunt’s warm body next to her. There was no warmth, no swell of the mattress, no large arm possessively holding her.
Abby sat up. Had he already gone for the day? He’d seemed eager to meet with his friend Lewis to get the house repairs started…
And then Abby saw him.
Hunt was lying on the floor on a blanket, his naked torso on display. One arm curled under his head, hair ruffled, long lashes falling against strong cheekbones.
Abby drank in the sight like a starved woman. Her gaze trailed down from the bulging of his biceps, across wide, muscular shoulders, to a stomach with defined abs she couldn’t look away from.
The other night, she’d not gotten a good enough look at the beauty that was Hunt Cade, becausesweet Jesus.
