Page 47 of Imperfect Saint
“It’s not hard. You are special, Mills.” He leaned forward and brushed their lips together, just the smallest, briefest touch, “Getting to be anywhere near you makes me feel special too.”
Millie smiled and pressed her mouth to his again. It was more of a real kiss this time. Her soft, sweet lips pressing against his, teasing, opening, her tongue flicking against his bottom lip. Hunter swallowed a groan, right on the verge of taking control and kissing her so deeply that she forgot she needed air or water or food to survive, or that she’d ever wanted anything but him, when someone close by cleared their throat.
He pulled back and Millie gave a little huff of displeasure as they both turned to see who had entered their space. Colin and Reed were standing just a few steps away. Reed was grinning like the happiest man on the planet and though Colin wasn’t exactly smiling, he also wasn’t scowling at Hunter, which he decided to take as progress.
“I thought we had a deal?” Colin raised an eyebrow at his sister when Hunter set her feet back on the ground.
Millie cuddled into his side and smirked, “That wasn’t making out, Colin. It was a kiss. And I’ll remind you, I had to stand right next to you while you kissed Reed in front of God and everybody just a little while ago.”
“That’s different. That was…” Colin started but Reed’s snicker of laughter had him waving off the comment and shaking his head, “It doesn’t matter. Forget it. That’s not why I came over here.”
“What do you need?” Millie instantly stood more alert, “Did the wedding planner mess something up? Do you need me to help the caterer or is there a…”
“No. Mills. No.” Colin gave his sister a warm smile, “Thank you for offering to jump to the rescue but nothing is wrong. We just wanted to talk to you for a minute, alone, before things get too crazy around here.”
“Oh…” Millie paused and glanced up at Hunter.
He wasn’t sure what the look in her eyes was. Did she expect him to tell her no? Was she asking permission to go off with Colin? No. He knew her better than that. She wasn’t the same girl that had needed Joshua’s approval so bad that she couldn’t make a decision on her own.
That wasn’t it.
She was looking up at him because she didn’t want to leave him alone again, he realized. The last time she’d left his side amid wedding festivities, Joshua had cornered her and hurt her and Hunter hadn’t been there to protect her. She looked wary, almost scared even, and as much as he wanted to keep her by his side at all times so that nobody could ever hurt her again, he knew that they couldn’t live their lives that way.
“It’s okay, Mills. I’ll get us some drinks.” He leaned down and kissed her temple, “And when you’re done, we can dance.”
Her lips twisted slightly upward, “Champagne and dancing under the stars, just like our first date.”
“Exactly.” He kissed her again softly and then unwound his arm from around her waist, “Go on. I’ll be right here waiting for you.”
“Okay.” She finally nodded, turning back to her brother, “But you better make it fast, Colin, because I have a really hot boyfriend waiting to twirl me around the dance floor.”
Hunter grinned at that as Colin gave him a nod of acknowledgement and then turned and walked away. Reed slung his arm around Millie’s shoulders, pulling her along with them. They disappeared around a corner where Hunter couldn’t see them anymore and he ignored the instantaneous urge to follow them.
She wasn’t in any danger. She was with Colin and Reed. The happy grooms were her brothers. They would take care of her. They just wanted to have a conversation between siblings and he couldn’t and shouldn’t take offense that he was left out of the loop when Reed got to be part of the talk. Reed and Colin were married now. They were a set. Hunter hadn’t earned his spot beside Millie yet, not for family discussions, but he would.
He swore to himself that someday he would make Millie his family.
Turning, he wandered over to the closest bar and ordered a glance of champagne for Millie. As he leaned against one of the cocktail tables, he watched the impeccably dressed party guests without really seeing them. His mind was still on Millie and the idea of her being his for real, and just how different it would be when he took her home to meet his family from this grandiose wedding extravaganza that he’d stumbled his way into.
Family dinner at the St. James household was like nothing any outsider could imagine. They weren’t a typical family, not by a long stretch of the word. Over the years, Hunter had learned that family was what you made of it, not necessarily the people that made you.
Their father wasn’t invited to family gatherings per Vaughn’s rules, and as the eldest of them and host of their little dinners, his rules were law. If fact, there weren’t any parents at their gatherings. They were all St. James children, but Vincent St. James had never been much of a father to any of them. And inviting their mothers? Well, that seemed like a really bad idea. It was such a bad idea that nobody had even mentioned inviting their mothers to join them, not once in all the years they’d been having dinners and sharing holidays.
Vaughn’s mother had been Vinny’s first wife. Hunter and Tyler’s mother had been his second and was the reason Vaughn no longer interacted with their father. Alicia St. James was only four years older than Vaughn himself and he’d never forgiven his father for trading his mother in for a younger model, especially one that was young enough to be his own child. Vaughn wasn’t just the oldest, he was old enough to literally be their father, and though they’d never talked about it, Hunter knew Vaughn needed no reminders because he never let himself forget it.
Alicia St. James had lasted longer than Vaughn ever thought she would though. Nearly an entire decade married to the philandering jackass that was Hunter and Tyler’s father had ruined her though. She liked her booze and after Vinny had thrown her over for a younger model as well, she’d also turned to pills. She’d never been a bad mother so far as Hunter could say, but she’d been numb and practically vacant most of their teenage years and only sobered up when she remarried years later.
Luckily, Mrs. St. James numbers three and four hadn’t ended up popping out any babies. They probably would have if they could but Vinny had wisely decided to get a vasectomy after Tyler’s birth. God knew the alimony payments the first two Mrs. St. James had received made pregnancy a lucrative career move. But Barbie and Skipper, as Tyler had affectionately called them had both failed to keep Vinny’s interest for more than a year or two.
Vaughn, Hunter, and Tyler had thought that maybe, just maybe, that meant there would be no more weddings. That they were safe to assume they were the only sons Vinny would ever produce. In a way, they’d been right, but they’d been wrong too and nobody had been more surprised than Vaughn when the news had come that they were expecting another sibling.
A sister. And not just any sister but the daughter of Vinny and Vaughn’s mother, Teresa. The two had rekindled their old romance decades later and though they never remarried they were still going strong to this day, happily back together with the only proof they’d ever been apart the age gap between Vaughn and his little sister Tatum and of course their half-siblings, Hunter and Tyler.
It was a strange family dynamic. He knew that. Two sets of half siblings. One set so far apart in age the eldest could’ve been the youngest’s father. The other set so close in age they may as well have been twins. In most families it would have made for a powder keg, destined to explode, but not with them.
They had Vaughn. Calm, cool, level-headed Vaughn took his duty as the eldest of the siblings seriously. He was the glue that kept them all together. Through all the years and the arguments and the fights and the rivalries, Vaughn had become the head of their own little family unit and he ruled with an iron will and a supportive shoulder when they needed it.
They all had their own personalities and their own flaws and demons to deal with as well. Vaughn was serious and he could hold a grudge for a lifetime. Tyler was adventurous, impulsive, and sometimes downright dangerous, but he usually had good intentions and he’d be the first to step into a fight to defend any of the rest of them. And Tatum? Well, she was the little sister of three much older, alpha males. She’d never stood a chance, not really. She was a spoiled-rotten, little brat used to getting what she wanted when she wanted it and she hated being told no. Alone, any one of them could have let their demons take control and ruin their lives but together they all managed to hold on, day-by-day and sometimes hour-by-hour, because they all knew they weren’t alone.
