by Codi Gary
“Penny, I know I’ve already apologized for punching Hunter, but I want you to know that I am really sorry.”
The sky above was darkening to a purplish blue, and she was sure she saw one or two stars popping up. “I know you’re sorry.”
“Not exactly an assurance of forgiveness.”
She turned her head to look at him, squinting her eyes against the setting sun behind his head. “I’m not mad anymore. I’m only a little distracted. Got a lot of stuff to think about.”
“Like what?” Trent leaned up on an elbow and blocked the sunset. “You know I’m more than just a pretty face, right? You can talk to me.”
“I know, but I haven’t really told anyone.” Penny didn’t think she should mention the conversation she’d had with Hunter. She sat up, and pulled her knees to her chest. She wondered how Trent would react to her news. “I got offered two really great jobs. One of them would allow me to stay in Bear Mountain, and the other would take me away, but it’s an amazing opportunity.”
“Then why are you hesitating, if the other job is so great?”
“I don’t know. I’ve wanted to escape this place for so long, but now that I have the chance to, I’m not sure why I was so eager to leave. I mean, I have a home. Friends. It’s beautiful and crazy here, and the thought of leaving it all behind actually hurts.”
Trent sat up and she felt the weight of his arm on her shoulders. When she turned to face him, his brown eyes were heavy.
“Then ask yourself what you’re staying for.”
He kissed her softly, and she didn’t respond—not because the kiss wasn’t good, but because it added to the burden.
He pulled away and surprised the hell out of her by whispering, “When you come up with a list of reasons to stay, I hope I’m one of them.”
Hunter stood on Penny’s front porch, knocking on the door. He’d been trying to call and text her, but he was only getting one-word answers from her. And he was damn tired of it.
He hadn’t said anything to her about her job offer, mostly because he didn’t want to add stress on top of everything she was probably dealing with, but he needed to be honest with her.
The door swung open and Cal stood in the doorway, a dark scowl on his face. It slowly melted away, and he grinned at Hunter. “Yo, Wes! Grab a couple of beers. Hunter is here.”
Hunter stepped in and accepted the backslapping hug from the younger man. “Hey, guys. Is your sister here?”
“No, she dumped water on us, told us to clean the house, and took off with that tool from the bar,” Wes said as he handed Hunter a beer.
Hunter’s stomach dropped out as he tipped back the beer. It tasted like ash in his mouth. “Great.”
Cal threw his arm around Hunter’s shoulder and pulled him into the living room. “Screw that guy, man! You’re way better for our sister.”
“I’m not with her,” Hunter said.
“Yeah, right,” Wes said. “We heard everything. Hell, the newspaper basically had a story about how Deputy Luke caught you two screwing on the side of the road. Which is disgusting, by the way.”
“We were not screwing! All the gossip has been highly exaggerated, guys. She had some car trouble and I was helping her.”
Hunter had never seen two grown men so crestfallen.
“Really?” Cal said.
Wes shook his head. “Damn. I got to admit, I was kind of looking forward to having you for a brother-in-law. You’re good people.”
Hunter wasn’t sure why the other men’s disappointment made him feel slightly better, but it did.
But then Penny came through the door. Her cheeks were pink and she looked too beautiful for words. Hunter’s stomach knotted up as he wondered what had put that color in her skin.
“Hi.” She glanced around the house. “Thanks for cleaning up, guys.” She walked past them into the kitchen and set a bag of takeout on the dining room table.
“Where’s the douche?” Wes called.
Hunter wanted to know the same thing, but was glad he wasn’t on the receiving end of Penny’s angry scowl.
“Considering you hit him the first time you met him, I think he was a little hesitant to join us.”
“Good,” Cal said. “Hunter, you wanna stay for dinner?”
“Only if it’s okay with your sister.”
“There’s plenty,” she said, dispassionately.
Hunter got up from the couch and watched her pull containers from the bag. “Can I help?”
She didn’t meet his eye as she said, “Sure. Grab the plates out of that cupboard.”
“What is it?” Wes asked.
“Chinese. How about you get some forks and spoons?”
Hunter, Wes, and Cal followed Penny’s directions, and by the time they sat down at the table, Hunter was a little thrown. He’d always assumed that the three Davis siblings were a wild bunch, but watching the way the two young men treated their older sister, he saw the genuine respect and love they had for her. And vice versa.
Penny seemed softer around her brothers, and although Hunter liked Cal and Wes, he’d never really seen the family like this. She was still a snarky smart-ass, but she laughed more. She was relaxed and happy.
It was a side of her he wanted to see more of.
After dinner, Hunter loaded the dishwasher while the boys conveniently took off for the night, leaving him alone with Penny. When he hit the Start button, he turned around and found her standing in front of him.
“Have you decided what you’re doing yet?” he asked.
Her expression shuttered. “About?”
“Are you taking the job in San Diego?”
“Probably. It’s an amazing opportunity. Hard to pass up.”
“What about Bear Mountain? Wes and Cal? Allie?” Me. “This is your home.”
