by Addison Cole
She shrugged, trying to act casual. “He’s a friend. What if something goes wrong? It could kill our friendship.”
“Listen, I might have warned you about dating Hunter because I think he plays around a lot, but he’s a good man. Even if you burned the place down, he’d know it was an accident.”
Hearing Brock talk about Hunter playing around and knowing that the only playing around he’d done in the last six months was with her made her want to defend him. She contemplated telling Brock that they were seeing each other, but she wasn’t ready to take that step yet. She gazed up at him waiting patiently for her to respond, like he had all the time in the world, when she knew that he, like her, had a million things he had to take care of.
“Can I ask you something?” she finally asked.
“Anything, sis.”
“Why do you think none of us have settled down with anyone? I mean, you’re twenty-nine, superhot, nice as can be, and you don’t have a steady girlfriend. Harper is, like, made to be married or something, and Colton’s successful and truly the nicest guy around.” She smiled at Brock. “No offense, but you’re big and scary-looking when you’re mad, and Colton doesn’t have that same edge. Did Mom and Dad mess us all up somehow?”
Brock laughed. “Mom and Dad didn’t mess us up. We had great role models. They love each other; they just have old-fashioned values. Don’t you think?”
“Yeah, that’s the thing that worries me. I was kind of hoping you’d say that they did something that I don’t remember, because if that were true, it wouldn’t come down to me being too messed up to commit to a relationship.” She wasn’t about to tell her brother that she had no idea why she was willing to give so much to a man who was obviously willing to give even more, but she was still having trouble fully committing. Hunter had called her his girlfriend that morning instead of his girl, and it had sent a wave of panic through her again.
Brock shrugged. “We all have our reasons. I’m busy with the club and I’m very picky. Harper’s been working on her writing career, and Colton? Well, from what Colton says, it’s different for gay guys. They’re less into monogamy than chicks are.”
“Maybe I’m really a gay man,” Jana teased.
He searched her eyes. “Huh?”
“It scares me, committing to a relationship. I just know I’ll mess it up.”
Brock sat beside her and leaned his elbows on his knees, wringing his hands together. “The guys you dated when you were younger really did a job on you. And I think that mess with Spencer broke something in you, Jana. It’s always worried me.”
“That’s just it, Brock. I don’t think it was them, or specifically Spencer. This is all on me. I’m the one who messed up my relationships.”
“That’s not true. All guys aren’t all clingy like Spencer.” His tone turned serious. “If you’d just give yourself a chance—”
“Thanks, but this isn’t about Spencer. He’s just the last guy I committed to. This is about me. You guys all have good reasons for not wanting to commit, and I don’t have anything more solid than knowing I’m not good at relationships.” She’d committed to not committing. It made no sense, and it worried her that she’d throw that away on a guy with a reputation that even her brother couldn’t deny. But her heart told her otherwise.
“Jana, you’re spinning all this in your head. You think we didn’t get Mom and Dad’s old-fashioned values, but I don’t believe that. I think we’re all good people. We care about others. We work hard. We’re just on different timetables with our love lives. But that’s okay. That doesn’t mean we don’t have solid values. It just means we’re human.”
She rose to her feet and took another drink from her water bottle. “I better take off. I’m teaching a class at ten, and I want to get in touch with Sky. Hunter’s letting me do a test class at his place to see how I like it. I want to invite Sky and the girls for a Foxy Mamas class.”
“Okay. But listen, if you want to talk more, text me. We can meet for a drink or something.” He stood and pulled her into a hug. “There’s nothing you can’t be good at Jana, including relationships. If you want to be good at relationships, you will be.”
She gathered her gym bag and equipment and hurried out to her car, thinking about what Brock had said. Was that true? Did she not want this with Hunter? She stopped cold at the sight of Hunter leaning against her car. His booted feet were crossed at the ankles, and his thick arms were crossed over his broad chest. When he lifted his eyes to hers and pushed from the car, her steps faltered.
