Page 11 of Imperfect Saint
She wanted to ask what it was about then but she didn’t dare. She didn’t think she’d like the answer. The attraction between them had never been one-sided but she wasn’t about to cross the line she’d drawn in the sand when her entire life was hanging by a thread and she had to spend the next few days with her family and the man that had broken her heart.
Millie didn’t look at Hunter when she sighed, “We’re going to the Manor at Brentwood. I assume you have directions to the Turner acreage.”
“I do. Thanks, honey.”
She snorted, “Are you going to continue to call me by all of these ridiculous pet names this weekend?”
“Nope.” Hunter was grinning again when she looked back at him, “I’m just looking for the one that fits, beautiful.”
Millie felt her cheeks heat again and quickly turned away. It was going to be a long weekend if he kept this up. She breathed a heavy sigh as she thought of all the lying and pretending that she would have to do this weekend to make this date with Hunter seem real, not just to Joshua but to her family as well. It wasn’t just about keeping her ex at bay. It was also about showing all of them that she’d moved on so that they’d give up on the notion that she would ever get back together with Joshua.
“We have about an hour with all this traffic so fill me in on Prince Douchebag and the rest of the Turner clan. We have to make this believable, babe. I need the dirt.”
Millie grinned at the silly nickname he’d given her ex. No doubt he’d picked it up from Lemon. Their boss had called Joshua that for a while now. It was funnier coming from Hunter, or maybe that was just her own bias to the man sitting to her left. She bit her cheek and snuck a glance at him as he hit the highway. He was smiling again and she couldn’t help but believe that job or no job, favor or no favor, Hunter was enjoying himself and this situation they’d found themselves in.
He wasn’t lying. He wasn’t pretending. And that was a problem, because if she wasn’t really careful, she’d let down her guard and admit that wanting him to touch her had nothing to do with their fake date. Pretending to like Hunter wasn’t going to be a problem because she didn’t need to pretend at all.
4
Hunter stared up at the huge stone house that could only be called a mansion and tried to reconcile the girl sitting next to him in the Range Rover with the kind of girl that had grown up in a house like this. Millie Turner was really Camilla Turner. He’d found that out during his online search the day before and he still couldn’t manage to think of the two personas as the same person.
Camilla Turner had grown up with every luxury. She’d gone to the very best private schools. She’d had a golden road paved for her straight to the high offices of the Turner Bell Record Label building in downtown Nashville. She’d had access to private jets and exclusive restaurants and she could have snapped her fingers and done whatever she wanted. She’d had it all and never needed to work a day in her life if she didn’t want to.
But Millie Turner had left the extravagant world she’d been born into so that she could forge a path all her own and she’d done it by getting her clients access to those exact amenities she’d forgone for herself.
She’d started out as a receptionist for one of the downtown management agencies but she’d quickly climbed the ladder with nothing but hard work and determination. She’d been a second assistant to a few mid-level artists, an executive assistant for an advertising director and then she’d landed the gig as Lemon Kelly’s personal assistant. The rest was history. She was one of the most well-liked and respected PA’s in all of Nashville and she’d accomplished it without throwing her last name around for leverage.
If Hunter had thought she was fascinating before, he’d become absolutely obsessed since he’d gone digging and found that the girl was far deeper and more mysterious than he could have imagined.
Once she’d realized he knew who she was and there was no point trying to deny it, she’d finally opened up to him a little during their drive. She’d told him all about her older brother, Colin, and Reed, the love of his life. She’d explained how Colin had kept his sexuality hidden from their father for fear of condemnation and nearly lost Reed forever. She’d even told him about Colin standing up to their father, Reed at his side, as he told the judgmental old bastard that they were getting married. The way she’d smiled as she spoke about her brother had confirmed all that Hunter needed to know about the guy.
His sister adored him. He was living his truth. He was happy and in love. And there was absolutely no way Millie would risk ruining her brother’s big day by causing a scene about Colin’s choice of best man being her ex-fiancé.
That was Millie, always thinking of everyone but herself. At work, she constantly put the demands and needs of her clients ahead of her own desires. He thought it was about time that someone in her life put her first and he’d decided before they even pulled into the long, winding, gated driveway of the Turner Estate, that someone was going to be him.
“Do try to close your mouth, would you? It makes you look terribly common.”
Hunter flipped his gaze to Millie at the pretentious, southern belle drawl she’d affected and saw her grinning. God, she was so beautiful. Since the moment he’d picked her up she’d seemed tense, nervous and lost in thought. But for just a second, right here and right now, just the two of them alone in the car before they faced the firing squad, as she’d called it, she seemed lighter and her eyes twinkled with mischief.
“Oh my God.” He put his hand to his chest and feigned a shocked expression, “Did Millie Turner just make a joke?”
“Oh shut up.” She laughed as she pushed open her own door and stepped out. “I joke.”
“Not with me you don’t.” He pointed out as he did the same.
“Yeah well…” She started to say something else but before she could get another word out the front door of the big house crashed open and a loud voice called out.
“Mills! You’re here! Finally!”
Hunter tensed instantly, moving around the car to put himself between Millie and the man that came rushing down the stairs towards her. It was pointless though. She was moving too, rushing forward and straight into the arms of the tall man that picked her up and twirled her in a circle as she laughed. Hunter watched them, realizing belatedly that the man was clearly her brother from the resemblance between them. He stood back and let them have their moment now that he was sure there was no immediate threat to Millie’s safety.
He caught movement behind them on the stairs and glanced up as more men came out to see what all the commotion was about. Hunter held himself straight and tall, wanting their first impression of him to be that of a man worthy of Millie’s time, attention, and ultimately her affection. He clocked each of them as they moved towards the duo that was still clutched together, talking in low voices as if the rest of the world had faded away.
The first man to follow Colin out of the house was thin and lithe with longish dark blonde strands tied back away from his sharp, angular face. Striking blue eyes met Hunter’s and a mischievous smile tilted at his lips as he traced him from head to foot, not even bothering to be coy about it. When he finally met Hunter’s eyes again his smile seemed to convey utter enjoyment at whatever it was he’d found during his perusal.
Reed Meyers. Colin’s fiancé was a strikingly handsome man. Even if Hunter hadn’t found their engagement announcement online and seen the photo of the two of them, he’d have known from Millie’s description that this was the man her brother was marrying. He wasn’t polished down to the bone like the others. His hair was slightly disheveled and instead of slacks and a button down like Colin wore, Reed had chosen simple dark denim jeans, Converse and a t-shirt Hunter was fairly certain said something inappropriate but was camouflaged by the plaid shirt he’d left open over it.
Hunter had a feeling he was going to like the guy instantly based on nothing but his refusal to adhere to the dress code of the others.