“People move away from their home all the time. The boys only come back a few times a year anyway and I can always visit Allie, or FaceTime with her. Selling the house would probably take care of the last bit of debt that I owe.” When she met his gaze finally, those blue eyes were completely blank. “After all, there’s nothing else keeping me here, is there?”
Trent had noticed Hunter’s new SUV outside Penny’s house when he’d dropped her off. He could have come inside and made a big deal about it, but what would be the point? Getting into another pissing match with Hunter wasn’t going to win Penny’s favor.
Plus, the very real possibility of her leaving weighed on him. Although he’d made friends at the station, Penny was the first real connection he’d shared with anyone in Bear Mountain. When he’d told her he’d hoped that he’d be on her list of reasons to stay, he wasn’t just feeding her a line. He didn’t want her to go, but didn’t feel like he had the right to ask her to stay.
Especially when he knew that Hunter was still in the running for Penny’s heart.
Trent had been surprised when Hunter had shown up at the Grizzly a half an hour ago. He’d figured he’d have manned up and told Penny how he felt already, but clearly he was in need of a little guidance. It wouldn’t be fair if Penny chose Trent because Hunter didn’t give it his all. Sure, Trent could take the easy win, but if she did stay and decided to be with him, he didn’t want to always wonder if she was thinking about Hunter.
The doc should thank his lucky stars Trent was such a saint.
He knocked back the last of his glass of whiskey and stood up. Hunter was sitting at the bar with his friend, Dex Belmont, but Trent wasn’t worried about having an audience. He had a few things to say to the good doctor that couldn’t wait.
“Where are you going, Trent?” his friend Mike Feldman asked.
“Got some business to attend to.”
“Hey, man, don’t start any shit with Doc Gracin. The chief won’t be happy about it.”
“I won’t. Cross my heart.”
Trent walked over and sat next to Hunter. When Hunter looked over at him, he tensed, but Trent waved his right hand in the air like a white flag.
>
“Relax, I’m not here to fight.”
“What do you want then?”
Trent ordered another whiskey and while he waited, swiveled in the stool toward Hunter. “What are you going to do about Penny?”
“Nothing. She’s taking a job in San Diego.” Hunter took a drink from his glass, shooting him a deadly glare. “But I’m guessing you already knew that.”
“She also has an offer from a sanctuary in Red Lodge. Did she tell you that?”
Hunter’s gaze narrowed. “No, she didn’t tell me. Which is reason enough to assume she’s made up her mind to leave.”
“Have you given her a reason to stay? I have a feeling she would take the job closer to home if she thought you had finally pulled your head out of your rear end.”
“It’s not up to me,” Hunter said.
Okay, now you’re pissing me off, Doc.
“Please. Just because you only realized that you’re in love with her a week ago, doesn’t mean she’s fully aware that she can now have exactly what she’s wanted for years.”
“How do you know what she wants?”
Trent smiled sadly. “Because from the first time I flirted with her, I knew I never stood a chance.”
Chapter 15
Hunter got off work the following afternoon and went by Beary Perfect Posies flower shop. Gayle Tominaga’s shop might not be the most expensive option in Bear Mountain, but her selection was amazing.
He walked out with a colorful bouquet and a simple card. It wasn’t terribly romantic, but he needed to start to share his feelings for Penny. The flowers were the first step he’d take to show her he was serious about her.
He hated that it had been Trent’s words that lit a fire in him. He’d figured he’d already blown it and had thought he’d lost her to either San Diego or to Trent’s charm. But now Hunter hoped that there was a chance he could change her mind. He needed to explain that he’d been an idiot.
He drove by the Grizzly and left the flowers and card on the window of her Tacoma.
Now all he had to do was wait.
Penny walked out of the Grizzly frazzled and exhausted, but what else was new. All she wanted to do was go home and go to bed.
When she reached the driver’s-side door of her Tacoma, she noticed the bouquet of bright flowers on her windshield and rolled her eyes.
“Trent. You are such a—”
She stopped talking after she grabbed the card and opened it.
Dinner?
-Hunter
Penny looked from the flowers to the card to the flowers again. That was it? He left flowers on her car, and only two words in the card? And one of them was his freaking name?
Penny grabbed the flowers and hopped into her car, driving through town to Hunter’s place. He’d bought a ranch house a few miles away from the hospital. It was on several acres with a barn, and it was one of the nicest places in Bear Mountain.
She sped up the gravel driveway, laying on the horn. After parking the truck right in front of the garage, she jumped out and stomped up to his porch. Before she had a chance to knock, he opened the door…
Wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.
“Penny, what the hell? You tore the crap out of my driveway.”
Penny couldn’t respond because her tongue was in her throat. The porch light illuminated every sinewy inch of him. Her gaze traveled along his broad, muscular shoulders and chest, and snaked down his trim waist, flat stomach, and well-defined abs.
And suddenly she wondered what was underneath that towel.
“As much as I’m enjoying the way you’re looking at me, I’m going to remind you that my eyes are up here.”
Penny’s gaze snapped up to Hunter’s, and the wry twist of his mouth broke the spell his body had cast.