He’d left her house early to meet Grayson at a job site, and she hadn’t been expecting to see him until that evening. “What are you doing here? How did your meeting go?”
“I missed you.” He raked his eyes down her body, and she flamed from the inside out. “You look really hot in that little boxing outfit.”
It was no wonder that he made her head spin when he actually touched her; he could turn her on with nothing more than a graze of his eyes.
“Oh, and the meeting went well.”
He bent down to kiss her, and as she went up on her toes to meet him halfway, she glanced over her shoulder to see if Brock was watching.
“Come on, babe. How long are you going to keep this up?” Hunter snapped.
She tried to ignore the piercing guilt his question inspired and tossed her gear in the back of her car.
“You can’t hide us forever, and I don’t even understand why you are. It’s starting to piss me off.”
“I’m not trying to upset you.” He’d brought this up a lot lately, but no matter how many times he reassured her, she still worried. “Aren’t you concerned at all about all our friendships? We hang out with all of our brothers and sisters. What if we break up? Then they’ll feel weird around us anytime we’re together.”
He folded her in his arms and gave her that look that made her insides go all fluttery. He was pushing for her to give in. Hunter always pushed her past her comfort zones.
“Listen to me, pretty girl. The only thing coming between us is your fear of commitment.”
She rolled her eyes, even though she knew he was right. She loved the way he pursued her, and his confidence in their relationship, but she still wasn’t sure that letting everyone know they were together was the smartest thing to do. The thought of putting Sky in that weird position was enough to make her hold her ground.
“Okay, maybe it’s your inability to trust that the guy I’ve become is here to stay, but that’s all on you, babe, not me. I’m in this for the long haul. I know you’re the woman for me, and I know I’m the only man for you.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “One day you’ll realize that, too.”
“Why do you always have to push so hard?”
“You think that’s hard?” His smile turned wicked. “That’s so soft it’s practically liquid.”
Her steely resolve instantly turned molten.
Hunter dug his hand into his pocket and handed her a key as he stepped in closer, bringing all that heat with him. “I know we talked about you getting the girls together for a class tonight, so I wanted to be sure you had a key. I’m going to babysit Billy so Clark and Nina can go out.”
“You are?” For some reason the thought of Hunter babysitting again melted her resolve even more. She looked down at the key and noticed it was on a key chain of a heart that said TAKEN. He was bossy even when he didn’t say a word.
She arched a brow and he held his palm up toward the sky. “What? It’s true.”
She laughed.
“Want to come by after the class if I’m still babysitting?”
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
He kissed her again. “Then it’s a date. You, me, and the little guy. No dirty stuff, though.”
“Okay. I’ll try to behave myself.” She climbed into the car and he closed the door, then leaned in to give her a kiss. “Thanks for bringing me the key and for letting me try out the space.”
“Anything for you, pretty girl.�
�� He kissed her again. “You’d better take off, or I’m going to climb in that car and take off that sexy little outfit of yours and have my way with you.”
“Promises, promises.” She blew him a kiss and waved as she drove away, knowing he’d have kept that promise if she’d stayed. She was learning that Hunter’s word was as good as gold.
Chapter Twenty-One
ON THE WAY to meet the girls for the Foxy Mamas class, Jana turned up the radio. She needed a pick-me-up after getting into it with Marco. She’d asked him to hire another instructor, or an administrative assistant, and he’d finally revealed the real reason he’d stayed in Plymouth for so long. He’d gotten engaged to his head dance instructor from the new studio. Jana knew from the elation in his voice that he was never coming back, at least not for good.
Ella Henderson’s “Ghost” came on the radio and she cranked it up. Listening to the words, she thought about how Hunter was her river. When she was in his arms, he washed everything away, her pain, her worries, her sins…Her chest burned as the chorus came on. She wanted to give up the ghosts of her past, the ghosts that pushed her to keep that last wall between Hunter and the rest of her life, but she wasn’t sure exactly what those ghosts were, or how to finally let them go.
