Page 40 of Reforming Hunt
“Good,” he said. “Because I’m not sure I’ll let you go now that I have you.”
He was killing her. How was she supposed to resist this man?
“To explain things a little more, me and my brothers hated Club Tahoe. Never wanted anything to do with the place.”
Abby nearly choked on her next sip of champagne, which was surprisingly good, considering she wasn’t much of a bubbly drink person when it didn’t contain caffeine. “Hated it? But you own it. You work there.”
“Maybe the wordhateis too strong. The club was a symbol of our father’s abandonment in favor of work. In favor of Club Tahoe. But we’ve made changes to the joint. Made it our own.” He shook his head. “I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it since my father passed. My brothers and I just knew we couldn’t let the place crumble after his death. Club Tahoe employs hundreds of people in the area. Didn’t feel right ruining good employment for others… It’s complicated.” He frowned.
She didn’t like the look on his face. Hunt wasn’t a gloomy person, and she wanted to kiss that frown away. Which was a dangerous road for her mind to go down.
“Well,mypast is simple,” she said to lighten the mood, since kissing wasn’t an option. “I grew up poor and lived in a small Midwestern town in the double-wide trailer my parents have rented for as long as I can remember. I moved to Tahoe on a whim after a friend said good money could be made working at the casinos. The closest university was over three hours away back home. In Tahoe I could work at a casino during the high season and take classes at the community college or in Reno, if I was careful with my money. But after my first year, I met Trevor. And got pregnant.” She shrugged. “The rest is history.”
Hunt’s expression softened, but he still didn’t look happy. “I’m sorry things were so hard for you, Abby.”
She didn’t want his pity. That wasn’t why she’d told him about her past. She wanted to distract Hunt from the things that were making him sad. And she wanted for him to know where she came from, so there were no secrets.
“How does this ‘Never Have I Ever’ game work?” Abby said, changing the subject.
His eyes lit up. “Now we’re talking. It’s really very simple.”
Hunt was easy to please. Where Trevor could be selfish and needy, Hunt was giving and supportive. He had depths he didn’t often show, like when he spoke of his father and brothers, and he was making it extremely difficult to look at him as simply a handsome, rich guy.
“I say ‘Never have I ever,’ and follow it with something I haven’t done,” he said. “Like ‘Never have I ever tightroped.’ If you’ve tightroped before, you take a sip of your drink. If you haven’t, you do nothing.”
“So this is a drinking game?”
“Well, yeah. But maybe not with champagne.” Hunt stood and scoured the fridge and cabinets, looking at home and incredibly large in her tiny kitchen. He pulled out orange juice and a five-year-old bottle of vodka. “I’ll make them weak,” he said, and winked.
“Wise, unless you want to get to know me hugging the toilet.”
He laughed and handed her a new glass. “We’ll go easy.” He narrowed his eyes on her face. “Never have I ever…lived with a woman.”
“Wow, way to kick the game off with a bang,” she said, and grinned. Abby took a sip.
“It’s ‘lived with a man’ in your case, not boy,” he said.
Again, she took a sip. “I lived with Trevor.”
He nodded. “You had a child together; it makes sense that you would have lived with him.”
“But I’m the first woman you’ve lived with?” Seemed hard to believe no woman had nabbed Hunt before now.
“Yes,” he said, and his brow furrowed. “Come to think of it, Noah is the first child I’ve lived with too.”
“Wow, we’re really throwing you into the deep end. Are you going to freak out at the sight of my tampons?”
Hunt choked on his drink. “Uh, no. I’m very familiar with the female body and all its complexities. Probably more familiar than you are.” His eyes sparkled, the devil!
Abby’s face heated. “I doubt that, and it’s my turn. Never have I ever…been on a boat.”
Hunt took a quick drink then set his glass down with a loudthunk.“Never?”
She shook her head.
“But how can that be? You’ve lived in Lake Tahoe for at least as long as Noah’s been alive, so five, six years.”
“I don’t know. I didn’t live anywhere near water growing up. Then I moved here and met Trevor soon after. We lived in a nice house and he took me to cool places, but I’ve never been on a boat. I always wanted to take a trip on the lake. Not sure why I didn’t. I guess pregnancy and child-rearing put a damper on that dream.”