“Why are you wearing a towel at two thirty in the morning?” she asked dumbly.
“Because I sleep naked and I grabbed whatever was handy?”
“Oh…okay.” Penny was finally able to get back to the matter at hand. She held up the flowers she was holding. “What are these?”
The bastard had the balls to arch an eyebrow at her. “They look like flowers.”
“Yes, but what do they mean?”
“That I like you and want you to have dinner with me?” he said.
“Why?”
“I just said—”
“Why do you have the worst timing in the world?” she cried.
He ran a hand over his hair, rumpling it in an oh-so-sexy way she hated. She really did. “Better late than never, right? I was going back and forth about whether to say everything I wanted to you. The job in San Diego is an amazing opportunity and I don’t want you to waste it.” He took a step toward her and she couldn’t move, rooted to the spot by his words and the intensity in his gaze. “But I want you to stay. Bear Mountain wouldn’t be the same without you, and neither will I.”
“But you told me I wasn’t right for you, that we don’t want the same things—”
He cupped her face in his hands. “I want you, Penny. Even when I wouldn’t admit it to myself, I wanted you. I know that the thought of you with someone else or three states away is killing me. And that’s all I need to know.”
Hunter thought he was being romantic. Gallant even.
And then Penny struck him on the arm with her bouquet.
Apparently, he’d been wrong.
“Ow, Penny!”
“You son of a bitch! I cannot believe you just said that to me!”
She stomped back off the porch and Hunter didn’t think about the fact that he wasn’t wearing shoes or that his towel had started to slip. He ran after her.
He gently spun her around to face him and pulled her against his naked body. “I’m not letting you get away that easy, Penelope Davis. You told me that you’ve wanted me for five years, and it’s been the same for me. But I’m not playing it safe anymore. I’ll chase you clear to California if I have to, but you’re not shaking me. Not ever.”
He could see her eyes shimmering with tears, and waited for her to hit him again.
“Damn you, Gracin.”
She reached up behind his neck and pulled him down for a kiss instead.
Hunter wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his palms on the top of her rear and losing himself in the taste of her. Even the cool breeze against his backside or the distant rumble of thunder couldn’t make him end the embrace.
And then she was pulling away. “Nope. Nope. Damn it.”
Hunter let her go. She gave a valiant effort in not looking down and checking out his package in the glow of the porchlight.
“You don’t get to seduce me into staying.”
“I’m not. I already told you, I want you to stay but even if you go, I’m going to chase you. Even if it takes ten or fifteen—”
“Stop! I can’t hear this right now.” She turned and got into her truck, and this time he let her go. There was going to be plenty of time to convince Penny he meant every word.
Chapter 16
Penny walked into the Grizzly on Friday afternoon, carrying a large vase stuffed with roses. She was meeting her brothers and Trent for lunch. Over the last week, Trent had been swinging by and trying to make nice with her brothers. It turned out that their dislike could be swayed with beer and hot wings. Now, the three of them were the best of friends, although Cal and Wes still told her they were #TeamHunter.
The dumbasses.
As she sat down at the table, she huffed out a heavy sigh.
“Whoa, are those from Hunter?” Cal asked.
“Well, they’re not from me,” Trent said, sheepishly. “Unless there’s no card. Then they totally are.”
Penny gave Trent a scathing look. “It’s not funny. My house has become a florist shop. No matter where I turn there are flowers here and there and everywhere.”
“Well, Dr. Seuss, if you want them to stop, why don’t you talk to the doc?” Wes asked.
Because I don’
t want to?
That wasn’t exactly true though. Since the last kiss, he’d been sending flowers and chocolates to her all day long. A small part of her was enjoying Hunter’s wooing, even if she wasn’t responding to it. Another part of her was scared that if she believed him, he might pull away again.
And then the evil bits inside her liked torturing him. Just a little.
Plus, she was afraid if she confronted him, he might kiss her again and she didn’t seem to have any control when he did that. It was a problem.
“I think your sister is enjoying making the doc squirm.”
Penny shot him a death stare, wondering how in the hell he’d read her mind. “I do not.”
“Oh, come on! You wanted him to wise up and now that he has, you’re letting him dangle on a hook. You should throw him a bone. Guys need encouragement or they’ll give up.”
Penny bit her cheek to fight a smile. “You didn’t need any encouragement.”
Trent grinned wolfishly. “I’m a different animal.”
“You got the animal part right,” she said.
“Ouch.” Trent’s cell went off and he grimaced. “I’m gonna have to take a rain check. Duty calls.” He tossed a couple bills down for his Coke and shook her brothers’ hands before kissing her cheek. “Later, kitten.”
“You can stop that.”
“Never.” He left the Grizzly with a wink and Penny shook her head. When she finally glanced up from the menu, it was to find both of her brothers staring at her.
“What?”
“Exactly when were you going to tell us you were moving to San Diego?” Wes asked.
Damn. She hadn’t wanted to talk to them about it until she was sure what she wanted to do. She already had two men giving her their opinions on which job she should choose…she didn’t need her brothers butting in, too.
“How the…did Trent tell you that?”