Leanna’s colorful van was parked out front when Jana arrived for the class. Amy, Bella, Leanna, Jessica, Jenna, and Sky came around the side of the building as she stepped from the car. She wished Harper could have come, but she had a conference call with the production staff for her sitcom.
“This place is incredible,” Jenna said.
“I had forgotten how perfect the location was.” Sky hugged Jana. “My brother pulled out all the stops to help you.”
“Yeah, it was really nice of him,” Jana said as she fished out the key Hunter had given her, palming the TAKEN charm. She opened the door, and her jaw fell open as the girls pushed past her and went inside. The place was spotless. She had no idea how he could have gotten it cleaned so quickly.
“Look!” Jenna picked up the card from a vase of a dozen red roses on the far end of the counter. “Can I open it?”
Jana could hardly believe her eyes. Roses? How could she ever have doubted his ability to be romantic? She was so nervous about what Hunter might have written that she snagged the card from Jenna’s hands. “I’ll read it.”
“Lizzie told me Hunter had ordered you flowers, but I had no idea that they were roses.” Sky’s voice reeked of curiosity.
Jana opened the card and noticed that it was Hunter’s slanted handwriting, not Lizzie’s curly script. Her heart beat a little faster as she read the note.
I hope your class is everything you dreamed it would be. H.
The simplicity of the note took her by surprise, and she wondered if that was difficult for him, or if he knew she’d have several sets of eyes peering over her shoulders, as she did now.
“That’s so sweet,” Amy said. “He’s such a nice guy.”
“Yeah.” The confirmation came out as dreamily as she felt, and when she lifted her eyes, she met Sky’s assessing gaze and tried to cover it up. She waved the card, as if it didn’t mean anything special. “Okay, who’s ready to become a foxy mama?”
“Hunter sent roses…” Jessica smiled.
“What do you think this means?” Leanna flashed a mischievous grin at Bella and the others.
Bella jumped right in. “Flowers usually mean sex.”
“Oh my gosh, you guys.” Jana laughed, even though she thought they might see right through her ruse. “It means he must be really eager to rent the place. Let’s get started.”
An hour later, they were sweaty, laughing, and leaning on one another as they drank from their water bottles.
“I feel sexier already,” Jenna said as she ran her hands through her shiny dark hair. “Watch out, Petey, ’cause here I come.”
“I definitely feel something.” Leanna tugged her sweaty tank top off of her skin. “But I’m not sure it’s sexy.”
“Oh, please. Our men love to see us hot and sweaty.” Bella hugged Jana. “This was so fun. And this space? With a few homey touches, it’ll be perfect.”
“Want to know what I think?” Jessica asked.
“Sure.” Jana couldn’t stop admiring the flowers, and the cleanliness of the room.
“I think you’ve got a sweet deal here that you shouldn’t pass up.” Jessica pointed to the flowers. “And how many landlords leave roses as incentive?”
Jana’s mind reeled back to the other sexy things Hunter had used as incentive when he’d shown her the kitchen. She couldn’t stop a dreamy sigh from escaping her lips.
Sweet deal doesn’t even scratch the surface.
IT WAS BILLY’S bedtime when Jana arrived at Clark and Nina’s, but the moment Billy saw her, he wanted nothing to do with bed—or Hunter, which was surprising, since Billy hadn’t met Jana before. But as Hunter watched Jana sitting on the floor in Billy’s playroom playing with wooden blocks with the cute little guy, Hunter had only two thoughts. Billy was a smart kid, and Jana had never looked more beautiful than she did right then. She picked up a square block and pretended to try to shove it into a round hole, earning the cutest belly laugh from Billy.
Jana swooped him into her lap and gave him Eskimo kisses. She hugged Billy cheek to cheek, and a look of peacefulness washed over her, drawing Hunter in even deeper.
Billy yawned, and Jana’s lower lip plumped out in a cute pout.
“Aw, the little guy is tired.” She rose with Billy in her arms, looking natural and happy and more at ease than he’d ever seen her. “We should put him to bed.”
It took Hunter a moment to get his brain to work. “Uh, yeah. Okay.”
They went into Billy’s bedroom and he reached for Billy. “I’ll change him.”
She wrinkled her brow. “No way am I giving up this little guy for a second. We’ll do it together. Do you have his jammies?”
He laughed. “Jammies?”
She changed his diaper while Hunter pulled pajamas out of the dresser.
“Yes, he’s a baby. They’re not called pajamas until he’s at least…three.”
“Three?”
She shrugged. “Seems right to me. Here.” She handed him the dirty diaper and he tossed it in the Diaper Genie. “You didn’t even cringe.”
“Why would I?” He helped her put Billy’s jammies on.
“Most guys wouldn’t go near dirty diapers.” She lifted Billy into her arms and sat in the rocking chair beside his crib.
“Most guys wouldn’t do a lot of stuff.” He crouched beside the rocker. “Want me to rock him?”
“No. If you don’t mind, I’d really like to.”
He shut off the light, leaving only the glow of the night-light, picked up the baby monitor, and left the room, pulling the door partially closed behind him. Jana began singing quietly. He stopped to listen and was surprised that she wasn’t singing a lullaby, but Beyoncé’s “If I Were a Boy,” barely above a whisper. He leaned against the doorframe, listening as she poured her emotions into every word. She sang about having a group of guys to stick up for her and taking people for granted without being held responsible. When she sang about guys who didn’t understand what it felt like to lose the one they wanted, he wondered why it sounded so personal coming from her lips. And when a tear tumbled down her cheek, it nearly tore his heart out.
Her voice faded to a thoughtful hum, and he tried to turn away, but he was riveted in place. He pushed the door open, basking her face in light from the hall as she placed Billy in his crib. Their eyes met, and he swore time stood still.
He reached for her as she neared, and when she laid her hand in his, electricity sparked up his arm. He pressed a kiss to her temple, feeling as though he’d just heard her bare her soul to the darkness of the room, and he wanted to understand where all that hurt came from. He wanted to climb inside her and remove the anguish he’d heard, keep it from stealing any more of her, and protect her from ever feeling hurt
again.
Chapter Twenty-Two
HUNTER TOSSED AND turned all night, worrying about what he’d heard in Jana’s voice last night. Coupled with the swelling of his emotions over seeing her with Billy and the thoughts that image had brought to mind, his brain was a tangled mess. He had spent so much of his life avoiding relationships. They were complicated and took time and energy that he hadn’t ever wanted to give. Jana was the epitome of complicated, but spending nights with her, seeing how much of herself she poured into everything she did, and seeing her last night with Billy, he didn’t know how anyone could be around Jana Garner and not fall desperately in love with her.
He looked around her kitchen, seeing his keys beside hers, his designs rolled up on the edge of the table. He turned and saw two pairs of his shoes by the front door, his hoodie lying across the back of the couch. How, in the space of a few short months, had everything changed so much? Had he changed so much? Jana still wasn’t willing to let everyone know they were dating, and he wondered why he was willing to put up with feeling locked out of that part of her life just to be with her.
Jana came out of the bedroom wearing his T-shirt from last night and looking completely adorable. He opened his arms and she walked right in, snuggling against him.
“Why are you up? It’s only five.” She yawned against his shoulder, pressed her warm lips to his skin.
“Couldn’t sleep. I have a lot to get done for the competition. It’s just under three weeks away.” He kissed the top of her head. “Why don’t you go back to sleep. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
She shook her head, causing her tousled hair to fall in front of her eyes.
“You’ve ruined me. I can’t sleep when you’re not with me.”
He tucked her hair behind her ear and kissed her softly as he sank down to a chair. “What was that? Are you admitting that you want me?”
She wiggled between his legs and wound her arms around his neck. “I never got to thank you for the flowers.”